I'd Rather Deal With the Witchdoctors

When we would see the local witchdoctor in a dress, walking and talking like a girl we knew it was not the man we knew him to be but his demon, which is a female.  We came to know when to expect the man to be possessed by a demon and therefore dress and act like a female.  Living in Guinea Bissau we became very used to the demon possessed, a man yelling and punching into the air, people dressing in very interesting clothing and wearing weird things on their heads all to appease the witchdoctor who told them if they did this or that they would get this or that. That was our life.  Our children came to understand it and became little prayer warriors for the people we were serving, we all did. We all would pray earnestly for Silvano who would often come to our house seeking refuge from the many demons that followed him around giving him no peace.  We learned to pray as we passed different witchdoctors houses for God to stop whatever was going on within those walls, or sticks as it may be.  We learned the culture and came to understand why it was that way and to know that they desperately needed Christ.

A man dressed for a tribal dance.

We understood in Guinea Bissau people are raised to believe that Satan is more powerful.  Children are brought up to go to a witchdoctor, taught to put food out for their dead ancestors so that they may come and eat, or to pour out wine on the sacred tree and to attend ceremonies. Illiteracy is dominate in Guinea Bissau, therefore few in the church can read the Bible. Churches are scarce, while witchdoctors are many.  In our village of around 500, we were told there is about one witchdoctor's house for every five houses, compared to two churches in Catel.  We could understand why the culture was the way it is.

While we were in Guinea Bissau, our children had an idea of life in America.  They believed children were super nice, never bullying or saying bad words.  They had this mind picture of America being beautiful in all ways.  The other day our girls went on a bike ride.  While they were out they passed some girls that were also out and and waved to them. Those girls responded by saying rude comments to our girls and finishing it with calling them punks.  Our girls couldn't understand it.  Why would these teenage girls speak that way. While we were sad for our girls, we were glad for them to see that no place and no one is perfect.

Coming back to America, we have been in major culture shock with the drastic change in culture in just three years. We made the mistake of going to Walmart after dark the other night.  I am still baffled that no one we were staying with told us it was a bad idea, but none the less, we went.  We were so surprised by the people roaming Walmart at night, we could hardly focus on what we needed, but we got it quickly and got out. I really wanted to post a picture for you of people at Walmart, but it was quite difficult to find an appropriate one.  So, visit people of walmart, if you dare, to get a better understanding of what we mean...although I don't know that it truly is necessary.

The deeper thing that bothers us is why is America like this? There are churches everywhere, practically on every street corner in some places.  People are literate, the Bible is freely available, churches are open every week, and the number of christians in America is great.  The truth of the matter is Satan has his hand in the world.  America is not immune to Satan, contrary to what our children believed.  We need to be together praying. The same way we became prayer warriors in Guinea Bissau praying against Satan's work, we need to do the same here.  While we may rather deal with the witchdoctors, God is equipping us to deal with whatever we may encounter here in America.  We are ready to serve Him in a different capacity, and to glorify Him in all our words and actions.

A Few Smiling Faces

In our last weeks in Guinea Bissau we took many pictures.  There is no way possible to share all our photos, but we thought we'd try to share some of our favorites.  

This is Abram. His mom and dad, Mai and Tamba, are friends of ours. Jada loves to play with Abram and help his mom keep an eye on him.  

Our children learned to ride bikes of all sizes!

While our neighbor was trying to get pictures of our kids some were goofing off more than being serious for photo time.  

Our friends, Djibi and Binta named their daughter after Karen.  This is Katarina holding Katarina. In Guinea Bissau Karen is too difficult for their tongues, so Karen became Katarina.  

Little Katarina is giving her new baby cousin kisses.  This is Tening and Djara's baby Jonathan.  

Frozen made it to Guinea Bissau.  Micah gave her Frozen glasses to her friend, but not before Katarina tried them on.

Matchu is Isaiah's best friend and much like one of our own children. 

Jada absolutely loved all the babies in the village.  She was the mom to all the kids.  

