Post-Internship Postings

So, I am going to continue running this blog, though, as you can tell I may not be updating it very often. Shortly, I will be posting pictures of this summer so look for those to come. But right now I want to give a brief synopsis of what I came away from this internship program knowing. I want you all to know the major lessons that I have learned this summer.

First and foremost, I learned that God is greater than I am and that if I don't go do His work, somebody else will. This is not a deterrent for me but rather an encouragement because God has given me the privilege of doing His work and bringing others to the light. Whether or not I decide to go overseas, I have decided to commit my life to serving Him.

Another very important realization I came to is that my life is dependent upon Him but His existence is by no means dependent upon me. He will continue to exist whether or not I do and whether or not I acknowledge Him. The reason for His presence in my life is simply for me to glorify Him by serving Him and loving Him.

I have also learned that I am not called to take a back seat position anymore. All my life I feel like I've kind of followed the tracks of others but I don't feel I am called to do that anymore. I feel like I am called to be in the front seat next to God with Him driving the car. I need to get out of my comfort zone and allow Him to work through me.

I have also learned about the abundance of God's blessings and presence in my life. God is always standing right beside me, whether I choose to acknowledge it or not. He is always there. Realizing this would not only allow for me to live a more dedicated and holy life for Him but also help me to keep my priorities in order.

Being my strength through the struggles, God has been there through it all. Giving me patience when I need patience, comfort when I need comfort, wisdom when I need wisdom, and strength when I need strength. He has shown Himself in many regards but the most effective way I've seen Him working in my life is through others. He uses others to speak to me and interact with me and touch my heart. He did a lot of that this summer with the Africans as well as with the interns and missionaries. I realize that I am not always the easiest person to hang around with but I thank God for the ability to grow closer to Him and strengthen relationships within His family.

The last thing I will talk about for now is His will and His timing. I have realized that I do not know what will happen in my life but God does. I do not know when things will happen in my life but God does. So if I seek His will for my life and have patience to wait until His will is ready to happen, then what more could I need?

This summer has led me to a more profound understanding of God, His will, how it is working in my life, and the most important thing I've come to understand is how to trust Him. I am unsure of what my future hold but there is one thing I know will be in it. God.

Pre-survey update

I haven't written in a while so I just thought I'd give a brief update on what's going on here. My ankle has been better since I've sprained it two weeks ago playing basketball but it still hurts occasionally. I have been preparing for this upcoming few weeks which is the bulk of the reason why I wanted to come on this internship. Starting tomorrow and for about two weeks following we will be going on survey. This means we will be going from Togo to Burkina Faso and Mali. We will spend about three days in Burkina Faso and taking in the sights. After this we will head to Mali. When we get to Mali, we will survey an unreached people group called the Dogon and spend about four or five days there. After this, we will head down to southern Burkina Faso to go on safari for a few days. After that we will be heading over to Northern Togo to survey another unreached people group called the Gourmantche which God has put on my heart for future missions work. We will spend about four or five days there. After that, we will head back to Kara. Once we get back we will be here for about a week and then head down to Ghana and be there for a few days and then fly back to the states on the 26th of July.

I'm not sure how much access I'm going to have to the internet or the phone during these times but I wouldn't suspect it to be a whole lot of availability. I have thoroughly enjoyed being in Africa and I would love to come back some day. Being here has really opened me up to want to travel the world and see what different cultures are like. I have been thinking about the possibility of going to Europe next summer with a few friends and backpacking around Europe but that is still an idea.

Well, I ask that you pray for me as I embark on this survey and especially concerning both the Gourmantche and the Dogon that God may put a fire in people's hearts to minister to these people who have never heard about Christ. I also ask for prayers of protection as we will be crossing over many borders, traveling through lands that Satan has much control over, and driving on safari with crazy elephants. I look forward to telling you more about my adventures when I get back. I love you and will talk to you soon.

