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Monday, December 31, 2007

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Sunday, December 30, 2007

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Saturday, December 29, 2007

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Friday, December 28, 2007

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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

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Monday, December 24, 2007

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Sunday, December 23, 2007

After a turbulent morning (see below), it was time to celebrate Christmas on our property. Not having been there for a week, we saw the progress that had been made - the staircase onto the roof in progress (see picture above), and some work inside, in the bathrooms for example. But there is still much to do. We're moving in 40 days! I love this picture I was able to take in the living room.

After a time of praise & worship, I started sharing the Christmas story with the flannelograph I had taken with me - like yesterday. I also shared the pure gospel with them, and many listened very carefully. There were many children there, but in the course of the service, more and more adults came too, especially when I shared the story. Malians love stories! I had the children put the sheep up again, and they loved it. In the end I gave an invitation for them to start following Jesus, and many stood up to start living with and for Him. It was a joy to see! We prayed together, and then the service was over.

I had prepared little Christmas gifts for the children - a candy and some stickers - and we gave them to them on their way out. They were all crowded around us as if there weren't enough for everyone, but there was plenty.

Solomani Has To Leave

After many, many months of having a bad feeling about Solomani, and after several conversations and chances after chances, the time to leave had come for him. You cannot change anyone's heart, and Solomani wasn't willing to hand his heart over to Jesus and let Him change him. He preferred taking advantage of us, and having the best time he could in our house. He never had any respect for the adults, never obeyed willingly, even showed disdain for us every time he looked at us. He was the only kid who did not like hugging us (as we do that every night before they go to bed). His words were filthy, and his acts shocking. He was a thief, and a sexual abuser. God kept speaking to him, drawing him, but Solomani rejected him. We had no choice but to make the tough choice.

In some ways I regret that we did not do this earlier, on the other hand I know we've done everything we knew to do to help him and reach him. Solomani was with us for 13 months. Paul, Vroni and I have talked repeatedly about this situation, and finally came to conclusion this had to be done. We decided to finish the school exams first, and then do it Sunday morning after the Christmas Party on Saturday. For several days Paul rose early, feeling God calling him to pray, while I also kept thinking about it constantly, considering all the options, but always coming to the same conclusion. I dreaded the time Sunday morning, when I'd have to do this.

Over this past year, repeatedly money and other things were stolen in our house, and it could only be one of our kids. It was always little things, and we didn't know who it was. Vroni was also wondering if someone was stealing stuff from her room, but wasn't sure since she could have lost those little things too. And then a few days ago we found an opened present - one that had contained money. The paper was found under another boy's mattress, obviously to insinuate he had taken it. We took this very seriously. The thief had taken a small, light present, assuming money would be inside. However, fake money was inside, and so he discarded it. However, it looked so real that he must have tried to spend it, because one bill was missing.

We talked as a family, and everyone denied having taken it. We even talked to them individually. Daouda was suspected, of course, since he had been a thief in the past, and dispelled for that before. But prison was a purifying experience for him, and he wants nothing to do with stealing now. At our prayer meeting on Thursday, we took a time of reflection and repentance, then prayed for the thief, and took communion together. I spoke very clear words, warning the person, and warning the person to take communion in his state. I encouraged the person to admit it right then, but no one did. Paul reminded me later that Solomani had been the only one to not pray for the thief. And he took communion.

Every night we pray for the kids and bless them, and every night I would pray for each, "If (name) is the thief, bring it to light, convict him, so he can repent" etc. And God answered our prayer.

We did what was difficult to do, but the right thing to do. You cannot permit evil to stay among you, because it infects everyone else. Like every morning, there was a time of praise and then teaching, and Firmin taught this morning. I was anticipating the diffcult thing I was about to do after the teaching, and not looking forward to it. At the same time, I felt a kind of peace from God that I was doing the right thing. So when it was my time to speak, I told them I had to do something that is difficult. Then I said we'd pray for Solomani because he was leaving us this morning. Shock registered on his face, and everyone else's. We had not told Solomani in advance so he couldn't do anything stupid. He got up, we surrounded him, and prayed for him. Tears flowed on many faces. Then we watched him pack his bag. I gave him a backpack and some money to help him on the street. Several kids also gave him different things, from money to clothes to stickers. We gave him a blanket for the night, and told him to come to the kids' program on Saturday, where we'd introduce him to the person who'd take him to Ivory Coast - if he wants that. Solomani had never said a single word.

Paul and the boys went into their room where they spent some time in prayer, while Vroni and I were packing up the clothes from yesterday's party and talking. The boys needed some time to get over the shock, then we'd talk. A little later I asked them to bring the stuff out that Solomani had left behind, and we were all shocked at what we found - different things he had stolen over time. Things he had stolen out of Vroni's room, others out of the kitchen or my room. We had found our thief. We were shocked, and at the same time, felt relief. We had done the right thing. God had answered our prayers to reveal who was doing the stealing. He had even stolen tampons from Vroni! Plus other Christmas presents we had not missed yet with the many presents there are - they were also light, small presents, so could have been money in his mind.

The other boys also understood that Solomani had been the thief, and in some ways it brought closure, brought peace into our home. I also found out that Solomani had molested Hama about a week ago; he was caught by an adult, but they never told me until today. We are aware of some other problems with him in the sexual arena.

By the end of the day, I was amazed at the level of harmony and peace that had come into our house. The peace was nearly tangible! I had not expected our kids to do so well so soon.

Simeon FINALLY Leaves Too

Those of you who have been following this ministry for several years know the major problems I have had with Simeon. I talk MAJOR. Any other pastor would have kicked him out a long time ago. As with Solomani, I gave chance after chance after chance, hoping for the best, but nothing ever changed. I tried everything I knew to try, and came to the end of knowing what to do. So the past few months I have simply been ignoring Simeon. But that's not the way problems go away.

