Welcome to the Mali Team's blog!

We would like to thank everyone who is supporting us on this God-given adventure. We're so grateful for your prayers as we prepare for this cross-cultural experience! Our travel dates are June 2nd-June17th, 2010. We will be in the capital city of Bamako, as well as the villages of Mandiakuy and Koro.
Look for updates in the coming weeks, but especially in June, as we will be posting as often as we can. God bless!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Jour Deux -

We enjoyed sleeping in a bit this morning, and the amazingly refreshing cool showers (it was a warm night to say the least). We walked into town and, with the help of Marie Jean and Hannah's fabulous translating, communicated our wishes for an African outfit to the local tailor. During the waiting time, Emily made friends with some local little boys, taught them Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes in French, and successfully brought the Macarena to Mali! :) Back at the base, we had devo's and read the Preface to our devo book, "The Dangerous Duty of Delight" by John Piper. It will surely make good discussion throughout the coming days. Lunch was delicious, cous cous and fresh MANGO! We all have a deep love for Mango season. :) After a planning session for the coming week, we headed to Mandiakuy where we met up with Levi and put on the new pump handle. We went to Albein's and caught up with her and her family, gave them a photo of their family and talked with her about the possibility of her traveling to Bamako to be on the panel for the disability presentation. During a beautiful but thoroughly bumpy ride back, we stopped for the traditional baobob tree picture. Very African. Yummy dinner of chicken and potatoes and veggies, with cold Fanta! And, LESS BUGS! We were all very excited about this. Dr. Norman then enlightened us to the fact that the day after a rain, there are always epic amounts of bugs... and it rained the day before we came. After dinner we had a meeting; reflecting on the day, reviewing logistics, and some planning. Then Dr. Norman shared with us some of the moving life stories of some of the remarkable people we spent time with. Truly, these people are incredible - overcoming their hardships and using their lives to help people in powerful ways to the glory of God. It's amazing.

Okay, fin. <3 Sarah and Jo for all :)

4 comments:

  1. Mangos and Fante are incredible!!!!!

    PS: How did installing the Pump Handle go over?

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  2. Here's a favorite scripture: 1Thes1:2-6 "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." It's great to hear you're settling in and have won Round 1 in the War with the Bugs!

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  3. oops, looks like I'm signed in as Emily!!! We love you, Mom, Dad, and Katy, UK

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  4. Thanks so much!! Andrew, the instalation of the pump handle was amazing!!! Although the square pipe was too large because we forgot that our pump was larger than the one here, the bolts held it nice and tight and nothing was moving!!! It was fantastic!! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers to everyone : )

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