Africa

I arrived back in Jamaica on the 17th of February after 7 amazing weeks in The Gambia but I am now back in Canada. I'm going try my best to fill in the last few months as best I can!

The Gambia

Typical Gambian home

In some ways being in Africa was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and in others it was strangely familiar.In some ways it reminded me of Jamaica which I think made it easier to transition. When we were in Gambia it was the cooler season so the temperatures were relatively comfortable. The days would be hot and the nights and mornings were usually cool enough to wear a sweater. Everything was dry and dusty, the red dirt would hang in the air so thick you could see it at sunset. We were in rural Gambia so there was lots of mud huts with grass roofs everywhere.

Some village cuties

In the first village we visited, where we spent the majority of the time, families were grouped in compounds with each compound having several huts. The compounds not only housed people but the family’s animals as well-goats, chickens, donkeys- all lived right in with the family. Since Gambia is a largely Muslim nation the men would often have more than one wife so there would always be a lot of children on each compound.

Traditional African Woman

The culture was pretty relaxed. People were very friendly and hospitable, always welcoming us as if we were honoured guests. We never had to worry about whether or not it was a good time for us to visit a compound-even if people were extremely busy they would make time for us. The children are treated like adults from a young age so it would be common to see little ones out and about by themselves in the village or selling things in the market or carrying even smaller children on their backs in the traditional African style (wrapped tight with fabric in a sort of sling). Children also had to do work around compounds and help their mothers with chores. The men were usually found relaxing drinking tea (because it wasn’t farming season) or they would be in another country trying to earn money while the wives and children stay home.

Life for most people there is pretty primitive. Even though electricity is available most people don’t have it or can’t afford it. Running water is more of a rarity as well so most of the water has to be hauled from communal wells or pipes. Thankfully the water in Gambia is safe for drinking so the people don’t have many water associated diseases.

Location #1

The place we stayed in the first village was an old school building that had electricity, a pipe and a well for water and was equipped with a somewhat familiar bathroom with a toilet (most villagers use the ground instead).It took some adjusting to bathing from a bucket and cooking outside, but it took even more adjusting to the sounds of Africa.The most disturbing of the sounds was the sound of people shrieking and yelling during the nights-Kankuran. Kankuran is two month long event that happens once every five years where the boys in the village go out into the bush to be circumcised. The boys are unable to see their families for the duration of the two months. During the nights and part of the afternoons they would have a masquerade where the older men would dress up and parade around the village with machetes beating any women that look at them or trying to get money from the men. This made our lives complicated for two reasons: 1)It was extremely difficult to sleep at night. 2) We were unable to be out during certain times of the day and on the weekends. It really limited how much time we could spend with the people in the village.

Outside of the old school building

Our well

Girls Bedroom

Ministry

Our main ministry focus in the first village was working at a local Christian school teaching English to the village children. Four of us got assigned to help with the four classrooms on a consistent basis and others helped students one on one or worked with maintaining the school. Everyday from 8:00 am-1:30 PM we would work at the school. The first thing we would do each day was a morning devotional as part of the school’s opening exercises. From there we would split off into our specific roles, mine being teaching the Preschool 2 class. I had about 13 students ranging from age 7-12. I’ve never had any teaching experience before but it was easy to follow the curriculum provided even though it was extremely outdated. (And I LOVED teaching!) School in Gambia is a lot different than the education I’m used to or that a I received growing up in Canada. It was definitely eye opening for me to see how different teaching and discipline methods are (or can be) in another culture. However, I was allowed to teach in whatever style I felt comfortable which I was very thankful for. The students were grouped according to grade/ learning level but I found that some of the students were quite behind compared to the rest of the class and required one on one attention which made things more challenging. Each day when school ended at 12 PM, I would stay after to work with students who could use a little extra help and also to complete my lesson plan for the following days classes. It was very demanding mentally but also a lot of fun.

Lunch at the school-African Style!

    

Me and my class!

Eating lunch in the village

Once we were done at the school we would usually go have lunch in one of the villagers homes. It was nice to get to see a bit more of typical family life and to be around the villagers even though I couldn’t speak much of their language. Our meals were always rice and sauce with vegetables and maybe some fish. The interesting thing about eating in the village is that everyone eats with their hands from one communal bowl. The first meal our team ate that way was pretty awkward and involved a lot of food on our laps, faces or on the floor but we soon became comfortable and learned the technique. After lunch we would pray and leave a blessing on the home/family that served us and then head back to our compound
(the old school building) for team time before the
Kankuran would come out.
Outside of school time we would spend a lot of time with the family that owned the school cooking dinners together and playing with their children. We also lead a church service every Sunday morning on their compound for the small amount of villagers that were believers.(4).

