James Island

This past Wednesday we took a trip to James Island. For those of you familiar with the book Roots, you may have heard of James Island. The Island is where the slaves were held before they were loaded onto the British ships. In the 1700's 60,000 slaves were held at Fort James, which is mind boggling when you see the size of the island and the size of Gambia. It is quite small in the middle of the not so small Gambian River. We took local boats and were honored to have Lisa Landis with us from Lancaster County's christian radio station, WJTL. There were six of us that went, Elias and I, Lori, Gary, Lisa and a Gambian friend named Amidou, or as we call him, Armstrong. We also had two boats each with a driver and an apprentice or water scooper when the floor leaked and waves came up over the edge.
     We left our house around 8 arriving in Pirang at about 9 and then we walked to the tributary where we would launch the boats. Once we were all there and the boats were ready to go, we climbed in and took off. Now there needs to be some explanation here. Our drivers were local Balanta fishermen, some from the Pirang church, who go out at night to fish. Since it was cheaper to pay them than go with a tour group, we opted for them to take us in their local fishing boats. As I said before there were 6 of us, with 4 fishermen, and we needed two boats so the boats weren't extremely large. We could have fit in one, but it wouldn't have been the best idea. The local boats resemble a large, fiberglass canoe, with boards on the top edge to make the edges higher. The seats inside were boards and small logs, some attached some not. Lori and I decided to take the front "seat" which was really a board that wasn't attached to the boat, it just sat on the lip from the edge where the fiberglass met the board. Then there was a small log about 4 inches in diameter behind so that the board wouldn't slide past that point.
     On the way there the water was quite smooth, there wasn't much wind and it only took about an hour. We then got out and walked around on the island, seeing the ruins of the building where the slaves were housed. Unfortunately the island is eroding away from the waves, and while it is trying to be preserved it continues to get smaller. It was definitely a humbling experience being able to see a place where the slavery movement was in full swing, but I will admit, it was hard to get a real feel for what it was like when it was active. Also, we didn't have a tour guide so we didn't know all of the details of what each room was used for.
      Lisa wanted to do a live broadcast from the island, so she and Armstrong climbed a tour to get cell phone service and went on the air. We have to say it was quite a sight since Armstrong had on a fuzzy, black hat, his sunglasses and his bright orange lifejacket while sitting on top of a tour doing a radio broadcast.

       We then ate lunch as the wind was picking up and we knew that it would be more difficult getting back. So once again we climbed into our boats and headed back to Pirang. This time the trip was a bit different though. The water was much more choppy so as we hit the growing waves our boat did not come down very gently. As I said before, the board Lori and I were sitting on wasn't actually attached, so with the first hard hit the board fell and we came down with it. We tried to put it back up and give it another try, but within 30 seconds we had fallen again. So we decided to give up on the board and sit on the not so comfortable 4 inch log that was nailed into the boat. This wasn't so bad at first but after so many hard hits the log wasn't as pleasant as it had first been. Elias on the other hand was quite comfortable as he sat on the cooler on the way home. There were a few times when I doubted the boat's strength to withstand the beating that it was enduring was water was came in over the sides, the seam in front of us was sealed with a calk that didn't look too strong and there were pieces of wood falling off the boat, but we weren't sure where they were coming from. Elias then went on to inform us, as we came to the end of our trip, that there was a large crack right underneath our bench. But, the boat didn't fail us and as we came closer to the tributary again, the water became calmer and the last stretch was quite peaceful.
      As a disclaimer, we did have life jackets and since I'm a fairly strong swimmer, this trip wasn't scary per se, it was just adventurous. We were even able to see dolphins from a distance even though we hoped they would be closer. Needless to say, we came back, wind blown, slightly sunburned and quite salty (the river water was salty considering it's closeness to the ocean). Here are some pictures of our adventure, some are a bit blurry do to salt on the lens.

our boats await

here we go!