After yesterday's incident, I talked to Vroni for some time, and since she's coming from the outside, she can see things with a fresh view. She had some good things to say that made me think, and I realized, that the present situation was really unacceptable. Simeon could definitely not be happy with us, and his behavior was unacceptable, and hurting our church. I had been watching long enough without acting, and have probably waited too long. It was time to act and tell him to leave for good. I had tried that several times in the past, but every time he convinced me to give him another chance, pleading with me when he saw I was serious, after having had his fit of anger.

After the service tonight I told him I had to talk to him. First I asked him what happened last night, and we quickly clarified that. Then I told him I wanted him to leave our church. He said he wasn't leaving. I told him I didn't want him to come any more, and he said he'd come anyway, that I couldn't prevent him from coming. He got angry, and I started feeling a little vulnerable. Vroni and I were the only ones at home, since the others were still on the property coming back with the second ride. I kept repeating myself, telling him he couldn't be happy, and neither were we, and it was the best for all of us, and he should respect - just once - what I was asking him to do. I went into the house, but he followed me and forced his way inside. I did not want him in the house, and at one point expected him to become physical. I told him there was nothing more to say, and I wanted him to leave. He said he would not. He was inside the house, and there was nothing I could do. I went to my room. A few minutes later I came back out and found him talking to Vroni. I told him I did not want him to now go around from adult to adul talking to them, but that he'd simply leave and not come back. I asked him to just ONCE do what I was asking him, to just ONCE submit to what he was told. At one point he said if I was sending him away, I was sending Jesus away, and God would deal with me.

He finally realized I was serious and left. I quickly locked the door from the inside. Five minutes later he was back, trying to get inside. He wanted to talk to me. I told him there was nothing more to talk, and if he wanted to say something, he could do it from the window. After the angry fit before, he now went into his pleading routine, starting to plead with me to not send him away. I cut him off right away and left him standing there. He left after a while.

I believe Simeon is capable of anything really when he's angry. He's dabbled in witchcraft in the past, and doesn't realize he's using witchcraft in the way he prays, though I have tried to talk to him before. In his anger I believe he could do all kinds of dangerous things, so please pray for us. I warned everyone and suggested to them to stay away from him, or to at least not listen to all he's gonna try to say about me to get them to join his camp and turn against me. Pray also for him that his pride would be broken, so he could start his healing and deliverance process. Simeon was the first person who came to the Lord in Mali, just two months after my arrival. It's so sad to see what it has come to.

When I told the kids that Simeon was also sent away today, they all started telling story after story of how Simeon had hurt them physically, even yesterday and today. Simeon always thinks he's playing with them, but in reality he's hurting them. I've told him so several times, but he never listens to what I'm saying. Every time he'd come, he would grab 4-year-old Anatole and practically make him a prisoner on his lap or at his hand. Every time I'd feel the alarm bells go off inside of me when I'd see it.

Simeon needs serious help, but as long as he thinks he's always right, and everyone else wrong and against him, there's not much you can do.

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Saturday, December 22, 2007

Fanta and Elisabeth started cooking for 100 people early. We had a special meal of couscous with sauce, thanks to a generous donation from FOUR CORNERS Christian Fellowship in Vienna, Austria. Thanks to their donation, we were also able to buy clothes, shoes and blankets to give as gifts to the street children.

We spent the morning in preparation, and one thing to do was to put out all the clothes in their different categories for their distribution. We had about 120 pairs of shoes, lots of T-Shirts, and lots of pants.

At 4 o'clock our party started officially. Several of my kids were at the gate, letting the street kids in one by one, giving them a number and a candy. The number was for the clothes distribution.

As always we started with a team game. We had four teams, and every person in each team had to catch an apple in a bucket full of water, but just with his mouth, without using his hands. The kids had so much fun! Every winning team was split into two, and the final round had 3 kids going at it. It was a little one who ended up winning - a neighbor, not a street kid. His prize was a stuffed animal, and he seemed pretty happy.

Then it was time to praise God with songs. We did a few Bambara songs, and the kids were dancing along. We also did one songs with actions that I had translated from English, and they always love that song.

We prayed, and then started the teaching part. I had set up the flannelograph to tell the Christmas story. Malians love stories. By that time close to 100 people had gathered. I shared the whole gospel, God creating man, and longing to have a close relationship with him, our sin separating us from Him, and His solution. They were captivated by the flannelograph, and I had them put the sheep on there, which they love. I shared about a loving heavenly Father, who would never leave them nor forsake them, and who was longing for them to come to Him today. In the end I gave an invitation to start a life with Him, and many stood up to pray with us. After the prayer, I gave them a few instructions how to go on in their new life.

As always we told the children we'd pray for healing next, and one after the other they came, and several were healed. Those who weren't we sent over to our new nurse Jessica who was treating them. As for the rest, my boys were serving them all juice.

When we were done, we served them our special meal. They were all eager to eat, and wanted seconds. However, the food ran out rather early and no one could have seconds. We adults even gave up our plates so they could have their fill. They loved the food. I was surprised when I heard that Solomani stole meat (much prized) from one of the kids' plates - as if he was on the street and hungry!

There was also an incident between Simeon and Jessica that turned all heads and ears. It was sad that they saw us Christians act that way. In the end, it was just one big misunderstanding, but Jessica left angry, and Simeon left later, also angry.

After the meal, it was time for the gifts. Each kid received a pair of shoes, and a pair of clothing or a blanket. It's winter now, and at night it cools down to the 70's F or 20's C, and they freeze! Many of the children chose the blanket over the clothes. Many of them had come without shoes and were very happy to receive those. The younger the children are, the more my heart hurts for them, and I wished I could keep them all. I talked to several of them, wanting to find out more about them, and encouraging them to come back next Saturday.