    


Location #2

Map of Gambia

 After three weeks in the first village we moved on to another village that was further up the river . This village’s people group was completely unreached (no church or access to the bible) and were very devout Muslims. Because of the misconceptions that people had about Christianity we tried not to associate ourselves with that term but rather that we were followers of Jesus. We spent more time interacting with the villagers on a more personal level rather than sharing our faith. We had to focus on building relationships and identifying with the people there in order to lay the groundwork for future seeds to be planted in the hearts of the people there.


We also were involved with a YWAM team that was already established there making a tree nursery. This involved bagging soil, gathering seeds and then planting them so that in a little while after the trees have a had a good start they will be able to plant them around the village. The trees are necessary to divert water away from the village during the rainy season and provide shade from the African sun. We also helped maintain the YWAM base and lay the foundations of a house for one of the staff’s family. Everyday we would work around the base from 8:30 am to 12 PM and then we would eat lunch on campus and rest until the sun wasn’t so hot and then we would go out and interact with people. I learned so much about hospitality from the village people and that even though we couldn’t communicate with words, just our presence was a blessing to the those we visited and being with the people blessed us as well.

Trying to master carrying rice on our heads

Some of our new friends

Toilet?Shower?Both!

Garden at the YWAM Base

The Experience

One of the highlights from my time in Africa was definitely teaching at the school. The children were so hungry to learn and be loved that it made it easy for me to love my students and enjoy teaching them even though I don’t know how to be a teacher. I will miss being called “Aunty Alli” and the connection I had with every student. Even though I was supposed to be the one teaching them I learned more from them each day and I learned a lot about myself through that experience.
A lower point for me was the fact that we were so limited in what we could say to people because of the strong Muslim hold on the nation. It wasn’t like we would get in trouble if we shared the gospel but most times it would do more harm than good in terms of furthering the Kingdom. What I learned from this challenge is to focus more on building relationships, on loving people where they are at and to identify with them . Even though I didn’t necessarily see the kind of fruit people expect to see on missions trips, I know that God can use the time we spent just doing life with people in ways I never dreamed possible.
Overall outreach was an amazing experience. I feel so privileged and grateful for the opportunity to go to a country that most people don’t get the chance to go to and to go there as an ambassador of the King of Kings. Being in Africa definitely had its challenges, but I know that I never would have grown in the way I did if I hadn’t been stretched the way that God stretched me. Things that I never thought I could handle before God provided the strength to go through. I really learned a lot about God’s faithfulness, living with other people (whether it be my team mates or people I met there) and about myself. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!

December Update

Merry Christmas!

This update is long overdue as per usual but hopefully the length will make up for the delay!

Mandeville

     From December 6-10 us DTSers and staff made the long journey to Mandeville, the capital and largest town in the parish of Manchester. We stayed at YWAM Jamaica's first base, Stones Hope. Manchester was a big change from what we are used to in Mobay. Stones Hope rests on 30 acres of land and bush and wide open spaces. It was quiet and peaceful, a nice change from the city noise we were used to. Since we were up in the hills it was also a lot cooler (I was actually cold in Jamaica!) with temperatures around 10-15 degrees. I know all you Canadians are thinking those temps sound balmy but its all relative! 

Stones Hope Chapel

Using a blow dryer for heat

 We spent the week joining the Crossroads(Similar to basic dts but is more multi-generational and family oriented) DTS students for classes focused on reaching the unreached people groups of the world. It was great to spend a week being personally challenged to consider groups,tribes and people who are most often forgotten about or in some cases not even known about. These people are usually found in hard to access places-or places most missionaries do not choose to travel to which is I guess is kinda obvious being that we are talking about unreached.The area where the highest concentration of unreached people groups is termed the 10/40 Window.(10 and 40 degrees north of the equator).


