bloggin' & diggin'

Just been playing around this evening with blogging.  Google has created a pretty good one here on blogger/blogspot and there's a lot of things I can add or modify to make it my own.  I even added the countdown clock for our anniversary next month!  I'll add some more posts from my journal and even from my devotional notes.  Danielle's has some cute things like favorites .... or what if ... or I'm thankful for ..., so I can try that kind of writing, too.

We had a quiet day after last nite's big rain.  The well digging has made good progress this week, but the men are on their Friday day-off today.  Benjie took this shot two weeks ago when we first got the compressor to Duduya and tested the equipment.  They've deepened by 6m the hole of hard rock since then.

Today was also the beginning of Ramadan, so for the next 30 days people will be asking me daily "i sunnen be?"  or "adda hora?" in Bambara or Pulaar to find if I'm also fasting.  I gave a Wolof friend a cassette in his language about fasting; I might have some of the same lessons in Pulaar, too.  We want folk to understand that true fasting is in the heart, Isa 58 speaks of this, and that physical fasting is only good as a discipline and way to focus on God, not for any actual accrual of gold for the kingdom of God.

Big boom in Duduya

What a trip! It's not the mud, nor the rain, nor the African roads, but the ferry crossing of the river at Kayes. Sekou and I were all loaded up to visit the Fulani village of Duduya to see progress on the well and to bring in some supplies, fuel, and tools. On a good day I've made it from my house to the village, only 20 kms (15 miles) over the dirt road in less than 40 minutes. Monday it took three hours just to cross the river, and a further hour to navigate the mud and stream crossings. I had thot in the morning we'd get out there, stay for lunch, and come home by night fall ...... Well, when we finally got all organized and loaded and to the river at 2:30pm, I realized then I'd be staying the night in the village.

The bridge has been closed since May for rebuilding and resufacing, and now that the old ford is hidden under water, all vehicles, motos, people, and goods go by ferry or local pirogues (sail boats). Because one ferry couldn't handle the traffic the Malian military brought in a second larger one real fast recently. But, because the banks are steep the trucks keep getting stuck or even fall into water at the edge! At least five a week have break failures and crash into something as they slam downhill. At last we were permitted to load onto the wide military ferry, but then had to wait while the soldier's trucks hooked cables onto a tractor trailer in the water and righted it, to the cheers of hundreds of on-lookers! I picked up Ousman Diop at his aunt's home, finally connecting with him in spite of repeatedly missing each other, and got moving to Duduya.

The road was muddy, very muddy, but my four wheel drive made it, even at one stream over two feet deep, PTL. The village, especially Mr Hamet Diallo, their chief, and the well digging team were all very glad to see us and the supplies. We checked out the well, a whole five meters deeper than two weeks ago, and heard they've even had a bit of a trickle into it, PTL. The chief decided to butcher a goat for us; that takes a while to cook, so Ousman and I visited around to see friends. The first Brazilian team had come out here with me often, so the ladies especially were asking how is 'Fatimata', 'Kumbel', and 'Asiata'. They were ticked pink to hear that two of them have since married. Everyone also asks about 'Baril' the Malian Fulani evangelist, and about Solomon, the Beninese Pastor who was with us a while.

Back at the ranch, indeed for about three hundred cows sleep there at night in the village center, as well as innumerable goats and sheep, we chatted over tea and listened to the radio while many in the village dropped by to greet. I pulled out the Bible scarf with about 40 Bible story pictures on it and asked them if they knew the stories; many did. It was good way to get a some conversation going about the gospel. Ousman and Sekou were also both quite interested in the MegaVoice players with bible stories and chanted Psalms. The goat was finally served around 10 pm, and soon after we had mosquito nets up for a long rest. The diggers even gave some of their nets and mats as we hadn't been prepared to stay.