This one is a young boy on the street, who came without shoes, and left with shoes and pants. Kid after kid came into the house to get their Christmas gift, and it took us several hours until all 80 had had their gift. It was 10:15 pm when we were finally done. We were tired, our feet were hurting, and there was still much to clean up. We prayed, and sent the kids to bed, but ended up not doing much that night. We were too exhausted, and so we left everything for the following morning.

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Friday, December 21, 2007

Today were the last few exams - Math and French. It continued the same way - nearly all F's. They simply had not studied. We talked about it in the evening, as I asked them what job they would like to do instead of school, what profession they'd like to learn. They all assured me they want to go to school and not work or learn a trade. I told them that their actions speak differently. They have become self-centered, lazy boys that only want to be served. The way it is now, you have to ask them 5 times to help you with something before they might come to help you - in this culture that is even more unthinkable than in the west. They just don't want to do anything they don't feel like doing.

I really don't know what to do the way things are going right now. Just keep teaching? If they fail all classes, we have to start over. Especailly Abdias has decided to quit making an effort, and is just going along. In the beginning he was the best student! If he continues like that he'll still be in the same grade in a few years.

It's discouraging, to say the least.

After the Christmas break, they are gonna prepare themselves to do those same exams again that they failed now. They'll have those when I get back from the US. Paul said he's gonna work with them in January. I'm really impressed by Paul, because he's really giving EVERYthing for the kids - his time, his energy, his sleep - as he's working with them in the afternoons, after he's come home from High School. And he's doing Bible School as well, and is behind on homework, because of all he does for the kids. They don't realize those things, but I reminded them. I also reminded them that most my time is given for their school, and that there are many other things I could do if I had that time.

This morning, a serious incident happened again, which was shocking. What is distressing is that the adults don't realize either how shocking the situation is. We talked about it tonight, and I hope they got it. Firmin is also on probation because he frequently hits Hama out of anger. Last night he did it in front of me, and I got angry telling him how totally unacceptable it is.

Today a teacher and Paul told me how teachers beat kids in school, and they are all for it, and it didn't hurt them either. As long as they think hitting and beating kids is okay, how will it ever change.

I'm discouraged right now, and don't know how to continue from here. It sured would be much easier to only take orphans, and not street children.

Tomorrow is our big Christmas Party for street children. I'm not looking forward to 100 difficult kids to deal with. Please pray for us.

By the way, I took new pictures of Souleymane and Daouda today - they are on the KIDS - INTERN page.

Fousseni told me three dreams he had. Then he told me that the Lord had spoken to him in the morning and told him he failed the test. Fousseni shared that he had been praying that the Lord would test him, and so God showed him that he failed because of his unacceptable behavior recently. I'm glad at least one kid really walks with the Lord.

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Thursday, December 20, 2007

Vroni did a little teaching in Bible class this morning, before it was time for the next exam - Bambara. I had been telling them over and over to study, that they need to know all the grammar rules, but to no avail. And so nobody knew the rules, and 3 out of 4 failed the exam.

In the afternoon they had the science exam. Same story. And all 4 of them failed. They had not studied, though I had kept telling them to. I spent more time preparing the exams than they did studying for them. What's wrong with that picture? In any case, it's frustrating and sad.

At noon we talked for an hour about the current situation and what to do. We didn't like that life has continued and nothing changed, that the kids would think there are no consequences after what happened.

We decided that Solomani needs to leave Saturday after the Christmas Party for Street Children. If he left now, the others would not be able to concentrate on the exams. Plus since he could come to the party anyway, afterwards is a good time. In any case, we will offer him the ride to his family in Abidjan, if he wants that. We all agree there is nothing else left to do, after over a year and a hundred chances.

As for Daouda, we will see how it goes.

As for consequences, I removed all the gifts tonight. They should think about it and wonder if they'll still get them. Also, we are going to make the 25th a day of prayer and reflection and time with the Lord. Our Christmas celebration on the 24th is gonna go ahead as planned - restaurant, swimming pool and gifts. And we are going to continue to pray that the Lord would bring to light who the thief is. Tonight as we blessed them and prayed over them, I prayed again, "If he is the one who stole the money, let your fire come on him to convict him....".

This week our prayer meeting is on Thursday, since we have the Christmas Party on Saturday. When it was time to start, I felt sick to my stomach and knew it was spiritual, not physical. I told them I can't just start singing praise songs, and that the thought of having that thief among us singing to the Lord with such hypocrisy, would want to make me puke. So I told them we'd start our meeting with a time of personal reflection and repentance and asking God for forgiveness. I put on some music, as we all sought God personally. I felt we should take communion together, and so I got it ready. I also felt we should pray for the thief.

I read 1.Cor 11 and shared a few thoughts. I told them now was the time to confess to the truth, and the Lord would forgive the one who's stolen the money. No one responded. We had a precious time of communion, and everyone took part. May the Lord have mercy on the person!

We spent the rest of the time in intercession, with songs intermingled. It was a good time.

When we were done, we all piled into and onto the car and drove to the bus station with 40 sandwiches. It didn't take long for them all to be gone. We invited all the street children to come to our party on Saturday.

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Wednesday, December 19, 2007

This morning we talked to each teenager individually to find out if they know anything they wouldn't say in front of everyone. We just noticed that Solomani and Daouda were really defending each other. Nobody claimed to know anything more than what they've said.

Afterwards we discussed again what the right thing to do is. Send Daouda away as we said? We don't have any proof that it's him who took the money. Several kids said they don't think it was him, but then it's hard to imagine any kid would do this.

