Sue in Africa

I’ve been in Senegal now a few weeks - 17 days actually. Initially, arrived in the capitol of Dakar after two weeks in Togo and was met by my partner for this leg of the trip, Jan Randall. We were guests of Madeline Faye, president of Senegal ’s Women’s Aglow for our first 4 days. Madeline’s family and extended family living with them were gracious in incorporating these white strangers into their daily lives. To Westerners, Senegal is notable for sand beneath one’s feet and the sound of Muslim prayers over loud speakers. We had a room to ourselves that had a large table against the wall where we ate our carefully prepared meals. In the evenings, Madeline and her husband John joined us there. Their immediate family represent the few believers among their larger family in this country which is 98% Muslim, yet permits freedom of religion. At the end of each evening, we watched a DVD together on my laptop that was about Muslims throughout the world to whom God is revealing himself through dreams and visions. Good for conversation!
Our first hurdle was negotiating the toilet which was a nicely tiled hole in the ground with places to set your feet in order to be “correctly placed.” A pail of water sat nearby for cleansing – left hand only.
We became familiar with the crazy traffic in Dakar where much road construction is going on in preparation for an upcoming worldwide Muslim conference. Many changes since I was here last. I chose to purchase a Senegalese SIM card for my computer – a small chip that offered me in and out of country phoning at cheaper rates. A rather lengthy process in slow functioning offices, but worth it. Jan stopped at a tailor who was known to Madeline and who prepared several outfits for her in local styles. Gisele has her business in a room off her house that faces onto the street. This way, she can run her household and her business simultaneously. Madeline is also considering a business out of her home, perhaps internet access.
We arrived in the rural village of Keur Madiabel after several hours over bumpy roads in a station wagon style taxi with other travelers, little comfort and looking through the floor to the road below. The first person I saw and heard speaking my name was one whom I’ve come to speak of as Papa Ba, the head of household, and Saidou’s 70 year old father. We were warmly welcomed in unknown languages, mostly Wolof and Pular. I was reminded of how inadequate one can quickly feel when you don’t have the right language. I used my few words of Wolof greetings, but ran out quickly. A few here understand some French which I can use in limited conversations. Fortunately, our host Saidou speaks English and was able to help us settle in well. Again, we have a room to ourselves which we share with occasional visitors like cockroaches and mice who mostly leave us alone. He has generously built a bathroom onto this guest room for visitors that has a flush toilet. The shower head sprays all over the room but gets the job done with welcoming clean and cool water.
We’ve settled into a routine of going to bed and awakening to the sound of the call to prayer. Regular prayers are part of daily rhythms in the Muslim world, broadcast several times daily over loudspeakers, spoken in mosques, observed in courtyards and doorways with men and women kneeling and bowing on their mats. Last week, I spent some time in an internet café with some air conditioning (fans) and an open door to welcome customers… located conveniently in downtown Kaolack next to the Chamber of Commerce. Looking up from my sending and receiving, I noticed the two young employees taking a break and kneeling on their mats, quietly offering their prayers to Allah.
In this rural community of Keur Madiabel, another rhythm of life in the weekly routine is the Wednesday market when fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, clothes, and other items are brought in from larger city venders. Daily, women go to market and buy what they need for the mid-day meal, often chep ak gen (spicy rice with fish and sauce). We’ve arranged to buy our own bread each morning to eat with local yogurt and tea. In the evenings, we often snack on oranges and nuts, or an occasional omelets, etc.
I’ve pondered the concepts of daily rhythms much here. Jan and I have our own that seem to bump into that of the family periodically. Always, there is the decision: will I make my own routines or join with that of the family. We maintain customary greetings of the family members mornings and evenings and when we leave and return from the family compound. I’ve chosen to walk a short distance outside of town mornings and join Jan to read scriptures together as we have a small breakfast together. Some days, we go to market with the women. Most days, I’ve work individually with Saidou’s two brothers Ismaela and Ibrahima to provide AIDS training that they can share with others. Most days, Jan does Wolof studies with the same two brothers, often using materials from Jim Vaughn that tell stories from the Bible in Wolof. I’ve come to enjoy sitting with Saidou’s sister Awa, as we pound spices, cut vegetables, onions, and meat for the family’s meal. She speaks some French, so as time has passed we’ve come to understand each other better and created a place of clarification for Jan’s Wolof studies.
I look forward to going to Kaolack again. It means a long bumpy ride in a bush taxi bus, crammed in tight with others heading to town, dust in your face, unknowns, but it’s worth it. It brings a change of pace and offers new things to see. A larger city with more shops, lots of things happening, and the internet! At least I can check in here with the world and monitor what’s going on in Kenya where I’m due to travel next. Civil unrest seems to be getting worse and I’m not sure it’s a good idea. Am asking God for direction.

2.05.08   Left Keur Madiabel yesterday after a wonderful time with the Ba family. Hope to highlight more later. Traveled north to Kebemeer to spend a few days with the group: Mission : Moving Mountains. Hosted by their leaders, Jeff and Iris Ketcham. They have much experience to share and I already find it easy to be with them. Have decided for sure not to go to Kenya due to violence and disruption. Instead will spend more time in Uganda and South Africa . Working on travel details to realign these decisions. Hurray for a good international travel agent!  Thanking God for good health and gumption to go! 

Morning hours start early with the sound of the Muslim call to prayer at 4:30. After a while, chanting prayers continue over loud speakers that can be heard in every corner of the village. This will be repeated several times during the day. Typically here, it is the men that come together for prayer in the mosque. Before the rest of the family stirs, the next morning greetings are roosters, braying donkeys, the baaa of the sheep tethered outside my window. Eventually that sheep will become my midday meal. Now that I’m awake, I ponder how normal it feels to me. My first times in Africa , my responses were at high alert at these intrusions; now they feel more normal. The threads of “It is Well with my Soul,” waft through my thinking.

Let this blessed assurance control…That Christ has regarded my helpless estate… He  has shed his own blood for my soul. It is well, in my soul. It is well…. 

I pray that there will be a day when it is well with the soul of Abduhl Rackmani. He is the head of our household, Saidou BA’s father. Sitting together last night, after long greetings and inquiries about family, he slipped into a conversation with our friend Madeline in their Wolof tongue. Madeline has been our gracious hostess in Dakar in recent days since I arrived in Senegal . She accompanied Jan Randall and I to the village of the BA’s in Keur Madiabel. Madeline caught my eye as the words of Isa slipped in and out of the conversation, the only word I recognized. Isa is the name that Muslims use for Jesus. I began to pray quietly in the Spirit.

In the end, I understood that he learned last night for the first time about the blood of Christ and the depth of it’s meaning for the Christian faith. As a Koranic teacher who has established many schools of the Koran in this region, he knew of Isa as a respected prophet. He knows that Saidou follows Isa and is watching his life closely. Somehow, Abduhl has found it in his heart to maintain a relationship with his son, instead of sending him away as many Muslim families would do. The efficacy of the blood of Christ to cover our sins and open the way into a relationship with the living God is something I pray he will ponder much in days to come. Perhaps God will even choose to reveal more in a dream or vision as we hear this is happening more and more in the Muslim world.

It is well with my soul. Pray with me that it will eventually be well with the souls of this entire family, all of whom I will share everyday life over the next three weeks.