Facts about the 10/40 Window:

10/40 Window

• 95% of the world's unreached people live in this window
• Contains 70% of the world's population but only 8% of the worlds missionaries laboring
• There are more than a billion Muslims, nearly a billion Hindus, and over 600 hundred million Buddhist people in this region.
• 10,700 children are born and 1,400 people die each hour without ever hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ
• 70% of people in this window are under the age of 35;
• Most of the world's children are located here;3 out of 4 of them are hungry
• 100 million children are victims of child labor
•  Out of every $100 given to the church, $5 is given to missions. Out of that 5¢ goes to help unreached people groups.

For more information about this window and how you can help check this website: http://1040window.org/

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,

 I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,

I was a stranger and you invited me in,

I needed clothes and you clothed me,

I was sick and you looked after me, 

I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?'

The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' 

Matt 25:35-40

Jamaican Ties

Me and my Jamaica cousins

As most you already know, my mom is originally from Jamaica and actually grew up close to where the YWAM Stones Hope base is. Amazingly, I managed to find some of my long lost relatives that are still there. It was fun to connect and see family I never knew about but knew about me.

Lecture Phase Wrap-Up

Foreign girls plus 1

  After our week away, we returned to Montego Bay to finish our last week of lecture phase. It was hard to believe that the teaching part of DTS was ending and it seemed like before I knew it was done. We ended with a big Christmas Thanksgiving Love Feast and gift exchange (Jamaicans combine the 2 holidays and celebrate both at Christmas time). Family, friends and community members came to share a fantastic meal complete with lights,christmas trees and decoration and jerk chicken. To be honest, it did not feel like Christmas at all which I think made it easier for me to be away. However, it was  ton of fun to celebrate and enjoy good friends, good food, and what God is doing through YWAM. 

Christmas Break

     Although it was strange to be away during this time, I'm happy to say I spent my first Christmas away from home in Jamaica! As I said, the beach,palm trees and lack of snow did nothing for setting the "Christmas Atmosphere" but I did my best to make the most of it. A group of us went to Negril Beach which is about an hour or so away from where we are. It was a 7 mile beach-very touristy but very beautiful. There we enjoyed some beach volleyball, jetskiing on the Caribbean and soaking up some rays. We also visited Rick's Cafe which is a famous restaurant and cliff jumping place. The rest of the time I spent with 5 of the other girls in Runaway Bay at a fellow students home. It was such a blessing to be taken in by a Jamaican family at the time when its hardest to be away. The first day us girls climbed the famous Dunn's River Falls. So much fun!We had Christmas Jamaica style:Christmas day tradition for most Jamaicans is to have a candelight service at 5 am!Needless to say we spent the rest of the day sleeping and then all gathered together for a great family dinner. I really enjoyed being with the Wildes and am forever thankful for their hospitality!

Negril Beach

Cliff Jumping at Rick's Cafe

Dunn's river

Homemade funnel cake(Not a Jamaican tradition

All dressed up for Christmas Dinner(Hostess Gabrielle on far right)

Yummy!

Table Buddies

     

Outreach Time

     In 3 days I leave for Gambia, West Africa!!!! As I mention before we are going to be spending most of our time with the Serahule people. If you thought my blog update frequency was lacking now, it will be even less in the next 2 months most likely. Chances are high we will be without electricity for some/most of the time and I am not carrying my laptop with me. These next two months are going to be challenging but I'm ready for the rubber to hit the road and to start sharing all that I've been learning while here.

Kingston

     For our local outreach we spent a week in Kingston (Nov.7-12). We stayed at a church called Christian Life Fellowship in a area called Papine. The week was an amazing and stretching experience. I felt like I grew so much just from learning to be in slightly uncomfortable conditions (long days,sleeping on hard tile floors, being in close quarters with 15 other girls etc).

We spent a lot of time at two Universities in Kingston; U-Tech (University of Technology) and UWI (University of the West Indies). Mostly we just walked around and talked to people, trying to let conversation flow naturally instead of pushing an agenda of conversion. At first it was really intimidating to try to start conversations but for the most part Jamaicans are pretty open people. Once I got past the point of actually initiating, conversation flowed pretty freely. Some of us "DTSers" actually got to sit in on lectures at the universities.I sat in on an English lecture and then talked to some of the students after. It was fun to get a glimpse of what university life is like in Jamaica. One thing that wasn't so fun, however, was seeing how lost and confused so many of the students were and the false sense of happiness and fulfillment they had. There was no concept of absolute truth. Basically, some of the students I encountered had the mentality that there is no one way to get to heaven (if they even believed in heaven), all roads lead to the same thing.  