Friday June 8th

Friday June 8th

After breakfast, we went to the school house to work some more on our pig pen destruction process. We had taken everything down but it was time to clear out the land. We had to take nails out of boards and then take out the cement base and move it. It was pretty tough work. After that, we did some hoing to move the soil around a little bit. After this work, we had more language training. Today it was a little more difficult because we are getting into different verb conjugations and how they are used in the first person, second person, and third person in both singular and plural tenses in both the present and past using both positive and negative sides of the verbs. Phew. Yeah. Its a mouthful and brainful. Lots to remember. After that, we went to lunch and had our Siesta. Hehe. Always a wonderful time of day. After this, we went to Bodowdaa and David talked to them. There was a lot of laughter and I am starting to pick up a little more Kabiye so thanks be to God for that. I hope that I'll be able to know a little bit more by the time I go on my bonding experience (when each of the interns will be spending three days out in the villages bonding with the locals and learning how they live). I'm sure God will help me out during that time. After Bodowdaa, we had dinner. After that, us guys sat around with David and Becky and chatted for a bit and then we watched the Skeleton Key. Its a pretty creepy movie. If you like creepy movies, this would be a good one. After the movie ended, we all headed to bed.

Thursday June 7th

Thursday June 7th

Thursdays are generally different days. They are like Monday except the guys and gals on the team take turns praying throughout the day (one in the morning and one in the evening) about all that is happening in Kabiyeland and at home and in our lives. So not much generally happens in the way of going to out villages on Thursdays. This morning before breakfast, we played basketball. We got up at around 5:40am to go play. It was already light outside and there were going to be twelve guys playing. So we went to the Reises' house and split up into three teams of four and then took turns playing the different teams. We played for about an hour and got five or six games to seven points in. It was a lot of fun. After that, we went back to breakfast. After breakfast, I was commissioned to go to Bryan's house to help fix the wireless over there. He had been having trouble getting the wireless router to find the modem. So I went over there around 8:45am and started working on it. I get there and his kids are watching Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. I thought it ironic because I was saying a day or two earlier that I hadn't seen them in a while and that I'd like to watch them again. So I would work a little bit and then watch some Star Wars then work some and watch some. After the kids had been watching for an hour, Bryan told them it was enough and they should go out and play (good idea put into practice by the whole team to get their kids away from the TV and out and about). After a little bit, I had a little bit of down time and I got to have lightsaber wars with Bryan's youngest, Owen. He's about three or four years old I think but he knows how to yeild his lightsaber, let me tell ya what. I played with him for about thirty minutes and then went back inside to continue my work. I worked for a bit and then the girls who were staying with them came back and shortly after that, lunch was ready. Bryan had made homemade pizza that was amazing. He made a taco pizza that was delicious. I probably ate a little too much but it was so good. Just so its put on record, the food at the Reeves' house is also really good. Becky does a wonderful job and I apologize about not mentioning any meals of hers but she does deserve a lot of thanks for it all. Anyway, after lunch I continued working on the wireless a little bit more and it was working. Sweetness. After that, we had the men's prayer meeting. We went to the usual spot at a restaurant by a Supermarche. They talked about the villages and updates on what's going on at the villages. After that, the guys went around and talked about things they were struggling with or encouraged by or thankful for and everybody got to receive prayers from another person. It was a great idea and I think well founded in the situation they are in, doing God's work. After we did this, we went back for dinner and after dinner we watch a few more episodes of the Office. Funny stuff. After that, the night took its toll and our beds bid us welcome.

Wednesday June 6th

Wednesday June 6th

I woke up this morning a little more tired than normal. I had a creepy dream last night. In my previous day's journal I talked about Legue Legue and the sacrifice. Well, I dreamt about the goat's head. I dreamt that it was in the ground still (I think) and that it was covered in bugs. I woke up and was kind of freaked out by it and I had trouble going back to sleep. After a little while, I did get back to sleep but breakfast quickly approached. After breakfast, we went to the school house to continue our pig pen destruction. We got it all torn down now and then we had to quit because it started raining. I love the rain in Africa. When it rains it pours. We all ended up going inside and hanging out. After a while, we had our language lesson. Its getting harder and more complicated but its proving to be a valuable asset to the trip. After language, we went back for lunch and Siesta. I love Siesta time. I slept for an hour and then we headed out for Hade Te and Kacaade (Kah-tchah-day). It was a good time. The people there loved to laugh and joke around but when we talked about the Bible, they got serious and were asking questions and had been continually studying the Bible. It was really cool. After this village experience, we went back for dinner and after that went to a devo at Matt's house. It was really nice because we got to see everybody and we just to take some time out of our day to worship and praise God together and to thank Him for all He has done for us. Its was awesome. After that we went home and went to bed.

