African Church

This morning we attended our first African church service. Everyone started gathering around 9:00am and we left around noon. The singing lasted well over an hour and it was good to see this great amount of hope in Christ in a very difficult place to live. Many of the people we meet on a daily basis are not concerned about tomorrow because they are trying to figure out how to survive today. Life is lived day to day and who knows what tomorrow brings but for the few Christians here, they have confidence in Christ for their future. During church, men sit on one side of the building and women sit on the other side. The preacher was speaking in French but there was also a Bambara speaker who was translating. The Bambara have a large population over Mali and they are the majority where we are staying right now. Over the last few years, there have been several Bambara who have come to Christ and a grass roots movement is starting among their people.

We are starting to get settled in and expect to have a busy week learning and practicing French. Tomorrow, we will have two different language teachers come at different times to teach us for a total of four hours, then we will practice with each other and in the community. Autumn is learning with us so we have a good time in the evenings with our role playing and practicing as a family. You just learn to laugh at each other and yourself.

When we were coming to West Africa, we had limited space in our suitcases. Last night, we were discussing what item has been used the most since arriving in Africa. Our top three were a 220 surge protector and adapter strip, an ipod (for worship we understand), and a gigantic insulated mug from Wal-Mart with a lid. The least used items we brought were socks, there is no need for them here since everyone wears flip flops and sandles. I'm guessing we will have to pack some of these same socks some day when we visit the states.

Pictures are at a minimum right now because we have been told it will be wise to wait on taking a bunch of pictures since we are trying to establish ourselves with the locals as Christians and not as tourists. So for now I have included a couple of pictures of the neighborhood and the roads. Once you see these pictures, you will have a good idea what every neighborhood looks like. Everything looks exactly the same here.

Well, thank you for your visit and continued blessings of prayer and support.

Blessings,

Jon

First Week in Bamoko

Hello everyone,

We are about to finish our first week in Bamako, Mali and I know everyone is interested to know what life is like here. First, let me say we would have blogged sooner but we have not had internet access except when we first arrived. There is so much to tell so I will break it down into travel, food, ministry, and personal thoughts.


Travel - We left Memphis on Friday and flew into Atlanta, then to Paris and on to Bamako. The entire travel time took about 30 hours with layovers from the time we left Arkansas. We were traveling with other missionaries that we had trained with in Virginia and we were all met by the missionaries already here. This was a HUGE blessing! It was good to see another American holding a sign with our last name (we then knew we landed in the right country!) From the airport, we loaded up into private vehicles and started for our new home. I used to laugh about how bad the traffic was in Africa, my laughter has turned into prayer. There are taxis, moto-scooters, buses, pedestrians, animals, and me all trying to go somewhere in what seems to be mass disorganization. It will take time but I will get the hang of it.


Food - There is a good selection of food here in the city. However, the taste may be a little different from what we are used too. For example, milk is bought off the shelf without refrigeration and will last 20 to 30 days after opened but the taste is quite a bit different. We have found one "modern" store that sells meat if you catch them at the right time. There are also small market type stands everywhere to buy fruits and vegetables. These must be scrubbed and put in a bleach soak to kill any undesired organisms. I was frying potatoes last night when two small grasshoppers somehow make their way into the pan, Teresa was not ready for this type of recipe (yet!) so I had to dig them out. However, a pan of potatoes is so time consuming to prepare from the market stand to the table that we decided two little bugs couldn't hurt the whole batch. All in all, we will probably be eating healthier because of the abundance of fruits, vegetables, and all natural ingredients.


Ministry - We are just starting to learn the French language and this will consume a large portion of our week (about 40 hours). However, this 40 hours includes time spent out in the community practicing so we will be able to meet many people. It is of course difficult to communicate but we have met a few people who speak some English. I have met one in particular from Timbuktu (yes, this is a real place and is in Mali). He is a Muslim so I will have soon have the opportunity to share the gospel with him and a group of his friends.

