Blessings!

I got home around 10 on Tuesday night and slept until 1 the next day! When I got up I unpacked my bags and got settled back into my house! After that, I got on the internet because Tech's website was not working in Africa for some reason so I checked it! Then I got on my hotmail account to check my messages there! I was so excited to already see 2 messages from readers in Senegal!!! While I was reading those emails, another one of them sent me an email!!! I was so emotional because I already miss them so much, but it was so great to already here from them after only being home for 2 days! Siitso, Theirno, and Lamine were the readers that I have heard from!!! Theirno and Lamine are of the Islamic faith, and Siitso is a member of the church in Senegal! I loved all my readers, but Theirno was very special because he loved to talk and answer my questions very in-depth! Although he seemed interested in Christianity, he has deep roots in Islam, and he would never really admit to Jesus being our foundation and savior. At the end of his email he ended it with "may god and the holy jesus christ be on your side". Now I still do not know what he meant by that, but it seems to me that he is recognizing God and Jesus as I recognize them! It just gave me such great hope and excitement to know that God is working in him!!! I have been praying and will continue to pray that the seed I and the others planted in the people we met will continue to be watered and God will give the increase!!! I ask that you will also pray for them and their hearts to be pierced and transformed by God's word!!! Praise God because he always gives the increase if we decrease so he can increase!!!
<>< Nikki (Fatou-my Senegalese name)

We are back in the beautiful USA!!

Hey Y'all!! I haven't said that in a while! We give God all of the glory for our safe trip back from Dakar! Our lovely parents met us at the airport and boy were we glad to see them! I wanted to share with you the picture of our return! Thank you for bringing to God thoughts and requests for us! He heard everyone! Thank you! We are tired, but very excited to be home! Praise his name!

The next generation of believers!

This is a picture of our group after our worship service with them.

They love to sing and we knew a song and could sing along!

It was such an amazing excperience to spend time with them.

They have so much passion for spreading God's word.

They pray for the ability to plant churches all around Senegal.

God will provide for them! I believe it! I just wish I could give them all the money in the world, but God can so let us pray!!!! Would you help by praying for them!

The Village

This past Sunday we went with our missionary Arnold along with Joseph to his village N'Diangnao where he will be the preacher when he finishes training in two years. It took about 2 hours to get to the village to worship with them! It was so encouraging to worship with the people there! They speak another language called Sarai( may not be correct) because all of the surroinding villages speak different languages! There were alot of children in the church which was encouraging to see because they are the next generation of Christians, and they are learning about God in the village, and more than that they will be learning God's word from Joseph!!! You could tell they had never seen a white person before so they stared at us the whole time! They love to sing, and they even sang a song that we sing in french at our church in Dakar! We were singing along with them because it repeats itself, and the kids looked so surprised that we could sing a song they knew-singing and smiling really is a universal language!!! Waamack preached that morning from 1Kings 12-13, and Arnold translated from English to French and the preacher there translated from French to Sarai! It was very exciting to hear a sermon in 3 languages in the same service! We bought the village some rice and cookies for the children, and they were so appreciative- Praise God! After church, we took a group picture and gave the cookies out to the children!!! They were so excited to get them, and it was like Christmas watching them open them! Then we spent time with them playing, singing, and drawing!!! God blessed us with a great trip and experience in the village! I thank God for that opportunity! After that we went by the Pink Lake(Lac Rose) on our way home! It is supposed to be a very salty lake that is pink! It was a blessing that it was not sunny in the village, but not so much when we got to the lake! The sun has to be shining on it for it to look pink, so it was not pink but we took pictures anyway!!! Well, please keep praying for our last week to read and share Jesus with these people!!! Thanks and God Bless!!! <><

Sharing Jesus

Today was our last reading day for this week. We only have one more week of reading with these people, and it made me sad to think about it today! Everyday I go to our chuch where we read, and I get so excited about seeing my readers scheduled for that day! I also get excited about the possibility of seeing someone new come in just to talk or to sign up to read! I have the best readers here I think-hehe, I may be a little byist!!! I just love knowing that I am going to get to know them more as a person while sharing Jesus with them also; it's amazing to see how God works through simple conversation! Everyday I read the lessons I also learn something new that I didn't see the time before; it's just so exciting for me! I really want to continue to do this with people at Tech when I get home! God is just doing so many great things in my life and here in Senegal, Africa! We have been teaching one of the leaders in their youth program ( which includes ages 13-25) some songs that we sing in America at the UCSC!!! We taught him "Someday" and "As the Deer", and believe me he loves to sing! We plan on teaching him more next week before we leave! I love to sing with the people here, well, I love to sing with people anywhere! It's just really exciting to teach them some songs we sing!!! Well, be praying for our team as we get ready to go into the last week of reading! Please pray that God would speak through us, and that we would leave a lasting impression on these people because we shared Jesus with them and that they will take it and share it with someone else!!! Thanks so much!!!

<>< Nikki

A seed is planted...

