A little prickly..

Click to enlarge photos

My throat is really sore and prickly today. (No, that cute little baby hedgehog in the photo wasn't part of the delicious barbecue we had when working with the boys at the orphanage in Mbour.) The sore throat could owe its origin to the soaking we got when a torrential tropical rainstorm took us by surprise and flooded the roads on our journey from Mbour back to Dakar. (Yes, that middle photo really was taken out of the car, and not out of a boat!) But it's more likely that my sore throat was caused by the excessive air conditioning on the overnight flight from Dakar to Madrid..... which felt something like sitting inside a freezer. All the passengers were asking for blankets, but there weren't enough to go round. The lady sitting next to me had an asthma attack... and by the time we reached Madrid at 4 am this morning, I discovered I had lost my voice, and that my throat was all red and swollen. It hurts to swallow, so I'm not eating any food on my first day back in Europe; instead, I'm drinking lots of hot lemon with honey, and hoping to recover from the throat infection before it can slip down and become bronchitis.

Apart from feeling rather unwell today, I look back on the month in West Africa with great thankfulness. We saw God do lots of encouraging things, both in and through the teams, and we can return home knowing that our investment made a difference, both physically and spiritually. I'll send some more news this weekend in my September newsletter.

Day Three at Teen-Bi

Today is the Spanish team's third day of working with a ministry called Teen-Bi (a Wolof word which means "The Well.") It's a place where local children, who would otherwise simply be hanging around in the streets, can come to receive attention and affection, perhaps get some medical care, and where they can also have fun and learn skills (reading and writing, hygiene, etc) that will serve them for life. 

"The Well" is an attractive name when you're living in conditions where there may be no running water for most of the day (I'm getting used to having my cold shower either very early in the morning or very late at night) but what we're really hoping and praying for is that these children will be refreshed by being in an environment where they are accepted and cared for.

After presenting a boisterous programme of songs and games on our first day, yesterday we had a quieter, more orderly programme where the children could try out skills such as painting, sewing or making bracelets from beads. This morning, some of our team members tried out their own artistic skills by spray painting the outer wall of the Teen-Bi property - with a picture of a well and a baobab tree to represent the involvement of a "Planting Together" team. Although Teen-Bi isn't normally open to the children on Saturdays, we nonetheless offered another programme this afternoon and we'll have a special party tomorrow, so that we can maximise our investment in these children's lives before we move on to work briefly with another ministry for our last couple of days.

Thanks for your continued prayers that our work with these kids, even despite the language barrier at times (some only speak Wolof and no French) would lay a foundation for many of them to come to know God personally in the future.

Still in Africa - Ready for Phase Three

We're now back in the city of Dakar, after completing the second phase of our Planting Together outreaches. This phase involved driving in a huge army truck to Mbar Toubab and the surrounding villages, way in the north of Senegal. There our teams slept on the floor, and worked every day to plant trees with the government project known as the Great Green Wall. After the first day of planting, we were astounded to hear that we had planted 2225 trees that day - even though our efforts had been cut short by a torrential rainfall. We managed to increase that number a little every day, even managing more than 3000 trees one day.

Those of us who were unable to plant for various reasons stayed back to help the village ladies who wee cooking for us. One day I sat on the ground under a tree and chopped onions for three hours solid; we began to wonder if the number of onions cut was equal to the number of trees planted !! Fortunately, we stuck with the vegetables and were not asked to kill a goat for the meal every day; that was the job of one of the men in the village.

We also had a small medical team who were able to treat more than 600 ill people in the villages of Widou and Mbar Toubab. The team included a gynaecologist, Dr Noel, which meant that they were able to consult with more than 70 pregnant ladies from the villages. The highlight of the trip for him was the night when they were able to see a lady through a long and rather complicated labour, and finally were able to deliver a healthy baby girl. The parents were so blessed by the doctor's intervention, that they called their new daughter Noelia.

Our contact with the village people, the army officers overseeing the planting project, and the ladies in the kitchen was all very positive and we were able to build some friendships despite the language barriers. It was an amazing testimony for them to watch our group, young and old, black and white, from several different nations, all living and working together in harmony, and this opened the door for some interesting conversations. We had a special meeting to honour them and give them gifts on the last day, and they all asked us to come back and bring more people with us next year.

