Ministry Updates

Seasons

As I sit here sneezing and looking at my pollen covered Christmas colored car (red car with lots of green pollen) I am reflecting on the seasons. I grew up in California where we have pretty much one season, sunny and mild. As much as I enjoy California weather it was not until I movedContinue reading “Seasons”

Pray Without Ceasing

As I sit here in the US I am thinking of and praying for my Gambian friends who will begin the Muslim month of fasting in the next few days (depends on the moon). This is a difficult time for Gambian believers, for our team and other Christian workers around the world in Muslim countriesContinue reading “Pray Without Ceasing”

Celebrate

Today has been a beautiful day of celebration on many levels and I am so grateful to be in the US celebrating with my amazing West Cabarrus Church family. A large part of my furlough ministry time is re-connecting with my sending church and God is really blessing me by providing many opportunities to doContinue reading “Celebrate”

Survival Phrases and Greetings

Language learning is moving full speed ahead. I spend two hours each morning with a Wolof language helper and then several hours each afternoon visiting very patient and understanding village women practicing what I am learning. I also provide much comic entertainment for them. Of course we started with greetings. The Wolof have a veryContinue reading “Survival Phrases and Greetings”

One Month

I have been in The Gambia officially for one month. In many ways it feels like I have been here forever and in many ways it feels like I just got on all those flights to get here. It felt like home when I came in 2014; I didn’t want to leave then and itContinue reading “One Month”

Pizza

I continue to work hard at learning the Wolof language. The village ladies are wonderful teachers and they definitely keep it fun and interesting. Friday, I was visiting with a group of women and told them I was going home. In America saying you were going home would be adequate, but not here. They responded,Continue reading “Pizza”

Language Learning

I really am enjoying language learning via the LAMP method (Language Acquisition Made Practical). I provide endless entertainment to the village women when I go to practice each afternoon and they have even asked me to “help” with some daily tasks. I think they like to laugh at the tubaab (white person) trying to shellContinue reading “Language Learning”

This is What It’s All About

Yesterday, baking cookies and enjoying time with two precious girls from the village was amazing. We managed to not make as big a mess as I thought we would and there were no fires (some of you know my cooking reputation). They were great helpers and we made almost 100 sugar cookies. As I watchedContinue reading “This is What It’s All About”

Home Sweet Home

From the moment I first set foot on this compound two years ago it felt like home and now it really does. I have finished unpacking my 20ft shipping container from the US. I do feel like a spoiled Tubaab (white person), but I know that all this shiny new stuff will become dirty andContinue reading “Home Sweet Home”

Changes

I cannot believe it, but I have officially been in The Gambia for 6 months! In many ways it feels like I just arrived yesterday; especially when I struggle through what should be a basic Wolof conversation or cannot do simple tasks without help. In other ways it feels like IContinue reading “Changes”