Wow! So much has happened in the last month!  Pictures have been posted on my FaceBook page!

Corey and Katie had a fantastic opportunity to go to a meeting of many of the international leaders of SIM in their role as International Advocates for Orality.  This role means they are tasked with raising awareness within SIM about the importance of using oral communication methods in evangelism and discipleship.  They went to Thailand for two weeks, leaving the three girls and me here in Kaffrine alone.  We had a lovely time, and actually were able to complete two weeks of school in addition to a lot of fun things!

A few unfortunate things happened while Corey and Katie were gone.  First, I fell on the steps coming into the house in the rain.  I severely injured my dignity (the two twelve-year-old girls, daughters of teammates, were with me and I fell into a big puddle and got soaked all over with mud!) and twisted my knee.  It has been a difficult recovery and I have had quite a bit of pain from it.  The worst part has been the loss of sleep from the night pain in my leg.  Thankfully, most of this is over, I am sleeping better and I can tell I am on the way to recovery.  I still have a ways to go before I can say my leg is healed, but there is significant improvement.  One of our teammates loaned me a knee brace that has been a great help in a speedy recovery.  Another tragedy is my glasses dropped and a lens broke.  I was able to get some super glue and a friend from the Peace Corps helped me glue the glasses back together.  I can wear them, but need another pair.

I have now had an opportunity to spend the weekend alone with each of the Garrett girls as well as having a weekend with the older twelve-year-old missionary girls who have now gone away to boarding school.  We have done extra special things together and had fun learning more about one another.

We are on our way to Dakar tomorrow for a number of different purposes.

First, there is a SIM Council meeting of all the SIM missionaries in Senegal for two or three days, depending on how the business items progress.

I will also be inspecting my shipment from Abu Dhabi.  I have heard that it has arrived in the port, but I’m not sure whether it has been delivered to the guest house where we will be staying.  Hopefully, I will be sorting through my stuff and selecting the things I absolutely need to have in Kaffrine.  We also need to figure out how to get everything carted out to Kaffrine.

My car still has the “check engine” light on, so we will be trying to get that repaired.  We also will try to get a replacement/backup pair of glasses.

If that isn’t enough to do in Dakar, we will be taking school to do in the mornings at the guest house.

Then when all these things have been tended to, Corey and Katie will go with the girls to the beach for 4 days of Bible Camp with the Wolof children they have been working with here in Kaffrine.  It will be a week of uninterrupted time to talk about the Gospel (see http://garrett.with.sim.org/prayer for more on the Kids’ Camp).  I will be returning to Kaffrine for a quiet time alone for the first time in over four weeks!  I will use these days for some quiet time and also to plan ahead for school!

Praise Prayers:

Praise for good progress in the schooling process, schedule and willingness on everyone’s part to work together

Praise for the good progress in my knee healing

Praise for the shipment being recorded as in the Dakar port

Praise for the good contacts made in Thailand for Corey and Katie and the special time that the girls and I had while they were gone

Prayer requests:

Safe travel to and from Dakar this week and next

All my goods would be present and accounted for

Wisdom in sorting through my stuff to select things to keep and things to discard

Continued healing for my knee

Easy solution to the engine light in my car

Easy and economical replacement for my glasses that will be correct and I will be able to take with me from this trip

Continued good progress with the girls schooling, adding Kindergarten in the afternoons with Wheaton

I have been in Kaffrine for three weeks!  Much has happened.

I have a car, and have been able to navigate to our teammates’ homes and back again without getting lost.  When we drove the car to Kaffrine from Dakar, the “check engine” light came on and so Corey spent a good bit of time finding out what was wrong and having the engine rebuilt.  It runs quite nicely now, but the light is still on.  The mechanic said the engine just needs to be “broken in” and the light will go off.

I have started Wolof class!  Since virtually no one outside the missionary team speaks English, Wolof is necessary to be able to shop in town, and even to have a conversation with any of the neighbors.  I have a tutor that comes to me for 2 hours a day, 5 days a week for 6 weeks.  That doesn’t sound too terrible, but it is draining to concentrate so hard on learning a new language with lots of unfamiliar sounds.  I have worked to make flashcards to use with the girls so they can drill me in the words and phrases.  We are also playing Go Fish in Wolof with cards with colors and numbers.  It is humbling to be the least informed when trying to play this game with little girls!

Corey and Katie and the girls go out to the village for the weekend – Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon – leaving me alone in the house.  That means that I need to learn to cook in an unfamiliar kitchen (not too hard) and also do all the house management to keep the house cool during the day.  Windows are open for the night so the cooler air (mid 70’s to mid 80’s) can blow through the house.  Then in the morning, watch the thermometer for the outside and inside temperature to reach the same point and close all the windows for the day.  This traps the cooler air in the house, making it as much as 10 degrees cooler inside than outside.  Yesterday it was 97F(36C) outside and 85F(29C) inside.

Another thing I am learning is how to turn on the generator when the electricity goes out.  Many times it is out for hours.  If it is out for 6 to 7 hours, the food in the refrigerator and freezer can go bad.  So I am learning the process of turning things off and on and starting up and turning off the generator when the power goes off and comes back on again.

I am also going through a program of SIM orientation with reading and homework assignments!  This is a six-week process.  It is very helpful, but takes time to do my assignments.

I am adjusting to the heat and learning to sweat gracefully. I am also learning that the afternoon rest is not only acceptable, but a requirement!  Fortunately, the whole family takes a rest break.  I am really enjoying being with the family and having a good time with each of the girls.  I have not started the first thing for the school year, and have been encouraged not to, yet!  It is a real relief to me to be able to concentrate on the Wolof and orientation and adjustment without having to add school to the list.

We have tried to plan a weekend with the two older girls (12 years old) from the missionary families but have had to cancel twice due to sicknesses.  Instead, one weekend 7-year old Molly was able to spend one night with me while the rest of the Garretts were in the village and we did some fun things!  I am looking forward to individual weekend time with the other missionary kids as well as each of my own three girls.

I shipped items from my Far East trip that still have not arrived.  Also, the shipment of my goods from Abu Dhabi now is scheduled to arrive only at the end of August.

Prayers and Praises

I have made it through so far and am persevering!   Please continue to pray for my adjustment.

Praise for my cute little car!  Pray that the engine problems will be solved and that the light will go out without any more expense.

Praise for a good Wolof tutor and good progress so far.  Please pray for continued learning over the next weeks.

Praise for the many days electricity has been in operation.  Praise for the generator starting when I have needed to start it.  Please pray for continued steady electric power.

Please pray for the packages and shipment that still have not arrived, that they will all arrive intact.

It is finally happening!  I am on my way to Senegal!  Packed and at the airport with one flight completed and three more to go before I get there!  Please pray that all my luggage makes it through these flights and everything makes it intact!  Also pray for the arrival and settling in process over the next weeks.

Please pray for the details for a car for me to drive.  Corey has found a 2000 Toyota he thinks is a good buy.  I have the money to pay for it.  The owner is ready to sell it.  The problem is the logistics of getting the funds from Abu Dhabi to the USA SIM office.  Please pray that the personnel in Abu Dhabi will be able to wire the money successfully to the right place.  This is the first time money is being transferred.  Please pray that the personnel in the SIM USA office will be looking in the right place for the money to be deposited.  And please pray that it will be in a timely manner that the sale will go through and the owner will wait till these details are handled.