Dalaba Vacation

December 28, 2012

     You know you’ve adjusted to missionary life when foreign, exotic experiences seem normal and no longer strange.  I realized this was the case when driving down a long, dirt road in the mountains of Guinea, headed towards another remote waterfall, we saw monkeys cross the path.  As fun and exciting as the experience was, somehow it felt normal.  I realized in the moment that the past nine years have been anything but normal.  Jen and I moved to Panama, a completely unknown environment, newly married and recently graduated from college.  We’ve had the privilege of hiking through jungles in Panama, wading through rivers in Costa Rica, and trekking up mountains in Ecuador.  Furthermore I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to travel to Thailand, Senegal, Peru, and Nepal.  And now we’re living in Guinea.

      I realize this is also due to the company we have kept.  For the past nine years we’ve been surrounded by people who regularly travel and live in extreme places, surrounded by foreign cultures, experiencing exotic things all the time.  So when you get together, swapping stories about recent trips and interesting occurrences, these adventures begin to seem like this is everyday life, nothing out of the ordinary, no big deal.  But then I remember what it’s like to be back home, to get the weird, nonsensical questions, to meet people who have lived their whole lives in the same country, or worse yet, in the same state.  Now that’s strange! 

     So when I find myself diving off cliffs and scrambling up waterfalls in the middle of the African Savanna, somehow it feels normal, even natural.  My only real question (other than whether or not there are any snakes nearby) is whether or not I’ll ever be able to adapt back in the U.S., to settle down and live amongst “normal” people.  That’s the question we’re pondering for next year, weighing what God has for us and seeking His will for the future.  It’s almost been nine years since we left the U.S.  We’re considering going back, but are unsure if we’re fit for that kind of life.  It’s strange that I would feel more fearful about living in my “home” country than moving to Africa, but I guess that’s what we’ve been talking about all along:   “Strange” is strictly a subjective point view.  Of course there are also the options of going back to Panama or staying in Guinea.  God has been so good to us wherever we go, it’s hard to discern and decide.

     Other than these ponderings, we’ve had a busy and fun Christmas.  Our gift giving went well.  The neighbors were very surprised and showed their gratitude through great, big smiles, telling us we were “welcome any time.”  Following this we traveled about 12 hours to Dalaba, stopping in Conakry midway.  Dalaba is a mountain town in central Guinea.  The region is the main producer of potatoes and produce for the country.  Similar to Panama’s Chiriqui, it is very prolific in oranges, avocadoes, tomatoes, and even some coffee beans.  But mostly potatoes.  Most of the vegetables get trucked out to Conakry, but they’re also sold at the Sunday market, which we made sure to visit.  We also visited several waterfalls, diving and swimming in them whenever possible.  I’ll spare you the details and try to include pictures, though I’m sure they won’t do justice to the incredible beauty and variety God has placed in these extremely remote, and difficult to access places. 

     In going to Dalaba we were hoping for cold weather.  The Galvez had visited this area in July and were forced to wear jackets and sweaters to keep warm.  They had been told December is even colder.  Unfortunately, this was not the case.  The climate was fresher and dryer than Boke, but not necessarily cold.  It cooled off enough in the evenings to warrant a fire in the fire place, but mostly this was just to pretend like it was cold.  Still, it was a really nice Christmas.  We were able to hang our stockings with care, we were able to see pine trees (as opposed to our fake Christmas tree at home), and we were able to celebrate Christ’s birth with loved ones and friends—speaking of strange, I lauged as we spent Christmas eve eating Mexican food with a Columbian family in the heart of Africa.  I’m sure it will prove to be a memorable experience.  On Christmas day I told Nico and Isabella, as we hiking to yet another diving spot, “next year you’ll be sitting at home, trying to remember what you did last Christmas and you’ll remember this experience and smile.”   Yes, a truly memorable experience.

    To top it all off, on the way home our car tire blew out.  There’s a certain sinking feeling you feel in the pit of your stomach when you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere, in a country without tow trucks, wondering how on earth you’re going to get a replacement because the spare tire also has a hole in it.  Thankfully the Lord gave us peace, he provided help, and we were able to buy a spare tire at a little town down the road.  It was a great reminder that God is with us wherever we go.  Whether the road seems strange or normal, He is always there!

  Thank you, Lord for a pleasant vacation.  Thanks for the amazing world you’ve created, full of wonder and amazing things to experience.  I stand in awe at your glory, all that you are and all that you’ve created.  Thanks for allowing us the honor of experiencing your presence in these exotic places.  Please continue to guide and lead us wherever you would have us go.  Help us to follow you and serve you the best we can.  May you reveal yourself to us and be glorified us in wherever that may be.  Amen!  

