Follow along with us as we complete our time in the USA and head back to Senegal!
All posts by Janie
2013 Pictures
Click on a picture to see a slide show. Click on any picture or press escape to close the slide show.
Winter 2013 in Senegal
Fall 2013 in Senegal
Summer 2013 in Senegal
May and June 2013 Pictures
March and April 2013 Pictures
January and February 2013 pictures
The New Year isn’t new anymore!
January and February whizzed by and March, with all the events scheduled, feels like it is gone already!
Katie and I managed through the two weeks with Corey gone. His time at Covenant was well spent and he made significant progress toward his goal of finishing his Master’s Degree in Theological Studies. The girls and I were able to squeeze in one last visit to McDonald’s big indoor playground – Emma is now too tall to enter the playground, Molly just squeaked under the line and Wheaton has decided she doesn’t want to go without her sisters. And no wonder, Emma turned 11 at Christmas and Molly moved into double digits this week with her 10th birthday!
Our trip to Florida started off with 32 inches of snow in our front yard and a travel ban which delayed our departure 10 hours. However, we were able to arrive in Florida almost on schedule. Corey, Katie and the girls went on to enjoy 3 days at Disney and a few days with Katie’s family. I stayed with my brother, enjoyed Florida weather and helped my sister organize and pack a bit for her anticipated move to North Carolina to be near her son’s family in May. All the young cousins on my side of the family were able to connect and have a time to get to know one another before our 3-day trip back to the snow – which is still on the ground! We had a near collision on our trip home. Corey’s careful driving, and the Lord’s protection kept us safe as a vehicle ran a red light, passed directly in front of us and hit the car on our right as it entered the intersection. We called 911 and Corey was able to tell the trooper his ‘front-row seat’ witness of the incident. Thankfully, all the occupants of the vehicles were able to walk out of their vehicles and we were very conscious of the many prayers on our behalf for this trip.
Even though I had a new lens made in December, my glasses continued to be a problem. When I went in January for my final cataract checkup, the doctor found clouding in my right eye. Apparently cataracts are caused by hardening of the lens, which is encased in a capsule. The lens is removed from the capsule and replaced by an artificial one. My problem was that the capsule in my right eye was also clouded. Upon returning from Florida, I had laser surgery to remove the clouded capsule. I am recovering from that now, but can already see significantly more clearly.
My dental saga continues. The new crown is in place, but I am now experiencing tooth pain and need to go back again to discover why my teeth hurt.
In the midst of all this craziness there have still been ample opportunities for ministry. Our committee for community (named GLUE for God’s Love Unites Everyone) here at the church is growing. We have several events that have been planned and several more on the calendar for the upcoming months. We still need to have wider representation from the congregation, but the committee is confident that as we have more things going on, more people will join GLUE.
I also have the opportunity to present lessons in the Large Group sessions of the Truth and Training group at our AWANA club, and listen to verses in 2 clubs on a regular basis.
Our whole family was hosted by a supporting church in Boston one weekend in January. We were able to connect with many folks at the lunch following worship. Corey presented the message, and we were so blessed to hear that there was at least one life that was transformed by our visit.
Our church is working to provide opportunities for action from sermon topics. On March 10 the sermon will be The Consequences of Unforgiveness and I have the opportunity to lead a workshop the following Wednesday, March 13, on the aspects and steps of forgiveness.
I also have been visiting Molly’s class to help them understand how we live in Senegal, what homeschooling is like and how folks live in the village.
One of the largest churches in our area is hosting a week-long Missions emphasis. Katie is speaking at a morning meeting, and I will be Missionary Representative at a table for the Women’s Dinner. We are excited to have a voice in sharing in this World Outreach Week.
I am encouraged regarding my funding. Last time I reported that I NEEDED 55% of my funding. Today I am reporting that I HAVE almost 55% of my funding! I still need that remaining 46% or $1208 (2155Dh) per month. SIM’s policy is to not allow a missionary to go on the field until they are 100% supported with gifts or promises. I need to have promises for the rest of my support to come in before I can leave in June. Please prayerfully lift this need to the Father. For further information or to donate click here.
To view more pictures click here.
Prayers
- Praise for the many opportunities we are having to connect with friends and family in the USA.
- Praise that our trip to Florida was so refreshing and we were kept safe.
- Please pray for GLUE and the activities and events planned.
