“Hello, Mr. B. Are you there? How are you? How is your wife?” I ask into the dark.

“I am fine. My wife is fine. How are you?” Mr. B responds from his chair on the porch where he gets better radio reception.

“I am fine.”  I reply through the screen.

“How are your girls?” He asks. “Are they sleeping?”

“They are fine.  Yes, they are sleeping.” I say. “Would you like some tea or coffee?”

“Oh yes, I would love some tea. Thank you.”

“And is your daughter there? Does she want hot chocolate?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

“Yes, she is here. She wants hot chocolate.”

“Ok, wait a minute.” I say as I make my way to the stove. The conversation is the same every night. The truth is I’ve already started the water to boil and his coffee cup is half full with a teabag, one scoop of milk powder, and one scoop of sugar. He loves hot chocolate much more than tea, but I generally save that for his daughters. And coffee keeps him awake until late in the night, so that is usually reserved for especially cold afternoons.

I deliver two steaming coffee cups that warm their hearts; or at least warm their bellies, and make my way back into the house leaving the solar light on so they can see. I rarely talk to Mr. B in the evenings, as that is prime radio listening time. There are four stations that can be heard in Labe: RFI, BBC, and two local stations. We haven’t heard BBC broadcast in quite some time, and the other stations come and go with the electricity but can generally be heard between dinner and bedtime.

Sometimes, when the girls are playing outside, or have gone down for a late afternoon nap, and when Mr. B is sitting on his blue plastic chair on the porch, I am able to talk to him. We talk about a lot of things, but mostly we talk about the things of God. He can recite more Bible stories than most American adults, I think. It’s fascinating for me to hear the stories from a Guinean point of view. He knows the stories so well; I think I’ve only corrected him once. During many of our conversations, Mr. B will get out a children’s picture Bible that was given to him and recount page after page of Biblical history. He points out all the characters illustrated and tells me everything he knows about each one. I often ask him how the stories relate to his life, or how they impact us today.

More often sooner than later, Jesus is the person of interest and we begin talking about how to get to paradise (heaven). By this time, I feel quite comfortable speaking the sometimes difficult truths of scripture because I have earned the right by daily sowing into his life. Little things like giving a cup of coffee, sharing cookies with his girls, praying for him and his family, and meeting felt needs open doors for explaining the Good News. If it only costs a scoop of milk, sugar, and cocoa powder to share the Gospel with someone, that’s a price I’m willing to pay.

A few years ago, we introduced you to Mr. B. He and his daughter were featured in a video we complied and shared with supporters while on home assignment. Mr. B is primarily our guard; but he is a language helper, a community liaison, helps with the laundry, washes our floors once every week or two, and since he loves flowers he is our gardener too. We are extremely blessed to have him as part of our family, and he is completely trustworthy, a rare moral attribute in this part of the world.

Mr. B is about 72 years old. He isn’t exactly sure of the year he was born, but he knows he was born when the French governed Guinea. Mr. B is married to one wife and has seven children; the oldest an 18 year old boy and six girls. His youngest girls are a set of twins just two months older than ours.

Life is difficult in Guinea. If a Guinean lives past childhood, he or she may very well live to be elderly. Poor healthcare and inadequate education cause a 6.1% infant mortality rate in Guinea. Mr. B is privileged to have worked for expatriates who provided good medical care for him and his family for more than 20 years.

In early 2008, the Lord impressed upon my heart the need to be very proactive in sharing the Gospel and took every opportunity I could to share Bible truths with him. I wasn’t sure if I was saying goodbye to Mr. B for the last time when we left Guinea in 2009 for home assignment.

Thankfully, God enabled Mr. B to faithfully watch our house and tend our garden while we were in the States. But we can see the years starting to show on his wrinkled face. He moves more slowly, he often falls asleep in his chair on the porch in the hot afternoon shade, he is often ill, has carpal tunnel syndrome, and cataracts have taken most of his sight.

