Adieu 2010

Happy New Year!

It’s been a good day today….and a good week! I spent the went helping build a roof up North in Komboro Koro (or something like that) near Korhogo. It was great to work with the Ivorians, and to help a church get a roof put up. Hard work, great eating, and great fellowship.

As I write this, I am sitting here digesting the brains, ears, meat, and whoknows what else of a delicious pig that we slow cooked all day. When I awoke this morning I walked over to where we were cooking the pig and helped Chazz with firewood. The pig was cooked in a hole that we had dug, wrapped in banana leaves, and buried. It was so tender and good, but I’m afraid I haven’t recovered yet from the psychological trauma of eating the brain. It’s texture was a cross between mashed potatoes and gummy bears. Along with the pig were french friend, onion rings, spanish rice, pineapple, and lots of desserts.

Looking back, I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by….but isn’t that how it feels every year? So much has happened this year, I’m not the same person I was when the year began in many ways. This year has seen many ups and downs – college graduation, my Dad’s death, moving to Africa – I have said goodbye to a lot of people this year. It has been a very hard year, but also a great year. Living in community with the other journeyers all day every day is something God has been using to stretch me. I thank God for his provision of family here in Africa. I love everyone back home, and saying goodbye was hard, but God is good and has blessed me with a lot of new relationships here. I really love them all like family, out bond in Christ has brought us together and made us all so close. I also am finding a lot of healing here, even for wounds I’ve had for years that I didn’t even realize I still had.

I’m making a new year’s resolution this year. I’m resolving two things: 1 - to continually thank God for things I’m not used to that cause me to think differently (in a good way). 2 – to become a competent conversational African-French speaker. Maybe my third should be to actually follow through with my resolutions lol.

Well I’m going to go out to the bonfire and hang out with everyone. Chazz and I built a giant bonfire which stands about 5 feet tall, and will continue to burn for hours I’m sure. I’m pretty sure the only bigger bonfire I’ve seen it when Luke burns Darth Vader on Return of the Jedi.

God bless you all, I hope that you will all look back on 2010 and see the ways that God was and is trying to teach you, guide you, and draw you nearer to Himself. I will pray for you that in 2011 you will continue to open yourself to His working in your heart, and the the ways He challenges you to think about things differently than you do right now. I miss all of you my friends and family all around the world, please pray for me in 2011. Have a great rest of 2010 and have a great 2011!

Romans 12:9 – Love must be sincere; hate what is evil, cling to what is good.

Termites, meet you maker!

Wow it’s that time of day already, right now I can hear the muslims call to prayer being shouted over a loudspeaker from a couple miles away.
Things are going well here lately. This last week has been a lot of work on French homework. Tomorrow I present a 30 minute lesson to the class on how to share the gospel in French. Recently, we had a fun night out at Rod and Angelika’s house, eating dessert with the French again. This time it was not to practice our French on them though, they came to practice their English on us! There are several new guys who have been brought here to replace some of the soldiers who had been here 6 months already. One of them told me that he went to a local wifi hotspot and got his iphone 4 working, which I find awesome – because that means maybe I can get my iphone working too! The dinky MTN phone I have is really flimsy.
I’m almost done reading “Mere Christianity” by CS Lewis right now, this book has been really good for me. I love books that make you think about things in a new way. This morning for bible study we went through John chapter 9. Rod had us read Isaiah 29 and 42 out loud first though, I recommend trying this. It was really cool to see how interconnected these three chapters of the bible are.
Life is going along pretty normally (if I can call anything normal anymore) here. Today Holly, Devin, and myself all destroyed a giant termite mound with pick-axes and shovels. The staff are going to build an outdoor stove with the clay that the termites use, which is almost as hard as rock. We are almost done painting the second coat in the basement, and soon will be restoring the furniture. The other night I set up the drum kit in the chapel, and so that has been fun to play. Also, the Grettas are here with 3 of their sons (who are a bit younger than me). I’m glad they are here (they are great soccer players). The parents both worked here, Bill was the PE teacher and his wife was a Biology teacher. All four of their sons were students at ICA, and to this day they come back often on short term trips. They rent out one of the buildings on camps, which they have restored to it’s former glory it seems. They are going to be building a roof on a church up in Fairke after Christmas, and I have half a mind to go with them to help.
For Christmas break, most of us are going up north to Korogo to visit various ministries and do some recreation, while a couple others go to Fairke to help with the church. I’m torn on what to do, because there is one ministry I really want to visit….maybe I can just do a day visit to the church to help. I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

The political situation continues to be ever evolving. I won’t go into details, you can find those elsewhere. I like reading the BBC’s articles, though they sometimes exaggerate certain details in my opinion. My whole take on it, is that democracy is going to be impossible in most African countries as long as you have greedy, power hungry, tyrannical leaders like Gbagbo who won’t give up their office after they legitimately lose. It’s the same story in most African nations that hold democratic elections. There are only a few exceptions, such as South Africa for example. I think that until Africa sees the Nelson Mandella’s winning and striving for peace, and the Laurent Gbagbo’s being thrown in jail for their violent crimes – I think Africa is going to be in a sticky situation until then.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my verbose blogs! I’m glad to know that some of you are still following my life. Please send me an email sometime or leave a comment, and tell me how I can pray for you!