We finally decided to let Daouda stay for now, but Solomani finally has to go, there is no way around it. Paul did some asking around and found out that he can go across the border with a birth certificate, and there are ways to get a birth certificate without any other papers. So it looks like we're gonna go for that. Hopefully it's not gonna take to long. Once we have it, we'll put him in a bus to Abidjan to join his family there.

As for Daouda, if Soloman is the thief, the stealing should stop after his departure. If not, we're praying God will bring to light who is the thief. If it's Daouda, he has to go. If he can't stop assaulting Vroni sexually, he also has to go.

So for now they are both here, and it seems that they are gonna celebrate Christmas with us after all. I'm not sure how to feel about that, since I really don't feel like honoring a thief by heaping more stuff on him.

I've been busy all day writing exams - 5 of 6 are done, thank God. In the afternoon they had their first exam - Bible. It took us 2 hours to test everyone orally. Daouda failed (he wasn't here for all of it), Solomani and Abdias barely passed, and Saloum and Fousseni had a good great. Those grades reflect their heart for God pretty well.

Tomorrow are the next two exams, and on Friday the last two. We're also fasting tomorrow night, since it's the Muslim feast of Tabaski tomorrow. We have our prayer meeting tomorrow night instead of Saturday (it's Christmas Party then), and afterwards we're going to the bus station to hand out food to street children and invite to the party.

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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

EOver these past weeks, things have been stolen repeatedly, just little things. Today something more serious happened.

Our Christmas gifts have been gathering in the living room, nicely arranged, waiting for Christmas Day. The kids know not to touch any gifts. Tonight a gift was found opened in the kids' room - it was my gift for Paul. It was some money wrapped, and the kid went straight for it. Little, light, and for an adult - that could only be money.

Of course none of the kids admitted to having taken the gift and money. In many ways, it's all a "deja vu" from a year ago, when Daouda kept stealing stuff, but was found out, and had to leave us. Like last year, he denies having stolen it. However, all the kids were shocked and animated and angry, discussing this incident, while Daouda just stood by watching them. Also, on Sunday he had disappeared twice by bike, when he should have been at home with us, and no one knew where he was.

I told the kids that Daouda would leave us tomorrow afternoon, and if it wasn't him, the guilty person could still approach me before that.

Vroni, Paul, Firmin, and I then sat down to talk, and ended up talking for a long time, closing in prayer. Our conversation brought more things to light that hadn't been mentioned.

We all agree that neither Daouda nor Solomani show any interest in God, in fact they rather seem to have become "soul mates", in the bad sense. I also found out that they continue making sexual advances - weird words and behavior - towards Vroni, even after Paul has talked to them all about this. And it's not just once, but every day.

With Solomani we've wrestled and talked to him for many months, and given him chance after chance, but nothing has happened. Now it's time for him to go. Tomorrow Paul is gonna try to find out if Solomani can take the bus to Abidjan and cross the border without papers somehow. He has family there.

We also realized that this week is a week of heightened spiritual activity because of Tabaski, the holiest feast of Islam that lasts one week. That might explain some of the things going on. We decided to go on spiritual alert, and have a day of fasting on Thursday.

We also decided to take some security measures and lock up the kitchen and front door tonight, so Daouda cannot do anything stupid. We will also not tell Solomani that he's gonna leave as well. I feel that he is capable of doing anything, including attacking us physically. I can imagine that he has stolen some of the things that have disappeared, even before Daouda's arrival. We don't want to send them away together, because we feel like they would conspire together to do something against us.

Please pray for our protection, and that all this would turn out well. Paul is pretty devastated by all this, and the other kids are not gonna take it very well either that two leave. I wonder how they are gonna concentrate on their exams Thu and Fri.

On the upside, Vroni was baking Christmas cookies with the kids tonight (for the 2nd time), including them all in the activity, and they all loved it.

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

This afternoon was our third service on our property. I preached on being a letter people read. What is it they read? Do they glorify God when they hear our words and see our acts? Or do we not reflect Jesus? Do we act as everyone else, or do we bless our enemies and heap coals on their heads?

In the beginning there was hardly anyone there, just a few kids. A few more people showed up during the service, while many of the smaller kids left earlier. We told them again to keep quiet, and it worked a little better than in the past.

I hadn't been on the property in a week, and looked at the progress. I noticed that the roof opening for the staircase leading up is not in the right spot. This would be the third mistake our construction manager has made. I need to talk to him about this tomorrow.

After the service we headed home to celebrate Denise's eleventh birthday - her first birthday, since Malians don't celebrate birthdays. I had prepared everything in advance, including baking a cake for her. Thanks to past visitors, we had a lot of birthday gadgets that they all loved.

I brought out the cake with lit candles on it, and we all sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Denise blew out the candles, but it took her several tries. We all had the cake - about 20 of us - and then one after another gave his gift to her. I had been reminding the kids and was glad most of

them had something for her. Denise enjoyed her first birthday party, I believe.

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Saturday, December 15, 2007

What a morning! There were more street children than on average, and quite a few new ones. We played a game to start with, and things were still going well, though it's hard to keep order with that many children. We'd really need more workers.

The problems really started during the teaching. Every half minute, someone would throw a stone at my feet, but I couldn't see who it was. I kept asking, and telling them to stop, but it continued. At the same time, some kids wouldn't stop talking and disrupting, and we had to send several away. I asked Firmin to come to my side and watch who was throwing stones at me. He saw one, but after he had left, the stone throwing continued. Then the several kids that had been sent away came to our gate and shouted and disrupted the others. Paul went to stop them, and I finally quit trying to teach my lesson. I was very disappointed. I told the kids that I was sad they couldn't respect us, and that they weren't grateful for our invitation and the meal, thanking us that way.

