Washed Clean

Binta Kamara has been our house help for a year and half and has grown to be a good friend of mine (Karen’s). She is the wife of a church leader, Siga, and a mother of four boys.  I have blogged about her before as you may recall.  She has faced many trials in her life, both before and after she became a christian.  When Djibi and Michael first started talking about our church doing baptism on Easter Sunday I went to Binta to ask if she wanted to get baptized.  She was a woman that had already confessed, was living out her faith and was obviously growing as a christian every day.  The only thing that lay between her and the water was her family.  

Binta is Siga’s wife, but not technically.  In our eyes, she is his wife, but by definition here she is not technically married, truly only two of the women in our bible study are technically married.  Let me explain, here in Guinea Bissau the husband must purchase his wife.  If you are a man and want to marry a girl, you will choose someone to go and talk to the girls father.  This person you choose could be your best friend, your brother, or uncle, any male you trust, but typically a family member. This person will go to her father and let him know you want to marry his daughter. The talks will then begin about how much her father would like you to pay to marry her.  Included in that price will be everything needed for the wedding ceremony and reception (here it’s a party).  The girl will pay nothing.  As is the case when purchasing anything here, the man never accepts the first price, there are always many counter-offers.  If an agreement is made then as soon as the man has the price and purchased everything needed for the wedding they will get married.  The girl typically doesn’t have a say, however, many times the family will ask the girl if she wants to marry or not, but the girl doesn’t get the actual say. Siga hasn’t paid for Binta and therefore she must still get her family's permission to accept Christ as well as to be baptized.  

Last year, Binta had asked her family if she could be a Christian, this year she was seeking their permission to be baptized.  If she would confess or get baptized without their permission, they could take her away from Siga. This is constantly held over their heads until the man pays fully for the woman.  Binta asked if I would be willing to go to her family’s village with her to ask their permission. This included a bike ride further into the bush to her village.  We went out the Thursday before Easter to meet with her family.  Binta’s birth mom passed away many years ago, but her father is still there. We needed to get his permission as well as his three other wives, as well as her uncle's permission.  In this culture, your father’s brothers are also your dads. Her father accepted right away with hardly anything to say in regards to the baptism, but her uncle talked a lot, all in their tribe language which I didn’t understand but a few words enough to know they were talking about the baptism.  In the end he accepted because Siga is a christian and he believes it is good for the man and woman to be on the same path, basically to be equally yoked.  Binta was beyond thrilled, but you wouldn’t have known it from her facial expressions, until we got far enough away from her family's sight and ear shot.  She then stopped her bike and started talking non-stop about how they accepted and she thought her chest was going to burst from her heart pounding.  She had wanted to be baptized for a while and this was her time. On that day, she boldly walked into the water and beaming from ear to ear she answered each question about her faith with a sound yes.  

On our way out to Binta's home village we stopped to take in the view.  

The old has been washed away and new has emerged.  

Siga, filled with joy, swooped his newly baptized wife into his arms for photos. 

When we were preparing to come here to Guinea Bissau I remember one conversation with Andrew, the long term missionary that left shortly after we came.  He asked me if I wanted a christian or non-christian woman to wash our laundry.  I said I wanted someone that was open to coming to church, but hasn’t yet accepted Christ.  My prayer was that through our daily living and friendship with her she would one day come to know the Lord.  Missionaries that were already serving here are the ones that picked Mai Mane for us.  When we came Mai was maybe 18 and had a six month old girl named Rebekah.  We instantly fell in love with Rebekah and she became part of our family.  There was no language barrier between Rebekah and us, but with Mai the gap was huge.  As we slowly began understanding Creole our friendship with Mai grew.  Her love and respect for Michael is huge. She has watched the way we interact, the way we talk to each other and to our children.  At first we noticed a fear of Michael, but now she loves him like a big brother.  Two and a half years ago I never would’ve imagined what God has done in Mai.  She started coming over to hang out with us and started being open to discussing Christ and how he gives us freedom.  She has been coming to church for years now, but hasn’t accepted Christ. About two weeks before baptism day I, Karen, asked her why she hasn’t confessed yet. She chuckled and replied, “No reason.” The next day when she was doing laundry, she told me a few things other churches say you must do in order to be a christian and so therefore she was confused.  I asked if she’d be open to Djibi and I coming to her house to talk with her.  She was very open and so that began two weeks of us talking with her and praying for her.  On Saturday before Sunday baptisms she told both Djibi and I that she still had doubts.  She came to our house that night to talk, but someone else was there so we couldn’t talk.  That night as Michael and I went to bed I was feeling sad we couldn’t have talked to Mai.  Michael reminded me that we wanted Mai to come to Christ because of Jesus, not because of us.  We prayed together that Jesus would come talk to her that night.  Sunday morning we went to church with hearing nothing from Mai.  When Djibi called the people getting baptized to the front of the church the three we knew about went up and sat down.  Then Mai stood and went up front.  It was a surprise for all of us.  Jesus indeed had spoken to her! She said she was ready to give her life to Christ and she wanted the church to pray with her that she would have great faith.  We all then walked out to the water where the baptisms would take place and when it was her turn she walked out to Michael and Djibi with boldness and a smile across her face.  Mai is not a person that says a lot or even smiles a lot, but that day her smile showed a new joy we haven’t seen before.  Mai is very shy in front of others, but when she answered those five questions about her faith she answered the loudest of all the others, ‘SIN!” (“YES!”).  