A Taste of French

Here is a taste of how my French is coming along. I wouldn't have the presence of mind to remember how to say all of this in conversation, but on paper I do better. I think it's exciting that I actually know what this says, and that I wrote it! :)

Le week-end on a eu beaucoup de plaisir. Devin et moi, nous étions avec Soro Ali et sa famille. Vendredi et Samedi, nous avons joué des parties avec des cartes pour passer le temps. Pendant la nuit j’ai réfléchi sur le jour et j’ai écrit mes observations dans mon cahier. J’ai mangé tellement de norriture qu’après j’avais mal au ventre. Le week-end était genial et j’espére visiter Soro Ali et ses voisins encore une fois, bientôt.

Translation:

This weekend was a lot of fun. Devin and I stayed with Soro Ali and his family. We played games with cards every day to pass the time. At night I reflected about the day and wrote my observations in my notebook. I ate so much food that my stomach hurt. It was a great weekend and I hope to visit Ali and his neighbors again soon.

Today we said goodbye to Jeff Denlinger, who was visiting, and to Katie, our German friend. She is such a sweetheart, and I will miss her! Naomi and I are talking about maybe visiting her in Germany for a week on our way home. Just talk right now, but I think it's a great idea!

We have 2 presidents, eat your heart out USA! :P

Well, it's December 5th. Sorry it's been so long since my last post, things have made it difficult for me to find time for blogging. I realize there are no pics on this blog yet...I will post those soon. (I have a few in mind)

A lot has happened since my last blog. The big news (which you may have seen in your local newpaper even) here is the rivalry between Gbagbo and Ouattara, the two presidents of Cote d'Ivoire. Yes that's right...I said TWO. Gbagbo is recognized by the Constitutional Council and the Ivorian military as president. Ouattara is recognized by the majority of the population, the UN, the US, France, the EU, and most of the world. The Ivorian military said they would side with the Council, and the Council is made up of mainly Gbabgo supporters and is abusing their authority by declaring several large Ouattara districts void (so that Gbagbo could win). So if you didn't catch that, the military is with Gbagbo. The prime minister that supported Gbabgo has switched sides to Ouattara. It's a big jumbled mess I agree, so please pray for the situation to be resolved peacefully without another civil war.

Moving on too...THANKSGIVING! Oh man, it was great here - and they don't even celebrate thanksgiving in Cote d'Ivoire! We did though! There were 15 or so missionaries from up North here for the annual baptist missions conference held here at ICA. We discussed a lot of issues concerning that, and we had a lot of good time talking about opportunities for when I leave here to live in villages, but I digress. There were 40 of us total at dinner on Thanksgiving, all enjoying a delightfully huge meal of yummy awesome scrumptiousness. We set up the tables on the basketball court outside, and had candles on the table to give light. No joke, it was probably the best thankgiving meal ever in my life. Especially dessert, it was soooo good. Our local german friend, Kati, made this amazizing german fruitcake. It was this spongy cake with these cherries on top, I know that description doesn't do it justice...just know that it was oozing with goodness.

After the conference we resumed our routine for weekends and for weekdays. We did have a SNOW DAY(!!!!) on monday. There was no actual snow, but we all just felt the need to a day of rest after a crazy busy weekend. You could call it a day of sabbath if you like. On tuesday night we invited our very own on-campus knights in shining armor (or camouflage armor, which isn't too shiny), the French military, over for desserts on the basketball court (the tables were still set up). They all speak decent English, and were good about encouraging me to talk in French with them. I really like meeting them, especially Charles, the commanding Major on campus. He and Marcel (the gun expert) are leaving in 2 days for France. They have been in the same unit for 5 years, living in Afghanistan, S. America, Cameroon, Senegal, and now Cote d'Ivoire. I'm really happy that Charles will get to go home to his wife and children. Their typical stay is 4 months here, but he has been here 6 months because of the political instability. It's fun knowing them now, and waving to them as they drive by to their portion of campus.

Side note: if we ever have to evacuate, I really hope I get to ride in the helicopter.

Today we visited a nearby village to see how they make pottery. It was very interesting, and it was fun talking with the children, even if they were a bit rude and pushy about wanting pictures taken. I didn't realize that all african pottery is black, to signify that it's form Africa.

There has been a lot of learning and growing both in my brain and in my heart these last couple of weeks....and that's not without growing pains either. I was feeling very discouraged the last few weeks, feeling that I had nothing to offer this place. I felt some tension between myself and a couple other journeyers, and I was feeling that things were only going to get worse - that I'd never learn French, that I'd never build deep relationships here, and that I wouldn't accomplish anything. Thank God for showing me that these lies were all planted in my heart by Satan. I have been having doing very well the last several days. I had a really good talk in small group, just sort of confessing how I was feeling. God has been encouraging me a lot since then, clearing up the tension with my friends (which turned out to be just miscommunication), and I feel a lot closer to mes amis here now. I am excited for learning French, and for the opportunities that lay ahead of me here in Cote d'Ivoire. This is such a beautiful land, with such beautiful people created in God's image, whom he gave his life for. I'm so glad to be here, even at such a bad time politically. I wouldn't change my life in any way because I know I am walking in the path God is laying out for me, and that's exactly where I want to be always.

In January I might get to go up north to Ferké to work in the recording studio, live with an Ivorian family, and get my feet wet in ethnomusicology. I'm super excited for this possibility.

If you have any questions, please leave comments or email me at jasondietmeyer@gmail.com

J'aime tout de vous.