Ziguinchor

Trip to Ziguinchor

Throughout the missionary training program we travel on the weekends. This helps the students to learn to travel easier, build relationships with regional churches and see new places. The first weekend in September we traveled to Ziguinchor to spend some time with our friend Offie Bolie and the Sencheba church.

We stayed at the old WEC mission house near the regional hospital. When we arrived Arsen, the caretaker, was sitting and talking with one of the oldest pastors in Senegal. This man is so interesting. He was one of the very first evangelical pastors in Dakar at the very beginning of the church plants here in Senegal. Arsen also told us when we arrived that there had been rebel activity during the last couple of nights in the forests behind the regional hospital. This gave me something to think about as I pondered over whether I had made the right decision to bring us to Ziguinchor. But as our program emphasizes immersion and following the Senegale manner of living, they were not alarmed or leaving the city, so we would also relax and enjoy our weekend.

Friday we wandered around the market and enjoyed buying new things. In the evening playing pitch and dice at the guest house. Saturday we went swimming and in the evening enjoyed a fantastic dinner of deer and wild pig meat with Offie. Then Sunday Tom and I spoke together at Offie's church. We had a really wonderful time during this trip. During the church service Offie welcomed Tom and Lorrie to Senegal and said they would always have a place with the Sencheba church. This was encouraging to me as I see Tom and Lorrie already making their mark on this place and being woven into the fabric of our relationships here.