October 11, 2012

          One of the questions we asked the Gumbs prior to leaving Panama, was what they did for fun in Guinea.  Gustavo laughed and told us, “you are the fun!”  Now I know what he meant.  The truth is there just isn’t that much to do here.  So far our weekends usually involve going into Kamsar or staying home.  Kamsar isn’t much bigger than Boke, but they have electricity which means we can also get internet (at the grocery store). They also have a hotel with a pool, and two choices of restaurants.  The restaurants are “nice.”  That means they have a/c.  According to U.S. or Panamanian standards the food would be considered tolerable, but since they’re the only options available that makes the food really good.  Mostly they serve “brochettes” (kebabs), hot dogs, hamburgers, and one of the places has pizzas (about $10 for a personal pepperoni pizza, $7 if you’ll settle for ham).  Both restaurants are Lebanese owned (as are the grocery stores) so they also have a small assortment of Lebanese dishes.  I haven’t tried them all but I do enjoy the shwarmas. 

     The bummer is that neither of the places serves Guinean foods.  For that you have to try the truly local “restaurants” in Boke.  By restaurant I mean, Aunt Nana’s patio decked out with a few plastic tables and some lawn chairs.  Of course none of the missionaries can really recommend any of these places because no one is brave enough to try them.  The question always is whether or not the food is safe.  Nobody really wants to risk a stomach virus just to be able to eat out.  So the only time we’re able to really eat African is on Thursdays when our maid cooks for our school.  So far we have had two main kinds of dishes.  The first one is a peanut based sauce.  The second one is a red sauce based in palm oil.  Fatime adds variety by alternating between cooking beef or chicken with either of these sauces.  And they’re always served with a heaping plate of rice.  Both Fatime and Salu can pack down a ton of food when these dishes are served.  The food is very, very good, but again the disappointment is that we can’t get it anywhere else.

     So again the question is what do we do for fun?  Other than catching up on the blog, taking a shower with running water (the only real shower of the week), and prepping for school, so far we’ve entertained ourselves by watching movies, playing wii, and visiting our neighbors.  I go running or bike riding in the mornings, but after 9 a.m. it’s too hot and sunny to do anything active.  That’s why the locals generally congregate under the trees outside, trying to move as little as possible so as to conserve energy and reduce the sweating.  It’s not as easy for us Americans who are used to constant activity.  I guess we are the product of an entertainment based culture and are suffering the consequences of that.  In some ways I’m grateful for the change, and in some ways I miss being at home.  At this point I would even settle for some reruns on T.V., which happens to be what the Galvez do.  The last time in Conakry they were able to borrow a collection of the Cosby Show.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Huxtables, but when you’re watching T.V. that’s that old, things are pretty bad.  Ultimately I guess the problem isn’t that we’re bored, but that we are boring.  If we are the fun, then we’re gonna have to relearn what it means to have fun.

Thank you, Lord, for your provision.  Thank you that we can afford to eat out.  Thank you that we do have places like Kamsar to go to.  Thank you that we have solar panels, tv’s, and computers.  Thank you, God, for blessing us with family and friends to spend time with.  Thank you for giving us good health and freedom.  Thank you, Lord, for your many blessings and the joy that fills our hearts.  Help us to have positive attitudes and to see the good in all you’ve given to us.  Help us to use our time wisely and productively, to enjoy rest, but also to develop our spirits and our minds in ways that would be honoring to you.  Give us creativity, Lord, to spend quality time as a family.  Draw us closer to one another and closer to you.  Amen.

     On another note, this last week I started meeting with the neighbor girls.  Their family gave me permission to teach them Bible stories and some French.  At this point only the oldest girl, Fatou, is going to school.  The other two, Fatoumata and Dima (about 9 and 6 years old, respectively) stay at home and work, carrying buckets of water back and forth from our back yard, doing laundry, and helping our neighbor take care of her baby.  I’m not entirely sure why they don’t go to school, but I’m hoping my little lessons will give them some basic form of education and a leg up on life.  Of course my real intention is to share the gospel with them.  We’re working our way up to it using a picture bible that has no words.  It’s slow going as the girls struggle even understanding French.  Fatoumata understands the most out of the three, but even that is pretty meager. 

     Isabella has joined me for a couple of these sessions, and is helpful in providing an example of repeating phrases and imitating motions.  Since the girls have never been in school they don’t even have a concept of simple classroom routines.  You can tell Dima especially isn’t used to sitting still for very long, as her attention is constantly pulled to anything else that is moving.  Still, the girls are always eager to come over.  They have started drifting over now each afternoon just to see if we will have class or not.  As part of our time, Isa and I have also been teaching them basic games and songs, trying to recapture at least a piece of their childhood.  I can’t imagine growing up without learning those basic childhood songs and games that so many of us take for granted.  Yet for them these things are totally foreign and you can tell by their behavior. 

     Jennifer also has made friends with our neighbors.  Her companion is the little baby from next door.  Little Fatou (yes it’s the same name as the girls above, and her mom shares the same name as well) squeals with delight every time Jen walks by.  She’s just learned to walk, and she often escapes and tries to climb over to our side of the yard to play.  Her mom usually comes to get her as fast as she can, but she gets a kick out of telling her friends that her baby is best friends with the fote (white woman).  Last week was a hard week for her too as baby Fatou was going through a very colicky phase.  Every time Jen walked by, mom would run inside to get Fatou just so Jen could hold her for a while.  It seemed to be the only way she could get her to stop crying.  Jen’s also been using these opportunities to pray over the little girl as she can pray in any language she wants and also lay hands on her at the same time.  It’s difficult seeing the little Fatou wearing amulets and strange prayer beads, not knowing what strange spirits may be at work in her life already.  We’ve also heard rumors that the husband hangs out at the bar a lot, drinking and doing drugs.  He’s a really friendly guy but isn’t around much.  Fatou, the mom, is a very somber woman and smiles very seldom.  We’re praying God would give us opportunity to share Christ with them, and we’re trying our best to express His love through simple acts of kindness.

     Finally, this past week one of the elderly women from across the way was telling me her knees really bother her.  I asked if I could pray for her.  She willingly agreed, and when I was finished asked me to come back every day to pray for her again.  Yesterday I went back with the whole family and we all prayed for her again.  This time I told her I pray in the name of Isa el Massih (Jesus the Messiah), who is the son of God.  The only way she is going to be healed is through faith in Him.  She told me she had prayed with the pastor before and apparently is familiar with his church, though there doesn’t seem to be a real understanding of the gospel.  We’re hoping God does something special in her life and that of the whole family. 

   Please, Lord, bless our neighbors.  Bring healing to this woman’s knees so she can walk with you all the days of her life.  Reveal your truth to the little girls, give them a hope and a future in Jesus.  Bless the Coumbassa family as well, and deliver them from folk Islam, any spiritual and religious lies they have believed, as well as the drugs and alcohol that tempts them.  Use us God to share your love and your word with those around us.  Fill us with your Holy Spirit that they might see Christ in us.  Be glorified, Lord Jesus.  Thank you, Father, for giving us the opportunity to speak into these people’s lives and to share your love in this part of the world.  Amen.