December 15, 2012

     We survived our first bout with malaria.  This was my biggest fear, and it turned out to be nothing at all.  Actually, the missionaries here treat malaria a little like the flu.  It can be quite dangerous and even deadly, but if you catch the symptoms early and start treatment right away it’s not usually a big deal.  On Sunday night Nathanael mentioned he had a slight headache.  The next morning the headache had grown worse.  Excruciating headaches are one of the symptoms of malaria, along with a fever and other unpleasant elements.  Nathanael isn’t accustomed to having headaches so we rushed him to the clinic right away.  The clinic administered a blood test and confirmed that he did in fact have a small case of malaria along with some kind of infection.  “This is Africa,” they said with a smile, as if everyone who comes to Africa is bound to catch something.  They then gave us a prescription for a few meds.   

       That night Nathanael progressively grew worse, with a strong fever and strong headaches.  Thankfully he fell asleep early and slept the whole night.  The next morning he was still a little weak and suffered some small vomiting due to the medicine, but by lunch time he was right as rain.  On the third day we finished the treatment and sent him back to school.  As I said, most missionaries here treat this as if it were the flu.  There’s not much you can do to avoid getting it (there are medicines you can take, but they are often accompanied by strong side effects like depression, strange dreams, etc… and are not recommended for long term use) and if you treat it early it goes away pretty fast.  We were very thankful to have caught this right at the beginning and that it was truly a mild case.  Once again the Lord has been good to us, protecting us and pouring out his favor upon us.  Praise the Lord!

     This past week was also spirit week at school.  The kids wanted to do a fun dress up week, so we picked the before-last week of school (often the hardest to get through).  Each day the kids had something to look forward to as we followed CCA inspired themes.  Monday was Mismatch Day; Tuesday, Twin Day; World Wednesday (international outfits); Superhero Thursday; and Funny Friday.  There were some pretty interesting outfits especially on Thursday and Friday, and I’m sure our neighbors thought we had gone nuts.  But it helped us get through the week, and our kids had a blast.

     This Friday I also went out to the market and finished my Christmas shopping.  This time my shopping list was for our neighbors and house helpers.  I was truly experiencing the biblical principle “it is more blessed to give than to receive,” as I planned and bought and anticipated the reactions of the recipients about to receive these gifts.  It’s even more fun because I know they don’t expect them at all.  Since this isn’t a normal holiday for them, and since gift giving isn’t part of their traditions, I know the gifts will come as a total surprise.  We hope and pray it will communicate the love of Jesus and will give us an opportunity to share about Jesus with them.  Whatever the results, I am excited to be able to give them.

     Today Andres and I did our second training of children’s ministry leaders.  This one was for the church in Kamsar.  Though I have only visited this church once before, I was truly impressed by this little congregation.  They are a small group of believers, maybe 50 in attendance, that meet in a local school classroom (think wooden benches and an old school blackboard).  The joy in their singing and worship is absolutely infectious. The pastor and his wife are a young couple, who were both raised in “pagan families,” as they expressed it.  Yet they both came to the Lord and felt the call to serve Him in ministry.  They now live in a very humble neighborhood surrounded by small, family-owned crops, and raw sewage running through their backyard.  Pastor Joseph is an incredibly sharp man with an absolute passion to help his congregation grow spiritually.  I believe he and his wife have two children, but the neighborhood kids are constantly surrounding their house so it’s hard to tell. 

     Last time we visited, they invited us into their home and fed us lunch.  This time we were also in their home as the room they usually use for church was being occupied by the school.  Six members were in attendance, including the pastor and his wife.  Though the group was small, my impression from the pastor was that he was soaking up everything he could receive, and was ready to pass it on to others.  He told us he feels strongly that he and the elders need to be part of each “movement” (youth, kids, women, choir, etc…) to support, encourage, supervise, and pray for them so they can be as effective as possible.  He’s making it a point to do everything he can to motivate and train up leaders in the church to take on the ministry, to reach more people.  I felt blessed to be able to support him in his vision and calling. 

     And now we’re just a few days away from the end of the first semester.  On Wednesday we’ll have a special Christmas presentation with the kids and parents of our little school.  Afterwards we’ll do a simple gift exchange and lunch.  Then on Thursday we head off to the Guinean mountains for some R&R, and assuredly some fresh, cool, mountain air. 

     We wish all of our friends and family members a Merry Christmas.  We miss you and look forward to seeing you in 2013.

Merry Christmas!  And Happy New Year!

Jen's bday

     Yesterday was Jen’s birthday.  To celebrate the occasion, we dropped the kids off at the Galvez’ and took off for Kamsar.  Our date included eating out for lunch, spending time at the pool, and Christmas shopping.  There aren’t a lot of options for shopping here so we’re having to be creative.  The nice thing is that I will successfully complete all my shopping without having to set even one foot in the mall.  Yippee!