     Another thing we did in Kingston was spend time at some of the local squares doing worship and hanging out with people. In the Jamaica the squares are the central part of the neighborhood, the place where people are constantly coming and going

-Business people, school kids, homeless people, street vendors, you name it. Because of the variety of people that we interacted, we had many interesting conversations and experiences, many of them being with some of the Rastafarian's that hang out there. Before I came to Jamaica, I knew very little of what being a "Rasta" actually means other than having dreadlocks and smoking weed. After being here a while, I feel like I have a bit more understanding of it but what I have found is that each Rasta you ask will say he believes something different. It's like none of them really know what it stands for, but have all bought into the "one love" mentality and the liberal lifestyle. They love to philosophize and discuss religion with you, turning the conversation in circles around semi-biblical truths that have been distorted.

     My highlights of the week were spending time at some of the schools in Kingston. The first school we went to was called School of Hope, a school for mentally "disabled" children. In Jamaica, the words "disabled" or "handicapped" are rather loose terms in that they can apply to children with Dislexia or ADD. So some of the children there seemed like they were perfectly normal but were sent to the school because their parents and teachers were tired of dealing with them. Other children had Autism or Downs or had some sort of physical impairment. I got to spend time in the computer class working through phonics and math skills with some of the children. They were all so cute and inviting! It was a lot of fun showing love to these children who in some ways are completely forgotten about. 

The other school we went to was in Trenchtown (A ghetto in Kingston) called Operation Restoration. For living in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Kingston, most of the kids seemed pretty well behaved (They referred to all of us as "Miss" or "Sir") and  happy when we interacted with them. It just reminded me that no matter what happens to kids, they are still kids-still love to laugh and play and sing and dance despite difficult circumstances. I spent most of time with a 15 year old boy whose parents had been murdered and he himself had barely survived, with two gunshot scars on either side of his face. My heart breaks for these children who seemingly have no hope and future (A few of the children performed a poem about having no education and no future and then even when they do get a simple education there is no job available for them. So sad!) which is why many of them steal or getting to drugs or other criminal activity just to make it through life.

Overall the week was an eye opening experience because I learned to see people I had often ignored or not cared about the way God sees them.

"Give me your eyes for just one second.

Give me your eyes so i can see everything that I keep missing.

Give me your love for humanity,

Give me your arms for the brokenhearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach. 

Give me your eyes for the ones forgotten.

Give me your eyes so I can see."

Give Me Your Eyes - Brandon Heath

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5AkNqLuVgY&feature=related

.

     Another thing I should update you guys on: Plans have changed and I am now going Gambia, West Africa for my international outreach! Gambia is a tiny country that is home to the Serahule people, an unreached Muslim people group that we will be spending most of our time with. We expect to leave in the beginning of January and return to Jamaica in the third week of February. I am still waiting on more details and will try to update my info once I know more.  Please join me in my preparations by praying for the Serahule people and our team! 

to those of you who have been sending me encouragements and praying for me! Keep on keeping on! Lecture phase is rapidly coming to a close (We only have 4 weeks left). I want to make the most of the time I have left here!

Good news!! Tomas is no longer expected to reach hurricane status. It has weakened back down to a tropical storm and isn't expect to regain strength. Even so a tropical storm can cause major flooding in Haiti. Read this article for more info.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/11/02/bloomberg1376-LBAYBO1A1I4I01-3EACCVC3GPCG2CTQ9B8SIME5BV.DTL

Tomas Update

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/01/1901991/haiti-braces-for-hurricane-tomas.html

http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/tomas-weakens-to-a-tropical-storm-6584#6584

Its looking like Tomas has settled down a bit and returned to being a tropical storm (Good news!) however from the second link you can see that Haiti is still in serious danger. Keep praying!

Tomas

This week our lecture was titled "The Cross: Giving Up Rights". It was a week of rediscovering/remembering the One who paid the ultimate price for us, the perfect example of sacrificing rights and how our lives should model His. We dealt with things like repentance and clean conscience as well.

On Thursday we did our first "Street Evangelism". It was so nice to finally get out there on the streets and interact more with the locals. We basically just went around one area in Montego Bay focusing on the key spots people gather (the mall,KFC etc) and tried to start conversations and invite them to the park where we were having music and testimonies. I enjoyed the afternoon although it will take a while to get used to approaching randoms on the street.It was kind of discouraging that none of the people my group talked to showed up at the park. There were some amazingly funny and cute kids there though that we all enjoyed hanging out with and singing with. I'm praying that God will give us all a heart for evangelism and that he will also guide our conversations in the future so that we can effectively share Christ and reach people for Him.

