Married in NioFoin!

Hey!

Well this last week an event took place that I (and my whole family) have been joyfully anticipating for a couple of months now….my brother Zachary’s wedding! Yeah I said a couple of months, because he proposed in late July, and they were married October 1^st. Pretty long engagement eh?

On Friday we all headed out to Niofoin to get everything prepared. I went in the morning, accompanied by my church buddy, CJ! It was definitely nice to have a close friend around with whom I could converse in my own language! We spent the day pretty much attached at the hip as we helped my family get things ready. Finding somewhere to sleep at night was a fun game, and after getting moved around several times, I finally settled down on a couch at a friend-of-the-family’s house (the 3^th house I’d been relocated to).

(Working hard or hardly working? Making sauce sumbara)

(With Joel the carpenter and his son, Michael. Hadn't seen them in months!)

The next morning I got ready and went over with everyone to la mairie ( the mayor’s office) where Zachary and Esther got legally married. There were a hundred or so present, but only about 30 could fit in the room, so I hung outside with most people. Then we all went to church while Zachary and Esther got changed into their other wedding clothes for the real ceremony. I stayed inside for about half of the procession, or less, but had to go outside because of the suffocating heat inside the church. I’d say a few hundred people attended, and about half had to stayed outside in the shade on plastic chairs waiting for the ceremony to finish. After it was all over the happy new couple came outside to shake everyone’s hands. A while later, after we had all eaten at the reception, Naomi, Alyssa, CJ, and Rod all left together to Korhogo and I hung around for another night in Niofoin. That night was filled with dancing (literally all night) and lots of opportunities for this “toubabou” to keep the kids entertained. It’s just so amazing to little black children who have never before seen a white person so up close…they got to learn that white people like to eat, and act silly, and do normal human type activities…just like them! So crazy right? It was fun :).

(This is my host dad, Soro Zana!)

(Panjama party with my youngest brother, Ungalo!)

(Naomi having a hard time look hard-core.)

(Leaving the Mairie, looking pretty chic)

(Ceremony begins at church)

(Zachary in expensive Baoule-king dress, basically to show that he has money)

(They were so happy to be married!)

Coming back the next day was fun, as we got roughly 25 people back in two medium sized pickup trucks, all in one trip!

(Safe passage out of Niofoin is always welcomed.)

Anyways, wedding aside…I’m sure you are all wondering about my soon-to-be arrival back in California! Well, I’m going to be arriving in Fresno around 10pm on Halloween! There is so much to say about what lessons I’ve learned here in RCI and about how that impacts the way I’m going to live my life in the States that I barely know how to begin explaining it all! But here are a few words that have acquired a much deeper and refreshed meaning for me:

Trust

Service

Sacrifice

Simplicity

Humility

Modesty

Worship

Communion

Community

Commitment

Purpose

I know that those words entail about every aspect of life imaginable…so that’s about right then! I’d be hard-pressed to think up a single aspect of my life – how I view myself, the world, God, and how they all relate to each other.

So you can expect a very different Jason when you see me next, though of course au même temps I’m the same of course. I’m going to dearly miss the friends and family God has given me here in West Africa, but also with each passing day I’m growing more eager to be with everyone I miss back in the States and to continue along the path God is leveling our before me as I walk in his lamplight.

I will try my best to get another blog or two out before I leave. In the meantime, may God bless you! Thank you so much for your prayers, and for your interest in my life! Also, please let me know how I can be praying for you!

A Lesson in Trust

Lately God has been teaching me a lot about trust. I've been reading a biography of the life of George Müller, who was an amazing man who ran an orphanage for 2000 children, a family, and a church congregation during his lifetime - all without ever having a salary and never asking someone once for money. He just completely depended on God, and though faith and prayer alone God met his every need and more. It's been really challenging the way I view trusting God, and giving me a lot to think about regarding how I want to live in the future. There have been a few issues in which I haven't been trusting God completely, but rather depending on my own self. About a week ago I had a really important talk with Jesus in which I laid out everything to be sacrificed on the altar of God, and it has been a really freeing experience. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;" that is really the heart of the matter. I have to remember everyday to trust that God knows all, that He sees my situations a lot better than I do, and that He works everything together for my good. A really important day in this last week for learning to trust was the 16th, which is 40 days before my departure of Côte d'Ivoire. Just as Noah spent 40 days in the ark trust God and just basically looking forward to what was next, so am I here in Côte d'Ivoire. Just like Noah, I'm going to be in a place of new beginnings. When I return to Fresno, there are things I want to be involved in, but there are no obligations that are necessarily keeping me there - I could go anywhere and do anything. It's definitely a place in life that I've never experienced before, and so it's going to take a lot of trusting God! I want to be really missional about the way I live when I get back, so it will be really interesting to see what changes take place.