       It’s strange being in a country where we’re the only ones celebrating Christmas.  The grocery store owner is a Catholic Lebanese, so he had some decorations up, but there isn’t a sign of Christmas anywhere else.  One of my favorite traditions at Christmas is to drive around to see Christmas lights.  When we moved to Panama, Jen and I were hard pressed to find many lights.  We did find one good street in Clayton that really decorates, but other than that it was pretty sparse.  Well, I’m pretty sure Guinea will take the cake in terms of no lighting.  The nice thing is we do have a tree, and Diana gave us some lights to hang up.  So between 6:30 and 7 p.m. (when the sun is still out but it’s dark enough to see the lights inside) we turn on the lights and sit there, basking in the soft, warm glow, trying to ignore the warmth of the evening air.  All that to say that even though it’s not Christmas in Guinea, Christmas still lives in our hearts.  It’s all part of the adventure, I guess.

     Following our shopping, we returned to the Galvez where we had a pizza party in Jen’s honor.  Diana and Corrine did an amazing job of cooking up a buffet of pizzas, followed by cake and homemade ice cream.  Pizza is Jen’s favorite comfort food right now, and ice cream is an amazing treat as it’s super expensive in the grocery store and you can’t get it anywhere else. 

    So my wife is now a year older, though still just as beautiful and young in spirit as before.  Jen’s comment on the day was, “it was different, but good.”  I guess there’s not much else to say when you’re celebrating life on a continent thousands of miles from your birth country.  Then again, that’s why I’m the one writing the really long blog posts while Jen sticks to facebook, haha!

Happy Birthday Jen!  I love you!

December 1^st, 2012

     The weather has finally changed.  For the past month Andres has been falsely predicting the last rain storm and the coming of the dry season.  He’s also been telling us it’s supposed to get cooler.  If we had been living in Old Testament times, we would have stoned him by now.  Fortunately for him, it seems the rains have finally stopped.  I was surprised how everyone seems excited for this.  From what I’ve heard it gets really dry here, all the grass dies out, and everything turns red and dusty—not something I think would be worth looking forward to.  However, for the farmers the dry season is good news, because it means they can harvest the peanuts.  This year already they’ve seen the peanuts begin to sprout new shoots.  This means they’re unusable.  So people are worried there will be a shortage of peanuts to sell, and fewer peanuts to replant next year.  Less crops means less income. 

     For Nicolas and Pablo, the dry season means more soccer.  So far for me it just means fewer puddles on the road, and less breeze in the air.  Up till now the weather has been warm all through the day, but the rains have brought in a nice, cool wind.  Without the rains we haven’t had that nice breeze to cool things down.  The air in our house seems to just sit there.  The heat seems pretty comparable to Panama’s, maybe not as humid, but then again we don’t have the comfort of retreating into our air conditioned home.  Instead we seem to just sweat.  It reminds of going to camp.  Camp was always sweaty, but even Chame had ceiling fans.  Our home here has ceiling fans, but they aren’t hooked up yet.  We’ve been bugging Cees to hook them up.  So far he’s been too busy to get around to it, or perhaps he’s dreading the fact that it’s such a big job.  Either way the fans continue to mock us, and we continue to sweat. 

     I do have to say, though, that the weather has been cooling down a little in the late evenings and early in the mornings.  It takes a while for the air in our home to feel this effect, but by about 2 a.m. we’re able to pull up the quilted blanket and feel nice and snug.  Of course this is all temporary.  We’re told that March ushers in the hot season.  By May the heat is supposed to be unbearable.  I don’t think it’s the sweltering, humid air of the tropics, but more of the dry, oppressive heat of the desert.  We’re told it gets so hot that people here sleep outside.  They just plop their mattresses in the front yard and do the best they can to stay cool.  Of course, the missionaries (ourselves included) all have water beds.  It’s true having the water under you does help a lot.  It’s strange though feeling cold underneath and warm above.  Usually it’s the opposite.  So, I guess we need to soak up this slightly cooler weather while it lasts, and hope that our family survives the heat later on.  School will be most interesting then.  Thankfully Cees did install the fans there, if only the power would stop turning off…  Never a dull moment in Guinea!

