Preparation day

Preparation Day at KM

The day has been an African type day. We arrived at 10 a.m. for a 9:30 starting time. We got started by 11 and between myself and Larry we taught until 1 p.m. The crowd was mixed … both by ages (pre-school through senior seniors) and people groups (Manjak, Makanya, Diola, Mandinka, and Balant) thus requiring 3 translators. Various subjects were taught. I (Sam) did the greetings, introductions and then did Creation to the Cross. Larry completed the presentation with the plan of salvation. There were no public professions of faith, but I did see one young man raise his hand. So we know that at least one seed was planted and we will trust God to bring it to full fruition.

While the men were teaching, the women of the village, along w/Bonnie and Cindy, went to the market to buy groceries. When they returned they began preparing “lunch” which was served at 6. After a long break (probably 2 hours), Claude, the Manjak nurse, taught from 4-6 about various illnesses and ways to prevent or treat them. We called it “preparation day” because the first day always has a lot of glitches and this was that kind of a day. This is not a problem as long as you are willing to on African time and not American time, making it a wonderful day.

Cindy wants to add to the blog. Her comments do not reflect that of the management.

Well, as Sam has already explained, it was a day of flexibility and “hurry up and wait”. There are a few little details that he left out. One of most interest was that he himself received a little education, as well as, the people of the village. I won’t elaborate but it had to do with female health issues. If any of you get the opportunity, look up the definition of “dysmenorrhea”. The next time you see Sam, just ask him the meaning. He will be glad to inform you but will turn multiple shades of “rouge” while defining it to you. Bonnie has also entertained us by looking up definitions in the French-English dictionary. We are all getting an education of where our word forms come from. We’ll have to give you details on this at a later time.

November team, it was a delight once again to walk into the classrooms and see all of the art work hanging from the ceiling. Ronda, the “ABC” posters outline the classroom. Mark, Mr. Bage sends his greetings. The children enjoyed singing the “one, two, Jesus loves you…three, four, He opened the door”…and so on. It is amazing to see how quickly they learned and how excited they get.

Tomorrow will be another day of teaching. Bonnie and I will be teaching on nutrition, dental hygiene, and female issues (which seems to be a very pressing topic). Larry and Sam plan to have a “tea debate”, opening it up for questions and answers. Please be in
prayer that doors will be open to teach His spiritual truths along with the truths of personal hygiene and nutrition.

We are all feeling well and eating plenty of vermicelli. To our families, we miss and love you very much. Mark, Larry misses you as well and his appreciation for you is growing w/each passing day!  Besides hugs and kisses, we are sending a little heat your way and would ask that you send some cold our way. I’m still waiting for my Route 44 diet pepsi but Sam said we’ll go by Sonic tomorrow and I can get one w/my chili dog.

Know we are praying for you and we can’t express our gratitude enough for all the prayers that you have voiced in our behalf.

For His Kingdom,
Cindy

“In Him lie all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3