I had some really good conversations today with several of my readers, Alioune and Gabriel. With Gabriel, we read John 14 and 17, Titus 2, Philippians 2 and Matthew 28:16-20. He was asking some great questions about Jesus being God, the Holy Spirit, the saying "trinity" and Heaven. I was very excited to read with him. It is challenging to my faith to be able to explain what I believe and why I believe it. I really didn't know what to say other than showing him the scriptures where I get my belief.

With Alioune, we read the parable of the sower (Luke 8). Some seed fell on the rock, some on the path, some on the thorny weeds (side note: the readers always ask me what the word thorny means, this is when I motion for them to follow me to this tree right outside the church. It is what they call a citron tree or a lemon tree, but in America we would call it a lime tree. Anyways this tree has huge thorns on it- haha! so it is a good teacher to be able to see it), other seed fell on good soil. We always ask the reader what soil do they relate, but it got me to thinking today and I shared with Alioune that I find myself falling in the thorny weeds. The pleasures, riches, and worries of the world keep me from growing in my faith for the Lord. Not only have I come to share the Gospel, I believe that God is changing some things in my heart while I am here.

He is working on me and it is not always easy to realize that he is purifying me to be more like his son. (Malachi 3:3) .

I praise God for this team as well. God uses each one to teach me. (Proverbs 27:17) well it is 11:20 here so I am headed to bed! Goodnight our sweet African blog readers! Thank you for your support and prayers! Jenny

God is amazing!!!

I was just thinking yesterday at the end of the day about my readers and the opportunity God has given our team here, esp. me! I wish we had more words to describe God and his works, but amazing, awesome, and fantastic are all I can think of! We have been reading with people for 2 weeks now, and it is extraordinary to see how God is working through us to reach our readers! He has opened my eyes to how much he can do with the faith of one of his children!!! It is all about faith! Faith that God will bring you readers! Faith that God puts certain readers with you for a reason! Faith that God will take care of you in a foreign land! Faith that God can do anything!!! We read from this book called Jesus Habits every morning for devo, and this morning's habit was faith! One of my readers yesterday wanted to read Hebrews 11, which we know as the faith hall of fame! We have two guys that take care of us while we are at the church, and they take us around the city! We have to have faith that they know where they are going, and that they will do what is in our best interest! It is just amazing so far...Thank God!!! All of the brothers and sisters here say thank God after you tell them anything about your day- I love it!!! It is so encouraging to see their faith, and to see them live it out day by day because we are in contact with them on a daily basis!!! Reading is going great; we are having some great conversations with our readers which is wonderful b/c most of them are of the Muslim faith! So far God has just shown me to have faith in him, and to not put limits on what he can do!!! Also keep the students inyour prayers over here b/c they are going through exams right now! Signing off for now!!!
<>< Nikki

Happy Birthday!!!

Monday was my birthday! Could you believe that i forgot till about 11 that morning when I had to write the date down on a form? It was a great day thanks to everyone around! One of my readers was the first to tell me happy birthday and it made my day that he remembered. Also the family we are staying withs dad, George, told me happy birthday and for some reason it just made me really happy! The picture is of some ice cream with a candle from the bathroom in it that the team brought me after dinner while singing happy birthday! Jenny then gave me a bunch of cards that my mother had got together that wished me a happy birthday! Thank you for all the notes and thank you mom for getting it in line!I was able to talk to my sister and my mom later in the evening! It was a great day, thank God for another year of life!

All the time God is good!

We have been in Africa now for almost 2 weeks! This is such a wonderful time in our lives. We have been given the opportunity to spread the love of our Savior to the people that God has sent us to here in Dakar. I have learned a little French and Wolof; "Nan ga def" is "how are you?" and they reply with "Man que fi" (Jeff says Monkey Feet which is close enough! haha) which means "I am fine". They speak both languages here. It is funny to learn them. Our friend Siitso [see-cho] is a Christian brother from the church and he comes in to read English and to hang out with us. He was teaching Nikki and I how to say some things and he was laughing at us because we sound so funny to him. The hardest thing I have tried to explain to my readers is the "th" sound in English. They think it is strange.

As a team, we have a devotional every morning to help get our minds focused for the day and to ask for God's continued help and strength. This morning we talked about something that each of us has learned since we have been in Africa. We have seen God's love. Siitso will come in singing a church song. He is so joyful in the Lord. He has brightened my day on more than one occasion. When we do not have a reader, he will ask us Bible facts. Do you know the names of the 3 people who did not see death?...you can leave a comment as to your answer :) Props to the first one!! haha He knows these answers because he told us that his family used to get up at 4 in the morning and study God's word for and hour and a half before they went to school. How much better would I know God's word if I did half of that!!