I was up by 6:30 and found that the diggers had already started the compressor at 6 am and two were down in the hole digging away for the next two hours! Then they spent an hour setting the nine charges and being sure the wires were all connecting. Finally about nine they came out, the men cleared away the pulley support, moved the compressor away and then touched the wires to a battery ... BOOM! Some pieces flew out as big as a soccer ball and one as big as a sewing machine box!
Got lots of pix :)  


I had expected to leave after the boom, but the chief told me another family had sent over a goat for lunch to honor us, so we had to stay, again .... it takes awhile: lots of tea, chatting, and resting. The diggers slept over an hour while the dust settled and air got back in the hole, afterward as they were to descend, clear the debris, and drill some more ... they wanted to do one more explosion by night fall. Ousman & I had ample time to chat about his theo studies in Cameroon and his upcoming marriage to a Cameroonian Fulani believer he's engaged to marry soon, etc. 
                                        The photo show Ousman helping skin our meal:

We headed out just after 3pm, made the river bank in Kayes Ndi just after 4 pm since the roads were a bit drier, and then waited and waited for a stalled truck to be pulled up hill, for another barge to unload, and for our ferry to load, problems in both directions for some vehicles. I noted that there was another truck in the water on the Kayes Ba side, another victim of bad breaks :( We cleared the Kayes side at 6:30 pm, and I left Sekou off at his home and returned home for a needed shower and Jenn's supper and an old TV movie to zone out.

It was a good trip overall, in spite of the ferry and mud, pleasing to the village to see us, and pleasing to me to see the progress, and a good time with Ousman and having some chances to witness a bit of our Savior and the Kingdom of God to the Fulanis.

May they have both well water soon as well as living water from above.

Quiet Evangelism

After church I rode my moto over to Kayes Ndi using the pirogues to cross the river. The bridge is still under repair, and the old bridge is now under water from rainy season, so we have to go by ferry or pirogue. I first headed to see Modibo & Sanusy Diop who were sitting under a tree outside their yard. We chatted a bit about the ferries, my recent trip to Budapest, Houseni's eye operation, the MegaVoice player I loaned Modibo a few weeks ago, and the Duduya well digging progress. After a bit one of the kids came to announce lunch was finally ready, so naturally they invited me in to eat rice and sauce. I was surprised they hadn't eaten yet at 2:30pm. They were kind enuf to keep the peanut gravy away from me!

So I moved on to find Ousman Diop who had ridden with us to Kayes the other day from Dakar. I went first to his sister's on one end of the Bakaforo neighborhood and found he was staying with another brother at the other end! It was nice to chat with Abus Diop there a bit and give out one of the Bientot (Soon) broadsheet tracts (as at each place I visited today). So I rode over to the brother's and found the sister, Adama! She also was waiting for Diop with a couple of other ladies, Seleni and Jouba. While drinking some tea and chatting I tried to play one of the MegaVoice Bible stories in Fulani. They liked it quite a bit, but then while playing the chanted Psalms, the batteries died. With rain threatening I moved on to Idi Thiam's where we caught up a bit on folk, happenings, and my trip. I offered to read a Bible story and selected the Lord's prayer and comments in Luke 11 and we discussed it a bit. His idea of what is the Holy Spirit was mostly a Muslim concept, but much else was correct. This was one of the rare times Idi actually stayed on subject and discussed something without changing the subject for quite a jump!
Rain still ready to fall, I moved on to see Mahmadou Aan and Mamadou Dioum (both from Senegal) in the Sidiya neighborhood. We had a fine time of drinking tea and chatting about the Bible. Mr. Aan had recently helped another Ousman (Gene) translate a longish Christian book on the Seven Beautiful Signs in the Qu'ran. I also found out he'd lived in Cote Ivoire for about 15 years before coming to teach in Mali, and there had lived near a church and a number of Christians so had learned a lot then. Mr. Dioum also has lived in Liberia (speaks fair English) and learned a lot about the Kingdom of God there.
I'm trying not to speak of Christianity, baptism, Christ, Son of God, Trinity, evangelism, church, or other negative connotation code words, in my visits and presentations of the gospel. Neither am I in any way requiring attendance at church or other religious things to show whether one is a believer or not. I'm trying to let them make the declarations by themselves in their own time.
After much chat, and reading Ps 15 about the high bar of a just man, I offered to read the same Luke passage. We

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had an interesting discussion on the Lord's prayer, importunity in prayer, faith, what is the Holy Spirit, etc. Mr Aan has read one book, The Way of Salvation, and listened to most of The Way of Righteousness tapes, and other things, seems to have good answers and comments, so I feel he is getting close to the kingdom, PTL. I left several Bientots for Mr. Aan to give to friends, and a tape in Senegal's Wolof language on fasting for Mr Dioum (the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, begins shortly).
May the Lord continue to reveal Himself to these friends.