Well, that's kind of what I've been going through lately. Other than that it's just been everyday life here. I suppose my next blog should be more about what that is like, what are some of the everyday things I experience. Well, I look forward to sharing that with you! For now, here are a few photos from the last week, the top is hanging out with friends on top of mount korhogo, and the others are from worship practice at church. :) have a good day!

Meet Yéo Martine, my sister!

This is my host sister, Martine. :)

A truly remarkable girl, and easily the best Ivorian friend I’ve made this year. Martine is 20, and interestingly shares the same birthday (May 4^th) as my childhood best friend Mike, though seven years apart. She, like most of the kids in my enormous family, is not one of my host parents blood children. She is my host-Mom’s neice, and Martine’s mom (Naomi’s older sister) also lives in Korhogo and on occasion comes to visit. The reason she came to live with my host parents at the age of four was simply because Naomi asked her sister if she could have one of their children, and she sister of course agreed. I don’t know why she asked to have Martine, but I’d imagine it probably has something to do with financial difficulty and my family being well off and able to send her to school. After that in 1995), Martine grew up in the village of Niofoin with the family until 2005 when a my host aunt and a handful of the kids, including Martine, moved into the Korhogo house. The parents and rest of the family followed suite in 2009.

Martine has been something of a cultural guide for me since coming to Korhogo. And I've had a lot of fun sharing about my culture with her. One good example would be when I told her that American wedding ceremonies generally don't last longer than an hour. She was awestruck and of course asked why. I told her it's probably because the American bride and grooms walk about 100 times faster than the Ivorian brides and grooms, who usually take 5 to 10 minutes to do so. She made me demonstrate, which resulted in an eruption of laughter and me repeating that about 10 times for everyone. Nowadays whenever we walk somewhere fast, we are walking "like the Americans." In reality the reason weddings are so much longer in Côte d'Ivoire is because they have a full length church service complete with sermon and worship setlist, take forever walking down the isle, and then dance and eat. It's the ceremony, reception, and a sunday service all combined. Interesting, n'est pas?

Martine is quite a unique individual, with many talents and interesting tastes. She speaks, reads, and writes three language, loves math, sings really well, leads worship at church every week, and is learning both piano and guitar. She also cooks the majority of the meals for our family of 16 and does a good majority of the cleaning as well. All of this on top of the fact that she is taking several college-level classes and doing well in them. She is so busy, even when sick, and manages to be one of the most joy-filled people I’ve ever met. Definitely a superstar.

Martine is really intelligent as well, and has some interestingly high life goals considering the place and role she was born into. Martine is a Senefou girl, and even though she comes from a farily modern family, she is likely expected to conform to the general mould, which means getting married and having kids within two years and be a very hard working, mostly stay at home Mom. I definitely see a big part of Martine that wants this life, but I also have observed that she would really love to get away and chase her dreams. Martine wants to be an architect/civil engineer. Even more than that dream, she wants to be devoted to helping orphans and the poor for the rest of her life. Martine is still in “premiere” meaning she has one more year of school before she can go to University (God willing), so she has plenty of time to think about her future. If she decides to pursue that dream she will have lots of mountains to climb to reach it. It’s sad to say, but women are traditionally viewed as second-class citizens in West Africa.

I’ve come to feel that something is off about my day if I haven’t spent time hanging out with Martine. It’s a pretty common thing for her and I to be sat on chairs doing a guitar lesson, or me getting a French lesson, or just relaxing and talking about life. The last few days she’s been really sick, so I’ve spent a lot of time just being in the same room to comfort her, or finding ways to encourage her and make her smile. Probably the best thing about Martine is that she really, REALLY loves Jesus. And second to that comes her love for singing TO Jesus, so the way I've been making her smile for the most part has been convincing her to come sing french worship songs with me.

Anyways, that’s my introduction for Martine. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about her in the near future. I think when I leave this place, I'll miss her the most out of all my new family and friends!

Here are a couple photos of Martine, more to come soon!

Martine and Parfait singing it up at church

Martine and "her baby", CJ (aka Julia)

Roof pouring day :)

In Niofoin

Drama practice with CJ

Déjà le 15 de Août?