Tuesday June 5th

Tuesday June 5th

This morning, after breakfast, we went to the school house to do some work around there. The guys were all called together to start workin on the destruction of the pig pen that was in the corner. It hadn't held pigs in a while and it stunk so we started tearing it down to make that side of the yard look better. It was a lot of work but we got a lot done in one day. After we did that, we got to go on a hike. We drove about thirty minutes from Kara and drove on a dirt road off of the main road a little ways and then got out and hiked. It wasn't as steep as our first hike (on May 31st) but it was still challenging. We had to walk through a lot of low trees and over some rock. At some points, we even had to climb up the rocks. Towards the end of the way up, we had to climb up the rocks to get to the top. It was so much fun. I love rock climbing. We finally made it up to the top and the view was astonishing. You could look out and see plains and more mountains and rocks and just writing it in words doesn't do it justice. We sat there and had a prayer and ate some lunch and talked a bit. We took some pictures (I didn't bring my camera because about six other people have them so I will just be getting pictures from them) and then headed back out. David and the guys headed back to the trucks so that we could head off to Legue Legue (another village that happens to be the farthest one from Kara). So we finally get back to the car and start our drive out there. It was a two hour drive out to Legue Legue. Normally it would only take about an hour and a half but we had to go back to Kara from the hike and then head out in a different direction to Legue Legue. We finally get out to Legue Legue and get to meet the people there. They were friendly and warm just like everywhere else. We went and sat in the church building they built themselves. It was made of mud and rock and the roof was made out of wood and tin. That's all there was to the building. After a while we get started. I didn't know all of what David was saying to them, but I knew that he was passionate about it and that they probably had done something wrong that he needed to correct them with. It turned out that the previous Sunday, Bryan had gone out there to do worship with them and he found some of them (not necessarily the Christians) at a school house sacrificing a goat. The thing about their traditional belief is that they think that in order for God to hear them, they have to go through their ancestors and in order for that to happen, they have to make a sacrifice to appease the ancestors. Well, what they had done was cut the head off of the goat, buried it in the ground, poured blood over it, put a bowl over the head, poured more blood on it, and then asked for their ancestors to bring them rain. It did rain on Monday. The bad thing about this is that the Chief was there and he is a Christian. So David was basically telling him that by being at the sacrifice and not speaking up, even though he wasn't performing it, he was saying that it was ok for them to sacrifice. But this is not acceptable if you are to be a Christian. So David was telling him that he needs to choose whether he will follow God or these spirits (demons). David was making sure to make the point that the Chief should take charge since he's in a position of power and that he should not live a duel life. That he can only live one life or the other. The thing of it all is that Bryan prayed that God would not bring rain, but yet it still rained. I don't know what this means and God's ways are above my ways, but that is kind of hard for me to understand. After Legue Legue, we went back for dinner. After dinner we watch some episodes of the Office with David and Becky. I didn't originally like that show but its grown on me. Its pretty hilarious stuff. After that, we went to bed. It was a long day.

Monday June 4th

Monday June 4th

Mondays are our free days so we can decide what we want to do on these days. After breakfast, we decided we wanted to go to the bigger and more traditional market to look for some shirts for Sky and to just be able to get the experience. So we walked around for a bit, and while Sky was looking for some shirts, a guy came up to me and held some shorts up to me like he wanted me to look at them. So, I looked at them and inspected them. His first offer was 2500CFA and then came in my negotiating skills (although they may still be a little lacking) and I told him 1500CFA so he reduced it to 2000CFA. I took it. They are a pretty good pair of shorts. Very light and thin so they don't get too hot. They are a little big in the waist but at least they aren't too small. After this, David had to get some stuff for Becky so he got it. We went back to their house and decided, along with the Reeves, to go swimming at the Kara Hotel. The water felt amazing. It was cool and the water was deep (probably about ten to twelve feet) so I could dive some. We were there for a few hours then went home for lunch. After that, we walked over to Matt's house to use the internet (the Reeves' internet had been down from a storm the previous Friday) and to get better acquainted with where we were in relation to other things in town. David and Becky said it should only take about twenty-five minutes to get there but we took some back roads so it ended up taking us closer to an hour. It was good though. We sat and talked with Matt and Andrea for a little bit and helped Matt put up his new porch swing. Its a pretty nice porch swing. We then came back to the Reeves' and the four of us guys and the Reeves' kids decided to play some soccer. We played for probably thirty-ish minutes and had a blast. We then came in to set up for dinner. The Emersons and their interns were comin' over to join us. So we ate dinner and afterwards pulled out some games. We played Hupla (which is a variation of Outburst here everybody works together to get rid of their cards) and it was so much fun. Lets just say a lot of hilarious things came out of the game. After a few rounds, we all said our good byes for the night and headed off to bed.