I went back into the house, but the problems outside continued, and Paul and Firmin had a hard time keeping control. I had to go outside to help take care of it, while my food burned in the kitchen, turning into coal. I was so frustrated. We had never had that many problems with the kids before! It seems that several had taken drugs before coming, and some of the new kids were real troublemakers. Next Saturday it's our Christmas Party, but I worry how it's gonna work with 100+ kids, especially since were are so few to keep them in line!

Tonight was our weekly prayer meeting. In the afternoon my intense frustration somehow dissipated - some people must have been praying - and by the time the prayer meeting started, I was miraculously looking forward to it.

I did more prophetic singing than usual, and it was great. One thing God said was that He is on the throne, that He is in control, and we aren't. I sometimes wished we'd record those prophetic songs! I started to smile, and felt some weight lift off of me.

Some time later, as we sang CLEANSE MY HEART OH GOD, my heart started to break because I'm so little like Jesus, because I'm such a miserable leader, pastor, and mother. I asked God's forgiveness, and then asked everyone's forgiveness. Nobody replied. I stayed on the floor a little while longer, before getting back on the keyboard and continuing taking us deeper into worship. It was a precious time. Even afterwards I was still affected, and really would have rather wanted to retire with Him. I so often pray Solomon's prayer, that I cannot lead these people God has given me, that I need His wisdom and help. I so often fail, and still, God has not made a mistake by putting me in the position I am in. It's a mystery to me.

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Thursday, December 13, 2007

Every morning Seybou drives Souleymane, Etienne, Anatole and Sama to Christian school. At the same time, Firmin and Vroni start working with our two little ones - Sarata (2 1/2) and her handicapped brother Hama (6). And I start working with our remaining 5 teenager that are in 2 groups, different levels, in math even in 3 groups. I have to move from group to group, teaching them and giving them something to do while I'm with another group.

It is not easy teaching those children. They have problems to concentrate, and to motivate themselves to work. They also have a hard time being corrected which they see as disapproval. Their finals are in one week. I really wonder what their results will be like.

There is so much to do to prepare our different Christmas activities. Today several people went off taking care of different things, buying different stuff. The NGO has given money for each kid that has a sponsor, and a church in Austria has been very generous to enable us to do our street kid party, giving clothes, shoes and blankets to the children, as well as a great meal, plus celebrating in the village and with our own kids.

Firmin went to buy 120 pairs of shoes today. In the evening, Vroni, Paul and I went to the big supermarket to buy stuff you can only get there or get there cheaper. As you can see, our cart was full! I've never bought that much at once in the supermarket! Back home, I had to start unpacking and putting them all in the right bags that will be given to the kids at Christmas.

A funny incident that happened at the supermarket: They have an elevator that goes upstairs where the non-food items are. We rolled the cart into the elevator, and all got in. Then we waited for the doors to open on the upper level. Suddenly the lights went out. Great! A power outage! We all stayed calm; all we could do was to wait for the power to come back on. I was glancing through the slit at the door, and was thinking, why is there light out there if there is a power outage??? I decided to try to push a button, and as I did, the light came back on. Then the door opened, and we were still downstairs. We realized that none of us had pushed a button, and so the elevator had never actually moved! The lights went off because of inactivity! We were all laughing hard.

Back home we had a time of prayer together, before all piling into our car to go to the bus station where the street kids are. The kids there were all smiling as they gathered around us. Many of them come to our program every Saturday. We gave them each a sandwich, filled with French fries. They were so happy! Unfortunately we didn't have enough for everyone. Next week we'll bring more. We want to do this every week, though I want to be wise. We need to let the police know we do this so we won't get into trouble.

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Today I was teaching math, when Jessica came by. She's the nurse who is Nigerian but has studied in the US, and she's helped us out several times. We were gonna call her today anyway, but now that wasn't necessary any more.

Solomani hurt himself once again a few days ago, and she took care of his wound. The reason I wanted her to come was that Hama's threads from the circumcision were still there. I had asked the doctor back then (3-4 weeks ago), and he had said that they'd dissolve by themselves. Well, that was another untrue thing. So she looked at it and carefully removed it. One part was so inside, it was hard to get out. She said if they had overlooked it, it would have caused many problems later, since it was overgrown. She also said that they had not used regular medical thread. What a nightmare!

With all this going on, I still succeeded in finishing math class, and Jessica stayed for worship and Bible class. Then she started sharing her story, taking over 2 hours for it. It was unbelievable what I heard! Once she has her happy end, you can make a movie out of it! I felt compassion for her, and she had tears in her eyes several times.

In short, she's looking for her 14-year-old daughter who was taken away from her and is somewhere in the US, and she has no clue where. She's trying hard to get into Canada or closer to the US to try to look for her. If she had the money, she'd travel to the Caribbean to work there and be closer to the US. Jessica has gone through incredibly much in her life! She's been in Mali for a year, fleeing from her family in Nigeria, and trying to get a Canadian visa from here. But the Malian official at the embassy just kept asking her for money and not helping her, and nothing has come to pass.

At the end of our conversion, I prayed for her and prayed for her vanished daughter. I also told her we could imagine her joining our team. She said she'd like that. Though she speaks neither French nor Bambara, she would definitely be a great help to us. So I'm praying when would be the right time for her to join us. She has no money whatsoever, and the place she is at now will evict her some time soon. She has not been able to find a job as a nurse since she only speaks English.

It's amazing to me what difference money makes! It's been opening incredible doors in Mali! But I believe it's God favor behind it that is really doing it.

