Night Walks

Walking at night in Oussouye is an adventure in shades of gray with the sights and sounds around me shadowy at best. The other day as I walked to a friends house late in the evening I happened upon a circle of men sacrificing a chicken. This is a normal event here in Oussouye. They greeted us as they wrung the chickens neck. Every night you can here the drumming of locals dancing at the fetish, sacrificing and praying for help from the gods. On Sunday nights the Muslims propt the loudspeaker up give their worship music loud enough for everyone to hear.

The moon shines in the sky and the stars fill the darkness. The path to my house is dark and broken by a 'Kasume greeting' or a cow mooing and crossing my path. I wander upon goats resting stately on a pile of dung. I dodge the numerous holes in the path. Walking at night can be trechorous to your health as the bats eat the mangoes who drop to the ground in great numbers. Then the cows begin their stampede towards the fallen mangoes. Watch out!

And yet there is a certain tranquility to the night that I enjoy. As silence falls in the dusk and night creeps across the land so does silence, silky and smooth. A rest for the weary, a mental repose from the long days of chatter and village life.

Students

The Bible studies that we host here in Oussouye are reaching out to a large number of students. There is nothing of this kind in Oussouye for the church members let alone for others who do not know God. Last week at the Bible study at Jerome's house the Holy Spirit filled the place and everyone was touched. Some spoke in other tongues but everyone was touched. We pray for more and more encounters of this kind. The Bible Study at the student house brings new people in every single week. There is one guy Mamadou who comes just to practice his English but he hears about God. Another guy came this week whom I prayed for in Esoute and he got healed. Then I had a vision for him this week and he really understood it and knew God was speaking to him. These kind of encounters reveal just how alive God is and the kind of things he wants to do in their lives.

Women's Camp in Ziguinchor

Women's Camp

The camp I attended with the Christian women in Senegal was fantastic. Imagine the collection of Evangelical churches in the Casamance region gathered only about 100 women from all the churches. There are a couple of larger churches in Dakar and someone told me that if they were to gather all of the Christian women in Senegal it would be too large, over 300 Christian women in Senegal. This tells me that there is so much to be done. So many people to talk to and tell them how much God cares about them and wants to be a part of their lives.