Mai is terrified of water, but here she is ready to be wash cleaned.

Welcomed into the family of Christ! 

We had to add a picture of Mai's daughter Rebekah. Here she got a short ride on 'Baba's' motor. 

We know God is big and we know he hears our prayers, but when you see it being answered, it is the most humbling experience.  Mai and Binta did not get baptized because of anything man did, but because of the Creator of our universe, because of the one that holds all of our lives in His hands.  It is because of God that lives are changed.  We are only blessed to get to be a witness to it.  

Power of Prayer

A few weeks ago I, Karen, was walking on the street when I noticed down the road, by the chief’s house, was filled with men.  When I arrived at my friend’s house, I asked what was going on.  Apparently there were some men stealing palm trees for wood from Catel and the men of our village were taking the issue to the chief.  There was yelling and arguing, but soon, the chief had it all under control and the men dispersed.  The men that were stealing the wood had paid off the 2nd chief as well as the police in neighboring villages to not come when they were called.  On this particular day the police did not come and the 2nd chief said he had visitors at his house so he could not come either.  Our village chief did his job at settling everyone down and we thought the issue was done.  

That weekend, we went to Bissau so our kids could see Bissau as well as our friends Sadja and Adramane.  What we didn’t realize was the problem wasn’t over.  We came back to the village on a Monday and that same day the chief’s son went down to Bissau to talk to the police and forestry department about the wood problem.  He went to Bissau because the police around our village had been paid off and so far were not responding.  

Thursday afternoon I was doing dishes and noticed women from a neighboring house running down the path.  It wasn’t just one or two women, but every single woman from the house, and then all the men started running too.  We stopped a few to ask what was happening.  The police from Bissau had arrived as well as neighboring police and were arresting the men stealing wood.  When someone gets caught stealing here he is tied up and the entire village has the opportunity to beat on him.  Women were running with thin sticks and men with their machetes.  We stayed home knowing this was not a problem involving us, but a village problem.  After a few hours had passed I left the house to take a Bible to a woman that had been anxiously awaiting a full New and Old Testament Bible.  We were able to purchase five in Bissau after a year or more of no Bibles being available in all of Guinea Bissau.  When I got to the road I noticed it was still full of people and many women were standing around talking about what was happening.  The people stealing the wood are not directly in our village but a village connected to ours on the road.  It is about a 5-10 minute walk from our house.  When I got to the house to deliver the Bible, all the women were talking about the fight.  The fight had escalated and many people involved in stealing as well as those not involved had gotten beaten.  The village people had arrived first to their house and fighting started, then the police arrived.  Throughout the fighting the men directly involved in the stealing disappeared.  The police were able to capture one of the men during the evening, but night fell without catching the others.  That night our village men formed a search party and in the night were able to catch one or two of the men. The police came in the morning and took them off to jail but not before some serious beatings.  

