Village Trip!

Taking a break from learning to make homemade bagels (they are rising for the second time currently) to share about our time at the village. We did get to go after all thankfully! The internet is still down, but hopefully I will be able to post this tomorrow (Monday).

The village we went to was about a 30 minute drive outside the city. I think we might have had to switch to a closer village because the rain made it impossible to drive on a lot of the outer dirt roads. We got there and were taken to one of their elementary school classrooms (children in the village only go as far as elementary school there, and then the ones who do well enough are sent to the city for middle school and high school, and if they succeed there are given the opportunity to go to university). We waited in the classroom while the informed the chief of our arrival. We were then escorted to the center of the village to meet the chief and elders, and to give them the news (the reason for our visit). He gave us his approval to move freely about the village, so after a short welcoming ceremony where we went around and shook hands and they passed around some cups of water for us (we were careful to only drink a little incase the water had not been properly purified!) we went on for a tour of the village. We were shown the place where they grind their corn (corn and rice are the main things they produce) and saw the mud quarry where they get the red clay for their houses (their houses were made of bamboo and other types of wood with this red clay to hold everything together). A lot of the kids followed us on our tour, some walked with us while others followed shyly at a distance. After the tour we were led back to the area near the schoolrooms. There was a soccer field, so some of our guys played a game against the Ivorians. It was a fun game to watch, they beat us 3-1. While the guys played, we just hung out with the other kids and watched the game. I communicated in French as best as I could, but you can communicate a lot without words too. I got out my camera to take pictures, and they loved it! I’d go to take a picture of two or three kids, and then everyone else would crowd in too, so I’d end up with a huge group shot. They loved looking at the pictures of themselves after, laughing at the silly faces they’d make. It was just really neat soaking it all in, it had a totally different feel than the city and campus. When it began to get dark, we set up a screen and projector and had a showing of the Jesus Film. There were lots of people there, it was too dark to see exactly how many, but at the end of the film 9 people came forward to give their lives to Christ and we got their contact info so the church (there is one in the next village) could follow up with them. Halfway into the movie Craig came and got us all, because it turns out the women in the village had prepared a meal for us as a welcome. Hospitality is a huge value in this culture, and they go out of their way to welcome guests. We were taken back to the original classroom we went to when we first arrived, and because there was no electricity, we ate by flashlight and lantern. Also, they don’t use silverware and there were no individual plates, so we all just ate with our hands from big bowls of rice and different types of sauce. We only could use our right hands, because it is not culturally appropriate to eat with your left hand (that hand is used for bathroom purposes!). We took a handful of rice, and then dipped it into the bowls of sauce. It was quite messy to say the least! Because it was dark, we weren’t always quite sure what we were eating, and I didn’t find any new favorite foods, but it was well worth the experience! After eating we went back to see the end of the film and then packed up and made the drive back. It had rained on and off throughout the day, so we were all pretty wet, muddy, and tired, but everyone had a great time and we were all so thankful we had the opportunity to go and see more of the country and experience what life is like outside the city. From what I understood, the majority of the village was Muslim also, so above all, it was awesome to be able to tell them the good news about Jesus! I got lots of really great pictures and will try to post them on here whenever I can get internet strong enough to upload them!

Orphanage Trip Update

Our internet is currently down, so I’m not sure when I will be able to post this blog. But as I am writing, we now have only one week left. These past five weeks have both blown by and felt like forever at the same time. It is going to be really hard to leave, but I am able to rest in the knowledge that even after we leave God is still in control and will still be moving in amazing ways. It is also so nice that Craig and Bryn will be staying here for the next 3-5 years also, that we are just building a foundation here, which has also been helpful to remember.

