Christmas trees, remembering where the decorations are stashed, singing Christmas Carols or rehearsing for the famous ECC Carol Sing (so sorry I won’t be there this year!), finishing the last touch on that last present, or maybe just starting your shopping list, December is upon us!

This December is so very different from those when I was growing up…..  There are fat sleek watermelons swelling in my front yard along with hard dark green pumpkins both testing my patience for how long it will take for them to ripen.  We are putting up decorations, counting the days before Christmas and can’t wait for Emma to come home for her long school break in less than two weeks!

Several surprising adventures have happened with the neighbors.  The boys across the street have continued to help me keep the yard free from weeds and now somehow seem to think I am the ‘go to’ lady for all their problems.  I have bandaged cut body parts, taped up hopeless flip-flops (repeatedly!), glued school book covers and helped with homework, just to name a few.  While having my door bell ring constantly all day can be a bother, I also see these interactions as opportunities to demonstrate the love of Christ.  The next door neighbor girls have come to get practice with their English, too.  One day I sewed up a split pair of pants, and big brother asked if I could fix some pants for him, too.  I said “sure” and the next day all four brothers brought over a stack of things for me to fix.  It wasn’t hard as most were just ripped seams but I didn’t know what was coming.  Over the next few days neighbor teens I have never seen came bringing stacks of clothes, and cloth to make new items!  I had to turn them all away (I already have a job!), but found a new possibility for work when school is over this year! 😉

Corey and Katie got a cute little puppy that is growing by leaps and bounds, literally!  A happy, energetic, friendly pup who greets you when you arrive and just won’t let you out the door when you leave!  Corey is confident he will make a good guard dog.  On their roof their rabbits have finally had babies!  There are two cute tiny baby rabbits, also growing every day, and now even have fur!

We are all very glad to have Corey back from his trip to the USA.  He learned a lot and made new friends who will be important contacts as he goes forward with publishing the Wolofal Bible.  He is currently working on publishing a booklet with the Christmas story for distribution throughout Senegal this year.

While the cooler temperatures are minimizing the need for cooling efforts, the hot season will be upon us sooner than we would like.  I have finally gotten a fan motor, but the electrician says it needs some capacitors, and I have no idea when or if he will be able to find them.  So still no working fan.  But I DO have the next best thing: krinting for the roof, my Christmas gift from my daughter and her husband.  Krinting is long mats that are placed on cinder blocks on the flat roof.  They create a buffer of shaded space so the house doesn’t get the heat of the sun directly.  This is designed to lessen the heat that builds up and is retained by the building, creating an overall cooler house.

We had a lovely if quiet Thanksgiving at Corey and Katie’s house.  Not a traditional roast turkey since the neighbor who raised it thoughtfully cut it up in pieces when she plucked it, but turkey all the same!  We are excited to make a fun week-long Christmas trip on December 10 to pick up Emma from her boarding school, have our annual SIM team Christmas party and have an early Christmas celebration with some close family friends who live near Emma’s school.  We will then have a quiet home Christmas with just the family.  We are all looking forward to a break from school and getting to spend time with Emma!

The girls are zipping through school: we are more than one third through the year!  Wheaton has finished the Civil War era and we are fascinated with the development of manufacturing and a plethora of new inventions that revolutionized life in the USA between 1850 and 1900.  Wheaton is also exploring electrical circuits and making some of her own.  Molly has emerged into recorded history and is even reaching the change of time from BC to AD.  It is illuminating to see the correlation of the big-picture events of history on various continents across the centuries.  Molly is having fun discovering how water works as surface tension creates fabulous possibilities and cohesion and adhesion work together to do amazing things.

I have gotten an answer back from Dakar Academy.  They hired another Bible teacher.  While it is disappointing to not have gotten that job, it is also comforting to know that door is shut and some other one will be opened.  I do not feel pressured, but know that in God’s timing, the right NEXT THING will materialize.  I will be here for the next seven months and there are many possibilities for further service with SIM world wide as well as in the SIM USA office, so much prayer and watching are required!

Be sure to check out recent pictures HERE

In the mean time, Christmas is coming!  Let us rejoice together as we recapture the excitement and anticipation of the arrival of Jesus as he identified with us in the miraculous and amazing union with us in humanity as a tiny baby.  But also we need to celebrate that he grew to be the man who loved us so much he died and rose again.  For without Easter, Christmas has no meaning.  Blessings to you for a joyous Christmas Season!