Tomorrow morning, David plans to take Mr. B to Sightsavers; “an international charity which works with partners to eliminate avoidable blindness and promote equality of opportunity for disabled people in the developing world.” Their initial appointment was more than a month ago. Mr. B was given eye drops to prepare his eyes for surgery, and told to return after Ramadan.

Will you pray for peace through the process, a successful surgery, and for salvation for Mr. B? We know that God is able to give him sight in more ways than one.

For your consideration:

Kesso: An Autobiography of a Peul Princess by Kesso Barry gives a glimpse into life in Guinea during a time of tumultuous transition from colonization to independence from France in 1958. Email me if you are interested in adding this to your winter reading list.

Did you know I have a creative side? And a dry sense of humor?

In honor of yesterday’s post, I thought I would share a free, original art print. Enjoy the humor, and pray for us when you see it “lying around” your house!

This original art will print well on 8½ x 11 card stock. You may frame it or display it on its own.

“You’re not cut out for Africa” David said.

“You think wives in Africa like their husbands putting cockroaches in the bed?” I questioned. Obviously, we have a difference of opinion on whether or not wildlife should co-exist in close quarters with (wo)man.

That was, by the way, the largest cockroach I had seen to date. Gross!

A few weeks later, I had a very bizarre dream. (Not out of the norm, as I have full-action, full-color, highly intense dreams every time I sleep.) My dream this particular night was that I fed colleagues pasta with millipedes.

They live on the tree in our driveway, and I am afraid they are going to fall on my head every time I beat out a rug on its trunk. In the dream, they started crawling out of the bowl and got into my hair. I woke up, and my whole head itched. I immediately prayed that if there was anything in my hair that God would get it out, and kill it. Really.

The next morning as I was making the bed, I saw a pile of dead cockroaches beside my pillow. I stopped counting at 13 as I swept them into the dustpan. (God answers prayer!)

On your next visit to Labe, shake out your slippers in the morning or you may find this little fellow greeting you…

…or this large one:

While here, we will provide you with the nicest accommodations possible and the finest cuisine (see aforementioned pasta). The cula were recently evicted from your suite:

As was this brown widow spider:

(Source)

And don’t worry about the bats in the guesthouse ceiling. We’re working on getting rid of those for you too.

If you spend time admiring the flowers around our house, you may see this huge, hissing beetle that attacked and bit Amelie three times yesterday…

…or a cute little inchworm. See it on the stick?

Maybe we’ll take you to an extremely remote mountain to pray. If you’re quiet, once we park under a lone tree and sit down in its shade to pray for the surrounding villages, An Eastern Green Mamba could slide down the trunk, out on a limb next to us, drop to the ground, and slither away. It will probably be the brightest green snake you have ever seen. (Totally hypothetically speaking, of course… eh-hem…)

(Source)

If you want, you can swap snake stories with our colleagues who were visited by this three foot spitting cobra:

In the early morning as we drive you back down the mountains on your way to Conakry; just as the sun is rising over a million thatched roof huts, you might spy a troop of monkeys:

But, then again, maybe you won’t see anything but vultures sitting on the neighbor’s unfinished house.

Either way, we’ll be excited to see you!

Last night and tonight Muslims in Guinea celebrate what they call the “Night of Power;” Islam’s most holy night. It marks the anniversary of the night Muslims believe the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad¹. Throughout this night, Muslims will pray and read the Qur’an, devoting their time to seeking visions from angels, and beseeching God for whatever they desire. Muslims believe it is on this night that God decides the fate of each person for the following year.

Please pray that God Himself will visit the Fulbe who are open to hearing the Truth of His word. Pray that their hearts will be ready to accept God’s Good News. God knows the plans he has for the Fulbe this year.  Pray that this might be the year they accept the free gift of salvation He so willingly offers.

source

It’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon and the girls are bouncing around, hollering in their beds napping. Rain is pouring down from a dark grey sky. I couldn’t have a conversation if I tried for all the water beating the tin roof. There is something wonderful about a West African rain storm. I love them. Love. Them. It rains about 17 feet in 6 months in Conakry; half that in Labe.