Baobob tree and cannon

the island

model of Fort James

the large crack under our "seat"

our seat, minus the board in front of it

coming back into shore

The next chapter has begun

          Now that we are into April, our time of formal language study has ended and we have entered into the next chapter and remainder of our time here. We have finally begun our work with the youth, which we are finding will keep us quite busy. We are currently meeting with four different fellowships in four different villages on four different days. This, combined with our weekly grocery shopping trip, leaves us with two days a week where we don't have to do any traveling, which has certainly changed the pace of life for us. During language study we were at home almost every day for class. We had our weekly shopping trip in the city and we usually traveled to Kiti or Pirang for church on Sunday. We also tried to go to Pirang and Kiti to visit the people once a week or every other week. Now, however, we spend our days preparing Bible studies, taking public transportation or riding our bicycles to the villages, which is much more tiring than it sounds since even to take public we have to walk 15 minutes to the bus park and then another 10-20 minutes to our destination after we get off.
        For those of you who don't get our newsletters, our main focus will be on youth work during our time here. Our vision for the next eight months is to hold weekly Bible studies with the youth of the different fellowships, while training one or two of the older youth to take our place as leaders. Right now we are doing most of the leading and preparing, but we want to slowly move out of that position into a participatory position where we can lend guidance and provide input, but leave the leadership up to the youth. Our purpose in doing this is so that the youth do not depend on us to lead them, leaving them without a leader once we leave. Rather we want them to take ownership of their Bible study and continue meeting after we leave. We realize that ultimately it will be up to the youth to decide if they find this time to be valuable enough to continue on on their own, but we want God to use us to bring them to a place where they can sustain the group on their own if they have desire. Hopefully they will not only be able to keep meeting weekly, but we hope that they do find these times to be valuable and meaningful so that they desire to continue meeting.
       We are also hoping this time will allow us to develop deep and meaningful relationships with the youth that will open doors to deeper discussions on a personal and spiritual level, which is not common in relationships here.  We are excited to see what the Lord has prepared to teach us throughout these next eight months.
       On a different note, now that we are busier and I find myself to be tired more often, I find that it has been a bit easier to get discouraged, probably part spiritual attack, part lesson from God. The other day I was thinking about how much we had to sacrifice to take this time off and serve the Lord. We had to put a year of our lives in the States on hold to come to here to Gambia where I sometimes wonder what we are doing. As I was praying and telling this to the Lord, He reminded me of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. I felt like one year of my life was pretty insignificant in comparison, and thought about all of the unreached peoples in the world who have never, and would never, have a chance to hear the gospel if we (as Christians) weren't willing to make sacrifices sometimes. I desperately want to avoid seeking the life of the "American dream", but as my high school classmates finish college I find myself thinking of where I "could" be. Instead, I need to remember where I am. Living in the present is not easy for me, and I tend to always be looking to the future rather than being content with where I am. I have dreams and plans, and I know God respects that, but I also know that His plans are bigger than anything I can imagine, if I just take the time to pay attention, listen and live them out. So as I think about those plans, and about the sacrifices I may have to make in the future, I am challenged to think about whether I am willing to make the sacrifice or not, regardless of the cost. I hope that I can walk in obedience no matter what I/we are called to do.

Praises:
-We have begun our work with the youth!
-Drivers licenses are finally being processed
-Lisa Landis from WJTL, a Christian radio station in Lancaster, PA, has arrived safely and will be here in West Africa for a week raising money for schools here in Gambia and Guinea-Bissau

Prayer Requests:
-That Darrel Hostetter, HR rep at EMM, will also arrive safely later this week
-That we will be able to develop deep, meaningful relationships with the youth that cross cultural barriers
-That we will be open to the Lord and His path for us during the remainder of our time here and after we go home