We got to go to an orphanage yesterday for the first time. We thought we were going to be able to go more, but we are under the national Ivorian staff and their ideas about what we should do are different than ours. They were very kind in working with us to allow us to go to the orphanage, and hopefully to a village today if the rain doesn’t prevent that (it is pouring and has been since last night). Their idea of “good works” here is just very different than ours is, and we want to respect the cultural differences and learn to work with them and respect their leadership here. Craig was telling the team last night that when they lived in Cameroon, they really wanted to do good works as well, and had weekly outreaches to prisons and orphanages. It was something he organized though, and the national staff in Cameroon was very offended because they felt like he had gone behind their backs. He said they burned a lot of bridges by not being sensitive to the culture and as they are building a long time ministry here, they want to be very careful to start on a good foot with the staff. They run on the French system here, since they were a French colony for so long. And from what I understand, under that system things are very bureaucratic and separated. Because we are under “campus ministry” that is all they want us to do, and to leave the work in orphanages and prisons and such to organizations that are focused on that. The way things work in America there is a lot more flow and flexibility between ministry areas, and so we are working to find a balance. Campus ministry is the focus, but it says in James 2 that faith without works is dead. Good works is an overflow from the free gift of salvation we have received and we want to to live lives that reflect the servant love that Jesus so perfectly exemplified. I really respect how Craig has been working under the national staff though, and while it has been a little frustrating not getting to do more with the good works aspect, it has been such a learning experience in seeing what it is like for full time international mission work. Cultural sensitivity is crucial; the gospel is not American or French or Ivorian; it is for all people and needs to be presented in a way that will be understood by and is respectful towards the culture. We have been learning that when it comes to cultural differences, different doesn’t mean wrong, its just different (exceptions do exist, such as human sacrifices or other things that go against God’s word, but this is just our overall guideline). Next time, I will hopefully be able to write about our experience at the village, we will know soon if we get to go or not.

Update from July 7th

July 7^th

We got to go visit Maison Dorcas today! It is a ministry that reaches out to Muslim women who become Christians by providing employment and a place to live for those who are shunned by their families. Although not all Muslim families react this way to conversions, it is not uncommon. It is especially hard for women to be kicked out of their family, because they lose all financial security and support, their home, community, nearly everything. Maison Dorcas provides a place of employment for these women, as well as giving them community and helping them find a new place to live. They learn to sew here, and they have their own little shop with lots of beautiful purses, stuffed animals, jewelry, and other things they have sewn or made my hand. They also do embroidery work and other sewing jobs for a number of businesses in the city. For many of these women, this is their first job. They are taught not only to sew and how to manage a small business but also have chances to take math, computer, and literacy classes, A lady named Janet Welsh, who has been a missionary here for over 20 years, created and runs the place. We got to meet her and talk with her about the mission and her story, which was so neat. It really opened my eyes to more of the needs here culturally. It is important to meet the physical needs as well, not just the spiritual needs. The women at the shop were telling us that they’ve met a lot of Muslim women who want to become Christian, but because they can’t support themselves on their own and don’t want to face the anger of their families they remain where they are. The women had some heartbreaking stories they shared of their own experiences. Through the Maison Dorcas though, most of these women are back in good relations with their families because the families see that they are able to support themselves respectably on their own. It was an awesome experience and I'm really glad we got to go!

Weekly Update

Again, time is so short! Things have been going well, it's been good to be on campus again. Please keep us in your prayers, our team is starting to get tired and sick. Three people got malaria this week, but they are taking the cure and are doing well. We are going back to the dorms tomorrow to followup with the group of girls we met last week, so I am very excited! Our theme for this summer is going "big wave surfing" every day, going out and sharing the gospel and trusting in God to do big things and following where he leads. But we don't just want to teach other people to surf, we want to teach them to be surf instructors too. We only have a little more than 2 weeks left here, and when we leave we want to be training people who will continue on after us. Our team leaders Craig and Bryn will be staying for 3-5 years, but we also want to teach students how to share their faith and to grow in their relationship with God. I had an awesome conversation with a muslim student for an hour and a half today just about who Jesus is and who he said he was. We are meeting again next week to talk more if you want to remember her in your prayers, her name is Maimouna. Also be in prayer for my friend Julie I wrote about earlier, her father just passed away today and although I haven't gotten to see her since I know he was the one who supported them and her friend was really worried about what this would mean for them financially as well as dealing with the grieving process. Prayers for comfort for them and for wisdom for us to know how to help her best. My time is up, but I will try to write more later!!! Blessings and love from Cote d'Ivoire!!!