- Pray that our opportunities for service and speaking will be blessed to spread God’s word effectively.
- Pray my tooth ache will be resolved.
- Pray for workers to come join the Kaffrine team.
- Please continue to pray for Steve Smith, our Kaffrine teammate suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
- Pray for continued additions to my support to bring it up to 100%.
Half Way!
Can you believe it? We are at the half-way mark of our time in the United States of America! How time does fly, but also what precious times we have had with friends and family, with more to look forward to!
Looking Back
For Thanksgiving at the end of November, we had a Garrett week with my family. We had lots of fun times, and ate lots of our favorite holiday foods! At Christmas, Katie’s family joined us. It is so precious to have such special family times together here.
The in-between times have been busy with work for SIM USA and planning an Open House at the Manse for the church on December 16. We had a constant stream of visitors and enjoyed getting to know more people from the church!
In addition to celebrating holidays, I have also been attending to health issues. The new glasses are not quite right and we are working to resolve the issues. Please pray that these issues will be resolved soon and my new glasses will just do what glasses are supposed to do! I also went to the dentist soon after we arrived in Connecticut for a checkup and had several cavities. Then, when that was done, another tooth broke and I need a crown for it. I am thankful to have a long-time member of our church who is a competent and kind dentist! He is doing a great job, but it all is costing more than I ever expected! The combination of cataract surgery, new glasses and dental work has resulted in thousands of dollars of expenses that were not in my budget!
Looking Forward
January will be an unusual month since Corey will be gone two weeks for required courses at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri toward his Masters in Theological Studies. He will also be one of the presenters at a two-day conference of mission mobilizers in Virginia. Katie and I will be here in Simsbury with the girls while he is gone. February will also be unusual. Corey and Katie will lead a weekend retreat for one of the local church youth ministries then our whole family will be taking a two-week trip to visit friends and family in Florida. I look forward to seeing my brother and sister whom I haven’t seen for at least four years.
I am excited about an opportunity for service at the church here in Simsbury, called The Barn. The church leadership has invited me to form a committee on community within the church. I will recruit a team and we will be working on ideas to strengthen and build greater community as well as growing a strong, sustainable committee to carry on these activities. I know I am very privileged to be part of this development at The Barn.
As we look toward the end of our time in the USA, we plan to depart within weeks of the end of school to be back in Senegal before the end of June. This is both exciting and scary. I am excited about teaching the girls again. Because our living arrangements will be different, I will be living at our teammate’s home while they are on home assignment our first year back and doing school there. I am looking forward to having my own place, and I think it will be good for the girls to ‘go to school’ like they do here in the USA.
This arrangement will also give Corey and Katie time to work on their new project. This last term they were able to attend (and lead) workshops on learning to read the Wolof language in Arabic script, called Wolofal. Wolofal takes advantage of the fact that 70% or more of Wolof men learn to read Arabic script. Transcribing the Bible into the Wolofalscript, villagers will be able to pick up a Scripture portion and read it immediately. Unfortunately there has not been anyone with time to devote to this project.
Corey and Katie are praying about devoting the majority of their time to working on this project of converting Bible portions to Wolofal. While I do school with the girls, they will be able to focus on this transcription process, proof-reading the texts with Wolofal readers, and getting the Scriptures printed and distributed around Senegal.
On the down side, we will be the only ones of our team in town for the first year, and I know we will miss the fellowship.
My biggest concern is for funding. I still need 55% or $1435 (5235 Dh) per month. I currently have in hand enough funds to carry me through this next six months and three months on the field. I do have some additional promises for support but not enough to carry me through the whole two years in Senegal. In addition to this I have medical bills totaling $3,915 (or 14,300 Dh). SIM’s policy is to not allow a missionary to go on the field until they are 100% supported with gifts or promises. I need to have promises for the rest of my support to come in before I can leave in June. Please prayerfully lift this need to the Father. For further information or to donate click here.
Prayers
- Praise for the many opportunities we are having to connect with friends and family in the USA.
- Please pray for wisdom in leading the Committee on Community at The Barn; both in selection of the committee members and the activities and events planned.
- Pray for funds to cover my medical bills.
- Pray for workers to come join the Kaffrine team.
- Steve Smith, our Kaffrine teammate suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, visited the Mayo Clinic but did not find any solutions to his condition. Please continue to pray for his health.
- Pray for continued additions to my support to bring it up to 100%.