Cote d’Ivoire Feels Like This

Riding over red dirt roads with a headwind, signaling a storm rolling in.

Sitting out under the mango tree with Dorcas, talking about what the past has taught us and what we hope for the future.

 

Watching Brazilian soap operas about India, dubbed over in French.

Eating lunch at Rodolphe’s chawarma shop and being given a Kenny G cd for my birthday by that very strange Moroccan man.

Winding through alleys in the market looking for just the right pagne.

Let’s be honest: some days, it feels like Giardia.

Hearing my parents’ voices once a week- all the way from California. Thank goodness for technology!

My host dad, Papa Yeo, and I teasing Dorcas endlessly that she ate all the popcorn. We both know it was actually me.

Praying that the rats in the attic, having a WWF match over my room, will not break one of the ceiling panels and land in my bed. Poor Alyssa has actually had the pleasure of finding a rat in her bed with her…. no thank you.

Brushing my teeth under the stars.

Walking Martine and her 3 year old son, Aracide, home after a visit. Carrying a very sleepy boy down the street and seeing fires gleaming in every courtyard that we pass.

Eating rice and sauce choro out of a giant bowl with 5 other women and burning my hands because the sauce is so hot! Senefo women are tough ladies!

A cool breeze on an overcast morning and hot sun beams by early afternoon.

All 10 of us becoming a year older. CJ turned 24!

Stopping by the Korhogo’s only supermarket so that I can feel air conditioning while I pretend that I’m going to buy something.

Spending the morning hours washing piles and piles of clothes by hand with Mama Yeo and Dorcas. They only let me rinse and hang up since my hands aren’t very good at scrubbing- I guess it’s a lost art.

Never being able to totally blend in because of the color of my skin, but knowing that those closest to us don’t just see a “toubabou” (white person) anymore.

My nameless family dog following me down the street and sitting loyally by my side while I greet friends from church and buy phone credits.

 

 Watching this little girl carry a dinosaur around on her back like it’s her baby. And hearing her jabber on and on in Senefo thinking that I understood it all.

Cote d’Ivoire feels familiar now.

It feels like missing family and friends back home,

               but being given a whole other family and home.

It feels like not wanting to say goodbye.

23 and Feelin’ Free

Last week, I had a birthday.

And as I began the 23rd year of my life, I found myself reflecting on the freedom that has been found in the last 12 months.

Freedom in knowing that God is in control of all things. That He has a plan for our lives.

I read Psalm 139 on the beach in Abidjan (we were there to pick up Heidi’s boyfriend, Taylor, from the airport). I’m pretty sure that psalm was meant to be read on a beach in West Africa! I’m blown away that the God who created the universe also decided to create me! Makes me feel really small… and really loved.

                              

Well, we got back to Bouake last weekend and the whole team celebrated together with a Christy Miller themed Murder Mystery party. You may be wondering, “What is ‘Christy Miller’ anyway?” Christy Miller is a Christian book series for girls ages 12 and up (sounds awesome, I know) and all the girls (+ Jason!) have read them all! We love them. I can’t really explain why we’ve been so captivated by it, but it’s been so fun for us to read together (yes, out loud!) haha!

Anyway, we had a great time being back together in Bouake again! AND we have 2 new teammates! So excited for Tricia and Kelly to start their own journeys here in Cote d’Ivoire.

Pastor Keo came down from Korhogo to lead a seminar on the book of Acts this week. We talked through Acts in regards to Mission, Salvation, the Church, Prayer, and the Holy Spirit. It was awesome and refreshing!

On our last day of the study, something started moving and shaking in me. As Keo started speaking of the Holy Spirit and baptism, I started feeling this intense rumbling somewhere in me- like butterflies having a wrestling match in my stomach. Something prodding me to ask a question. I couldn’t sit still. I felt as if I would jump out of my seat if I didn’t just speak up! I asked, “Pastor Keo, I need to ask you about baptism.”

Now, I was baptized as an infant- this was the choice of my parents to raise me with a knowledge of Christ, as I see it. I’m so thankful to them for that! I was also confirmed in the Lutheran Church when I was 14, claiming my faith as my own and choosing to learn more about the church. But something hit me last year in a bible study with Pastor Bruce that stirred me to question if I could be baptized as an adult. The passage I remember reading in that room at Clovis EVFree was the very same passage that Pastor Keo led me to. He pointed me back to Act 19:1-7. Baptism must be in the name of Jesus Christ.

Then I read Acts 8:26-38. There is a man who is riding back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem. He is reading from the Book of Isaiah. Philip, one of the disciples, is walking along the same road when the Holy Spirit tells him to walk alongside this man’s carriage. Philip hears the man reading aloud from Isaiah 53. Philip asks if he understands what he is reading, but the man says , “how can I unless someone instructs me?”. Philip rides with him and explains that the very passage he is reading is the Good News of Christ.

“As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, ‘Look!, There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?’ He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him” (Acts 8:36-38).

I felt the tears of intense emotion brimming. “Why can’t I be baptized?” ringing in my ears. I didn’t want to put it off any longer either. I had avoided the question and prodding toward adult baptism for more than a year. I wanted to declare it! I wanted Pastor Keo to take me down to the river and dunk me!

And that’s what happened! Pastor Keo and Rod, all my teammates, all our Ivoirian friends on campus: Bakary, Clana, Sarah, Benjamin, and Tenena; we all walked down to the little river behind Village Baptiste and I was “washed by the water”! Steph was feeling the same stirrings and was baptized too! We sang in Dyula, Tyembara, French, and English! Pastor Keo asked me to proclaim my faith in Jesus Christ and I answered with a resounding “OUI!” There was so much joy! PLUS: we were the first Americans Pastor Keo had ever baptized! And it was all in French!

