Cartwheels and Good Conversation

Our day started with smiles and cartwheels!  WATI is located in a small village called Djilas, where a group of energetic young boys await our arrival each morning.  Carlton promised them he would bring a soccer ball by Thursday, so he was on a quest for a ball this morning on our way to Djilas.  When we drove up and Carlton showed them the soccer ball through the window, there was an epic celebration like none we’ve ever seen in the U.S.  All the Christmas’s and birthday celebrations combined don’t come close to the excitement the boys showed over the soccer ball.  They jumped and screamed, hugged and did handstands to show their exhilaration over Carlton’s fulfilled promise.  Our entire team was almost in tears because it was such a moving exchange. 

We worked at a slower pace today since Mamadou sensed fatigue from our team.  There wasn’t a negative word spoken or a hint of laziness from the students, Mamadou is just keenly aware of the people around him.  We moved a tremendous amount of bricks to assist the masons in their building, but we spent even more time on break!  The breaks are filled with wonderful conversation.  We’ve been able to bond with local students who drop by to see the Americans, and we’re able to truly enjoy relationship with one another.  Sharmonique will say, “Hey what’s been your favorite part of Africa?”  And everyone shares what they’re learning and appreciating.  Another minute we’ll all bust out singing Rihanna together.  And the next Seville will crack us up with his humor…that boy marches to the beat of his own drum and we absolutely love the sound!  We’re experiencing the beauty of community in ways that we rarely do at home.  The group seems to think it’s because we pile so many tasks on our plates at home that we run from one thing to the next, often missing the most important thing: relationships. 

The Senegalese move at a pretty slow pace.  At the beginning of the trip, we found ourselves getting frustrated with the 45 minutes elapsing from when we ordered our food to when it was placed in front of us.  We’ve come to embrace the pace, however, as we’ve seen the joy that comes from the opportunity to just be together.  We sit around the table for 2 hours at dinner time and we laugh, ask questions, score on each other and just enjoy life with one another.  We spent a good portion of that time tonight discussing Jesus’ statement that we’re to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  By the end of the spirit led conversation, we determined that our job is to be salt and light; not to strive really hard to do the jobs of salt and light.  Our job is to recognize our identities are in Christ and His finished work on the cross, and for our goodness to be the outpouring of our relationship with Him.  That’s the good stuff right there!  We’re eating a lot of fish and rice here in Senegal, but we’re getting to the meat and potatoes of Christianity. 

We're all intrigued by the real live chameleon on the stick

Love and Laughter in the Family of Faith

Well friends, we encountered our first significant issue last night.  Tim and Seville were minding their own business in their hotel room when a lizard scurried across the floor.  Evidently this sent both of them into a tizzy and they ran out of the room screaming like girls, begging T.O. to let them sleep in his room where they would be safe from the lizard.  Obviously their fright wasn’t received too well by the rest of the guys, but it certainly didn’t help their case when it was reported this morning that I (Julie) saw a colossal lizard running across my wall….and simply rolled over and went back to sleep.  Needless to say, Tim and Seville could use your prayers!  In their defense, the lizards here are at least three times larger than any lizards we see in America; and some have neon yellow heads attached to blue bodies. 

Back: Mamadou, Carlton, T.O
Front: Seville, Songo, Dethie

We’re exactly halfway through our trip now and we truly feel we’re among family here.  Mamadou asked two men he disciples to join us for the week, Songo and Dethie (Detch-ee), and the three of them have been with us for every meal, bus ride, work day and excursion.  Songo and Dethie both speak phenomenal English so they translate for Mamadou whenever he’s struggling to effectively communicate.  It’s been fun to watch our students bring the men right into the family.  It feels like we’re connecting with older brothers who have a wealth of wisdom to share.  The students are constantly asking questions about Senegal, about their testimonies, about Muslims, mango trees, the government, the school system, the soccer fields and everything in between.  We can’t get enough of our Senegalese brothers!  Lights are coming on in the minds of our students as their conception of the world is rapidly expanding and their notion of the Body of Christ is taking a new shape.  Christianity is exploding from something they heard about in Dallas to a dynamic, worldwide movement involving risk and opposition and persecution and redemption.  The kinship among the entire team is absolutely beautiful. 