communication confusion

Whenever one is in a different culture  there are plenty of times for confusion in communication. Even though most people here in Gambia speak english there are still plenty of opportunities for miscommunications. This evening was a prime example. My friend Ansel came to visit last week and she informed me that she was going to see her tailor on Monday. I asked her if I could come along and see where her tailor was so that I could have a Gambian dress made for myself for any baby-naming ceremonies or funerals that may come up. My purpose in going was to look through the catalog of patterns and see what kind of work her tailor did. So when Ansel arrived this evening to go to the tailor in the market I was ready to go with her, but I did not bring extra money for fabric or a dress. As we entered the market we went into the first fabric shop that we came across and Ansel determined that it was too busy so we moved on. We went next store to the next fabric shop and quietly looked around, not seeing too many fabrics that i really liked, but giving Ansel an appropriate amount of time to choose a fabric she liked. She had the shop keeper pull a couple of different fabrics down for her to look at and she would ask my opinion, but since the conversation was happening in Mandinka I was unable to understand what was being said. After the conversation was over Ansel asked how many meters I needed and I finally realized that I was buying fabric for me and that she wasn't looking for her! I kindly let her know that I didn't want that fabric, but I realized that I would be finding fabric to have a dress made at that point. So I went on a journey to find a fabric that I liked enough to have a dress made. I had found one fabric that I had like in the past, but with the overturn of fabric I knew that I was unlikely that I would find it again. I knew that if I didn't find one soon that I would have to settle for a fabric that I didn't like all that much. Then we entered a shop that had the previous fabric that I liked and I found one that I really liked! I had eyed this fabric previously thinking that it would be too expensive so I always walked away, but today I asked about it and it wasn't bad! I bought six meters for about 6 dollars and then took my fabric to the tailor where I chose a pattern and paid 80 dalasi, slightly more than 3 dollars, for my dress to be made. Thankfully I had enough money to pay for these things, but the moral of the story is, be prepared for anything! I didn't think I would come back tonight with a dress being made for myself, but I did and I'm really excited about it!

Women's retreat

        This post is a bit late coming, but from March 12th-14th the ladies of EMM went to the city for a women's retreat. Denise, Lori and I left around 9 Friday morning and headed to Serekunda for a weekend away. 

        Our first stop was at ABWE, which is property of the three guesthouses where we stayed. The guesthouses are run by a Baptist mission organization here in Gambia and serves as a get away for missionaries serving here in Gambia. They have missionaries that serve throughout the country who always get first dibs, but if the guesthouses are free, then other missionaries can also enjoy it's commodities for 325 dalasi, or about 13 U.S. dollars a night. Unlike our homes, the guesthouses have air conditioning, hot water, satellite television, VCR, DVD player and even a bathtub! 

living room

television, satellite box, VCR and DVD player

kitchen/dining room

my bedroom, it is a child's room but they gave us the only house with three rooms so we could each have our own

the bathtub!

possibly my favorite part of the stay, the hot water heater!

...and our 11 pieces of pepperoni for our pizza! Pepperoni is very expensive here so this was a treat, we paid 25 dalasi for these 11 pieces!

      We stopped in briefly, dropped our things, left our laundry to be washed in a washing machine for 50 dalasi, about 2 dollars, and then we headed off for a relaxing day at the pool. The pool is at a hotel, but is open for public use for 50 dalasi per person, roughly 2 dollars. We cooled off at the pool for awhile, escaping the 100* plus temperatures for a couple of hours, enjoyed lunch and then headed back to ABWE. 

       We then made homemade pizza and while it cooked had an amazing discussion on hearing God's voice which is a struggle for all of us, some times more than others, but still all of the none the less. We followed a study guide that Lori had found online which opened up some great discussion that helped us to get to know each other just a little bit better, but also gave us a chance to reconnect as Christian women trying to live lives that are pleasing to our Lord Jesus Christ. Then we enjoyed our pizza and a movie and headed off to bed in our air conditioned bed rooms.

       The next day we planned nothing but a day of rest. Lori and I had a 75 minute massage from a Christian Nigerian  massage therapist for about 18 U.S. dollars when in the U.S. the cost would have been anywhere from $50-$100! The rest of the day was spent reading, praying and even enjoying some world news and other American shows on the television.

         Sunday we went to the ABWE church for a change of the norm, then went back to ABWE to pack up, rest for a little while longer and then head home. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend away from the dust and heat, but it was nice to get back to my husband who was so supportive in my going away for the weekend. 

Praises:

-We have finished language study and can now speak 1 1/2 new languages!