                 

        

 

                     

               

          

 

               

                          

                  

Baptism is a declaration of our faith in Jesus Christ. Just as He died for our sins and rose again, our sin and brokenness are buried in the water and we raise to proclaim our new life in Him.

This past year has been full of new freedom. Freedom from sin. Freedom from anxiety. Freedom from political crisis. Freedom from expectations.

Freedom.

Freedom to live for Him.

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)

I’m 23 and feeling free.

Faces that I love.

The youth at my church are pretty wonderful. I struggled so much in the beginning feeling like I wasn’t getting past the “stranger zone”, but they plowed that barrier over and opened their world to me. I’m so thankful for the friendship found in this group.

I thought that maybe you’d like to see what a good looking group they really are.

 

I’m having too much fun.

I love these girls TOO much.

Where is the “pause” button?

Tomato, To Motto.

I’ve been wanting to write this one for awhile, but have not been certain of how to go about it. I’m just going to try and explain what God’s been showing me.

He Goeth Before.

That’s become the motto for this year. I remember reading the phrase back in January, when I was reading Amy Carmichael’s biography. There was a photo of a page in her devotional where she had written next to the date, “He goeth before”. It struck me then as something that I hadn’t thought much about before.

Since then, those words have penetrated and proved true in every part of life. And they just keep popping up everywhere:

When I think about how in the world I managed to find myself in Cote d’Ivoire.

When I think about all the people who encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone and think about ministry in a different place.

When I think about how God’s prepared me for ministry here, and how He is preparing me for future ministry.

When I think about why He chose who He did for our team.

When I think about all He has for all of us after this year .

Everything points me back to the fact that He has gone before me.

But it’s not just me He’s gone before.

He’s gone before us all in everything. He was there at the beginning of this world and He knows the entire story. He went before His people, the Israelites, and brought them into the land He promised them. He went before us as He walked on this earth. He went before us in His death on the cross and He went before us in His resurrection to sit beside the Father. In all things He’s gone before.

All He asks us to do is keep our eyes on Him and follow. We don’t have to be looking at our feet wondering if the next step we take is wrong or right, or worrying that the next pebble we step on will cause us to fall. Jesus knows the path well, He’s walked it before!

This is exciting stuff! All this is to say that plans for next year are being confronted. Every journeyer has prayed about the possibility of continuing our ministries here in Cote d’Ivoire for a second year. So…… [drum roll please] ….

I’m coming home! [bumbadabum!] I feel that God gave this year of growth and struggle for the purpose of stretching and preparing me for what’s next. I don’t exactly know what that will be in the long run, but I do know that grad school is in the works. This year, I saw such a need for Missionary Member Care out here in the field, what that means is counseling. So, I’m hoping to move forward with getting my Masters degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling. I’m adding another tool to my tool belt as Gaylene Demars would say!

Goodness, I’m excited about what’s next! I’m even more excited about what the next 3 months will hold. As I continue to deepen relationships with my family and church, I’m reminded of the importance of living each day to its fullest. Today is a gift; it’s a day that I get to visit my pastors, grab a bite to eat with Jason and Alyssa, and sit and laugh with Dorcas as we sort rice. And you know what? God knows exactly what our days hold, so there’s no worry of tomorrow. That’s a beautiful thing. He goeth before.

4th of July!

What could be more American that a good bowl of chili?

… okay, everyone in West Africa thinks it’s the hamburger, but I challenge that chili is as American as apple pie…. or the hamburger.

                I found some great beans in the market, called haricot rouge and haricot blanc (creative I know), not to be confused with haricot vert (green beans).

                                                     

           Bell peppers, onions, and garlic are all easy finds in the Grande Marche.

       

Pepper, however, you have to grind yourself

                            

                  I know that this look appetizing!

Ground beef doesn’t really exist here, so you buy boef sans os (beef without bones) and then you take it to a grinding machine, which are usually used for making peanut butter. This beef came out looking more like meat juice! It looked fairly normal once it was cooked though!

Everything cooked Ivoirian style (I have a feeling campfire cooking is going to seem much easier after this year!).

 

          

                                              

        Mama Yeo got a kick out of me cooking! She kept saying, “ma fille, la cuisiniere!”, in this silly voice she sometimes uses to talk to me. Dorcas was a huge help, making the rice and opening the can of corn I found in the market. We were in serious need of a can opener.         

                                   

          

After hours and hours of slaving over the fire…(okay I’m exaggerating) the chili was finished minutes before a big storm started. Talk about good timing!

Then it was time for the taste test:

             

 

                  

  

All in all, I think it was a hit! Mama Yeo sent bowls of it to our neighbors, the Tuo family, and to our pastors. I’m hoping it’s because she liked it and not because she wanted to get rid of it! :)

In the storm that night, we saw some of the most amazing lightning! I could see it striking down our street! And I was worried I’d be missing fireworks!

The next day we decided to have a fun day of celebrating being 5 American kids in a foreign country. What could we do but go swimming? (even though it’s hotter in California right now!)

        

This is CJ’s little brother, Emmanuel.

                         

                

This is our Moroccan friend, Rodolph who also happens to run our favorite chawarma shop.

                              

 

We sang the Star Spangled Banner about as loud as we possibly could. I think our Ivoirian friends have gotten used to the white people doing weird things, because they seemed to think it was perfectly normal.

                  

                                                 

            Don’t worry, Mom, we’re wearing sunscreen.

        

  

It was nice to have a day to just be goofy and have fun. Sometimes we need a little bit of that. We realized that the 4th of July, for many of us, is mostly about spending time with family and friends. Sure, we barbecue, and swim, and watch the fireworks, but I think the key is being with people that you love. Many of us were thinking of our family traditions and get-togethers back home, but this year’s celebration wasn’t lacking! God provides family wherever we go.