The Reception

August 21, 2012

     Today we were presented to the men of Baralande.  This is the town or neighborhood in which we live.  At first we thought we were going to go around from house to house to meet our neighbors.  Andres had coordinated with our landlord to make these introductions.  In Guinean culture you must have someone properly introduce you to make it official.  There must always be a middle person, a point of reference or contact.  This gives credibility to the stranger as they are associated with someone that is familiar and trusted.  Your contact person also determines how well you are received and accepted.  If you are associated with someone with a poor reputation then that looks badly on you.  So, we have been waiting a few days for our landlord to make time to come and introduce us.  However, when he arrived, he decided to bring all the neighbors to us.  Only it was just the men, and Jennifer and the kids basically didn’t have any part in it.

     As the elders of our community began to arrive, many of them dressed in their best outfits, we gathered the chairs on the balcony and each one began to take their seat.  Our landlord then asked Andres to make the introduction, explaining who the Edmonds were and why they were here.  The landlord then greeted us and welcomed us to his house.  Following this the eldest member of the community gave us his special greeting and welcome. 

     Up till now things were going fine.  I was a little nervous and Andres as well.  These ceremonies are very formal and follow very specific protocol.  Andres was doing his best to follow the right procedures, but he also is still relatively new to them and somewhat unsure of what to do.  Really it should have been Cees to do this for us, but seeing as he is gone in Holland the responsibility fell on Andres.  So this is where things started to get a little tense.  Andres had brought some cola nuts to give to the elders.  Cola nuts are a very symbolic gift that represents unity and harmony between people.  It is basically a peace offering.  We didn’t know how many men would show up and how many nuts are appropriate to give.  Andres asked what the right amount should be, and the landlord said it is up to the giver to decide how important the relationship is.  Well, this didn’t make things any easier as we didn’t want to offend anyone by giving them less than an appropriate amount.  Thankfully the landlord decided for us that we would give the nuts to the group of men as a collective gift, a “global offering” as he called it.  “Still,” he informed us, “if you want to do things our way, the cola nuts are always accompanied by something else.”  I asked what kind of something else, thinking maybe it would be something to drink or maybe even something to eat.  Instead, the response I got was “de l’argent,” money. 

     So now what do I do?  How much money is an appropriate gift to give with a cola nut?  And do I have enough cash to go around to all 15 guys who are sitting on my balcony?  And, does each person get the same or are the higher ranking elders supposed to get more?  Thankfully, the landlord helped us out again, indicating that it is mainly a symbolic gift and doesn’t have to be a large amount of money.  Just like our nuts, the money could be given “globally” and the men would figure out how to divide it up.  So I ran inside to see if I could find some cash.  Still wondering how much I should give, I suddenly had the brilliant idea to make it truly a symbolic donation, since these people are very big into symbolism.  I decided on giving 7 bills of 10,000 francs (about $15 total).  I then returned with my gift and presented the 7 bills as a biblical symbol of perfection, hoping that our stay in this house and our relationship with the neighbors would be perfect in friendship and in peace.  This elders nodded in approval.  And that’s how we passed our first demand for money.  Thank you Holy Spirit!

     However, we weren’t out of the woods yet.  Apparently while I was out looking for money the elders began to ask more about my role.  Would I be teaching just the missionary kids or theirs as well?  Andres had to explain that our role here was mainly to teach the missionary kids in their native language.  He also went on to elaborate that I would not be available to help with medical needs or other expectations during the week, since I was going to be so busy with the teaching—there is a huge expectation that any missionary in town is there to serve the people and help them with whatever needs they may have.  This also proved to be true as the elders then asked why we had hired workers from outside the community.  Apparently they had already seen our maid and our guard and were slightly offended we didn’t offer the jobs to people from this neighborhood.  Andres did a good job of trying to show the significant connections our helpers already have with us (for example, the fact that the guard is brother to Cees’ adopted son) but the men still didn’t seem satisfied.  They suggested maybe we could hire one of their own people to be a night guard for us since we didn’t already have one.  At this point a night guard seems rather unnecessary, but we’ll probably have to come up with something like that just to appease the community.

     Finally, after a little more talk the local imam closed by praying for us and giving us a blessing and a benediction.  My sense is that we will have to be extremely careful not to offend our neighbors.  This whole reception showed me how ceremonially religious these people are, one wrong move and we might be ostracized or kicked out for good.  All the same, I was glad to finally be officially introduced, and to begin praying for great change in our neighborhood and in these people’s hearts.

    A quick story to finish today’s recap:  having been formally introduced, I had the chance this afternoon to talk to some of the young girls that get their water from our backyard.  I asked if I could take their picture, but as I turned around to get the camera the girls all ran off, only to return moments later dressed in their best outfits.  They were so excited to have their picture taken.  In this moment it was if God were speaking to me, telling me to remember outreach to the kids as the potential key to reaching these people.  The adults here may be very rigid and formal, but the children are open and ready.

“Thank you, Lord.  Please move and work in the hearts of our neighbors.  Please open up doors of ministry around us without overwhelming us with requests and demands.  Give us wisdom and sensitivity to know how to best serve this community.  May you be glorified in this place.  Amen!”