Ms. Jacque's not kidding around with that mask!

We’re continuing to find joy through working with our hands at the West Africa Theological Institute.  We’ve painted several buildings, and Ms. Annie actually painted Carmen’s blue hat when she dropped the roller on top of her head!  We’ve been working on a new building which involves mixing concrete, moving massive amounts of dirt with wheel barrels, transporting bricks and many hours with the local masons.  Sometimes they make us feel like we’re in their way, but they told Mamadou that our team was a huge help today and they were thankful we were there.  We celebrated the victory with the juiciest mangoes our lips have ever tasted!

I don’t want to say that every moment has been easy breezy because it hasn’t.  Our team is working hard and we’re together every moment of every day.  I know sometimes people are tired, muscles are hurting, buttons are pushed and we’re all stretched.  But I’ve been blown away with each person’s ability to extend grace.  The Apostle Paul wasn’t lying when he said, “Love covers over a multitude of sins.”  Love has trumped everything on this trip at every turn.  When Mamadou shared a word with our team last night, he said, “Love is expensive.”  He said it costs a lot when we love someone – our money, our time, our devotion, and often our lives.  But he said we Christians choose to spend our entire selves to love others because Jesus paid the highest price ever paid when He sacrificed everything for us.  He said when we give up our comfort and immediate desires in order to sacrificially love others, we’re following in the most beautiful footsteps that have ever walked the earth.  That’s sinking in with our team.  We’re hearing testimony after testimony of incredible men who converted from the Muslim faith to Christianity, and the reason is because they found love in Jesus like none they’d ever known before.

And did I mention how much fun we’re having together?!  We laughed so much at dinner tonight that people were springing up from the table to run to the restroom.  Like, we’re talking stomach hurting, cramp causing, uproars of laughter!  This week will be forever treasured in the minds and hearts of our entire team.  

Day 4: Hard work and Good food

Day 4: Hard work, Good food and a Boat ride

From Carlton's Notebook

Each day has had it own story. Today's story has 2 main parts: Work & Food 

Work

Today was our second day of work at the West African Theological Institute. From the beginning, I had butterflies in my stomach. I was up tight because our leader, Pastor Mamadu had warned us that at the work site, there would be Muslims. That did worry me as much until he said that a group of young, local, Islamic believers had attacked a local church and it's Pastor. He also cautioned us to the fact that because we were Christians they may not accept us and may even have rude things to say to us. 

Well today was intense! As we entered the gates, we saw that there were more workers than yesterday. We divided up the work assignments between painting, moving dirt and digging the foundation. I was assigned to digging which was the place where the 6 Muslim workers were. As I tried to get involved they quickly noticed two things: The first was that I could not speak french and the other was that I was not used to digging. Through out my 5 hours of working with the group they continued to make jokes about "the American", referring to me.  They also gave me the worst shovel and continued to give me the jobs that no one wanted. 

I worked hard as I could despite the ridicule. I didn't take a break until I saw them take one. In the end, they told one of our translators that I worked hard and did a good job. I believe I left with their respect and friendship.

J

Food
It has been said that you have not been to Senegal, unless you have had fish and rice. Well that is what we had for lunch today. In fact, we shared a meal the way Senegalese people do. With our hands! Today was awesome:)

