A Life Story - God's Unending Protection

It was a warm day, partly cloudy and not a raindrop all day, after days of rain.  The sky was a beautiful blue with huge, puffy clouds. Our yard was filled with boys playing soccer, there was a calm in the day between clean up from lunch and when I needed to start cooking supper.  Michael had a meeting coming up but encouraged me to go out to see a few women before he needed to leave. I never made it past my first stop.

I left our gate and walked toward the road to Aminata's house.  When I got to her house, her mom was sitting on a small wooden stool eating plain rice out of a bowl and Aminata was nearby bent over at the waste, washing laundry by hand.  As is custom, her mom offered for me to eat with her, in which I replied, no thank you and found a wooden stool to sit on.  The stool was a tiny stool meant for a child, but it was the only one around, I sat it close to the house so I could lean against the mud brick house.  I quickly realized the stool was much to small for me and was quite uncomfortable.  I figured I wouldn't be there long so I didn't say anything.

Our visit started normal with greetings and asking how each others days were going.  I mentioned that we were going to Ziguinchor for the weekend so we could talk to our families, and that sparked a conversation that I never anticipated.  Aminata's mom was quite interested in my mom and dad. She wanted to know how old they were, keep in mind Aminata is my age. She was intrigued to know that both my mom and dad were alive.  She wanted to know if they had white hair, which would tell her if they were old or not.  I asked her if she knew how old she was, and she clapped her hands, threw her head back with a chuckle and said with a bit of a twinkle in her eye, "I don't know." She then went on to tell me that her mother forgot about her, which means her mother did not take note as to what day she was born.  She told me that in those days nobody took note as to what day they gave birth, it is only something they do today.  She was very interested to know if my mom was her age or not, so she started asking me how many children my mom had and their ages, asking me to calculate it to see if I could figure out her age.  I told her I imagined her to be close to my mom's age, maybe a little younger, based on the fact that Aminata was my age and she had older children as well.

I don't remember the exact path that led us to our next topic, but eventually Aminata and her mom started talking about the Guinea Bissau War of Independence (read more about it here).  Her mom began to talk about how she was single when the war broke out but by the middle of the war she had given birth to her second child.  She had never been to school, so she could not read or write, therefore she did not know dates of the war, her wedding or birth of her children.  She told me she had given birth to her first child in Guinea Bissau, but her second was born in Senegal because they needed to flee Guinea Bissau because of the war. They remained in Senegal, making it their new home.  She said she remembers the day Guinea Bissau was declared free because her husband went to Bissau for the party celebration.

They continued their life, now in Senegal, giving birth to several more children.  I wish I could tell you their story ends there, but unfortunately it doesn't.  They began seeing rebels passing through their village, using their village as a passage between Senegal and Guinea Bissau.  The rebels were hiding in Guinea Bissau and beginning a war in the Casamance of Senegal.  This is known as the Casamance conflict, a civil war in Senegal. The day that Aminata and her mother both remember was a day they will never forget.  It was the dry season and they had already planted their gardens.  In their village every house except for one had a grass roof. Amanita's mom had just given birth a week before to their last baby. Rebels entered their village and began burning the grass roofs and all their gardens. They burned the entire village except the house with a metal roof and they took all their life stock as well, every animal in the village. All the people of the village were chased out into the bush in hiding and slept all the ground that night, keep in mind they had a one week old. The next day, the men came back to the village to find rebels had burned everything, their kitchens, gardens, clothing, homes, everything. This family had fled their homes in Guinea Bissau to escape war and now were fleeing their homes in Senegal because of war. They were frightened, homeless, and only had what was on them. They returned to collect what wasn't burned, put it on their heads and started by foot to find a new home where they hoped was freedom.

Listening to their story, my heart was touched. God protected this family before they even knew there was a God. Aminata is now active in our church and has given her life to the Lord. Her mother also loves the Lord with as much understanding that she can. She faithfully comes to church and often seeks prayer. God protected this family through two wars and today they have the ultimate freedom, freedom in Christ.

Karen

You know you live in Guinea Bissau when...

You know you live in Guinea Bissau when it starts raining and everyone runs for buckets to put out to collect the rain water. 

...when you have to check for lizards before entering your bathroom. 

...when you rejoice for rain but a part of you is sad because your batteries won't charge. 

...when you can only charge devices or computers a few hours a day. 