After this conflict different people were summoned to court.  Through this process lies and truth were told and from this arguing started throughout the village.  The most unfortunate part of this was one of our church leaders is in the middle of it all.  This church leader started going through the village spreading lies about the chief and his family as well as cussing out and insulting the chief.  From the story we heard on Sunday after church, this same church leader (who did not come to church that morning) called his family from his original village to come up here to attack Catel for revenge.  A woman from Catel was in a neighboring village when she saw a bunch of men get off a car with weapons in their hands (we assume these weapons were machetes and huge sticks). The woman came back to Catel and immediately told the chief. Police were called and a village meeting was called.  What came to be was the National Guard of Guinea Bissau came to our village that evening and, along with the men of our village, were all prepared to defend our village. Most women and children in the village evacuated for their family’s houses outside of Catel.  Michael sought the council of our church leaders and village leaders as to whether we should leave or stay.  We knew we were not directly related to the problem and what we had heard was the group of men were coming directly to the houses of people in which they had conflict.  We felt at peace with the decision to stay in the village, but we were prepared to leave at a moments notice.  As the sun set we could hear the vehicles coming into the village filled with soldiers.  It was almost dark when four of the neighbor children started walking over to our yard all looking a little nervous.  We told them to go home, but they responded telling us they were told to come sit here.  I went over to talk to the adults and that is when they asked if the children could sleep here.  A few minutes later the only two women left at their house came over as well asking if they could sleep here too.  We had also called a few other women we knew didn’t have anywhere to go to offer for them to sleep here.  We had moved a full and twin mattress into our room on the floor for our children to sleep with us.  We put a mattress in our hallway outside our room and laid a couple mats on the floor of the kitchen for the neighbors. About 8:00 p.m. Michael’s phone rang.  Djibi was calling because the soldiers posted outside our house wanted us all to be quiet and shut off all lights.  We all hurried inside, locked all the doors and were silent.  I have never before seen nine children be so quiet without one of them being asleep.  The only thing left to do was pray. We were all praying for God to put his army of angels around our village. Our village is usually alive with various noises, whether its women cooking (they eat supper after dark), children crying, arguments, motor bikes and cars, drumming or music. This night, our village was silent, there was not a light or a sound anywhere. It was almost as if everyone was holding their breath.  Soon after though, we could hear one motor running. It seemed to be running back and forth.  We found out the next day it was that same church leader running the men to various parts around Catel to be prepared to attack.  The soldiers stopped him running and did not allow a single car to pass through Catel until 5:30 the next morning.  By 9:00 p.m. the children in our house were mostly asleep so all of us adults also laid down, but none of us slept.  Instead, we prayed.  Each time one of us drifted off to sleep we would wake to the smallest sound.  Around midnight a dog must’ve been passing on the path because we heard it start barking and the soldier outside shooing it away and then hitting it with a stick to get it to go away.  We prayed all night until sunrise. Once the sun came up our phones started ringing with friends checking on us, while others stopped by to make sure we made it through the night okay.  Throughout that day women and children began returning to Catel, but that night brought us all to prayer again.  This time the threat wasn’t so imminent but it was still there.  The National Guard had threatened the family that if one person was hurt in Catel, their children in jail would be hurt, if one person in Catel died one of their children in jail would die.  While we don’t want anyone to get hurt, ultimately we want them to turn to Jesus, we knew this threat should keep them away. We were all told that the National Guard would not return that night so there was a group of young men that spread out and walked the village until sunrise. Rumor is that the troops actually came back secretively and guarded the houses in danger.  

We could feel others praying for us, for our entire village.  Throughout the night we received messages of people praying through the night in America.  One friend told me she wouldn’t sleep until our sun rose here in Guinea Bissau.  It was such a comfort to know the amount of prayer support we had.  Tuesday nights our church gets together for prayer.  That night, we prayed solely for our village and those whom seek revenge on our village.  As were were walking home, I asked Djibi how his wife was doing.  Djibi said she was doing okay, but still worried and not eating well. In a previous blog I wrote a story about a woman that lived through fighting in GB as well as in Senegal.  Well, Djibi’s wife, Binta, lived through the same fighting in Senegal, but in her area, it was much, much worse. She saw things that no teenager should ever see.  She remembers they had to hide out in the fields by day not eating or drinking until the sun set when they would seek refuge in a safe village.  This threat to our village brought back all those memories and she was scared.  I stopped by her house on the way home from prayer to encourage her.  She told me a little about her story, but couldn’t bring herself to tell it all.  I encouraged her and reminded her when she started to feel fear creep in to ask our Lord for his peace.  She was thankful for that reminder and said that God has increased her faith this week.  Djibi then told us about a vision he received from the Lord. Monday morning he was sitting on his veranda praying after the sun rose and God showed him one gigantic white head, but within that head were hundreds and hundreds of white people praying for Catel.  He said he knew there were people all over the world united together praying for our village.  

