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"The old man is dead"
The text simply said, “The old man, Lamine Goudyabi, is dead.” We met Lamine about a week-and-a-half before I received the text. We were visiting with a friend in the village of Birassou Bodiancounda...
View ArticleGive Me the Joy!
Unfortunately, when many people think of Christianity they think of grumpy old men in three piece suits who sit around with scowls on their faces as they talk about the long list of things they don’t...
View ArticleI Can't Just Go On Eating Dinner
Twenty years ago the country of Rwandaexperienced horrors the likes of which we have no capacity to understand. Throughout the course of 100 days from April 6 to July 16, 1994, over 800,000 Tutsis and...
View ArticleA Hospital Visit
We step over a large pile of burnt trash and walk by some people sitting on pieces of concrete blocks under a mango tree as my friend and I enter the “hospital” to see his father. This building in the...
View ArticleWaiting on the Rain
As May comes in we are feeling the daily increases in temperature. And as the temperature increases we are reminded that the rains are on the way and with them come the life giving water that the land...
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Want to Come to Senegal?
Tired of air conditioning and hot water? Frustrated always understanding everything that is being spoken to you? Bored with the same old culture that you grew up with and have already figured out? Why...
View ArticleInje nimamang kasanken kujoolaay!
“Inje nimamang kasanken kujoolaay” is Diola for, “I want to speak Diola!” As we work more and more in villages around Diouloulou that are totally Diola, there is a great need for us to use more Diola...
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Pray During Tabaski
Tomorrow Muslims all over the world will celebrate "Eid al-Adha" or the "Festival of the Sacrifice." Here in West Africa the festival is known as "Tabaski." It commemorates when Abraham, according to...
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Happy Anniversary Gayle!
Eighteen years ago today, when Gayle and I said, "I do," neither of us had any idea where the Lord would take our lives together. We were new Christians excited about our new life with the Lord and our...
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"I Don't Want to Be a Missionary!"
*(We originally blogged this over three-and-a-half years ago as our family was preparing to leave Idaho to go on the road to raise support for the mission field. We just recently shared this story with...
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When Termites Eat Your Mattress
On a seemingly daily basis we encounter….how shall we say it...opportunities to grow in patience and perseverance that could only happen here in Africa. Whether it’s the six minutetask at the...
View ArticleTwo Years Ago Today...
Two years ago today our family arrived in Senegal. We arrived to a new life, a new ministry, new challenges, and new adventures. We arrived holding loosely to our "plans" for ministry, anxious to see...
View Article730 Days in Senegal
Two years spent in Senegal translates out to 730 days. Just for fun, we tried to quantify what that experience was like. While some of these numbers are estimates (I mean let's be real, who actually...
View ArticleC’est comme ça
The phrase “c’est comme ça” in French literally translated means “it’s like that.” But when it is said with a shrug of the shoulders and a tilt of the head it conveys the idea: That’s just the way it...
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Obama Underwear
Life in Africa can be hard; especially on your underwear. We arrived in Senegal over two years ago with what could be described as a moderate supply of underwear for all members of the family. We even...
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Speaking with a Perfect Accent
Gayle's French is not the best in the world. And she would be the first to admit this. Her conjugations are often confused, her tenses frequently a bit off, and many times she can't quite find the...
View ArticleBuilding a Marriage for God's Glory
Marriage, just like all of life, is meant to glorify God. It is meant to picture the loving relationship between Jesus and His church (Ephesians 5:32). God created marriage upon the pattern of Jesus...
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Being Maimouna Toubab
*I am reposting this today in honor of Hosanna's 8th birthday. Happy Birthday Maimouna Toubab! Hosanna’s African name is Maimouna and it also happens to be the name of her best friend who lives beside...
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Feeling the Weight
Most days we feel the weight. It's the weight that comes from living in a country that is 95% Muslim. It's that weight from looking into the eyes of your friends and neighbors and even the stranger on...
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Football, Fist-Fights, and Fitting In
It’s not easy being a teenager and trying to fit in, no matter where you find yourself. But it is particularly tricky when you are the only American boy in a village of several thousand. Soccer (or...
View ArticleLessons Learned
Certain truths are “known” at a certain level in our mind: we affirm that yes indeed these things are true. But then, after having been forced to live and lean on and rest on and seek shelter in these...
View ArticleLess and Less Clumsy
Before leaving Senegal to return to the US for our several months of Home Ministry Assignment we began preparing ourselves for “reverse” culture shock. Culture shock is the initial “shock” that you...
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Happy 16th Birthday Ez!
Early in our marriage Gayle and I battled with infertility. We tried for over three-and-a-half years to become pregnant before being told by one of the country's leading infertility specialists that...
View ArticleLife, Family, and Everything Else
For the first time in eleven months our family is together in Diouloulou as Ezra and Thea have returned to the village from boarding school in Dakar. Please pray for us as we spend the next few weeks...
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Helping Street Boys in Dakar
One of the ministries that our organization is involved in helps Talibé boys in the Senegalese capital of Dakar through a local Senegalese church. The word “talibé” means “disciple” or “follower” and...
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