  Now for something a little more heavy than the weather.  A couple weeks ago I mentioned a young lady that had gotten rid of all her amulets in hopes of finding healing for a sickness.  The young lady's name is Dalouba.  Specifically the sickness is something that resembles epilepsy, though we believe her "spells" are spirit-based.  She has shared with Corinne that she is regularly plagued by dreams of demons visiting her.  Apparently in one of these dreams, a demon proposed to her and gave her a wedding ring.  The girl relates that she can vividly see this ring in the visions, though you can't see it in real life.  It's usually the day after she has one of these dreams that Dalouba will suddenly pass out and fall on the ground.
      Corinne has shared the gospel with her very clearly, and the girl has indicated that she believes in Jesus and has accepted Him into her heart.  For a while the spells went away, but now they're back.  We're pretty sure Satan is trying one last time to maintain his grip on this girl's life, and is unwilling to let her go.  Furthermore, many of her family members are closely watching this situation, waiting to see who is more powerful.  We also have suspicions of possible witchcraft being exerted against this girl because of the newfound faith she is professing.
      Today Dalouba was in church and the believers there all prayed for her.  Please pray for her also, that God would bind up the evil that is operating in her life, that He would set Dalouba free from this oppression, and that He would be glorified in such a way that more Jahangos would put their faith in Him.  Hallelujah!

November 27, 2012

     This past weekend was busy.  On Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving as a team.  It was Jen and I’s first time hosting a Thanksgiving.  We had lots of fun rearranging the furniture, setting the table, and putting up decorations.  The meal itself was really tasty, and made me quite happy.  It was a little strange celebrating with a crowd that normally do not have Thanksgiving, and it was definitely strange that no one else in Guinea was celebrating along with us, but all in all we had a great time. 

     This year I am especially thankful for having the opportunity to be here in Guinea.  It was just about a year ago that we received the invitation to come here.  This year has been a welcome change of pace and scenery. We are also particularly grateful for the opportunity to support an “unreached peoples” project, watching God work to bring all nations into His Kingdom.  Since we have gotten here we’ve also been extremely grateful for the way God has answered so many of our prayers.  Protection, health, transition, a comfortable home, space and freedom from demanding neighbors, new ministry opportunities, all are things we’re so thankful to have.

   The day after Thanksgiving, as per our tradition, we redecorated our house with a Christmas theme.  Last year we had sent some of our Christmas stuff ahead with Andres’ parents.  The Galvez were also very thoughtful in buying some decorations from departing missionaries, including a fake Christmas tree and ornaments.  As we were decorating the house, the neighbor girls happened to show up for a lesson.  Instead, we invited them in, and they helped us decorate.  I then sat down with them and went through the Christmas story, explaining some of our themes like the stars and angel, the nativity scene, etc…  I don’t know if they understood it all, but they sure had fun.  Nathanael and Abi also enjoyed themselves, and are finally old enough to begin anticipating the big day.  Nat kept asking when we were going to fill his stocking. 

    Saturday, I taught a conference for the Sangaredi church.  We were expecting between 6 to 10 people, and ended up with 20.  The people seemed very appreciative, and the youth pastor held a small meeting afterwards to get people to commit to teaching the kids.  Up till now children’s ministry has mainly been babysitting the small kids while the adults sit in the service.  The pastor was excited that the kids would now be able to receive real teachings. 

     On Sunday we returned to Sangaredi for a marathon service (about 2 ½ hours).  One of the reasons it went so long was because they had a young man give a special bible study at the beginning of the service.  I think it was supposed to be like a Sunday School class, but instead of being separate from the service, they just added it as part of the program.  So, we were blessed to get two sermons for the price of one. 

     Following the service we then went on a tour of the BCG mine.  This is something we had hoped to do as a field trip for the kids, but the mine would only let us do it on a Sunday when there is less heavy machinery operating.  Mining bauxite and other minerals is one of Guinea’s greatest natural resources.  It’s so abundant, they don’t even go underground.  Instead, big tractors and trucks just dig it right out of the mountainside, leveling whole plateaus.  They then send it via a train to Kamsar, before shipping it off to Europe and the States.  They use this bauxite to produce aluminum, and it’s the sole reason for the more advanced community in Kamsar, the shopping center, the internet, and the pool.  Sangaredi also is more modern, with many neighborhoods looking almost like a suburban community in the U.S.  Of course, these homes are mostly for the foreign workers, not the nationals.  This is the same company that gives the mission free shipping and pool passes.  So of course after the tour of the mine, we had to go swimming.

     Back at school, we are now three and a half weeks away from Christmas break.  Each weekend before then will be equally packed with shopping trips, a missionary homeschool meeting, Jen’s birthday, and another seminar.  It seems like a lot, but I know time will fly.  Over Christmas we are planning to go to the mountains with the Galvez.  They promise us cooler weather and lots of good hiking.  I don’t think it will snow, but it’s the closest we’ll be able to get to a White Christmas.   We’re looking forward to the cold and the rest.

“Thank you, Lord, for your many blessings.  Thank you for hearing and answering our prayers.  Continue to manifest your power and love on our behalf. And please pour out your grace and forgiveness on our neighbors and the Jahango people.  Reveal yourself to them, soften their hearts, and send forth your Word with power.  Amen!”