We are only halfway through August and it already feels like such a full month!

Our first week this month saw us in Bouaké, welcoming two new journeyers, Kelly and Tricia! We spent the week doing their orientation, and having a super fun trip to Yamoussoukro, the nationals capitol, to visit the worlds largest basilica and go swimming at the president’s hotel! It was a great time of relaxing and unwinding, but boy did it feel great to get back home to Korhogo! Reuniting with my family and friends here was like letting out a big breath I’d been holding for too long.

Since being back in Korhogo, I’ve spent time visiting friends and new acquaintances, reading lots, and hanging out with Taylor, who was here to visit his girlfriend Heidi, one of our fellow Journeyers. Taylor stayed two nights at my house and then I spent two nights with him at one of the bible school’s guest house. He had a case of the amoebas, and I came down with a cold, so it was good to stay at IBB for a bit. He was feeling all better before we went on Saturday to get his bus ticket to Abidjan. It was fun having him stay with my family, and I think he got a decent idea of what Ivorian family is like. Meals for one were spectacular, making me pretty happy to have a visitor and reminded me of when I first came to live with the Soro family, too. I had fun translating for him and helping him get around town too. He was pretty independent despite having amoebas which made things lot easier for both of us I think.

Also since being back, God has been doing a lot to remind me of lessons learned over these last several months. The main lesson he’s been pressing on me this week though, is to remember to keep HIM as the central purpose of my being. When I’m struggling with temptation, run to Him, think about Him, surrender to Him. When I’m wandering, slacking in being still before His throne each day, and getting distracted – to remember to pray and to take initiative in returning to Him. It’s crazy how just a few days of letting distractions take your eyes off of Jesus can rob the spiritual zeal out of your life. It’s crazy how difficult it can be to get back into good habits, but how rewarding time spent with God is once you’ve put him back where he belongs – at the center of your life. These last few weeks I’ve been battling distraction, and am in process of getting back to where I should be, or I should say, where Christ ought to be.

Anyways, I don’t have lots of photos to show…but I do have some to share of our trip to Yamo and of our time in Bouaké! Enjoy!

Baptism! Steph and Naomi were the first Americans Pastor Keo had ever baptized.

My First African Beach Trip!

In my last blog I said that this one would be about my sister Martine, but in light of what has happened this last week I think I should put off my sister-blog for a little bit. I’ve had a really long, eventful week! Sorry, it’s a long blog, but I couldn’t help it!

So it’s been two weeks since my last update, last week was kind of just a normal week, though the biggest highlight was that last Friday (the 22^nd) I went to visit a little recording studio in town [not so] cleverly called “Studio des Enregistrements” with my friend Joel. I made friends with the engineer there, and will plan to visit more often. I’m also going to track some things there I need to get done.

Moving on from that…big event number one. Sunday morning I left for Abidjan with Heidi and Naomi to go pick up Heidi’s boyfriend, Taylor, who is visiting for a few weeks. We spent Sunday night in Bouaké and then left the next morning for Abidjan. This was quite an adventure! The bus from Bouaké was a really nice charter bus, which made the ride easy, and we arrived to Abidjan in about 5 and a half hours. After some drama from getting off at the wrong bus-stop in Abidjan, we met up with a friend who lives down there, got the the airport, and got Taylor. Soon we were in a taxi heading for Grand Basaam, no hotel reservations (they forgot to make them after we called), tons of bags, and plenty of prayers in our minds that this would all work out.

The stay in Grand Basaam was fun, and we had no trouble finding a hotel. We did lots of walking, checking out shops, and hanging out on the beach. It was fun to see the Atlantic from the other side, and now I’ve got to see both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans from the East and West sides. The view was fantastic – beautiful, giant 10-foot waves crashing onto a nearly deserted strip of beach that was lined with hundreds of tall palm trees. If there wasn’t so much trash on the beach it would have been perfect. One guy’s explanation to me was that the governments in West Africa dump tons of trash into the ocean, and then it just washed up on the beaches. I don’t know if I buy that though, because the beach’s undercurrent was so strong that I didn’t even see more than one or two tiny seashells on the shore. Everything gets sucked out to sea, making it unwise to go in further than waist deep, and I’d imagine keeping just about anything from actually getting deposited on the beach. Despite the dangerous undercurrent, I still got in to a point where I could quickly dunk myself underwater and feel that warm Atlantic water. It was the perfect temperature.