Some time back we blessed another church with money, and I was invited to preach there - and they've recently invited me back. They also came to our celebration. Just now we gave money to the media ministry in Mali (TV and radio). The guy is responsible for that then said that we could also have a program on the Christian station. I was blown away that he would say that just because we gave him money! It's part of our vision, but it sure would be exciting if this came to pass that soon.

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Sunday, December 9, 2007

After last week's 3rd anniversary and first service on our property, it was our first regular service in Yirimadio today. The reason I have not written any blogs these past few days is my extreme tiredness; but I'm gonna try to catch up a little, writing in retrospect.

This week Kossi finished putting the wall around the roof up - so you don't fall off. The holes are for the rainwater to flow off.

We now start our service an hour earlier, at 3 pm, since the sun also goes down earlier in winter. At 2 pm the first group with the equipment drove to the property. We set everything up while Seybou left to get the second group.

Today a lot fewer people came. Some children, some adults. All those who were baptized last week were there. People from our current neighborhood came with us, and were therefore on time for once :-)

Paul led Bambara worship with Firmin, and then I did the French worship. You can see Paul holding his mic to my piano, because otherwise people wouldn't hear it.

After the offering and announcements, Paul was preaching. I had simply been too tired all week to preach, and Paul does a great job. He talked about this land being our Promised Land, and spoke many prophetic promises.

He talked for an hour, and more and more kids were leaving. I had Hama sitting on me who soon fell asleep. We also had some of our current neighbors' kids with us, like Saloum's brothers, who had a hard time listening to a sermon for an hour. Vroni suggested we'd preach shorter; we'll see. Now would really be the time to have a separate children's program, but we don't have the necessary manpower to do that (yet).

Back home, the kids watched some DVD, and then we had a precious family meeting. We lit the second of four Christmas candles, and then took communion together. As always, we talked about the day, and Paul and I laid hands on each kid to bless them and call forth their destinies.

Once they were in bed, we talked some details concerning Christmas. One church in Vienna has given us a generous donation for Christmas presents for all kids, and the kids' sponsors also gave some money for presents. So they'll be blessed abundantly - from our own kids, to the neighbors' kids, to the kids in the village.

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Saturday, December 8, 2007

Let me first summarize the last few days a little.

There is not that much to write. I myself have been very tired, trying to catch up on sleep and rest, while having so much work that needs to get done. We started school again on Thursday - it was high time for the kids.

When the Austrians were gone, it was also time to start thinking of Christmas. I put up some light chains to bring a Christmas feel, as well as an advent calendar. Every day I put 8 little somethings into the little bag of the day for them to enjoy. They love it!

We have also started wrapping the presents, and as soon as they are wrapped, they are added to the other presents. We have barely started, and already have lots of presents lying there!

These are some pictures taken in the last few days, that show all 8 kids:

Vroni with Sarata, Hama with coke (which explains the smile), and the 6 teenagers.

For over a year I've been trying to find a drum set for our church. Saloum plays our drums, the djembé, and he's always said that he'd like to learn percussions. Unfortunately you don't find drum sets in Mali, and I've not been able to bring one with me.

This morning an email came in on the missionary email list, that a drum set was for sale. I IMMEDIATELY called the guy, and bought it! Praise God! In the afternoon we drove there - to the other end of town - and picked it up.

Now I wanted to keep this a secret until Christmas - but how? Just before we drove up home, I called Paul and told him to go into their bedroom, together with all the boys and adults. He did. WHile they were in their room, we carried the drum set onto the roof, where I put it into the little storage room there. They won't know what it is until Christmas! They sure tried to guess what it is, but were far from the truth. I can't wait to see their faces!

Since we had to drive so far, and the missionary lived around the corner from my favorite restaurant, Vroni and I decided to go out to eat there. So we enjoyed a wonderful meal and some time of fellowship.

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Tuesday, December 4, 2007

We all slept in today, getting up really late. I had given the kids another day off school - more because I needed it rather than them. But they seemed tired as well.

I had so much office work to do, plus Bible School in the evening to prepare for, that I spent most my time at my desk. But the exhaustion was very visible. By the time Bible School started I was so tired I didn't know how to do it. I drank some tea, and ended up lying down for half an hour, which made a big difference.

I have to say, I was amazed the last few days how well I was doing and that I wasn't more tired. I am convinced it's the prayers of God's people that made that difference. And today it was as if the "stored" tiredness was released over me all at once. I even decided not to teach the kids another day, tomorrow. Vroni is gonna work with them a little. She's also tired, and Paul fell asleep 10 minutes into Bible School. I made him some strong coffee that helped him stay awake afterwards.

Today we talked about the Austrian team again, and how awesome our time with them was, how special they were. We thank the Lord for them. It was good for our boys too to have 4 grown men around for a few days.

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Monday, December 3, 2007

I had decided on NOT having any specific time to get up or program in the morning. We needed to sleep in - and we all sure did, including the children!

Once I was up, I was immediately grabbed for an interview that ended up lasting about 2 hours. One of the Austrian team members brought a video camera and did a professional interview with me. They are gonna do a little clip (in German).

Since it took longer than expected, we ended up a little stressed out to get ready for the swimming pool. A few of us took a taxi, while I took the rest with me. I didn't want to be too attractive to the policemen on the way there. Thankfully we were never stopped, even later when I had about 15 people in the back.

We arrived at our favorite hotel with swimming pool at 2 pm - rather late - but we had nearly 4 hours to have fun. Unfortunately there were clouds that hid the sun most of the time, and so everyone was rather cold, especially the Malians, and the kids spent less time in the water than I've ever seen before.

Hama just LOVES the swimming pool and doesn't even want to get out of the water. I had fun with him, throwing him in the air and playing with him.

The boys preferred playing soccer - Malians against Austrians - and the Austrians won and were proud of it.