The main reason I wanted to update this was because I am presenting a prayer request before you that is of a certain urgency. I mentioned in earlier messages that we are in hurricane season. Thankfully, we haven't experienced too much other than the tail of a hurricane which was basically heavy rainfall. Even so that heavy rainfall was enough to wash away roads, flood homes and knock out power and water. Last night we found out that a tropical storm Tomas is headed straight for the Caribbean that has a huge potential to become a major hurricane. The projected path of Tomas is pretty much straight for Jamaica(The eastern side) and it is already doing damage on islands like Barbados and St.Lucia.Here's the thing: The projected path also takes this hurricane to the south side of Haiti AKA Port Au Prince. According to the news last night this storm could turn into a category 3 or 4 Hurricane (Hurricane Katrina was category 5). I don't think I need to tell you what this could mean for Haiti.

This storm is expected to reach our area by Wednesday.I know this all seems like its just a chance but please pray that God will keep Tomas at tropical storm level and turn it back towards the open sea. Pray that he will spare the people of Haiti from more devastation!

Here are some links if we want to join us in watching and praying for this storm :

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Tropical-Storm-Tomas-near-hurricane-strength

http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/watching-shary-and-tomas-6584

http://www.weather.com/maps/maptype/satelliteworld/caribbeansatellite_large.html



Satellite image of Tomas (The red spiral on the lower right) as of today.

DTS Updates

Things are going really well here in Jamaica.The last two weeks we've had a fairly relaxed schedule which has compensated for the intense teachings that we've been having. I have never been more mentally or spiritually tired(which in turn equals physical exhaustion!). But I know that all the hard work is only going to help me know our Father more.


My last couple lectures were on "Humility & Fear of the Lord" and "Identity in Christ & Plumb Line." The Fear of the Lord week was taught by Gayle Keaproth (Her and her husband are directors of YWAM Madison,Wisconsin). She was such a genuine and caring lady who had a lot of wisdom to impart on us. She even took the time to pray for all of us individually before she even met us! Since starting DTS, the fear of the Lord has been something that has been brought up quite often and I realized I had no idea what it meant. I obviously new it didn't mean being scared of God but I didn't understand the practical application of it or how to explain it. From Gayle's sessions I learned that fearing God has a lot to do with understanding the priority of the one we live for and very little to do with being scared. If we don't fear the Lord than we will be afraid of Him. Fear of the Lord is what makes us want to live the right way(willingly and intentionally putting aside our sin) because we understand who God is. It involves humbly honoring and valuing the God that we serve and respecting the position he is in and being in awe of who he is.


Last week was Identity and Plumb Line which was taught by Howard and Margaret Ellis who are from Canada(woo!) and have a ministry called Jacob's Well (http://www.jacobswellministries.ca/). It was an interesting week of learning the answers to the "fundamental questions of life"(Who am I? Where am I coming from?Where am I going? What has value to me?") and identifying the areas in our lives that don't line up to God's Plumb line and dealing with them. If you are wondering what a plumb line is (I had no clue either) apparently its what builders use to make their walls straight. Therefore God's plumbline is what shows us how to live our lives (or build straight walls). His unchangeable word has to be the reference point instead of man's if we don't want our "walls" crumbling.
Outside of class we haven't really been up to too much. The past two weekends have been spent lounging by the pool so I can't really complain! The weather has cooled down considerably and it rains everyday but I still managed to get my first sunburn! Me along with some of my classmates have started leading worship on Thursday mornings for our DTS students and staff. Its been fun to grow in that area in safe environment. Next weekend we hope to go to Negril and visit Rick's Cafe where we will go cliff jumping (weather permitted).


Prayer Requests
1) Please pray for Haiti and the Cholera outbreak (http://www.youtube.com/v/6FbWJRVQcYw?version=3%22%3E%3Cparam
2) Pray for wisdom as we prep for outreach 
3) Pray Paul's prayer for the Ephesians in Chapter 1 over me so that I will have wisdom and understanding during the lectures.


"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." Ephesians 1:17-19a

Sunrise this morning:)