Prayers:

• Thanks for Corey’s successful trip to the USA
• Praise for Emma’s good adjustment to boarding school
• Praise for a good 14 weeks of school with Molly and Wheaton
• Praise for many helping interactions with my neighbors
• Wisdom to know how much and when to help neighbors and when not to
• Prayer for the needed parts for the fan
• Protection for our Christmas trip
• Praise for an answer to the Dakar Academy position
• Wisdom and direction to recognize the next step after school this year

The long hot summer is over!  The long sultry rainy season is here!  Since it seems to be a growing kind of time, I planted some seeds: watermelon, cucumber, squash and zucchini.  I hope to use the produce to build bridges of goodwill and friendship in the neighborhood.  So much is growing in my yard I have enlisted the endless energy of little ones to come pull weeds for me!  Wheaton and three friends cleaned the back area one afternoon in exchange for snacks, gallons of water, balloons and money to buy enough candy to spoil their dinner for several days.  A neighbor boy, Maam Cheikh helps control the growth in the yard.

I located and bought a motor to run the exhaust fan on the roof!  However, there are some adjustments that need to be made to it, so I still do not have it.  My dog, Major, disappeared and is presumed dead.  Corey and Katie sent their dog, Sergeant, to me for security since I live alone.  When they were gone for a week recently, someone attempted to break into their home.  The intruder wasn’t able to get in but they are looking for a new dog.

Emma has just gone to BCS, the residential school three hours away, which she has been longing for all summer.  There are multiple sms messages flying between BCS and Kaffrine these days!  Before leaving she came and helped me by printing worksheets for the year, sorting and organizing materials and generally adding to the festive air of the beginning of the school year.  Katie and Corey made a weeklong trip combining well deserved time with friends (Emma got to babysit while they went out!), delivering Emma to school, ministry meetings and shopping for groceries and necessities not available in Kaffrine.  Molly and Wheaton stayed with me and we had a lovely time, too!

School is settling down to a regular schedule.  It is a joy to have enough time (almost!) with each girl every day to do more than just the barest essentials!  Wheaton is blossoming in her ability and confidence to do fourth grade work!  She enjoys studying the USA from the Civil war to the present and is eager to learn.  We are reading John and discussing stories and teachings of Jesus in a way that I didn’t have time to do in previous years.  It is exciting to see Molly grow in her enthusiasm for sixth grade.  I enjoy the animated discussions we have over evolution (in science) and big picture ideas she is learning in her one-year world history course.  It is fun to see the mind-boggling array of information she is learning fall into order and unity in her multi-track time line which brings together Bible and world history.  We also have lively discussions over Bible passages and explore how these ancient words impact us and our world today.

We have other grand Adventures approaching.  Corey goes in October to the USA for a month-long training in computerized type-setting to learn how to lay out the new Wolofal Bible for printing.  It will be a great boost to both Corey’s work and the work of other ministries because there currently is not a trained Bible typesetter in West Africa.  Toward the end of Corey’s course, Molly and Wheaton will visit friends and Katie and I will attend the annual Ladies’ Retreat near Dakar.  We return to Kaffrine together.

With this school year my last with Corey and Katie, my thoughts turned toward what is NEXT.  I was amazed and instantly interested when I saw a listing for the 2015-2016 school year for a Bible Teacher at Dakar Academy, a private Christian school in Dakar.  I spoke with team mates, Dakar Academy assistant headmaster and the Bible Department head to see if this would be a good fit for the school and for me.  Everyone encouraged me, so I submitted my application in the middle of August.  Additionally, the SIM USA office contacted me this summer to see if I might be interested in possibilities of service in the office there.  I am overwhelmed with this multiplicity of opportunities!  Please pray with me for God’s plan to be clearly revealed for my next stage in life.

Be sure to look at the pictures of garden, children and school!

Prayers:

*        Emma to settle well at BCS and do well in her studies

*        Molly, Wheaton and I to continue to work harmoniously and grow in every way throughout the year

*        Corey’s trip to be smooth, that he will learn quickly and well and return safely; for our safety and no emergencies while he is gone

*        Just the right dog for Corey and Katie’s and that their house would not be burglarized again

*        Ebola to be contained and affordable treatment to soon be available to all.  Pray for patients, doctors and support personnel

*        For the adjustments to the fan motor to go smoothly and be completed soon

 

Now……and Later
This is a backwards sort of newsletter since I wrote it before I left for Abu Dhabi, but because of summer schedules for the staff at ECC it won’t be published there until after I have left Abu Dhabi!  So what I wrote will be ‘old news’ by the time you read it.