Now we're getting ready for Phase Three - and all the teams are spreading out to different parts of Senegal for further outreach and ministry. The Spanish team is staying in Dakar, where we'll be partnering with two different ministries. One is a daily club and after-school programme for Wolof children; the other is an orphanage for children who used to spend their lives begging on the streets. We'd value your prayers for unity in our now much smaller team, and for God's enabling as we share His love with these children from poor and needy backgrounds. Thank you.

The end of our Gather and Go camp

Five days have passed since my last update: days without any internet connection, but days that were full of encouraging answers to our prayers. More than a hundred people arrived safely here in Senegal, and our camp got off to a great start. 

We've had some wonderful times together with each other and with God. It's an amazing sight to see fifty young Africans, together with fifty others from Europe, America and Asia, all dancing to the beat of the African djembe and worshipping the Lord together. One of the most exciting times was the Sunday evening celebration, when we were joined by Senegalese Christians from local churches, and the joy was so contagious that the youngest to the oldest joined those African King's Kids and crazy foreigners in singing, dancing and celebrating together for more than an hour of spontaneous praise to God. 

Meanwhile, back at the camp, we've had teachings about who God is, what it really means to serve Him and others, and how to live and share in a way that means we'll be planting hope in Senegal this summer, and not only planting trees. We've had a missions fair where our young people could meet missionaries who work here in Senegal in ministries of evangelism, Bible translation, reforestation, working with street children, etc. And today we'll have a series of workshops that will prepare the teams practically for their outreach time: we'll cover subjects like health and first aid, how to be appropriate when talking to Muslims, understanding African culture, etc, etc.

Tomorrow the preparation camp comes to an end, and we'll make a long drive up north - six or seven hours on dusty African roads, to the area where we are going to be planting trees over the coming week. We're excited that there have been lots of times of heavy rain over the past week, as this means that the ground is being prepared and it will be possible for us to start planting right away.

Please would you pray for this coming week: for God's grace and protection as our people work long hours in hot conditions on the border of the Sahara desert. Pray that the unity, the joy and the willing attitudes of our teams will be a testimony to our co-workers and government officials that God loves them and cares about the situation of their nation. Pray that we will all know good health and that we'll overcome the challenges of cooking for eighty people in a very primitive setting. Pray that our team members themselves will grow in God as they trust Him for strength in this exciting but challenging project. There will obviously be no internet or electricity up thee, so it will probably be at least a week until you can read another update on this blog. Thank you.

I'm in Africa

I'll be in Senegal until the end of this month, so if you're looking for news of our Africa trip, please check here: www.barbinafrica.blogspot.com

Hot and humid...

I can totally understand why they warn you that your dog could die if left in a hot car. I had to drive somewhere at 2.30 this afternoon, and climbing into my car was like stepping into a furnace. The outside temperature was somewhere in the mid thirties, but it felt a lot more than that inside my little car!
Things will be just as hot and even hotter when I arrive in Senegal this week. The city of Dakar, being near the coast, will no doubt be similar in temperature to here in Spain, but up north where our young people will be planting trees, the temperature will no doubt be quite a lot higher than that. Of course, we've been praying and trusting for the rains to arrive, so that the planting season can begin. I guess that daily rainfall will cool things down just a little bit.
I fly tomorrow morning, and arrive in Dakar around 10 pm. Thanks for your prayers. (See prayer pointers in previous post.)

Four days till I fly...

just click on this image to enlarge it

The clock is ticking and the departure time is drawing near: only four days now until I leave for my next trip to West Africa. You'll find a few prayer pointers in the above image and, if you'd like more information about what we'll actually be doing in Senegal this time, you can click the following link to download my August newsletter: planting together news.

I may not have much internet access while in Africa, but I'll add some news whenever I can to my other blog: click here for Barbara'a African blog. Thanks for your interest and prayers.

Another meeting at midnight

Yes, here I am, sitting in my car at almost midnight again. Two of our executive team are down in Senegal now, and two of us here in Spain. But just for a few more days. Three of us fly down to Dakar on Tuesday, and then the rest of the teams arrive on Thursday. Thanks for your prayers for these last few days of preparations.... especially for the organising of sound systems, drinking water, airport transfers, etc, as we prepare to welcome the teams next week. 

Eight month of Challenge 2013

It's the eighth month of Reto 2013 or Challenge Twenty Thirteen. Young people have been challenged to read their Bibles 13 times a month and, if they've been reading since the beginning of the year, they've now read from 20 different books in the Bible. The latest booklets, with readings from the lives of Joshua and Gideon, are available for downloading from the Challenge website:
www.biblechallenge2013.blogspot.com