We left Grand Basaam and went through the heart of Abidjan to our next bus station. It was strange seeing sings of the battle that just ended a few months back: guard rails that have been smashed in, buildings riddled with holes from bullets and mortar rounds, a pay toll booth that had been blown in half. But at the same time, I could see how rapidly the had already started putting the town back together. Ivorians are determined to restore their country to it’s former glory. 20 years ago, Abidjan was considered the Paris of Africa, and had lots of tourists. Today, I’m flocked by Ivorians who as so excited to see me, an actually “tourists” back in RCI. I don’t always mention that I live here too. Anyways, the rest of the trip back to Bouaké was fine and today we are preparing next week’s orientation for the two new Journeyers who are coming Monday.

Ok, so that’s the trip – time for big event number two. This is something that was happening just before and during out voyage to Abidjan. Last Friday I was feeling really tired, and then Saturday my whole body ached and I had a really bad headache. It felt like I had been shot out of a canon into a concrete wall; absolutely every inch of my body was just very, very sore. I figured I was just exhausted from overworking my self. After all, I was out of shape and just that week I had been doing a lot of hard bike riding, and working out in my room, so maybe I just overworked myself and my body was mad at me? Deciding not to let it hinder me from travelling, I got on the bus Sunday morning. When we got to Bouaké, however, things really went down hill for me health wise. I started getting chills – I was freezing no matter how much I covered myself, then I’d be super hot, then freezing again, and so on and so forth. I was having terrible “issues” which meant I got to visit a certain friend of mine made of porcelain quite often. My whole body still ached, my head felt like it was in a vice, and everyone said that I felt like I was on fire. We took my temperature – 102.8˚. A bit later we took it again – 104˚. It was a decently chilly evening and I was sweating a lot. I had been bundling up because I was freezing, but at the sight of 104˚ I was forced to go straight to the bathroom and take two freezing cold showers, and go to bed without clothes on, but with a wet towel laid over me to cool me down. This helped a bit, and I prayed that in the morning I’d be feeling well enough to go to Abidjan, I didn’t want to miss out! Furthermore, if I stayed in Bouaké, I’d be alone and terribly sick, on campus for two whole days with no food, no way into town, and no energy to cook or take care of myself. Staying wasn’t an option in my book. I slept great, except for a spell of throwing up around 3am in the bathroom. Malaria and eating don’t go hand in hand.

So can you guess what I had? Well if you’ve ever studied the symptoms of it you’d know right away that I had Malaria. Our Journey Corps Nat’l Coordinator, Bakary, went to an open pharmacy and got me meds that made me feel much better. I had a pill that night and was down to a mere 102˚ again the next morning, so I was feeling fine to travel. By Wednesday I was virtually over the Malaria, though my stomach is still just starting to figure out that I can actually eat food again.

Well there it is, and awesome trip to the beach, contrasted by a horrible ailment. Some might call it Karma, but I’d like to see it as God giving me an opportunity to learn something.

Here are a few pics from Grand Basaam:

Tayloy, Naomi, and I with two Ivorian venders. The man on the right called himself "Picasso".

Yeah...we were getting ready to jump

What to do with the excitement? Jump or do an Irish jig?

Focus Jason, Focus

Wow, it's been 11 days since my last blog...a new record! I'll be honest, my brain is kind of like...BLAH right now, so I'm going to do my best to write a good blog! Let's see where this adventure takes us today! :)

SO what's happened this last week and a half...well after our swim party on the 4th we had another celebration on the 6th, this time with Robin and Jane from the dispensary. This time it included burgers, potato salad, red velvet cupcakes...basically awesomeness! When I got home I gave the leftover cakes and cookies to my siblings, who probably have never tasted something so sweet! They devoured the contents of that plate in no time flat.

Last saturday I went to the neighboring village (1 hour away) of Bunjali for a funeral. This was not just a regular funeral, because the man it was for was the 2nd President of the AEBECI (Assoc. Evangelical Baptiste Eglise Côte d'Ivoire), and it was a very huge ordeal. I hung out for a while in the "Korhogo" area and after eating proceeded to the main event. CJ and I saw the casket (which looked a bit like a shrine), check out the music group, and greeted people. Not long after the girls all decided to sleep in the car, and I sat in the passenger seat and pretended to be able to sleep. The next morning we drove to a different village where they put the casket in his tomb, right next to all of his family member's tombs. Kind of weird to see a tomb!