Mama Mańe is one of our favorite people.  Her faith is so simple and so real.  She often would ask us to pray for her children.  

For children's church they would often act out bible stories.  Here Josiah is Jesus's friend, Lazarus.  

Sweet little Rebekah.  She is one little girl that we will all miss!

We are thankful to longer be risking our lives by taking public transportation.  We always prayed our way in public cars...especially ones stacked this high.  

Children love to see themselves in pictures, but this is what happens when I turned the camera around so they could see themselves while I was taking the photo.  Pure joy and happiness.  

Isaiah gave his bicycle to his friend, Matchu.  Matchu was beyond thrilled to have a bike.  Matchu has a dog that he named Isaiah on one of our last days in the village.  

Rebekah absolutely loves babies.  She has asked her mom to go to the market to buy a baby. When her mom told her they don't sell babies she told her mom to take this one.  Rebekah is always saying the funniest things.  

Here is what was the West African team, minus Beryl Forrester. The Shirks are continuing to serve in The Gambia for two more years.  

When it was time to take our luggage up to the road there was no shortage in helpers.  

This is one of my more favorite pictures of Mai, Rebekah's mom.  She rarely smiles, especially for cameras. 

This was our sending off party on the morning we left Catel.  

Djibi went with us to the airport.  While there we were taking pictures and Djibi decided I needed a picture of him crying.  If only this was a video because he is making crying sounds but looks like he is smiling. Right after I took this picture he busted out laughing at his attempt to make a crying face.

We hope you enjoyed these photos! Each of these people are so very special to us.

It's All In the Name

Have you ever wondered what a baby dedication looks like in Africa? Traditionally, they are called "coming out" for in this culture the mother and baby stay in the house for one week. At one week they leave the house to a party and naming ceremony. Traditionally these parties would include a ceremony to the ancestors and a sacrifice of some sort. 

The Christians here in Catel have kept the tradition of staying in the home and coming out after a week. There is still a party and they name the child, but instead of a ceremony to idols it is now a baby dedication. 

The church here has started naming their children with Biblical names. This party which has friends and family, is now a witnessing tool. We share why we do this dedication, the baby's name and significance of the name as well as read scripture. It allows our church families to witness to their family and friends, read scriptures to Muslim family members, pray, and sing. All the while respecting and holding on to the parts of the culture that are important and unique to their tribal culture. 

In this picture Michael stands with Djibi (in the middle) and Adramane (on the left) while they are praying over the baby and reading scripture about his name, Jonathon. I have had the privilege of naming several babies that have been born into our church family since living here. Each name has been a biblical person and it has provided an opportunity of teaching the significance of that person in the Bible. Sometimes the name has been tied directly to what is going on in our village. For example, during a recent time of trials in the village (written about in the blog titled "Power of Prayer) a baby from our church family was born in the midst. We gave him the name Jeremiah in hopes that he would be a light with a message to share with the people of this village. 

At the end of the baby dedication the women sing some worship songs. This is also another way to reach others as the songs speak biblical truths. 

The rest of the day is spent sitting around waiting for the rice dish to be cooked and served. There is usually someone getting their hair braided, music with dancing, hot tea and milk being cooked by the men and passed around, and women in the back of the house cooking all while children are running all over the place playing. We are usually all exhausted by the time lunch is served around 5:00 p.m. and head home shortly afterward, usually being the first to leave, but never empty handed, guests are typically given a can of pop to go home with.

That is how we spent our day today. So as I write this we have just put our children to bed at 8:15 and now Karen and I are collapsing into bed exhausted. 

Please continue to pray for these church families as they have adapted the coming out party. Pray it can be a witnessing tool to bring others into the light. 

Mike 

Goodbye Again

It is hard to believe that we have to say goodbye again. This goodbye is a goodbye that is much different. In America we can say goodbye but know there are ways to stay connected, a phone call, a snail mail letter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and a slew of other means of communication. Saying goodbye here though is saying goodbye. We could make a phone call, but it is very expensive, we could come back to visit, but not all of us, that would cost a lot of money. When we were talking with a friend recently she said saying goodbye will be like we died because she may never see us again. 