-We now have our alien cards, residency permits and we may be getting licenses soon

-We will be beginning our youth ministry the first week of April

Prayer requests;

-That we will be in tune with God as we begin our youth ministry and that it will be a fruitful for both the youth and us

-For the wife of the director of MEHDA in Pirang who lost her mother last week and the funeral was on Monday

-For our EMM prayer retreat that we will be having this Thursday-Saturday-The dogs that live here at Methodist Mission may be being sent away quite soon, so we ask for prayer at we may have to let them go even though we've grown quite attached to them

 

Amidou update

I just wanted to update all of you on Amidou's condition since my last post. The next morning Amidou's speech had returned and the paralysis was gone! He says that it is because of our prayers that he has been healed and we are now praying that he will come to know the Lord because of this miraculous recovery. All we can say is praise Jesus for His goodness! Thank you all for your prayers, they hold more power than we could ever imagine!

A trip to Pirang

     First of all I want to apologize for not writing in a month! I don't know where the time went! We were without internet for a week and a half and then time seemed to just get away from us. A quick update before I get into this blog post, we finished our Kiriol studies last month and we have now started Mandinka studies which we will only be doing for this month and then we will be done with formal language study for the rest of our time here, but as we know the learning will never stop throughout our time here. As I have posted before, Mandinka is the more popular local language for the part of the country that we are living in so it will be very useful for us when going to the market, communicating with local people and the people in Pirang and even with the youth of the church, especially with those that don't speak Kiriol. And while most people do speak english they definitely appreciate it when you try and speak their local language and for those with limited or no english it allows us to fill in the language gaps. We will continue to let you all know how these studies go as we learn more.
      Now onto our trip to Pirang. On Saturday morning I climbed out of bed at around 8 ready to get an earlier than normal start on laundry so we could leave at a decent time for the village of Pirang (where Gary, Denise and Lori live). I strolled into the kitchen picked up the teapot to fill it with water for some oatmeal, went to the sink, turned on the tap and....nothing. Now it is not unusual for our water to be turned off occasionally, especially in the morning, so that the water tower can be filled. The water is not usually off for long so I figured that I would still have time to do laundry when it came back on. Well this morning it was a bit longer than normal and as 10 rolled around with still no water I began to realize that we were not going to get laundry done before going to Pirang. Now let me explain, it takes us at least 2 hours to do our laundry which would have taken us to about 12, then it takes about an hour to get from our house to Pirang by public transport which brings us to 1 o'clock. This still isn't terribly late, but one of our reasons for wanting to go was to visit another missionary from England who was going to be there and to get there early enough to visit with the women of "My Sister's Company" which finishes between 1:00-2:00.
      So, going against the grain of our usual weekly routine, we left for Pirang with dirty clothes still in the hamper (and of course the water came on just as we were leaving). We arrived at MEHDA around 11:00-11:30 and found the center to be quite busy. Nichola (the missionary from England) was there, along with the women from "My Sister's Company" and a group of "tubobs" (white people) that were there bird watching.
      There were only 4 women from the company working that day, all dressed in their new uniforms and hard at work canning tomato juice. One of the things that Denise and Lori have been teaching the women in addition to sewing, tie and die and jewelry making is how to can. They have canned mangos in the past which are then sold to grocery stores in Serekunda or hotels. This was the first time canning tomato juice and it seemed to go quite well. The tomatoes were ground up squeezing out all the juice through a hand cranked press, the juice was then boiled so it would thicken, then it was spooned into hot used jars from items such as jelly, pickles, mayonnaise (basically anything glass) and placed into an amish canner, from Lehman's hardware, on hot charcoal until sealed and finished. The hope is that these jars can be sold but also used by the local women in their cooking.

pressing the tomatoes

adding salt to the sauce before it is boiled

      After the canning was finished we enjoyed a hot lunch of soup and solar oven baked biscuits with Gary, Denise, Lori, Nicola, our language study teacher Raymond and one of the youth from the Medina fellowship, Zang. After cleaning many many dishes and chatting for awhile, Nicola gave us a ride home in her car with air conditioning!