...when you wait on the ice truck that may or may not come. 

...when you put your mattress on the roof to sun bleach. 

...when drinking a warm coke is a treat. 

...when you suck the chocolate out of the wrapper. 

You know you live in Guinea Bissau when you know what the 24 hour rule is. 

...when a 12 passenger van fits 34 people. 

...when 80 degrees is cold. 

...when you think you might freeze at 70 degrees. 

...when you warm your shower water. 

...when you use rain water to shower. 

...when you sweep your yard. 

...wake up to women at your well. 

You know you live in Guinea Bissau when you use a brush to scrub your feet. 

...when you scrub your flip flops daily. 

...when you travel three hours one way for a tank of propane because the only gas station near you blew up. 

...when you feel like it's Christmas when you receive a package. 

...when you call your cupboard the refrigerator. 

...when you talk with other missionaries and the topic always goes to where you can find western food. 

...when rain or soccer games stop life in the village. 

...when your dresser is a suitcase. 

...when you know why there is a teapot of water in the bathroom. 

You know you live in Guinea Bissau when cashews are considered currency. 

There could be so many more but that is all we have for you. 

We hope you enjoyed these!! 

Storms of Life

It seems as though we have faced many trials since we answered the call to Guinea Bissau.  Through all the trials though, we have seen God. He has never left us or forsaken us.  This last trial was a hard one though.  When you face something yourself it can be hard, but when it is your child, it seems unbearable.  The only thing we had was Christ.  

Josiah got pink eye on a Friday, so I went to the clinic and bought an ointment and started him on it three times that day.  He cleared up that same day and Saturday he had nothing.  Sunday, Lydia woke up with the exact same symptoms, her eye was stuck shut from gunk and swollen, so I started her on the same ointment. I put ointment in her eye three times a day but her symptoms continued to worsen. Monday afternoon she started with a high fever, so I again went to the clinic.  Our nurse thought malaria, so we started her on malaria meds as well as an antibiotic because she complained of a sore throat.  She started sleeping Monday afternoon and continued until Sunday.  She would wake for a short time to take medicine or for me to clean her eye, but she would go right back to sleep.  Thursday I added an eye drop to try to stop her eye infection, but her eye continued to worsen.  By Thursday evening, our nurse wanted her to go to a nearby hospital.  She went by ambulance, as we have no car, and the doctor at the hospital prescribed the exact ointment and eye drop we had already been giving her.  Friday her eye worsen drastically and by Saturday she felt an intense pain in her eye.  Her fever continued this entire time with the exception of Friday afternoon when our church came to pray over her and anoint her.  That was the only time she had a low grade fever and was awake for several hours.  All while Lydia was battling this, three of our other kids had some sort of illness as well, whether it was boils, returning pink eye, or severe stomach pain, they were all battling something except our one daughter.  We were praying for a miracle.  We were all believing in a dramatic miracle, praying it would lead many, if not all, in our village to the Lord. 

While we didn't see a dramatic transformation of her eye, we did see little miracles along the way.  We were able to have internet and ask for prayer all while supposedly the entire internet of Guinea Bissau was down.  We got an email from GB news saying the mobile internet was paralyzed and not working, all while we were using our mobile internet to read the article.  Our phone worked with internet until I posted on FB for prayer, then the internet stopped. We believe God wanted us to seek others for prayer and once we had done that we no longer needed the internet.  

We called our friend that drives us to Ziguinchor each month to come get us Saturday morning to go to the hospital. He came, drove us to two hospitals, the first one didn't do eyes, and then waited with our other children while Michael, Djibi and I were in the ER with Lydia.  He didn't leave until he knew Lydia was being cared for and he never once came and asked us if he could leave or how long it would take. His only concern was Lydia. His time is money, the time he waited for us meant he lost a car load of people for his normal Ziguinchor to Sao Domingo run, but he didn't complain or charge us extra. He even told Michael to call him when we wanted to return to Catel so he could take us back, so he could know Lydia was okay. 

When Michael got to the hotel, they told him they had no room.  This is the hotel we stay at each month we come to Ziguinchor.  Djibi had called that  morning and reserved the only room that holds our family.  There Michael was at the hotel with four of our children, not able to speak any french and being told there was no room.  He sat at the table, prayed with the kids and then the man that we know came to him and told him his room was available.  We have no idea what happened except one moment there was no room and after prayer, there was room.     