We had our first rain of the year last week:
The wind started to blow and I was glad, it might cool things off a little.  It was 4:15 in the afternoon and still 93°F (34°C) inside.  The dog started barking – not in her usual way but frightened or unsettled.  I went toward the door to speak to her and saw the light fade to a dusky brown.  Wind and dark took over.  Before I reached the door it was pitch black all over.  My unsecured window flew open and spewed sand and silt up my hallway.  Before I could secure it (it was up high and I had to get a ladder) it blew open four times.  I climbed up and tied it shut, and still it was black outside.  I breathed a sigh of thanks that the electricity was still on; and then it winked out.  Not a spark of light penetrated the complete blackness.  Pulling out my cell phone to light my way, I went to get my emergency light.  My glasses were completely covered with dirt and I went to wash them before the water went out, too.  Thinking to cool myself I soaked a wash cloth with water to wipe my face and neck.  Imagine my amazement when the cloth came away filthy.  Twice more I rinsed the cloth and wiped my face and neck and arms before the cloth came back clean.  When I left the bathroom to check to see if the window was staying shut, I realized the light was slowly returning, and with it a new sound.  Mingled with the whistling wind were drops of water, just a few and then a lovely torrent of cooling rain washing all the dust from the air.  With the rain the light returned, and there was daylight again.  The rain didn’t last long, but it was enough.  The cool took control of the wind and whisked away the hot, dusty heat, leaving a lovely peaceful coolness from which to survey the results of this storm.  The neighborhood rose up and erupted in babbles of laughter and merriment, exchanging excitement and amazement at the extent of the darkness in this storm.  I rounded the corner of the hall and was amazed to see the heavy layer of dirt stretching ten feet from the door.  I swept it up and went outside to sweep the part of the yard that had blown onto my doorstep.  Returning inside I opened all the windows to let the refreshing, cooling breeze blow away the hot and sultry air trapped in the house; all that remained of the hot African day.  It was 4:45 pm and now only 84°F (28°C) inside.  We had had our First Rain of the year.
I later learned that this complete darkness was unusual even though this kind of wind/sandstorm is normal for this time of year.  I heard of reports of blowing storms on the same day all the way from the Midwest of the USA to Iran.  There were 4 deaths as a result of this storm in the villages around Kaffrine due to the wind carrying cooking fires, catching thatched roofs on fire and burning down huts.  This rain was also early for the season.  Fields are not ready and more rain at this time could be disastrous.

We have three more days of school, so by the time you read this we will be done with this school year!  Next year Emma will be a boarder at an English language Christian school about three hours away.  Corey and Katie decided to enroll her there for next year for a number of good reasons.  While we will miss her, she is excited about this new adventure, and we know it is the best thing for Emma.  I know there will be a whole different dynamic in our homeschooling next year with two instead of three students, and I look forward to the challenge of adapting to this change.

While we actually still have a little bit more school material to cover, we will end school in three days because I am leaving.  (We will finish any loose ends when I get back.)  On Thursday, June 12 I will travel to Dakar for a dental appointment to have impressions taken for the new permanent crown for my tooth that fell out last month.  I will then fly to Abu Dhabi on Saturday, arriving on Sunday in the very small hours of the morning.  Trish and Mark’s wedding will be the following Saturday, and I will leave Abu Dhabi on the evening of June 25.  My good friend Beth and I will take a short vacation together before I head back to Dakar and the final fitting for my permanent crown.  I hope to see some team-mates and do some grocery shopping, pick up our new school books for September (that short-term mission teams are bringing to Senegal for us) and be back home in Kaffrine by July 10.

Finally, I am surprised at how much I am learning from Oreo, this little bundle of black and white feline fur!  She is helping me to see how selfish I am and how I can spend my time more wisely paying attention to others.  She is showing me again the joy of just being, of delighting in the small things (she can spend an hour with a tissue!) and whole hearted involvement in whatever she does – she plays hard and sleeps completely relaxed: on floor, bed or chair.  She is steadfastly faithful, following me wherever I go even if it is just to step into the next room for a drink.  I see I need to model my devotion to God on the same plane, following Him with the same abandon and joy.
Please be sure to check out the pictures of Oreo and the girls.

In Christ,
Janie
Prayer Items

• Pray that the rainy season will be at the right time, in the right amount, so it will soak the ground and yield good crops for the farmers.
• Pray for Emma as she moves to her new school setting in September: settling into a new living arrangement; friendships with other students; adjusting to different school; being away from family; and pray for us that are left at home and missing her.
• Pray for travel safety for my flights.  I have long flights and long layovers both going and coming.
• Pray for good visits with folks in Abu Dhabi and smooth wedding for Trish and Mark.  (Yes, I do believe retroactive prayers are effective!)
• Pray that I will be able to find and purchase necessary supplies, including a motor for the exhaust fan for the house as I shop in Abu Dhabi.
• Pray for Wheaton, Molly and me as we restructure our school schedule and setting.  Also as I work through the new material and do my planning for next year in July and August heat and humidity.
• Praise God for Oreo and the joy and lessons I am gaining because of her!