Other than those, these last 11 days have mainly been spent working in the family's store in the grande marché helping them get caught up on keeping track of finances and stock. I've also spent a lot of time trying to get back into shape, and developing habits of exercise and some spiritual disciplines also. My body likes to whine and tell me that I should just lay down, but like Paul says in Philippians, "I beat my body and make it my slave...". I know that this is taken a bit out of context, but somehow it helps motivate me to work out, pain is weakness leaving the body right! Either that or injury entering the body! lol

Spiritually I've been having a great time read the books "The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment" (so good, read it!), the daily "Experiencing God" devotional, and the bible. I'm still in Ezekiel, but am also starting to pray through scripture which has proven to be really beneficial. Everything I've been reading has been really heavy stuff, so my brain is in need of something easy. I'm in process of getting the Harry Potter audio books lol.

Lately God has been reminding me of the importance of focus. Since I'm pretty sure I'm coming home in October, I have of course been spending time preparing for that. Like I said in my last blog, I really want to be focused on my time here while I'm here. Once it's over, I'll never get it back! I want to go deeper in my relationships with people, I want to go all out in loving people here and experiencing day to day life in Korhogo. I want to leave here with my family feeling blessed that I got to come be a part of the family, and sad to see me go. I want to nosedive into this giant river of opportunity that is in front me! There are so many opportunities every day to experience something new and see the world a bit more through the Father's eyes. One thing I've been praying for a LOT lately is just that - see things through HIS eyes! I need to remember that everyone I meet was created in the image of God, and that he has pursued a relationship with them to the point of dying on a cross! God has been reminding me of what his children are...sons and daughters of the King of kings! My devo this morning said that he is more attentive to caring for us than a feeding mother is for the baby at her breast. Interesting picture, but so totally true! Just think of how a mother cares for her child she is feeding, even when it's in a different room she seems to be in tune with the child. God has that same kind of love for us, but so much more so! We are this sons and daugheters, an adoption made possible by the Holy Spirit, and that causes me to take a step back and evaluate how I ought to be thinking about and treating these dearly loved people.

So yeah, I'm being reminded each moment to focus on these truths:

• The Father valued my life enough to send His Son Jesus to the cross for me, and for all humanity! I need to remember the gospel every day.
• Only through remaining connected to the vine (Jesus) each day can I experience inner transformation and know his peace that passes beyond understanding.
• Be responsible, but don't worry about the future, for it will work out, though likely not how I expect. WAIT ON GOD.
• Focus on who you are becoming in Christ and not on what you are or ought to be doing for Christ.

Anyways, my next blog is going to introduce you to one of my family members, my dear sister Martine! I tried a few "get to know my family" blogs in the past but didn't finish those, so in a few days I'll be glad to introduce to one of my favorite people in all of Africa!

Prayer and Praise:

• Bonnie is home from the hospital! You can see how she is doing by clicking on her name.
• More intentionality in things, and the strength to live wholly abandoned to God.
• For the young man in our church whom I prayed over today....he was married on the 2nd of July, and this very morning his wife died at the hospital here in Korhogo. Please pray for him and his/her families, I can't even begin to understand the pain he is experiencing.

This is the family stock shop, where I've been spending a lot of time lately. That's my host dad in the fin shirt.

Goofy pose with Naomi on July 4th

CJ and I at the July 6th party for July 4th.

Bonnie at home with Molly and Mommy! This is pre-hair cut. Thanks Laura for the photos!

Eviter Les Coups Des Foudres!

Happy Independence Day America! I just had a great little fête with the girls here to celebrate. We had lunch at Hotel Mount Korhogo, where I ate a real salad with dressing and everything! Then we swam in the pool! It was a nice little treat in the midst of food trials and a summer that has lasted since May 2010 for us.

Well it’s been nearly TWO weeks since I’ve posted a blog! Crazy!

These weeks have been good ones, but honestly I haven’t posted because I’ve been having trouble deciding what to share.

The biggest happening in these past couple of weeks was our 2 day retreat at the Catholic retreat center in the nearby village of Lataha. It was a great little getaway – singing in English, hiking a nearby hill, taking a walk through the village, doing a seminar, and planning the orientation for two journeyers arriving in August. I’m glad we didn’t go down to Bouaké this time, it was nice to be just 30 minutes away from home.

So last night was probably the biggest lightning storm I’ve ever seen.