Many of you reading this blog right now were a part of his vision.  You all came together and covered us in prayer and we are incredibly thankful.  We praise God that we, brothers and sisters in Christ, are spread all over the world, but we are united together by one Spirit, His Spirit.  The power of prayer truly is powerful! 

It's All Who You Know

In a relational culture, it is all about who you know.  It is considered rude to not greet people as you pass them in the village and people you know you should go through the slew of greetings.  How did you sleep? How are you? How do you feel? How is your family? The greetings can go on and on. When we stop and take the time to greet people, we find we get treated nicer.  When we go into a store, we greet the employee(s). After going through greetings, we usually find exactly what we need a whole lot quicker than we would have without greeting.

With not having a personal car we have made many connections with public transportation drivers.  Sharif and Agustu are two drivers that have become friends of ours. At least one of them always finds us in either the Sao Domingo or Ziguinchor garage (garage is like going to a bus terminal, but we pick up cars instead of buses). Many times, I, Karen, have been in the Ziguinchor garage getting harassed by men when Sharif comes up, gives me a big hug and then doesn't leave my side until I am sitting in the car that will take me to Sao Domingo.  One time a man would not stop talking to me so Sharif told him to get away from his ‘wife’ or he would call my real husband.  That man ran away so fast, I never even saw which way he went.  

Agustu is a driver of a smaller car that seats seven.  We made connection with him through Sharif, who drives a big car that seats closer to 30, we use him to haul materials needed for the new clinic that is being built. Agustu has become our personal driver that we call and he will come to our house and take us directly to Ziguinchor.  We don’t always use him, but when we have a lot of bags we call him.  It is so known that he is our driver that other drivers, when they see us, will say, “These are Agustu’s people.”  Agustu has become not only our driver, but our friend.  He has taken us to his house so we could meet his family.  If we call him to pick us up and then realize we forgot something, he will drive us to pick it up.  He doesn’t just drop us off to pick it up but he will go to purchase it to make sure we get a good price.  Agustu is also the driver that took us to the hospital when Lydia was sick.  When the guards at the border questioned why we weren’t getting out of the car, Agustu explained to them about Lydia and got us through quicker than ever before.  Once we arrived to the hospital (the second hospital we attempted, the first one said they don’t do eyes), he waited at the car with our other kids so that Michael could go into the ER with us.  He never once questioned us anxiously, or demanded that they go.  He said he would wait however long it took so that Michael could be there with us.  After it was decided that Lydia would be admitted, Agustu then took Michael and the kids to the hotel.  He also told Michael that no matter what he wanted to be the one to take us back to Catel so that he could know Lydia was okay.  Agustu is more than a driver for us, he is our friend.  

These relationships are not only because of us, but because of missionaries that have been here before us.  It was Sharif that drove us to Catel that very first day we came, we only continued the relationship.  That is very true for many of our relationships here.  We have made new ones, but we have also carried on old ones.  We are very thankful for the many missionaries that have served before us here in Catel. Through life we can often be deceived that our choices only affect ourselves, don’t believe that. We see the effects every day from the choices others before us have made.  We are blessed by the people that came before us. If you are reading this and are one of those people that served before us, thank you. 

Isaiah pretending to be the driver's helper for this car.  

We don't have any pictures of Sharif or Agustu to post, but we have this picture of Isaiah.  Here the driver's helper rides in the back of the car.  He watches for people that need a ride and gets them in a seat.  The helper is also who you pay when riding transportation.  If the car fills completely with no space inside for the helper, he then stands outside the car holding on to the ladder that goes to the roof of the vehicle.  Our kids are always begging to stand outside on a car. On our way into Ziguinchor one day, Isaiah made friends with the helper and at a stop Isaiah jumped up on the back and started pretending to be the helper. 

Life is about relationship, in fact that is what Jesus came to teach us. It was not about God's rules, although they are important, but instead our relationship with God. As you go about your relationships today, whether old or new, do not forget how you treat others affects more than just yourself. In fact it may have a lasting effect on those who come after you. We hope you are blessed today as we have been by those we know here in West Africa.

