November 8, 2012

     It’s been almost four months since we left home.  We’re now at the point of the transition where it’s feeling almost normal to be here.  We’ve settled into a routine, gotten used to filling up buckets for showers, filtering our drinking water, monitoring our solar panels, and putting on insect repellent.  The school routine is also feeling normal, getting into that smooth and steady rhythm when teachers and students alike all look forward to the next break.  This is also about the time when we are starting to feel more homesick.  For me Thanksgiving is especially difficult as it’s my favorite holiday to spend with family. We’ve started making our plans with our team, but I know it won’t be the same.  Still I enjoy talking about our little U.S. holiday with such an international group.  Seeing as the root of it (giving thanks) is so Christian, it will be a great occasion for us to celebrate. 

     Interestingly enough, our team decided on having a traditional American feast, as opposed to an international potluck.  I’m sure it will be difficult to find some of the items we need for this (I’m thinking in particular of my favorites:  stuffing and green bean casserole), but it will be fun to see what we can come up with.  Hopefully by then the weather will have started to cool down.  Fall is my favorite time of year in the states, and this time of year Guinea is supposed to cool down as well.  As the rain stops and the sky clears the temperature is supposed to drop, at least in the mornings and in the evenings (not so sure about mid afternoon).  So far though we’re still having regular rain showers, and it isn’t much cooler.  So we’ll see what happens.

      Other than that, it seems as though our team is being challenged to step up and share the gospel more freely.  The NTM recommendation is to wait to share the gospel until you can do it in the tribal language.  But as our team talks about a possible extended furlough next year, I think they’re realizing that time is running short.  God is challenging them to share the gospel every opportunity they get, even if it means doing so in French, simply trusting God for the translation.  It’s exciting to watch and hear of different conversations our team members are having.  Recently Andres and Diana have been sharing with Bangoura, their language helper.  He’s been helping them translate children’s Bible stories into the Jahango language.  As he’s been doing that, he’s taken a deep interest in the stories and is asking a lot of questions.  Last week, as a follow up to one of their sessions, he asked how Jesus could possibly be the Son of God.  “Just because your dad is a carpenter doesn’t necessarily make you a carpenter,” went his reasoning.  The team is excited and praying for him as he is wrestling with these complicated truths.

     Simacan is another man Andres has been sharing with.  They’ve recently gotten to the part in the study where it discusses Jesus’ true nature as God.  Simacan is also asking a lot of questions, hungry to know more. 

     Last week too, a pair of ladies from Correrah asked for prayer for deliverance from evil spirits.  Following this prayer time they returned and gave away all their charms and magic medallions.  The friend of the gal being prayed for told Corinne, “if this works, I will believe in your God.” 

     Finally, Cees has asked for special prayer for their driver.  This is a man they have had a long term relationship with, and they recently asked him to go along with them to Senegal in order to finalize some documents for Jeremiah’s adoption.  The Snetselaars didn’t really need to bring him along, but they felt like this would be a perfect opportunity to really share Christ with him and allow him to experience life in a Christian family.  We’re hoping and praying that God will really touch his heart during this trip. 

     Another area God seems to be challenging our team is in the area of finances.  For a long time the missionaries here have generously served the village of Correrah, paying for kids’ education, medical needs, and a variety of other reasons.  In many instances, however, this financing seems to have developed more of an entitlement and dependency on the missionaries, without bearing much fruit in terms of relationship and receptivity to the gospel.  While each new situation still requires great wisdom and prayer, it seems like God is challenging us to rethink our strategies and reconsider this position of wealthy patron or rich donor.  This is rather difficult in a society where the expectation is for the wealthier members of society to support the poor, and where the wealthy members use their money to buy themselves greater status and honor in the community.  It’s mostly self-centered, each group using the other for its own advancement and prosperity.  There seems to be little by way of true generosity or love.  Thus it’s difficult for the missionaries to participate in this system.  If we don’t give, we’re seen as greedy and selfish.  If we do, our generosity is often abused without much gratitude on behalf of the recipients.

     Jennifer and I have been fortunate to escape most of this so far.  We’ve had the beggar women approach us in town, but no one as of yet has come to our door begging for money or asking for special favors.  That may change tonight as we have invited Calissa, our bread guy, to come over for dinner.  He’s mentioned a few times that he wants to visit us and talk, because I once asked him about his intentions to study at the local college.  He mentioned to me that he had applied to the school but was waiting on the financing to see if he would be accepted.  Andres told me that this often means that the director is waiting for a bribe in order to give the student a spot in the school. 

     It’s difficult to know whether or not to help the student and thereby participate in the corruption, or to stand on principle and refuse to help someone who clearly has no other option of being accepted into the system.  Last week our team was talking about a similar situation, discussing the fact that higher education here often isn’t worth the cost, not because the education is bad, but because there are so few jobs even with an “advanced degree.”  This was quite a shock to me, having come from the West where education, and especially higher education, is constantly stressed and is considered an absolute must.  The most useful path for a young person in Guinea, however, isn’t to go to the University.  Instead the best course is to learn a trade which is much more marketable, though perhaps less profitable.

      I guess it just goes to show how different our societies are.  Maybe it’s because we are more advanced in the West, maybe it’s just that our situations are so much different.  Either way I feel for these young men and women.  It’s gotta be tough competing for jobs when so few are available, trying to advance oneself when advancement is way out of reach.  It definitely doesn’t give one much motivation to go to school.  In the West we use university and careers to motivate teenagers to study hard and finish high school.  But if education isn’t important in giving you a better job, then why bother?  I know these issues and more are the root causes behind the widespread poverty in Africa, but they’re not issues that will be solved overnight, and they’re definitely not issues we’re going to be able to solve during our time here.  I just want to know how to help a guy that brings me bread every day.  I suppose giving him business on a regular basis is probably one of the best forms of help I can give him, other than being his friend and sharing Christ with him. 

 “Dear Lord, please move and work in the hearts of these people.  Please give us wisdom and discernment in how to handle the various issues that come our way.  Please guide us in how and when to share the gospel.  Grant us opportunities to do so.  Open the doors and pave the way.  May you do a great work in and through us, and even without us, so that we might rejoice in your power and share in your glory.  Thank you, Jesus, for including us in your plans to save the world.  May your Kingdom come and your will be done in Guinea as it is in Heaven.  Amen.”

p.s.  We just had dinner with Calissa.  We had him try spaghetti for the first time, which he didn’t really like though he was very polite to try it.  He didn’t ask for money for school, because it seems he was discouraged by his friends to even find out how much it (the bribe) would cost him to get in.  He did hint at needing funds to be able to buy his own motorcycle.  Apparently the one he uses is a rental and most of the money he makes goes to the owner.  It’s also very hard on him because he basically supports his whole family.  His father is in the hospital, his mother is too old to work, and his brother is lazy.  I’m not sure how true his story is, but these things are very common here.  In the end I told him I couldn’t just give him money, but I would be happy to give him work whenever we could in order to help him out. 

     From there we somehow found our to talking about religion.  I asked him if he knew what it meant to be a Christian and if he wanted to know more about it.  He said he did, so we sat down and went through the gospel message using the illustrations from a Bible cloth.  The conversation seemed to flow naturally, and he genuinely sounded interested.  He responded by saying that he felt like he understood what I was saying and was very grateful to me for sharing.  I told him it’s not enough just to listen, but eventually you have to make a choice, to accept Jesus or not.  I urged him to think about it and invited him to come back if he wanted to talk about it some more.  He suggested we do it again next week. 

    “Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity.  Please move and work in Calissa’s heart as he considers your message, your truth, your Son.  Amen!”