Every step, whatever we asked for prayer on was answered, whether quick travel, understanding, translation, or issues with nurses. This was a work of how powerful our God is and that we are in this together. We may be the people living here and serving, but we have an amazing amount of support that helps make this possible. People need Jesus and we are all a testimony whether in Africa or America to serve our ultimate goal of sharing the gospel. We are in this together.

Going to the hospital in our neighboring country was a decision only led by prayer. We wanted the Lord to do the miracle, but now we see that he had a plan for us to meet the people we met in that hospital and to be an example to more than just the people of Catel. At the hospital we wanted a private room for Lydia, but that was not an option.  We were in a room with five beds and about seven cribs, but there were only three patients in that room.  We bonded with those other families.  There was a language barrier but God is bigger than language barriers.  The one dad could speak Creole, another dad spoke English and we had brought Djibi with us and he as well helped translate. Through these relationships we were building, we were able to share the gospel with a family in the hospital. Michael was able to read the Bible with the husband and pray with him. We got to be examples to the nurses and the doctors. God opened all these doors for us to bless many while we were at the hospital. God works in every situation for his honor and glory and keeping that as a focus gets us through the dark and rough times no matter the outcome. 

While we were in the hospital we learned that Gambia has the #1 eye hospital in West Africa and the guesthouse we often stay at had openings and were quite flexible with us.  We also learned that a nurse was at the guesthouse already and a physicians assistant was coming.  This was God's plan.  The woman that is a PA was coming to Gambia for the first time to serve for 6 months, and it happened to be the exact week that we were having medical problems.  That is only God and His perfect timing. 

Lydia's eye looks amazing and she hasn't had a fever since she was in the hospital. Josiah started the eye infection, but the pediatrician at the hospital thought they were twins so he saw him also and started treatment right away. He was also put on an antibiotic and has recovered, never getting as bad as Lydia. Micah started a fever and pink eye, but because we are here at the guesthouse the PA looked at her and put her on an antibiotic and we started the same eye treatments. 

Through this, we have had a chance to share verses about not being afraid and trusting in God. We have seen the faith of our kids and us tested and grow in this trial. We were praying for a miracle so that people of Catel and the hospital could put their faith in Christ, but maybe God wanted our children to have a deeper faith in Him.  We don't know how God worked through all of this, all we know is for our family we have grown.  

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  James 1:2, 3

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  Matthew 7:24, 25

The rains fell, the floods came in, the winds blew and beat on our house pretty badly, but we did not fall. We are all stronger because of this. I do not mean stronger physically or emotionally, but spiritually, and that is what matters. One day we will all stand before God and we want to hear well done my good and faithful servant.  

We praise God for all he has done in this situation and will continue to do as we serve him in West Africa. We thank all of you for praying with us in our time of need. We could feel the prayers and the Holy Spirit surrounding us. Our church in Catel came that Friday to pray and they said they could feel the Spirit at our house. We praise God in all of this. He never left us. We were praying for one specific miracle, but God had many little ones he wanted to do.  He didn't answer our prayer the way we were asking, but he answered our prayers the way that was best for us.  

When you have trials, it isn't because God left you, it's because he wants you to grow.  We pray that you are able to see God in a new way through our story and if you haven't put your faith in Jesus, we pray you do.  Why wait? This is the time, this is your time.  Trust in the Lord. 

A Young Man's Journey - by Michael

I have been asking my wonderful husband to guest blog for almost two years and today he has finally done it! I hope you enjoy it.

When we returned to Guinea Bissau in February we were met with several new believers in the church and three of which were baptized on Easter Sunday. It was neat to see the church grow in our absence and the great work our church leaders did in the church. 

One of these boys is Timotio (Timothy in English). Timotio is an amazing young man, he is probably 16 years of age and suffers from epilepsy. Our church has been helping him with the medicine to control his illness. He pays for half of it and we cover the rest. It is neat to see him want to pay his part as that is not common here in West Africa. At the end of April he had a seizure at his home and fell into hot boiling water and burned his lower back and top of his rear end. Djibi, Adramane, and I went out to visit him about a week after the accident happened to check up on him. Upon arrival we found a much greater burned area than we had first thought and the family was applying treatment from local plants, which was not providing much help. We quickly asked if they were open to white medicine and prayed for him. The sun was setting and we needed to get back to Catel, so we promised to come back the next day with dressings and medicine. We have since returned four times, basically every other day, to clean the wound and apply new dressings. After one week the improvement in his spirit and wound was remarkable. Not to mention the testimony to the family from the church. Each time we visit we spend time praying and singing songs. How quickly the wound has healed is a testimony in and of itself, but that is not the best part of his story.