Later a few of the Austrians took a boat ride with the hotel's boat and had much fun on the river Niger - they were disappointed not to have seen any crocodiles.

At 6 pm - the sun was starting to go down (it's winter after all) - we left to go to my favorite restaurant. Seybou was taking a taxi with Fanta and Sarata to join us there. When we arrived there, the restaurant was closed; we were very disappointed. The kids love the self-made icecream they have there.

Having gone a long way to go to that restaurant, we now had to cross all of town to go to the only other affordable and good one - the one the Austrians had already eaten at twice. We were so many that it was hard to have conversations on the long table, but we still had a good time. The kids LOVED the European chicken - it actually has MEAT on it! And the icecream they had as desert. I was sitting next to Hama, helping it out. He wanted to also eat with a fork like the adults, and it was hilarious to watch him.

We got home just in time for our family meeting at 9 pm. Everyone was very tired, but it ended up being a very emotional meeting with lots of tears as it was time to say good-bye.

Each Austrian said a few last words, and then the kids did, followed by my adults, and then myself last. Fousseni was the first in tears, and the first to speak. Souleymane also cried hard, and Paul and Firmin were also crying. The Austrians also had a hard time retaining their tears. Everyone said how much they loved the others, and how much they would miss each other. Paul couldn't even talk at one point, and then prayed for them all. The kids went to bed with many tears.

Then the Austrians finished packing up, and at 1:30 am we left the house to go to the airport. Paul had already fallen asleep, and I sent him to bed since he had to go to school in the morning. Vroni was very tired and stayed home too, and so Firmin accompanied me. I was also so very exhausted, I didn't think I could even drive to the airport. Thankfully, by the time we left I was feeling better. The back of the car was filled with suitcases and people as we made our way to the airport. Last words were echanged, and then the final good-bye at the airport, before they made their way into the terminal.

At 2 am we were back home, but I couldn't sleep before 3 am, though I had been so exhausted earlier.

What a blessing the Austrians had been! They all want to come back, and we hope they will soon.

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Sunday, December 2, 2007

What a day! A busy, and wonderful day!

We got up early to get everything started. Since I had hardly had time to pray or seek the Lord, I had made a point in having my morning off for the reason. But I ended up spending most morning preparing the celebration anywhere, thinking of one thing after the other that still neded to be done or organized.

Picture: From the hill to the north of the property you easily recognize its outline now (to the left of Firmin).

The Malian and Austrian team went to the market near our property one more time to invite people to the celebration. Then they went to the property to get things ready - setting up benches, putting up mattresses etc. Fanta and Elisabeth - our cooks - had done major shopping at the market, since they had to prepare food for 200 people - 50 kilos of rice, and buckets of sauce. You can see all the ingredients they bought in the market on the picture. They set up their kitchen on the property and spent all day there preparing the food for about 6 pm.

Seybou was constantly driving back and forth between our home and our property, taking stuff there to be set up. Just before 1 pm everyone was finally back home for a quick lunch. We just bought some bread and mayonnaise to put on it.

After the meal it was time to all go. I wanted us to be there early to have everything ready for our visitors. By 2 pm we were there, and Seybou turned right around to bring more people over. We had told our church and anyone else to come to our house to get a ride to our property, since nobody knows where it is yet.

After having set up the sound system, generator, and other last things, it was time to open the gate and let people in. Every team member - Austrian or Malian - had a task to do. For example giving a balloon to every child coming in, as well as a candy, and giving a pen with our church name to every adult. Now our 500 pens I brought with me from the US just over 2 months ago are all gone. The kids sure enjoyed the ballons and candy, and Malians are ALWAYS short on pens, so they were the perfect gifts.

I was pretty busy getting ready, but Vroni succeeded in taking a picture of me in my Malian festive clothes (see right). It was 3:30 pm when we finally got started. Over 100 children, and maybe the same amount of adults had already gathered. All in all, maybe 400 people came through our doors, but it's very hard to estimate, and many of them are children. Since none of them is "churched", they would come and go all the time, talk with each other, do other stuff, and even come up to me to talk while I was preaching or leading worship! I kept telling the children to be quiet, but it was to no avail. I finally gave up and made an effort to ignore the extreme and constant noise level.

We first started with a time of Bambara praise that Paul was leading with Firmin, and two of our boys played the drums. We had to buy a second one, since our old one is near the end of its life, so we enjoyed double drums. People were still gathering and coming and going. After 3 Bambara songs, it was my turn to do the French worship. Our portable sound system is 3 years old and has a few problems already, like not being loud enough. Also, with the loud speakers to the people and the extreme noise level, I couldn't even hear the keyboard I was playing, so it was rather difficult.

I then greeted the people and told them who we were, how CAM started and what we do. I asked one of the Austrians to share what God had done in the villages last week, and Vroni did the honors. She's the one who is with us for just over 2 months. She's now been with us for nearly one month.

I told people about our emphasis on children, and street children, and proudly introduced my six teenagers, telling their name and age. They are all on the picture. Then I had Fousseni give his testimony - once again!

Then it was time to preach. From sharing who we are I went straight into the sermon - which meant I forgot to turn on our mp3-player that records the sermon. That is rather bitter to not have our anniversary sermon recorded. I talked about God's glory and Salomon's temple, staying in 2.Chr 5-7. I shared God's promises for our church and our new base - that His glory would live in this place and and our vision for the future. It went really well - and I preached shorter than usual (under an hour!).

When I was done with the sermon, I dedicated our property to the Lord, and prayed as Salomon had prayed. Then four of our kids did a dance with two Austrians that they had learned with Vroni. It didn't go very well, but they did their best, and I enjoyed it.

