My Letter to Future Goers
Setting boundaries are not unbiblical I just finished a week of much needed debriefing at a great place called CIT – Center for Intercultural Training. I did my equipping at the beginning of my time with them as well. I would highly recommend them… seriously, here’s their website - https://cit-online.org/ !!!! If you do not have a place to process coming off the field, check them out! It was time well spent. In one of our last small group meetings, the question was asked “What would you tell to your little self before getting on to the field?” What would I have told “Grace” (the name my… Read more >>
Am I qualified?
Am I qualified? Two years of intensive and relationally-driven Bambara language studies and I still ask this question... am I really qualified to be a literacy teacher? I still stumble through the most basic phrases after a long stint of only speaking Bambara or French. I start to forget words even in English... The life of a multi-lingual person... we start to ask ourselves, "Am a fluent in any language? Even in my heart language?" Just this week I forgot the word "tambourin" in English! "It's an instrument ... you know? It makes bell-like noises... What is it again!?!?" Thanks to… Read more >>
Flipflops
Broken flipflops Walking out of a meeting with a school director, my left flipflop broke. These are sentences that I say where I live in West Africa. These past two years have taught me one thing. Relationships are key to success and longevity of the work God has for me here. The school director has become a dear partner in education and sister in Christ. She has a huge heart for the gospel to reach the children in her neighborhood. Her passion is contagious. We had a wonderful time sharing what I hope to do in the future with the kids and how I want to use Bambara for their literacy… Read more >>
Grieving in three languages
Grieving in three languages “The moon was getting low and thin clouds were passing across her, but still they could see the shape of the Lion lying dead in his bonds. And down they both knelt in the wet grass and kissed his cold face and stroked his beautiful fur — what was left of it — and cried till they could cry no more. And then they looked at each other and held each other’s hands for mere loneliness and cried again; and then again were silent.” The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Last week, I participated with some fellow workers here in their spiritual retreat. I… Read more >>