I don’t think I’ve ever actually been in fear of getting struck until last night…but it didn’t stop me from putting on my coat and going outside to take in the awesomeness of the storm! Some bolts were so close (like you could see where they struck close) and so loud that my heart couldn’t help but skip a few beats! I got out my guitar (under the canopy outside my room) and starting writing a song that went with the mood of the storm, it’s got sort of a panicky, run for your life kind of feel to it. I also got out this handy-dandy cassette tape recorder my brother Dan got me and recorded the sound of the lightning haha.

The storm has got me thinking about God’s wrath. A line in my song goes like this: “Torrential downpour, the storm is here at last. The mighty voice of God thunders in the sky.” I can’t help but think about the book in the Bible I’m going through right now: Ezekiel. The assault by the Babylonians on Jerusalem is a downpour of God’s judgement on the Israelites, every bit as relentless (and moreso) as the rain last night. As I stood in the rain and took in the awe-inspiring clash of colossal magnetic forces, I couldn’t help but imagine that this storm was an image of how God looks at my sin. The severity of the storm and the fear it invoked inside of me, they pale in comparison to what the wrath of God will look like on the day of judgement. I rest secure in knowing that I am his child, and that Jesus is my intermediary, but the storm was definitely a great reminder that God is not just a loving, good, gracious God. He is also a very just God, and his wrath is terrible and frightening! Definitely a great reminder to be examining my life for areas in which I’m not obeying Him, and to seek transformation through the Holy Spirit in those areas!

Another thing from Eziekel that is amazing: God makes him completely mute for the first 5 years of his ministry, and he can talk ony when delivering the word of the Lord. Could you imagine?! It was to symbolize to the Jews their stubborn refusal to take God’s word seriously. I’m sure it did quite a work in Ezekiel’s heart as well. How would you view God, what level of respect for His word would you have if God made you completely unable to talk, except for when he is speaking through you? I think it would revolutionize the way we think about God to say the least. I have a feeling Ezekiel was a pretty humble man.

One other thing the storm is reminding me of. But first some backstory:

So we journeyers have all been debating if we are going to go home after this year or stay in RCI for a second year, or even just a few months until our extra support runs out or whatever. Through a process of prayer and evaluating the things happening in my life, I’m pretty sure I’m heading home October 28th. Though, if God opens up a ministry that can justify me staying longer I’m totally open for that as well! I really love JourneyCorps, and will always want to promote the program. It really is an amazing program, and I believe God has huge things in store for it. But for me personally, I feel pretty confident in saying at this time that there is not sufficient reason for me to stay longer than my original decided date of departure. I see my next step, and it involves being home.

All that to say, because I’m planning to return home, I’m naturally preparing myself for that. I’m sending emails to places to find work, trying to figure out a few logistics that need to be taken care of ahead of time. But the last week or so my mind has been too focused on home, and has gotten in the way of really being here in Korhogo. The storm last night was a wake-up call for me. The thunder was like God shouting at me, “Jason! Get your head in the game!” Not only was I feeling convicted of sin, but of just my thought life in general as of late. It’s not that thinking about home is bad…but in this case it was getting in the way. Jesus talks about severing things in our lives that cause us to sin. The bible later says that “everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial”, and I can’t help but see a correlation here. To quote Oswald Chambers, “Your right hand is one of the best things you have, but, says Jesus, if it hinders you in following his precepts, cut it off.” So now I’ve realized, thinking about home in itself is fine, but if it is hindering the work God wants to do in me and through me today, I need to cut it off. In this case I just need to tone it down, because I would be irresponsible to completely ignore important things that need to get taken care of before returning.

Anyways, that turned out way longer that I planned!

Please contintue to pray for me out here, and let me know how I can be involved in praying for you as well! Here are a few requests I’d like to make:

• Pray for my niece, Bonnie, who is having brain surgery on Wednesday. Pray for the doctors, the surgery, and for recovery. Also for Michael and Laura, her parents.
• Pray for us journeyers to keep our head in the game, and really immerse ourselves into our relationships here. We all want this time to be as fruitful as possible.
• Pray for open eyes to recognize opportunities God places before me before I miss them.
• Pray also for the energy to get through each day. I’ve been exhausted lately.
• Pray also for our relationships, that God would continue to draw us nearer to him through them.

I miss you all, have a great week!

(above) Saying goodbye to some friends who are moving for a few months. They made us awesome little gifts for us, check out the hat!

(above) CJ looking pretty Ivorian! This is a church we want to use our project money to buy materials for the concrete it needs to finish.