Trash to Beauty

Flowers are beautiful. Every time we go in to Ziguinchor we are reminded of Gods beauty through flowers. The hotel we stay at has beautiful flowers. Our children love to look at them, touch them and smell them. When one falls they are so excited to collect it and often they give me one. The flower that falls away from the plant that is rooted in the ground and surrounded by others will wilt and eventually dry up and need to be thrown away. As I type this I sit with a single flower in my lap that is starting to wilt. 

This flower made me realize Christians are the same. If we are removed from other believers, we will fall, wilt and eventually die. We need each other, the nutrients from the soil and to be watered. 

When we drive into Ziguinchor we pass a trash dump. This trash dump was used up until maybe 6-9 months ago. It was constantly being burned and having more trash dumped into it. It was foul smelling an so ugly to look at.

 However, when we drive by it now, there are beautiful flowers growing out of the pit. 

This trash dump reminds me that no matter the trash in our lives, He can make us beautiful.

When we put our faith in Him, he makes us new. He takes away the trash and makes beautiful flowers grow. 

Humility in Marriage

Marriage is on our hearts and minds a lot here.  It always seems like there is a problem and a need for prayer. In this culture, there isn't much privacy. Most all work is done in their yards and as you pass by, you can see clearly what people are doing.  It may be wash day and the women of the house are bent over a washboard and big bucket scrubbing laundry. Each morning and evening you can walk through our village and see women bent over with a broom sweeping their yards. Some mornings we can hear the thud of women pounding rice for hours.  On one particular day Michael was walking through the village and he saw a husband and wife fighting.  It wasn’t just any fight, but an all out physical fight.  Michael was taken back by the fight, not only because he saw a husband hitting his wife, but the wife was also hitting her husband with an equal amount of strength.  Michael, along with other men that were around, interceded and were able to calm the husband and wife down and help them to reconcile.  This is the normality of life here. 

We had a woman recently come to us for prayer.  She told us that she was coming secretly and she did not want others to know she was coming.  She was worried of what others would say.  This woman is an older woman, a mother, a grandma.  She wanted us to pray for her child who is making some horrible decisions.  This child has already had one divorce and was on her way for another one.  The mother was devastated.  She told us she came because she believed the only thing left to do was to pray.  She said only God could help her daughter. The woman continued to tell us she couldn’t understand why her daughter was acting the way she was.  This woman proceeded to tell us a little bit about her life story.  One sentence has stuck with me. She said, “I was married to a mean man who treated me badly, but I endured because he was my husband and my family.  I didn’t run away, but I endured and now God has blessed me.” The strength of this woman amazes me.  She sat there beside us with tears in her eyes, begging us to pray for her daughter.  We all three started praying together, her in her tribe language, Michael in English and me in Creole and God heard all three of us.  The faith of this woman is humbling.  She cannot read, will never understand the depths of the Bible, she will never be a theologian, but her faith is the same. One day we will be together in heaven.  Our education is not what matters, our profession will be nothing one day, but our faith will remain.  The verse that comes to my mind is 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”

We, Michael and I, are so thankful for God leading us to serve in Guinea Bissau.  We have learned so much through our time here and God isn’t even done yet! One thing we have learned is humility.  If I were to say one thing that makes our marriage a happy marriage it is humility.  Being humble to admit when we are wrong, being humble to allow each other to speak without interruptions and being humble enough to be quiet when you know you are right, rather than fight.  The woman that came to our house in secret for prayer was filled with humility.  I can only pray that God will continue to fill me with humility and with love for others. 

P'Untcha & Fofa

A few months ago we had an interesting visitor.  A lady named P'Untcha and her niece (but she is now raising her as Fofa's parents have both passed away) came to our house because they knew there was a clinic with ex-patriots working there.  Two years ago, Fofa's tibia bone came out of her leg and eventually dried up and broke off.  She never fell or broke the bone, it just happened.  They came up to our clinic then, but there was nothing we could do, so we helped in the way we could and then they went on to a hospital in Bissau where Fofa stayed for three months.  She came back now to see if there was anything more we could do for her.

We are not medical people, but God has put medical people in our life, so we decided to start sending some emails.  We sent many, many emails and heard nothing, until our co-worker, Beryl Forrester, thought it would be good to email a British doctor living in Ziguinchor.  That was our lead, she knew a doctor in Dakar that knew someone and so we made a connection.  A few weeks later, Beryl, Djibi (a pastor in our village went to help with translating), P'Untcha and Fofa were on their way to Dakar for a doctor to look at her leg. 