Happy Easter to you!  Easter was filled with neighbors coming to Corey and Katie’s to watch a movie of Jesus’ life on Friday and a baptismal service on Sunday with the local church.   Friday, several people spoke up with questions about Jesus and wanting to see the film again.  This is a new response for the many times the film has been shown, so please pray for the follow-up of these indications of interest.  Sunday three young people in the church were baptized in the small concrete bath-tub sized ‘pool’ in Corey and Katie’s yard followed by a fellowship meal.

School is speeding toward the end of the year.  Emma and Molly are in the midst of a project in our studies of Africa.  Both are making their own ceremonial masks to celebrate a significant event in their lives.  I can’t wait to see the finished products!  Wheaton is working on a project of her own on the topic of American Pioneers (but it is a secret from Corey and Katie so I can’t tell!).  The only thing I CAN say is that it requires afternoons at my house – just the two of us……

I can’t decide whether I have taken leave of my senses or made one of my best moves ever.  Our house helper announced a month ago that the cat in their compound had produced a litter of kittens – under her bed!  She said as soon as they were old enough, she would put them out because she didn’t want them.  Before lunch was over, she had promised to give me one.  She arrived yesterday afternoon, all black and white and tiny and cute.  She’s not so cute when she cries all night.  No name yet, but looking to see how she adjusts without her siblings and mother…and what kind of personality she has.

The hot season is upon us and is making a significant impact on our school day.  The outside temperatures have soared to 113 F (45 C) on multiple days this week.  We do close up the house while it is still cool and the house stays much cooler than outside, but it can still rise to a sultry 97 F (36 C) inside.  Most days it is still above 90 F (32 C) in the house at 11:00 at night when I am trying to sleep.  The heat affects us all.  Just today we started the day with out-of-sorts spirits, bickering and scolding because of the heat and lack of rest when it doesn’t cool down at night.  We took some time to stop and pray, and our spirits improved, but then for most of the day the power was out, so no fans.  We resorted to drinking lots of water and using a spray bottle to soak one another periodically.  God graciously answered our prayers and the day actually was pretty productive but we have many more ahead of us!

I am trying to learn how to handle the little irritating parts of living here: things like these months of heat;  when the power goes off, or the water goes off, or they both go off at the same time; or how dusty and dirty everything gets and the variety of beasties that invade the house… I could go on.  I do not want to just be complaining all the time, so decided to view these things as disguised blessings.  What a flood of revelations I had about just about all of them! (I still struggle with the lizards and cockroaches, though!)

The heat will be with us for the next 5 to 6 months.  So often I focus on the sweat running down my face and the lack of energy I feel in temperatures above the mid 80’s.  When I purposed to seek out the benefits I was surprised at the many things I have found to appreciate about the heat:

Everything dries quickly – laundry can be folded and put away in about half an hour.  The floor is dry by the time you finish mopping, spills dry in just a few minutes.  And spraying each other cools us all down, only leaves us wet for a short time, and is fun!  So much perspiration is making my dry skin softer and it doesn’t crack so often.  And when I am so lethargic because of the heat, it is a great time to just sit and listen to God, and spend some time in prayer with him.

I am fascinated by how my thinking has shifted because of living with and without electricity; the marvel of it strikes me anew.  I value safe drinking water more highly now that it can be difficult to obtain; I remember the millions who do not have electricity or running water at any time in their lives more often…including many around us here in Senegal.

All these things I saw as irritating can also be means for God to deliver moments of grace, opportunities for him to whisper his presence and strength to each one of us.  I still don’t like being hot, but I’m learning to let God speak to me even in my discomfort.

I am rejoicing that my good friend Trish is getting married in June!  This is a lovely blessing for her and Mark, and the answer to many prayers.  They insist that I attend the wedding, and since it has been some time since I have been in Abu Dhabi, I will come!  I will arrive in the wee hours of June 15 and stay until June 26.  Yes, I will be busy with wedding activities, but I also will have time to see others!  I plan to be in the worship services at ECC on June 20 and would love to see you there.  Please write to make an appointment with me with your home group or just yourself!

Check out pictures of the last few weeks in school, the fabulous masks the girls are making and Easter News and Pictures!

 

 

Praise and Prayer

*  Thanks for the Easter events; pray for follow-up to bear fruit of faith.

*  Praise for a very cute little kitten; pray for a quick and smooth transition for us both.

*  Thanks for many good weeks of school completed; pray for continued diligence for the remaining 8 weeks of school left.

* Praise for the upcoming marriage of Trish and Mark; pray for all the arrangements and travel to go well.