Finally it was time for the baptism. We had five candidates - so few because most new believers in our neighborhood are too scared to publicly declare their faith in Jesus. They are already persecuted for their faith.

The first person went in - and older lady from our neighborhood who gave her life to the Lord recently (see picture). Her husband was supposed to be next. He was even older, and as he approached the tank, he suddenly panicked and said the water would make him sick. He was probably scared to make this declaration in front of several hundred people.

Next was a young man who had come to the Lord around the time the American team was with us in May. That's when he first came. And finally, the last two were my children - Solomani and Daouda (see picture). It was a special joy to baptize my children.

After the baptism, the Austrians did a sketch that pictured the gospel, and then I shared the gospel with the people. By that time, we had been going for over 2 hours, and to everyone's amazement, people started getting up and leaving as I shared the good news. A few dozen children were suddenly attentive, though, and so it was the children who gave their lives to the Lord.

Then the service was over, and it was time for the banquet. Everyone had a task, and I don't know how we would have coped without the Austrian team. Serving 200 meals and drinks is not an easy thing, and in fact, we served aboout 250 meals and still had leftovers.

I took my post at the gate during the banquet to greet people and watch that the kids weren't taking our plates and spoons with them. They had already ripped off all the decorations so that none were left, but we had told them not to take the spoons or plates. It's amazing how quickly they disappear.

Finally everyone had eaten and had their fill, and people started dispersing. Others still showed up, asking whether we were showing a film (which we had done once there). We were all very tired, and loaded up the car several times with people and stuff, to take them back.

Back home, a few Austrians just dropped into bed, but we were all very exhausted. We decided to put off the family and feedback meeting. Once again, I ended up the last one in bed, and it was really late by then.

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Saturday, December 1, 2007

Having heard two of the Austrians' testimonies, I decided our kids needed to hear them. We started with a game again, that they enjoyed a lot because of its wildness. Then Paul did a few praise songs with them, before it was my turn. I reviewed last week's memory verse, giving rewards to those who still remembered, and then I asked review questions on the lesson I taught last week. Like always, few knew any answers.

Then it was the Austrian's turn to share, and they did a great job. All the boys were listening intently, most probably finding themselves in the testimonies. Then I asked Fousseni to give his again, and he also shared in more detail. He did a GREAT job, and I'm very proud of him.

In the picture you can also see that both Sarata and Hama were sitting with me. Hama then fell asleep, with me holding his head.

After the testimonies, the Austrians and my kids got into the same teams as in the villages, and prayed for those boys who wanted prayer. Our new nurse Jessica also came and treated those boys who needed it. One had a very bad wound, and he now has to come every day to pick up his medication. Then it was time to eat, before the children dispersed again for another week.

Preparation For Baptism

In the afternoon, I had to go to the property to do a quick preparation class for the baptismal candidates tomorrow. Before we left, the Austrian guys took apart our metal structure we used to have shade during the day, so we could transport it to the property and put it up there. We had already moved our plastic tarp to the property to put it on the structure there (see picture).

All the guys, Malian and Austrian, were in the back of the pick-up truck, holding onto the 5m-long metal bars, as we drove to the property. There they put it up again, though we don't have a tarp for it.

In the meantime, I was gonna teach the class with Paul, however because of a misunderstanding, the car keys ended up locked into the car, together with my materials. Seybou had to go home with one of the worker's motorbikes to get his car key.

While waiting, I talked to the baptism candidates individually to see whether they truly were believers. I was disappointed at how few there were. Paul, who has been teaching people at our property weekly, told me that all the other new believers were scared, and were already suffering persecution. So I taught the 5 candidates - two of my kids, and three neighbors. Since the baptismal tank was already set up, I could show them how the baptism would look like with a real person. All my kids volunteered! Abdias ended up being the one jumping into the tank, but Souleymane joined him later to have some fun in there.

Kossi told me that they poured the roof yesterday. He was able to buy the cement on credit, telling the guy that he'd receive his money next week. I didn't know Kossi would do that. Now they still have to do a little wall all around so you don't fall off the roof. The roof now has to dry for 3 weeks before they can remove the wood holding it up now. So that's until Dec 21.

Prayer Meeting

Back home, I did the individual conversations with Solomani and Daouda. It looked like the time in the villages had been good for Solomani. I asked him where he was at in his relationship with God, and this time he said he had a relationship with Him, which he denied in July. He said he was serious about following God now, especially after the villages. I mentioned Abdijan to him, but he said he'd rather stay with us.

Of course I don't know whether he told me the truth or not. Paul and I decided to give him another chance in any case. We'll see whether the villages really had the impact on him he claims. We've decided to baptize him after all, since he is confessing Jesus as his Lord.

At 7 pm we had our weekly prayer meeting, that lasted till 9:30 tonight, since we had much to discuss. We needed nearly an hour to discuss the big celebration tomorrow, and who is doing what. Then we started a time of praise and worship. There was much joy, and we celebrated the Lord, thanking Him for all He's done this past week. We also prayed for tomorrow. Then we went into a time of deep adoration and intimacy. It was beautiful. I went into some prophetic singing, which was beautiful as well. Finally we tore ourselves away, and several people shared the impressions they had received from the Lord.

Paul had heard from Him that we won't have empty benches any more starting tomorrow. Praise God! Vroni heard that we were gonna be an oasis, providing spiritual food and drink. Mathias had a picture of people being drawn to a supernatural light.

It was late when we finally had dinner, did our family meeting, and when everyone went to bed. Now it's half past midnight, and once again I'm the last one up. Thank you for your prayers for me, because I'm amazed that I'm not more tired and exhausted than I am. Please keep it up a little longer! Especially tomorrow, when we have our big day..

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