They returned a week later with little news. The doctor in Dakar said her case would be a difficult one and wanted to wait for a team of doctors to come in December. We now wait to hear if they can do the procedure that would basically build her a new tibia bone and connect it to the bone that remains. He said this would be a very complicated procedure. 

Would you be willing to pray for Fofa? Pray for the doctors to have wisdom and for her to have the opportunity for help. Fofa is 12 years old and filled with love for others. She is sweet and loves the Lord. She believes he has a plan for her life and is patiently waiting for that plan. She has faith God will heal her. 

Karen with P'Untcha, Fofa's aunt

While Fofa was at our house our kids enjoyed playing with her. Micah and Lydia really hit it off with her and played non-stop. They were sad when it was time to say goodbye. In this picture they are waiting at the road for a car so Fofa and her aunt can return home. 

We never know who God will put in our lives but we must live every day knowing each encounter we have is from our Father. 

Let's Go Shopping

Shopping is always an adventure. Sometimes a seller will come to our door and the adventure is on our front veranda, other times the adventure is out in the village or another village. Here are some photos to give you a glimpse into shopping for us.  

   

A man came to our house with a backpack and a bag on his head.  He was selling used clothing, like at a thrift store.  We got a few shirts from him in good condition. 

This man was selling jewelry and came to our yard because of a large amount of women at our well. During cashew season there are a lot more traveling salesmen.   

We buy shoes from men like this that travel from village to village with their bikes loaded in shoes. Flip flops are $2.00, but he does have some that are $1.00.  

We buy soccer jerseys for the boys and skirts for the girls from our friend pictured here.  If we ask him for something, he usually finds it and returns to our house for us to buy it.  The only hard thing is that during cashew season he comes almost every day.  We don't possibly need that many jerseys or skirts! 

We make monthly trips into Ziguinchor for supplies.  We go for two nights and our days are spent walking throughout the city to find everything we need for the month.  We buy all of our food (vegetables for a week since they will go bad) and any other supplies that are needed.  Usually on the list is a jersey for Isaiah since he ruins his so quickly and flip flops for someone if the man in the village hasn't come.  Come, walk with us on a supply run through these photos.  

This is a typical jersey shop that we also go to for jerseys.  Our boys, mainly Isaiah, love to wear jerseys.  They don't last long here because of the rough living of boys, but they are incredibly inexpensive at $3.00 for jersey and shirt.

When we go to Ziguinchor we always get sandwiches to eat.  We go to this lady who's tent is right next to the port.  She has the best sandwiches in town that include meat, lettuce or cucumbers (depending on the season), tomatoes, french fries, hard boil eggs, and topped with sauteed onions, then wrapped in the daily newspaper. These sandwiches are delicious and low priced at $2.00 for a foot long. We don't speak a common language, but she has become our friend. 

Michael needed a battery for his motor (mo-ped type bike) so we stopped in this store in Ziguinchor.  Micah was happily helping him buy the battery. 

We got these two buckets for a great deal!
Now Michael tries to find light bulbs.

Shopping at the hardware stores is like walking into a flea market.  It is a big hide and seek game, but we usually come out with treasures.  

Here is a hardware store that we also frequent.  You can see the machete's on the right side of the picture and the heads to rakes and shovels on the left as well as many other various items.

This is the entrance to a large market in Ziguinchor.  We don't like to take the kids there too much since it is often crowded so we left the kids at the hotel with another missionary and ventured there alone. 

In the market there are shops for all sorts of things.  There are shops for purses, shops for material and shops for shoes as well as lots of other things.  I personally love to look at the fabric, however, I must look uninterested as I admire the beautiful designs or they will become quite eager to sell me fabric.   

There is also your choice of meats.  Besides beef there is also goat, chicken and fish.  

Vegetables are everywhere you look, so it isn't hard finding what we want. 

These carrots looked nice so we purchased a kilo (2.2 lbs) to hopefully last a week, if they don't go bad that is. Without a refrigerator we have to be careful not to buy too much but yet buy enough that we aren't going into market every day.

As we collect our supplies on our monthly trips into Ziguinchor, we have learned to walk carefully through the washed out roads during the rainy season.  During the dry season, the roads are much easier to maneuver.  

Thank you for walking with us on our supply run. We pray blessings to you as you may be going out to get your shopping done as well! You never know who you will meet or what new friend you may make.  We have met many on our supply runs and made many friends.