        In effort to keep this post from being too long I do want to wrap up by informing everyone of a prayer request. Yesterday the local carpenter in Pirang that lives in Gary and Denise's compound had a spell while in the shower. His wife came to Gary and Denise and informed them that his speech was slurred and he wasn't able to use his right hand or foot very well. The Williamson's then took Amidu (the carpenter) to a non-Gambian doctor in Serekunda who confirmed that he had had a mild stroke. She said his blood pressure was very high when she examined him. She was not able to give him any medicine that we have in the States to prevent further damage so she said that he needed to rest to get the bleeding on the brain to stop and to get his blood pressure down. She, being a Christian, also advised us to pray for a full recovery. Since Amidu is a carpenter he needs both of his hands. He only uses hand tools since there is no electricity in Pirang and carpentry is his livelihood. He is only 46 years old so he is still quite young and had a family to support. Please join us in prayer for our friend and brother that he will recover fully and quickly so that he can continue on with the work that supports he and his family. 

      We have many other things that we could write about, but we will try and update the blog more quickly this time so that we can have shorter posts about a variety of happenings. 

Praises:

-Our Kiriol studies went well and we are able to go out to different Balanta compounds and converse with them in one of their heart languages

-Jess, Denise and Lori are able to have a women's retreat this weekend giving them a time of rest and reconnection with the Lord while Elias and Gary are able to have some reflective time for themselves as well

-We continue to meet new friends, especially those that also live in Brikama and Methodist Mission

Prayer Requests:
-For our brother Amidu as he rests and recovers
-For our Mandinka studies, that we will learn enough to get around the market and public transport efficiently
-For our brothers San Pierre, Raymond and Zang that are taking a pastoring course worth 12 credits that will grant them a diploma and teach them how to better pastor their churches (I will write more about this later)

Eyes on the prize

As we cross the street a sort of organized chaos ensues, we have now entered the Brikama market. We quickly maneuver through the crowded entrance being careful to avoid wheelbarrows, bicycles and the occasional motorbike ignoring the calls of "toobob" (white person). We are on a mission and we know what we came here to buy. We continue on through the crowded, narrow alleyways where I eye the numerous tables selling most of the same vegetables to see what is freshest and to scout out new items from the gardens.  As we walk, careful to avoid running into women carrying bowls, vegetables, rice or some other item on their heads, our noses are filled with the poignant scent of raw fish sitting out on the tables waiting to be sold for lunch or dinner. As I smell the familiar, yet still unpleasant smell of the fish I realize that we are almost to our first destination.  We arrive to a larger stand where we buy a stack of three potatoes, a stack of 3 onions and 7 eggs (just enough to fill up the egg holders in our fridge). We quickly thank the man and then we begin to backtrack the same way that we came. I pick up a small lemon and contemplate the green peppers, but they are not what we are here for so we continue on. Lastly we come upon our final destination, the prize, the final touch to our dinner that I will make tonight and the real reason for coming to the market at all. We have arrived at the chicken section! As soon as the ladies realize what we are there for, they all begin pulling the "hard" (frozen) chicken out of their coolers to show off what they have. We buy two half pieces and then, happy with our purchases we make our way back to the road where we entered. We have been successful once again!
      The longer we live here in Brikama the more things I discover I can buy in the market. Two months ago the market looked big, scary and extremely unorganized, but now it's not so big and as I stated in the beginning of the post it's a sort of organized chaos. Everything has it's place or it's section it's just a matter of figuring out where the section is and how to get there each time we enter the market. I like to buy as many things locally as I can while still making meals that help remind us of home. It may not be wal-mart or the local farmers market, but it's what we have here and I'm learning to appreciate it more and more as people begin to recognize us and welcome us with smiles and greetings.

Blessings from the Gambia!

Prayer requests:
-For health as our stomachs have been off
-Against spiritual attacks which we have been feeling, especially when we want to go out into the villages
-For language study, as we get better at Kiriol we are thinking about beginning some Mandinka study
-For breakthroughs with the Muslims that we are in contact with every day

Praises:
-We are getting more comfortable in our new home
-Language is continuing to progress
-We continue to learn more about ourselves and what we believe as individuals and as a couple