Personal thoughts - It is hot here! Many people have asked if this is what I expected Africa to be like and it is exactly what I expected. What I didn't expect was the adaptation process. I thought that since I knew what to expect everything would be well. However, you can expect something and still not be totally prepared until you have the actual experience. For example, I knew that it would be hot here but my body has had some physical issues adjusting, I am told this will be better after a couple of weeks. Thats just one example but the principle is true for many circumstances. The people here are very friendly and give us a smile wherever we may greet them. These are the people that God has sent us to share good news with and we are blessed to finally be here. It seems like our physical bodies have caught up to where our hearts were planted some time ago. Teresa and Autumn are doing great. Thank you for your support and prayers. I will close with our prayer request and a reminder that Autumn has a bloglink at the very bottom of this blog. (She has posted pictures of our home there) If we have your e-mail, don't be surprised if you get this exact blog because we are going to try and do a bulk e-mail for those who don't check the blog.

PRAYER REQUEST
1. Pray that we will learn the French language and have the joy of the Lord as we learn.
2. Pray for "B" who will be listening to the gospel and translating to his Muslim Friends. A
specific prayer would be for a clear presentation and for light and truth to penetrate hearts.
Pray for a whole hearted decision to follow Christ
3. Pray for initial culture shock to be saturated with the presence and grace of God.

Blessings and Au Revoir (Good Bye!)

Jon

We made it!!!!

Hi everyone, we are on Africa soil! It was a very long flight, not sure I want to do that again anytime soon!! The Mali airport was interesting. After they stop (they don't pull up to the airport), you get on a bus and they drive you across the road (it is just across the road), and then you go in and face the chaotic crowd! It was disorganized to us, but normal to the people here. After getting our luggage (we received all of our luggage!), we made it out and met an amazing welcoming group.

They tried to warn us before arriving how crazy the driving is, well, you can't imagine until you see it! We will be driving tomorrow, so please pray for our travel around the city.

We absolutely love our new home! Autumn had to move to Africa to get her own bathroom. It is very spacious, and it has a tall wall around it. Yes, it is hot, but we do have a air conditioner in the bedroom to use at night. We have a very pretty garden in front of our house. We will post some pictures soon.

We unlocked our gate today and the children swarmed us. Oh, it was awsome. Pray for us as we start our language learning that we may be able to communicate to the people.

Teresa

Crazy week!

Wow, this week has been a whirlwind!! We have been shopping, packing (and more packing) and running around trying to get all the paperwork completed for the sell of our car. You would not believe all the little things that you have to finish before you leave the country for 3 years! :-)

Our commissioning service on Sunday at Emmanuel was great. We spoke (all of us, even Autumn) on Sunday morning about our call, and then Sunday night they had a potluck meal and a question and answer time. It was a great day, we are blessed to have so much support from Emmanuel!

We will be going to the airport early Friday morning and will arrive in Africa around 4:00 central time on Saturday afternoon. Yes, it is a 24 hour flight with layovers!

Please remember our travel in your prayers.........pray for a smooth flight! Praise.......our car will be sold tomorrow (Lord willing!).

We want to thank everyone for your prayers and support. We love all of you and hope to have you come visit us in West Africa soon! :-)

Teresa

It is coming fast!!

We have completed our training at the International Learning Center and have returned to Arkansas. It was a great eight weeks, they put alot of knowledge in our heads........now if we can remember it all when we arrive on the field.

We took the long way back to Arkansas through Kansas City. It was great to see all of our friends and Central family again! It was a blessing to see how God is working at Central, two people made a profession Sunday morning! There were so many new faces........God is not done with Central, He is going to touch that neighborhood through their labor!

Our home church, Emmanuel Baptist, will be hosting a commissioning service for us this Sunday. It is going to be a great opportunity to tell them how God has worked in our life and prepared us for the mission field. We are thankful for the support we receive from Emmanuel!

We have only 10 days left in the states! Wow, I feel so overwhelmed at times! But I know that God is faithful, He has brought us to this point and will continue to go with us. Keep us in your prayers as we pack and finish up the last minute items that need to be taken care of. Also, remember us as we say our goodbyes, there have been many lately but they have not got any easier. We pray that the name of Jesus will be glorified in all we do!

In Christ,
Teresa