Timotio's faith is remarkable in such a horrible situation. He thanks God and prays continuously. He is apologetic to us for not being at church and begs his parents to bring him even though he can not walk very well at the moment. The journey to his village is 12 kilometers, that is 7.4 miles one way. Every Sunday he would walk this journey to and from church. With our visits, we have gone by motors and bikes and have never gotten to his village in less than a half hour. Our pastor Djibi said, “Timotio’s legs have strong faith.” Timotio never complains and faithfully attended church every week up until his accident. When we could, we would take him home or half way home. He never asks for money, food, or a bike. Twice he has had seizures at church. He gets up, leaves the church and just starts praying and asking God to help him. 

This young man’s faith, his dedication to the Lord and the distance he travels, with a smile on his face, is an inspiration to me. Could you imagine faith like this around the world in church? I spent 10 years as a youth pastor working in the American church and frankly, we complain about everything from the temperature in the building, to the type of music, and even that the sermon was too long, or too short. We leave early for sporting events or anything else that comes up and stare at our watch the whole time we are at church. Maybe if we stop complaining and started being thankful for all God has given us our faith would become strong like this young man. Perhaps it is time to shift our focus on our maker and not our lives with all we think we need to do all day. With a 7.4 mile walk to church every Sunday imagine the time we could spend talking to and thanking our maker. This young man’s faith is simple and real because he has nothing else to hold on to or to interfere with his relationship. His room has a foam mattress, one blanket, one flashlight, and a picture of his mother. That is it. As mennonites our anabaptist roots are founded on simplicity and radical faith, two things I see in this young man. I think we can all learn a lot from Timotio and my challenge is to look into our hearts and do some spring cleaning. What do we need to let go of? What do we need to confess? What do we need to stop, to make time for God? Perhaps start walking to church? Everything we do, or do not do, boils down to a heart issue, what is the issue of your heart? My prayer is for God to continue chiseling me and strip away all that is of this world, to mold me and to see my joy come from God and only God, not my surroundings. Lastly, I pray to have a joyful, simple faith like I see in Timitio, he is truly an inspiration to me.

Written by Michael 

Life of a Guinea Bissau Christian Woman

I (Karen) want to introduce you to a woman that faces a struggle as a christian like no other believers in our church.  She is a widow with three children.  She has been a widow for several years and has a desire to marry once again.  Her family is also wanting her to be married, because for this culture, it is a shame to not be married.  The job of a woman in this culture is to be married, birth children, cook, clean, draw water and care for her husband and family.  In their beliefs, there is no other purpose for women. Women are to do everything for her husband and his mom.  However, for this christian woman her desire to be married is not solely based on her culture.  She is forming a new culture in her faith.  Her desire to be married is to serve her husband in a Godly way and to have a partner in this life.  She seeks to be married to a christian man.  

The problem she faces is finding a christian man.  There have been many men that have come seeking her for a wife, some for their second, third or even fourth wife, but all are non-believers.  Currently, she has one man, an unbeliever, that has come to her family to ask permission to marry her. If her family would accept this proposal she will then need to spend a week with the man and act as husband and wife for him to see if he still wants her.  If they would end up being married, this woman would have no choice in her life.  If he would want to do a ceremony to an idol, she would have to cook for it.  If he beats her or her children, she cannot say anything about it.  If he would decide she cannot attend church or talk about her faith, she would need to be obedient.  

This woman has been asking for prayer for this situation.  She does not want to be married to this person.  Her prayer is for her family to not accept his proposal.  I have read scripture with her and we have talked in depth about what Christ asks of her life.  She has been begging me not to forget to pray for her.  There are no christian men in our church that she could marry.  She is losing hope that she will ever get to marry a christian man.  I have repeatedly encouraged her telling her that God will bring someone when He wants her to be married.  She asks us all to pray that God will answer this prayer.  

I share this with you so you can understand just a little bit about what people here face, but also to ask you to join us with praying for her.  We believe that God cares about everything, even bringing her a husband.  Please pray for this woman that her faith will remain strong and she will not doubt God’s faithfulness.  Please pray that God will bring a christian man into her life.  

