Death Sentence

What are you thankful to God for this week?

This is a question that comes every Sunday in our church and I am grateful for the regular reminder that God is living and active in our lives whether we acknowledge Him or not. There are usually lots of responses to this call in our church but this week there was one that really made me think. One of the refugees in our church got up and told us that he was thankful for today because it was the anniversary of his death sentence. He had been imprisoned in his home country and sentenced to the die because of his ethnic background. What would it be like to have a death sentence placed upon you and then to live past it while you saw others receiving for theirs? I can't imagine what it would be like to survive twelve years in jail never mind knowing that you were supposed to die there and that they could give you a new date at any time. What a beautiful thing it was to be free and celebrating eighteen years after your death sentence!

When I think about it I realize that we aren't all that different. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden we received a death sentence. It is only because Christ paid the price for us by his death on the cross that we can be free of that penalty, we just have to accept that gift. So I hope you are free and celebrating the number of years since your death sentence too.

The school's field day is coming and I would appreciate your prayers for that. Please pray for safety for all who are involved. Pray for my boys that they would learn to be a source of encouragement to those around them and be able to celebrate with those who succeed regardless of their own personal standing.

Please also pray for Sahel as the semester ends in a few short weeks, that exams would go well that the students would be able to perform to the best of their ability and finish the term well. Pray also for  a youth pastor for the coming semester as the young woman (a former student at Sahel) who was leading that team returns home at the end of the term. Pray also for her that she would sense God's leading and direction for what she is to do next.

Solar cooking

"You aren't going to put meat in there, are you?"
"It will cook rice?"

These are some of the questions that I have faced this week as I introduced a friend to my solar cooker. I had demonstrated it once before but they were still skeptical. We were told this weekend that we would be without power for the next four days that coupled with the fact that the rains had ended and the harmattan dust hadn't quite arrived yet made me think that this was the perfect time to put my solar cooker to the test. Last night it was cashew chicken and rice (the first time that I did two pots at the same time), this morning it is pumpkin (that I hope to puree for muffins and other things) and I think I might try baking buns this afternoon. If I succeed it will be my first time cooking twice in one day.

I have been thinking about the choices that we make and how environmentally responsible they are. It is one of those things that we face daily as we drive by garbage piled in the streets or walk by plastic bags hanging from the trees.

As we have been working on the ministry centre we have been trying to consider the ways that we can maximize passive cooling to counter the heat here and hopefully reduce our dependency on electric cooling methods. In reading about some of these things I have been reminded how important trees and plants are to the environment and the effect they produce in cooling their immediate environment. As I have been walking our neighbourhood I have noticed lately that there is a big difference between the shade coming from a wall and the shade coming from a wall covered in vines and hedges. It made me sad to think of how many trees here get over "harvested" for the sake of firewood to cook which brought me back to thinking about my solar cooker. I am just starting to realize how versatile it can be and I know that it has its limitations but it would be great if they were a more accessible alternative here in the land of sun. I know that it is possible for them to be produced here (mine was made in a neighbouring country with local resources), but I haven't heard of them being made here (but I might not be in the right circles for that). Please pray that we will be good stewards in the way that we live both in our spiritual lives and in the practical aspects of our day to day living.

What makes a vacation for you?

We had the pleasure this past week of getting away from the regular routine. A single missionary friend had won a ticket to Ouagadougou and wanted to use it but didn't want to go alone so our family agreed to drive over ahead of her and meet her there. (She had become surrogate family when she lived with us during the flood last year). It was good to have an excuse to use some of our vacation time and to get away.

But it has lead me to think about what makes a vacation. When you live overseas for any length of time what constitutes a vacation becomes something different (at least if you are living on a budget). For my friend it is having ice cream everyday (preferably in the form of a sundae with whip cream and chocolate sauce). For me it is the little things, the opportunity to visit different stores and discover that they actually carry some of the treats from home that you missed (I know it sounds crazy that grocery shopping can make a holiday) or to be able to wear pants or shorts without offending someone or to be able to enjoy different restaurants. Just being away so that there is no one to make those extra demands on your time, so that you can actually read that good book that you have been wanting to.  For some of you getting a tan on the beach is all you need and I confess that being able to hear the waves on the shore is one of the most refreshing treats I can think of especially because I live on the edge of the desert (you know endless beach but not a whole lot of water!). Whatever constitutes a holiday for you doesn't really matter what matters is that you remember to take one. When God created us he built rest into the schedule. We weren't made to work non-stop and collapse into exhausted guilt ridden sleep at night but God made us to work and to rest. When we take the time to get away and rejuvenate we are better able to do the work that God has given us. When we fill every waking hour with activity and we listen to the doubts about whether we can afford the time or the money or whatever to get away, we aren't doing ourselves (or God for that matter) any favours.

Second Floor Rising

It has been exciting to see progress being made this week on the building. The second floor walls are going up and we are hoping that the roof will be started sometime later this week or early next week. Thanks to all of you that have been praying for the building progress.

Thank you also for praying for my (Jenn's) health. Since I last posted I went from bad to worse (having a serious case of diarrhea that lasted for 3-4 days) on top of my other problems, but I am feeling much better now.

Next week is a school holiday and so we are planning on taking a bit of a break and hope to get caught up on some much needed rest.

Please pray for the individuals and groups that are considering coming to help with the finishing of the building. Pray that God will provide for all of the details that go with that.

Playing in Traffic

The last time we were in Canada we had the opportunity to go to a church planting conference to learn more about the process. One of the pieces of wisdom that the seminar leader presented was, "inviting someone to help church plant is like inviting someone to play in traffic". The implication is that there are spiritual realities at work in our world. When someone attempts to do something for God the enemy isn't pleased and that person (and those closest to them) tend to come under attack. I guess this week I feel like I have spent a little too long "playing in traffic".

Dave has been preaching a series at church as a follow up to the church planting conference we had last month. Last week he spoke about the Person of Peace and used an audio version of the scriptures (as a model that there are ways to share the scriptures even if you are illiterate). He also provided some mp3s of scriptures in local languages to a guy in our church who has been the most active in this area. This week he is either preaching on spiritual warfare or prayer walking (I am not sure that it is set in stone yet or not and I may be surprised with what happens).

I guess I have been receiving some of the brunt of the spiritual warfare. I have been struggling physically with sleeplessness, headaches, and dizziness that the doctor is still trying to figure out. (You can pray that my test results would bring us closer to answers this week). On the technical front, it was almost comical the other day when I was trying to print out a test for someone to cover my class and I had four different major problems that went wrong, culminating in a test that was printed upside down and backwards! (Ok, I admit by then I laughed so hard the counter in the office was the only thing that was keeping me up, but I was also pretty dizzy...) What should have taken 10 minutes took over an hour with 4 other people helping me. During this time Dave was listening to the radio in our car, unfortunately he fell asleep waiting and drained the battery on the car so we needed a boost. I wish I could say that that was our only technical problem for the week and that there weren't other problems that we encountered but alas...

However of even greater concern then our woes is the Pastor that we are working with. His struggle this week has been with his business school and paperwork with the government regarding it. Please pray for him that the people responsible would change their minds about this and that he would be able to get all the paperwork that he needs in order to move ahead (his school is supposed to start classes next week!).