We know we are walking in the Lord's will, but it still hurts. When we leave, we will be leaving a part of our hearts here, all seven of us. 

We appreciate any and all prayers you have for our family. Please lift up our children as well. Pray they will be able to adjust and process all of what they have experienced. Specifically, our youngest knows Guinea Bissau culture more as his own rather than American. Pray he will be able to adjust smoothly. Ultimately, we pray we all draw closer to the Lord during this transition. We also pray for the church we are leaving here. We pray they will grow in the Lord and many will see and come to know the power of the Lord. 

Home Away From Home

Living in a rural village is tiring, to say the least.  It is difficult to get good food, life is difficult and sometimes we just need a break.  We have been coming to Ziguinchor once a month since we first came to Guinea Bissau.  Ziguinchor is in Senegal, which is north of Guinea Bissau.  When we come into Ziguinchor we can buy western type foods, enjoy internet, running water, cold drinks and relaxation.  We have always stayed at hotel Le Perroquet which is a middle of the road type hotel, owned by a French man. It didn’t have luxuries like hot water or air conditioning, but it had one room that was big enough to fit our family and was affordable.  We have seen many changes done to this hotel including an owner change.  Now it is owned by a French woman named Dominique and she has been improving the hotel by leaps and bounds.  Right before the ownership changed, we were about to be done staying there.  We were suspicious of bed bugs and it was just miserably hot in the rooms and filled with mosquitos, none of us slept well, therefore making us more exhausted returning to the village than when we left.  The first big change we saw to the hotel was, in our opinion, the greatest.  They had installed an air conditioner in one room, and guess whose room that was…ours! They chose to fix up the biggest room first, we’d like to think it’s because it is known as our room, but I’m sure it is to attract bigger tourist groups.  We were beyond thrilled though to be able to sleep in peace, and they installed glass on the windows therefore cutting down the millions of mosquitos that invaded the rooms at night.  Dominique has continued to fix up this hotel and now it is quite nice and very clean.  She has even added a beach area on the river, when previously there was only restaurant seating. The hotel is not only affordable, but a peaceful place to get rejuvenated.   

Our kids with some of the staff and the owner.  

The employees at Le Perroquet are incredibly friendly and very good at their jobs.  There is a language barrier between us, as we don’t speak French, but over the years, we have grown to be friends with the staff.  We know them by name and are always welcomed with a friendly welcome. Dominique also likes to spoil our children with ice cream, chocolate, candy or whatever she may have.  She always makes a point to talk with them (she speaks some English) and on this trip she brought out a couple games for them to play.  One of which is called Game of Seven Families, and it was of course in French.  We enjoyed playing it though and found it a fun way to learn some new French words.  

Our family with some of the staff

When Lydia got sick and needed to go to the hospital in Ziguinchor, the hotel staff went above and beyond for our family.  They made sure ‘our’ room was open for us, asked about Lydia every day and when Lydia finally was released from the hospital, she was welcomed with hugs from the staff.  They made sure we had everything we would need.  The day she was being released, we had no idea of a time frame, but they let us stay in the room until she safely arrived at the hotel. We were getting ready to go to Gambia for recovery when we realized we had no water for Lydia to take her medicine.  They quickly took note and brought over a water bottle for her, no charge.  Le Perroquet has always gone above and beyond for us, and I believe they do that for all their guests.  

Without Le Perroquet, I’m not sure what we would’ve done.  Our children think of the hotel as their second home and we all look forward to our monthly weekend in Ziguinchor.  We realize this sounds like a review for the hotel, but truly this is just us sharing one more aspect of our life here in West Africa. Living in a rural village where we draw our water from a well, have no refrigerator and hardly any privacy, Le Perroquet provided just the right amount of comfort for us. 

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!