I was thinking today that I praise God how he knew where he was sending us and to whom he was sending us! Praise his name for the hospitality of Senegal! It is said to be "le pays de la teranga" which means the country of hospitality. Here is a picture of one of the wonderful meals that our African mom, Dianna, cooked for us!! She is a great cook! George's family here has brought us in and treats us like one of their own. We love to spend time with their son, Jethro, and daughter Prisca. Well have a wonderful day today and tell someone how much you appreciate the fact that God put them in your life for a reason! Oravwa! (not so good at spelling French yet! :) )

Praise God!

Sunday we met our brothers and sistiers for the first time at church! It was an amazing and uplifting experience for the entire group! After church we were able to go to the beach and witness two baptisms! Boyomo and Emecka were both baptized at the ocean after services. After the baptism brother David said some encouraging words of wisdom for both. We gathered together and prayed for them and their new walk with God. We had a party that night with our readers and we played a few games, which really allowed us to get to know more about people here. It was a really great day and we just thank God for these to souls that were added today! Please pray for these two men as they start their walk with God!

Back from Goree Island- the whole team!!!

Here is a picture to show you our tourist visit today. We will try to put more up on the blog soon! :)

Goree Island.

Today was a trip into history and into the city of Dakar. Today we went to Goree Island and took in some of the history that that island holds. Goree was the last part of Africa that the slaves saw before being shipped into America. One of the Masion of Slaves was a house that the slaves where held at for processing and selling before being shipped over. the place had seperate storage for the men, women, and childeren there. The men where kept there for up to three months before being sold. They said that they would hold 20 -25 people in each of the rooms that are not much bigger than the dorm rooms at Tech about 20' by 20' sitting down and chained at the neck and arms. Goree was the main post for the slave trade becasue of the fact of being a island, so there is no way for ecaping and that it is the closest point to the Americas. If ever one was to travel to Senegal you HAVE to stop and see this. The way that humans treated other humans is still unreal to me. The guides there said that the slave traders would take the young and attractive women for themselves. The trade was done according to weight, so a male would sell when he was 60kg or better. If he was under they would place him in a special room and feed him unitll he was 60kg. Then there is a door that opens up to the sea, this is called the door of no return and after the slaves when through that door that was the last that they saw of Africa. The guide also said that Pope John Paul II came through that door and appoligised to Africa for the slave trade.

Another day, another lesson learned!

Today was our first off day which we were excited about so we could see the city. We woke up early and met Joseph and Lamine took us to the University in Dakar. It is called the UCAD and it was very large! After showing us around the university they took us downtown to the busy part of the city! We saw the Presidents house, the U.S. Embassy, and the ocean. We had a great time and when we got back to the church we played with kids from around the area for about 2 hours. The lesson learned was that you do not have to use words to have fun and show someone love! We had a great time teaching them hand games, and wrestling around with the boys! It was great to see them laugh and just have a good time! Continue to pray for us and our readers!

Day 3!!!

Hey guys!!! We are in Dakar, literally in Dakar, Senegal!!! I could never have imagined doing God's work on a different continent, ever in my life! God is so good and his ways are higher than our ways!!! The people here are wonderful and for the most part our readers have really good english speaking skills!!! It is realy funny how you get used to something in another culture so quickly- they shake hands here the way we give hugs at home- I love it, I love it!!! The food is great; I think they are trying to feed us American style food to make us feel at home and that means a lot!!! Everyone we have met is so great and it amazes me that God set up His family all over the world, and we love each other and truly are a family!!! I'm super excited about the work God is going to do throughout this trip because He has already done so much!!! Well, it's bedtime here so enjoy the rest of your daylight savings time!!! We love you and thank you for your prayers!!! Talk to you soon!!!

<>< Nikki- Team Africa

We are here!!

Hello to the United States!
We are so excited to be here in Africa! Praise God for a safe landing and for our missionary named Arnold!! He has a heart for the Lord! We are staying in a nice apartment. There is no air conditioning, but the breeze coming through the window feels really good. We were able to go to the grocery store and to the church where we will be reading English. Internet is very slow here, so we will try to write as often as we can. The temperature today was overcast with a breeze; maybe mid 80's. During the day yesterday it was around 90's; don't quote me- that is a guess :) Our first supper was cooked by the mom of the young married family that we are staying with. She is a great cook. We had fried chicken and a potato salad that had egg in it. She also made fried rice. It was very filling and I am excited for supper tomorrow. We also got to meet our first few readers. It is so exciting to have the opportunity to read the Bible with them and they are excited to read with us! Thank you again for your support and your prayers. We would not be here without you! Praise God! We are sending him all the praise for taking care of us, his children. Talk to you soon!

Ahhh! We are leaving today!! Wahoooo!!

Hey there everyone reading this lil blog of ours! I made this blog to where anyone can read this!. Just give your friend the URL! We are takin off in a plane at 2:13pm. We will fly into New York and then on to Dakar. Please keep us in your prayers for a safe trip! Thank you in for your love and support! It means so much to us to know we are loved!! Talk to you soon!!

Hey friends! Thank you for your prayers and support for our trip to Dakar, Senegal! We are excited to share God's Word in Africa. We will fly out on Monday. Talk to you soon!