Back from Yamoussoukro

Yamoussoukro was great, we are back safe and sound and ready to get back on campus again! It is late and our internet is in and out, so I can't write a lot tonight but I will try to write more my next time. It was great to get to see more of the country and learn more about it. I think we are all glad to be back "home" in Abidjan though and are ready to get back Cocody! We got to go to the world's tallest basilica which was beautiful. So out of place in the middle of a relatively small African city, but it was beautiful for sure. We are going to be able to have the talk that was postponed again tomorrow which will be good too. I will update again in a few days and will try again to load some pictures too! God bless!

~ Lauren

Weekly Update

So, I might not be able to update as much from here on out. The internet has been getting spotty and to make the best use of our time here we are limiting our time on the internet as well. Things have been going very well! Out of necessity, my French is improving which is good because we have been going to the dorms more instead of just at the English department and there are a lot fewer English speakers in the dorms. God has been doing some really great things. We were struggling to find girls who spoke English, or enough English to communicate and it was getting a little discouraging. Since Tuesday though I have met so many more girls who speak really good English and have been so excited to talk about their culture, life, and spiritual things. Yesterday three of us went to the girls dorm and ended up sitting in the hallway for nearly an hour talking with these four girls who were one of the girl's hair. We learned about Cote d'Ivoire culture, about what it's like at university, and we got to ask them about polygamy which is apparently a pretty common practice here, at least in the villages. It was just really eye opening. They said they were all Christians, so we asked them what they thought one needed to do to receive eternal life. They said one had to believe in Jesus and live a good life. Going off that, we asked if they were sure that they would go to heaven then if they were to die today. It was surprising, most of them said no or seemed uncertain because they had sinned too much that week or just didn't know. They had to leave soon after that, but some other friends and I got to go back today to talk to them further. Only one of the girls was there today, but she introduced us to her sister and we all talked for a while. We talked more with them about how we can have assurance of our salvation and read through some of 1 John to show them God's promises to us. We are meeting up again on Friday to begin a follow-up bible study with them. We had a big conference planned for today on Youth and Sexuality which is a big issue/topic here. But we had some unforeseen problems and had to postpone. So prayers that things would work out there and that we would just continue to rely on God and His plans. Flexibility has been a very important lesson here, but even though plans change, we just are continually reminded that God is never taken by surprise with these things. He has a plan, and His will always work out better than ours! We are going to another campus tomorrow to do the same conference at another school, but we will be back at Cocody on Friday. Then we leave Saturday for Yamoussoukro, the capital city, where we will be until Monday. They haven't given us a full itinerary here yet, but we will be going to the university there to help with different things and meet students and will also have a chance to do some sight seeing and see more of the country. It is a four hour drive, so I'm excited to be able to see more on our drive there and back. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! Much love!

In Christ,

~ Lauren

Life in Cote d'Ivoire

Some fun random things/differences:

- It turns out we are here during the rainy season, I don't think we've been here one day where it hasn't rained at least once. I've woken up in the middle of the night multiple times because the rain is so loud! We went out and played in it one day though, which was a lot of fun.

- The plants and animals are totally different. There are geckos everywhere, and we woke up this morning to a huge spider the size of my palm on our bathroom wall. There are chickens everywhere, even though it is a big city. They just walk around and go home to roost at night. The birds are so loud here, they often wake us up in the morning too.

- The fruit is amazing. We've had mangos for dessert nearly every night, and I think I could live off of just mangos. They are delicious! There is a papaya tree in our front yard and a coconut tree out back.

- They drive on the same side of the car and road as back home, but everything is much closer together. If our taxi wants to turn onto a main road, they don't just wait till it is clear, instead they just inch out and everyone else stops. I'm glad I don't have to do any driving, I don't know that I could do it!

- Time is not nearly as big of a value here as it is in America. We had a meeting today that was supposed to start at 9, but didn't end up starting till nearly 10:30! As someone who is very time and schedule oriented it has been a change. It is good for me though. Privacy is also not something as important. In Africa, what is yours is mine and mine is yours. It will take some getting used to, but it has its merits for sure!

- Julie, the student I wrote about in my last post has become my French teacher. I thought I knew French till I came here! I know phrases, but she has been helping me with my vocab and pronunciation. Most of the students here though speak pretty good English which helps.

So, I tried to post pictures, but the internet just is not cooperating. I will give it a try later though!