Termites

Yes Africa is known for it's GIANT termite mounds.  I battle them in my yard as well.  They bother me the most when the rainy season starts and they flutter out of their mountain of sand and in their thousands try to get into my house.  So I asked my gardener to bring their houses down.  These particular termite mounds have only been there for about a year.  From one mound Daniel pulled out the queen, this big squirmy worm, their precious leader.  The second mound was built around a tree and Daniel was digging in such a way that it wouldn't fall down in a dangerous manner.  While digging he heard a noise and jumped out of the hole quickly and the whole hill fell over.  God totally saved Daniel from the termites. 

Tabaski

Tabaski is the Muslim holiday that celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son and God's provision of the lamb.  Sheep are sold ALL over Senegal during the season before Tabaski and it's even more common to travel with sheep on the roof of your car.  I have been invited several times to pass the holiday in Loudia Olof.  Loudia is one of two primarily Muslim villages on the Elinkin road about an hour walk from my house.  Christine and I set out on the walk to Loudia chatting along the way.  We were welcomed into the village and met the families of the seven or so high school girls I know from there. 

After the sheep are killed, for breakfast they cook up the liver.  As we were making the rounds of greeting everyone we were served a taste of the liver every where we went.  I saw children playing with the sheep's severed head.  The food was however VERY delicious.  In one house curiously enough we met some Christian girls who had come home for the holiday.  Just before we left I was able to share more about friendship with God with one of the girls we met. 

Women's Seminar in Ziguinchor

In November we attended a seminar for the Christian women of our region.  There were about 30 women who were able to come from all the villages of the Cassamance.  Things really dragged for the first day.  Everyone seemed very guarded unwilling to open up about their problems.  I saw a vision on Saturday morning of the ladies laying their burdens down in the center of our circle.  The word was that if they didn't lay their burdens down today they were going to return to their villages still carrying these heavy loads.  After I spoke several other ladies spoke about what they sensed had been happening spiritually over the previous day.  The ladies began to open up about their struggles and they DANCED!!  They danced and laid down their burdens in the center of our circle.  I believe many women were refreshed and renewed. 

Thanksgiving in Senegal

I love to invite people into my home for Thanksgiving and share our American holiday with them.  This year Christine and I divided up the cooking and placed all the food on one large platter in the traditional Senegalese style.  The meat in the center and the fixings around the edges.  There were ten young people who joined with us in the feast.  The day ended with a chance to skype with friends in the United States.  It was a wonderful holiday.

New Furniture

Some friends of mine recently decided to leave the mission field.  I inquired about some things in their home that I always loved.  In 2008 I spent Christmas with them and enjoyed loafing on the couch in their guest house reading a book for my vacation.  And the couch did indeed need a new home.  Along with a table, stove and some other odds and ends that makes the Missionary Training Center a more comfortable place to live and study.

Thank you Westfield Family Physicians for Frisbees

All you need is a clothes line and a table

This Wednesday it was fun to see my kids use whatever they had to play games.  I had to paddles that the bouncy balls had fallen off of, so they created a new game.  Ping pong.  They used my old table or they just played on the tiles.  They used the clothesline for bad-mitten.  They also created their own version of Sorry and were actually playing some of the other more unusual card games. 

The tree and its fruit

For this Bible study the kids had to put fruit on the tree in order to save the tree.  Problem was they missed the tree with no fruit on it and added all the fruit to the tree that already had fruit.  It was still cool though.

Jesus is my compass and my guide

This was a fun Bible study.  I blindfolded the kids and they had to walk across the room guided only by the sounds of our voices.