There are many great things about rainy season in Guinea. The sun isn’t so scorching, for starters. Everything turns green, and we have more electricity because of the hydro-electric dam.

And then, there are the not-so-great things about rainy season. Primarily the mold. It’s everywhere. Mold grows on everything from walls to clothing that doesn’t dry properly. It’s currently on our kitchen ceiling:

Our roof is leaking, and David can’t find where the water’s coming in. Bummer, since I just repainted it last Tuesday. David climbed up on the roof yesterday to plug the hole, but can’t find it. (He also came back with a tale about fighting off a giant spider… I’m not sure I believe him.) I have one ear listening for the ceiling to come crashing down from the weight of the pooling water. There’s also an animal living up there. It scurries around at night after the light’s been turned off. I sure hope he doesn’t come crashing into the kitchen too. Pray we find and can patch the leak before the rain ruins our ceiling!

Ramadan is half over. I hope you have found time each day to pray for the 4 million Fulbe Muslims of Guinea, West Africa. If your memory is like mine, though, a reminder is always great! Here is a quick reference calendar with just one prayer point for each of the remaining days of Ramadan so you can join us in praying for the Fulbe people.

Ramadan Prayer Guide 2011

Monday marked the beginning of Ramadan in Guinea.  During this month, Muslims will fast from sunup to sundown every day.  They will attempt to be particularly pious as they seek God’s forgiveness for the deeds of the past year.  Please be in prayer for the Muslim world during the month of August.  Pray that God will help them find the TRUE way to holiness and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

Two weeks ago, Billie and the girls went to a village to stay with colleagues while David took Lisa back to Conakry to fly home. Lisa’s three weeks with us flew by. “I had a great time hanging out and seeing how international workers live,” she said. We are so very thankful that God provided a way for her to help us with the transition. We think a highlight of her stay was visiting an orphanage housing HIV/AIDS babies and infants.

While out in the village, Billie was able to brush up on burn care. She was also able to witness to two young men. While they did not make a decision for Christ, they did hear the Good News.

The girls are still sick, but we altered their diets, are taking greater care with food preparation, are keeping them inside a little more, and they seem to be doing better.  Please continue to pray for good health as they make the transition to life in West Africa. ” and Amelie is already spouting off her first words in Pular, “Okay,” “Goodbye,” and “Mom.”

In addition to sharing the gospel, we have hit the ground running with other projects.  We are trying to get our home in order before the Vice President of our mission agency visits in two short weeks. We also tried to fix the road in our neighborhood that had become a small lake. We say “tried” because the way to fill a pond is not, apparently, by filling it with four truckloads of dirt. That creates mud. Hindsight is 20/20, though, and next time we will order four truckloads of rock. Please pray the situation will give us opportunities to share about our hearts to help the Fulbe people.

David took our guard, Mr. Bah to visit Sight Savers.  He has cataracts and will have surgery in September, after Ramadan is over, to restore his vision. (More on Ramadan in a future post). Please pray that his surgery goes well and that his sight will be perfectly restored.

In related news, Mr. Bah’s family moved back to our hometown. We are excited for the girls to have playmates who can teach them Pular. (Billie hopes they can teach her Pular too!)

We spent the week in a village teaching English at an  English camp. Seeds were sown as David shared the gospel with each student in English and French.

While out in the village, the Guinean president survived an assassination attempt. Everything is calm in country, and we don’t expect any unrest. You can read more about this here and here.

Thank you for your prayers for us as we continue to make the transition to life in Africa with two toddlers, and for the Fulbe people who have yet to hear the Good News.

Thank you for praying for Guinea today as Conde was sworn in as the first democratically elected president since the West African nation’s independence from France in 1958.  According to a France24.com press release, Conde has promised to reform the military, review mining contracts, and develop the nations infrastructure to bring running water and electricity to more homes.

Please pray for Conde and Guinean nationals during this time of transition.

New Era for Guinea