Working at WATI

We had a full day at WATI today (West Africa Theological Institute).  We took a 45 minute bus ride through the villages to Djilas, where WATI is located.  Mamadou had the vision to start WATI several years after he became a Christian because he saw many men were eager to become pastors, but they had little knowledge of the Bible.  He says the Lord is capturing the hearts of many Muslim men, but they need to be trained in the Word of God in order to make disciples of their villages.  So he says they pour into Pauls, and each Paul has a Timothy in his village with him.  The Timothy learns under the Paul for about 3 years, and then the Paul moves on to another village and the Timothy becomes the new Paul.  Each set of Paul and Timothy’s have  three other Christians from the village who serve alongside them, and when a Timothy becomes a Paul, one of those three becomes a new Timothy…and the discipleship process continues as they all serve the entire community.  WATI holds classes for all five of those men, along with women who want to learn to disciple women and children.  Mamadou is an incredible leader and man of God.  As he shared how his vision for WATI has come to fruition, I couldn’t help but feel like we have several Pauls and Timothy’s (and Lydia’s!) on this trip.  

We started the day by sanding the buildings we will be painting for the rest of the week.  You would have thought we were in a contest to see who could sand the most territory because everyone was working so diligently and so fast.  I had to force T.O. and Adrienne to stop and pose for this picture on the left….okay that might have been a stretch, you know those two love to pose!  In all honesty though, the students and leaders each jumped to do every job with ZERO grumbling or complaining.  I’m blown away by the team’s work ethic and so proud to work alongside them.

The daily customs of the Senegalese people are new to all of us.  We were fascinated by their well and wanted to take turns drawing buckets of water.  They had to cut us off whenever we gathered water for projects cause we got a little too excited with the activity!

The women endure a grueling process to make coucous.  They take the millet gathered from the fields and place it in this large bucket, then vigorously pound away until its ground into powder.  We watched in wonder and Sharmonique said, “And we get mad when the microwave takes too long!”  Wisdom is pouring from the students left and right.  As we chatted over a break, I overheard Carmen and T.O. discussing how lazy we are in the states.  They aren’t bashing the States; they’re just recognizing the need to be resourceful like the Africans and to take advantage of all the opportunities available to them.  I hear them using that word time and again as they observe the people in the village, “Man, they’re so resourceful.” 

We took a break for lunch, and everyone ate with such grateful spirits.  Today’s lunch consisted of bread and jelly, and you would have thought we’d been served jelly prepared for royalty.  They ate it with such joy and didn’t say a single word about wanting anything else in the world.  I couldn’t be more proud of our students.  Everyone's noted the way Mamadou has prepared the very best for us at every point, and the team couldn’t be more appreciative.  We eat the jelly with an understanding that something like jelly is definitely a delicacy in the village, and we’re utterly grateful.

 A few of us wandered into another part of the village during a break and we found the most adorable baby in the whole wide world.  We used broken (very broken) French to tell the family how precious their baby was, and they used less broken English to say how fascinating they thought my camera was.  They didn’t know about the automatic flash, however, and were noticeably frightened when they found out by taking a close up of the baby’s face. 

After lunch we shoveled dirt and raked leaves.  Our team made the shoveling experience into wheel barrel races and spent some time in heated competition.  I’m hearing a lot of laughter and seeing smiles at every turn.  As the students are reflecting, they seem to recognize that we’re unbelievably blessed, that we’re far too ungrateful, and that it’s time to begin considering how we can use our resources to serve the world around us.  The overarching theme in all the feedback is that we can’t allow all our blessings to simply terminate on us.  They aren’t feeling guilty over the fact that we’re blessed, but guilt over the fact that we don’t acknowledge it more and honor God by using our gifts to bless others.  We’re all learning so much from the men and women here in Senegal and from incredible conversation with one another.  The Lord is clearly working through every moment and He’s hearing our cries (and yours) to open the eyes of our hearts so that we might see Christ more clearly than ever before. 

Church in Senegal!

We stayed in Dakar last night which is the capital city of Senegal. It's home to Mamadou and his church family where we had the privilege of worshiping this morning. On our way to church, Mamadou drove us by their old church building, pictured on the right. It was torn down a week ago because the government decided to build a road right through it.  