My Baptism - by the oldest Baker Bean

My mom and dad popped the question around March 18, 2015.  They asked me if I wanted to be baptized.  Of course I said yes! I wanted Catel to know I believe in God and that he is my Savior.  I could not wait for the date to be settled.  Finally, I found out I was to be baptized on Easter and I was going to be baptized with four other people, Elizabeti, Tomas, Timotiu and Ambros.  While I waited I asked my friend, Saba, to come to the baptism, she said yes. Later I learned she also was coming because Tomas is her brother.  I read a lot before I was to be baptized.  I read three sections from Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective.  I also helped with every day chores like always.  The chores I do are drawing water, watering plants, running or biking to the store, and the hardest one, scrubbing my little brother Isaiah.  You would think he rolled in the dirt he is literally black by the end of the day.  

Finally, Easter Sunday came and I put on shorts and a flowered shirt.  I had my junk skirt, a shirt and my hairbrush in a bag for when I got out to the water.  The junk skirt was to get in the water with because my Dad said that the water ruins everything.  Well, I went to children's church, and after that the grownups sang a few songs.  We then headed out slowly but loudly with songs of praise to the river.  Finally, we got there, but some of us kids ran ahead and found baby crabs and some kids stayed with the grownups.  When we were all there we sang a few songs and me and Elizabeti got shorts on.  The five of us who were getting baptized stood in a straight line and it began.  We all got baptized and the grownups wanted to take more pictures so we all got back in the water. The water was freezing! We then all prayed together and got in another straight line. Djibi, the guy who baptized me with my dad, lost his balance and fell causing me to lose my balance and I went under the water.  I came back up laughing and coughing while Djbi was trying to say sorry.  

This is me once I came up from the water. My dad and my African dad baptized me.  

Afterwards, we were trying to get out and the older kids around my age decided to jump from the bridge into the water.  The little kids did not think that was fair. Even though they could not swim they jumped in. Then while we all were trying to pull them out of the water somebody shoved a one and a half year old in my arms saying he wants baptized. Of course he started crying because of all the commotion so I gave him back and helped get more kids out.
  

On the way back to the church everyone sang and danced while we walked back into Catel.  Once we got back to the church the grownups sang and danced for a long time.  As they were singing people just started running around the church in circles. Everyone was so happy and celebrating the birth of Christ and our baptisms.  

This is what you call a crazy baptism! 

This is by our special guest blogger, the oldest of the baker beans.  

No Smoking

Be thankful for what is in front of you, rather than constantly hoping for what you don't have. I have found myself saying that to our kids a lot lately.  It is actually ironic because I have been hoping for a four burner stove with an oven for a long time.  The entire time we were in America I was looking forward to getting the stove on our way back into Catel.  When we came back, we decided it wasn't wise for us to get the stove on our way back to the village, so we decided to wait for our first trip into Ziguinchor.  During our first trip into Ziguinchor we decided to wait until the next trip.  We thought for sure next time we would buy the stove. Buying the stove would be easier for me to cook for our family and I would have a wider variety of options with the oven. The next week we went into Sao Domingo for market day and on our way home we passed by the gas station where we buy our gas from, the gas station was no more.  A large rock truck sparked a fire, or the man's cigarette, at the gas pump and everything burned up, the truck included.  Now, we have lost our ability to buy gas (propane) for cooking.  About a week later we ran out of propane and Michael bought me a little propane tank (it's maybe 18 inches tall) with a burner on top for cooking.  It has made cooking so much more challenging.  The gas is difficult to regulate and where the pot sits is far away from the actual burner making everything take so much longer to cook.  This has been a challenge in front of us, but I am thankful for this little burner.  No longer am I hoping for a stove with an oven.  I am thankful I still have a means to cook for my family inside and I do not have to go out with the women to get firewood to cook over outside.  

This is what happens when you smoke at a gas pump.

Up close and personal with the burned truck.

On the floor is my new cooking source.  Behind on the counter is my old stove, which is now unusable. You can kind of see the large gas tank underneath the stove behind the washcloths.  The red bins hold our veggies. 

Being thankful for what we have can seem impossible with a world of wants in front of us.  When things are taken away we realize what we had and therefore realize we need to be thankful for what we still have.