We then headed to the new site they're so grateful to have received: a place where they could erect a tent just behind a home. We listened to them worshiping the God we all serve, but in a foreign tongue. We heard them read the same Scriptures we hear day in and day out, but in a language that is uniquely theirs and heard by God with the same clarity. Then we listened to the pastor share from the book of Acts through two different translators who represented the various groups gathered to worship. The pastor spoke about how wealthy they are  because they have mansions in heaven. He rejoiced over how rich they are because riches are found in relationship with Jesus. Most of them live in the village pictured below, and their church was just torn down a week ago, yet they are rejoicing with shouts and praises about how WEALTHY they are because of Jesus. It was mind boggling and humbling for our group to take it all in. 

After church we stopped by the school Mamadou's church oversees. It is a private school where about 150 children from the village attend, and their mission is to tell all of their families about Christ. We are praying about ways we can help raise money for their school since the children in the village captured our students' hearts.

We departed from Dakar and began the three hour bus ride out to the village we will stay in for the rest of our time here. It was incredible to hear the kids talking about how much we have to be grateful for back home. Adrienne said, "Man we so spoiled and we don't even realize it!" They initiated conversation about how we have air conditioning, fresh water, a free education they complain about, and so many other gifts they take for granted. Every single one of us was deeply impacted by the church's spirit of gratitude and it had us begging Jesus for a similar spirit by the end of the day. 




On our drive to the village we're staying in, we passed villages that we had never imagined existed. The houses were all made of clay and bamboo. It was difficult to see the dirt roads at times because there were piles of trash all over the place. Our kids were saying they had no idea people lived like that. They began brainstorming about ways we might be able to help them long term. The wheels were turning for each of them as they began to realize how privileged they are, and that "to whom much is given, much is required." They are continuing to think about ways they can help the people here in Africa, and specific ways they can take what they're learning here to serve our community in West Dallas. Listening to our kids processing is like a sonnet spoken softly in my ears. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL! 


We are staying at a gorgeous hotel right on the river so we spent the evening resting, sharing, and enjoying a three course meal with one another. We weren't about to complain about the dressing on our salads or other details we might have mentioned before the trip. An appreciation for the salad itself is already beginning to overshadow the little things that might have bothered us before. I'm praising God every moment for the opportunity to process through such enormous questions with these amazing young leaders. 

Our Student Leaders in Africa!

We arrived in Senegal after an overnight transatlantic plane ride! We landed early this morning and held tight until we were riding in a bus with Mamadou Diop, the 7 foot local pastor with a heart of gold. He has coordinated our entire trip on this side of the ocean, and he will join us on all our adventures throughout our time here. I honestly feel privileged to have the opportunity to spend a week with a leader like him. He's quiet but has a strong presence everywhere we go. Here he is towering over T.O. below :)

We hit the ground running this morning and went to Goree Island, a historically popular destination in Dakar where the slaves used to be sold in the 16^th century.  We took a ferry out to the island and soaked in the beautiful scenery!  It was crowded with kids running around begging for money, and men and women fighting to earn a living.  While there are no longer slaves held on the island, we couldn’t help but feel like a significant number of the people are still in bondage.  It’s a spiritual bondage that we pray is broken by an understanding of the freedom offered to them through relationship with Jesus.  The country is still 94% Muslim, which is why we hope to provide encouragement to the Christian pastors at the West Africa Theological Institute during our time here.  Our team is pictured at the slave quarters below. 

We ate a delicious meal on the coast: fresh fish grilled with its skin, gills and eyeballs intact!  Everyone raved about it, yet we all grew in appreciation for the small blessings of Texas; like not having to constantly fan our food to keep the flies away.  It was a joy to hear the students sharing how grateful they are to be here and how grateful they are for the gifts they have back at home.  We are blown away by the beauty of Senegal and it still feels so surreal.  It’s also amazing to see that we are a blessed country in America and to grow in gratitude for those things in the midst of our fun and exciting time here! 

Lastly, are we not the luckiest people in the world to get to go on our adventures around the world with students as cool as the ones you see below? We are so blessed to spend a week with Adrienne, Seville, T.O., Carmen and Seville; and we're savoring every moment of this incredible opportunity!