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Monday, March 31, 2008

Second And Last Day Of Skiing

I didn't sleep well last night at all - neither did my friends - and so I was rather tired in the morning. But I was looking forward to going skiing again - my last day. They had predicted that the weather would not be that great, but it turned out to be a wonderful day, even with the few clouds up there.

We had a quick breakfast, and then I took the skibus to the other town, where I met with my parents at the cable railway station at 9 am. Together we went up into the mountains, with our ski gear. It's a long trip up, sitting in the little cabin that can hold four people, until you reach the peak of the mountain. Up there you have a beautiful view of the Alps, as you can tell.

We skied down slope after slope, with wonderful snow and sunshine, and stopped twice for something to drink. This pictures shows me with my Mom. My step-fathers grand-daughter was also there, together with her step-father, and so we skied together after lunch. Finally they had enough, and we went back down into the valley and the village. My two days of skiing were over - sigh - but they were wonderful two days. I thank the Lord and my friends for making them possible.

One of my friends came to the sports shop with my shoes, where I had to return the rented skies and shoes. Then I had to say good-bye to my Mom and her husband - but I'll see them in Vienna soon.

We drove back to our house, where we had to pack. We put all our stuff back into the car and then went out to eat before returning to my friends' house 90 minutes away. We left just after 7 pm for the drive through the mountains. On the way there, I had gotten a little sick from all the curves in the road - it's like an amusement park! This time I felt a little sick again. We reached the top of one of the mountains, and as we started our descent on the other side, thick fog greeted us. Suddenly we couldn't see anything any more! Wolfgang had to slow down significantly, staring hard at the side of the road to see where the edge of the road and the mountain or the canyon was. But we made it home safely.

It was after 9 pm as we reached home. The tiredness overwhelmed me at that point, including a headache, so that I went to bed right away. Poor Wolfgang had to go do office work to get ready for tomorrow morning, when his patients would come to see him again.

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

First Day Of Skiing

I had to get up early, which was really tough. We then had a wonderful, Austrian breakfast and my friend was so kind to drive me to the ski lift in the neighboring town where I was to meet with my Mom and her husband (see picture).

We then spent the whole day together, skiing in this huge, most beautiful skiing ressort, with blue skies and wonderful snow, and it was warm as well. I used to run skiing races as a teenager, and have always loved skiing more than any other sport. I've hardly done it though the past 15 years of being a Christian. However, it's like riding a bike, you don't forget it. It didn't take long for me to fly down the slopes again. It was so wonderful!!! I'm so thankful that my friends made this possible. And it's great to be able to spend this time with my parents as well.

It was a wonderful day, and now I'm extremely tired from all the sunshine, mountain air, and physical exercice.

I got back home to my friends' house at 5:30 pm, and we went to a restaurant together, where we had wonderful, Austrian food. Back home, everyone was tired, and I'm going to bed now myself.

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Saturday, March 29, 2008

Cheese Fondue

We had a slow morning, getting up late, and then I talked to Paul and the kids in Mali. I had to take care of a few things from the distance, as they gave me work to do. So somehow the morning passed by very fast.

One of my friends' children then showed up, and we had lunch together - a lot later than planned. We ate wonderful, Swiss cheese fondue. It was great!

Time passed further, and it became clear we couldn't keep the rendez-vous in Tyrol with my parents. I called my Mom to tell her it would be an hour later. And then it was another 45 minutes later.

Before we left, I gave Wolfgang a gift from all of us in Mali - a bag made of iguana leather, and a card where we all signed.

Dream Skiing Resort

We met with my parents at the place where you can rent skiing equipment, and I got all the stuff needed for two days. Then we moved on to the place where we were staying. Wolfgang's daughter married a local from here, and so they have a house here - in the most beautiful skiing resort of Austria.

We only had a few minutes before we had to leave again. I had a meeting with the doctor of the neighboring village and his family. How come? Their eldest daughter came to Mali nearly two years ago and stayed with us for over one month. We've stayed in touched, and she wants to come back this summer. It was great spending some time with her family, talking about Mali, but my friends enjoyed it too, since both men are general practitioners and had much to talk about.

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Exciting For Hama

I had a wonderful, restful night before getting up at my usual time. I had a quiet morning before we left the house at 11 am to run some errands.

About a year ago my friends here and I went to a local house that helps handicapped children, and they gave us a special walker for Hama that he's been training with since. He can now walk on his own with it somewhat. However, he can't use it at all times because the soil on our property makes it impossible for the walker to work.

I've had it on my heart for a while to get him a little tricycle so he can move about more freely and quickly. This house also has specialized tricycles, and so we went there to ask. I also took my computer with me to show the director there a little video clip of how Hama is walking now, so she can see what difference she's made in his life.

She LOVED the video - and started thinking how she could help us this time. She said they didn't have any tricycles at this time. But then she came back with specialized crutches - and I got all excited! With these crutches he'll be able to also walk in the garden outside. It will just take discipline for him to learn to use them and then always use them rather than pull himself around on the floor, which is a lot easier for him. I can't wait to get back and see him walk at all times! The only challenge will be his left hand because he can barely hold on to anything with it, though he has made much progress there as well.

From there we went to a second hand children's store, where I found a pyjama for Sarata and Hama, and some baby clothes. And then we went to a grocery store. My first time in a grocery store is always so exciting! Seeing all the good food, all you can get, it's paradise really! Whatever you want, it's there. I especially noticed the cat and dog food alley this time, because these past few months it has been impossible to find cat food in Bamako. I had no choice but to buy dog food for my little cat - and that's a little big for her.

Back home, we had a local speciality made of cheese for lunch - it was delicious! Then we got some rest in the afternoon.

Informal Meeting

In the evening, we were invited to some of my friends' family memberes. The couple whose house we went to has adopted 4 children from different continents of the world, and so they were very interested in hearing what I do in Mali. Daouda's sponsors also joined us. I showed my presentation and shared about Mali, and they also shared fascinated stuff about their adopted kids.

In Mali, Daouda had braided plastic bags of different colors around a little glass. I was excited at this show of creativity at his own initiative, and offered to take it with me and sell it for him, splitting the proceeds 50-50. He agreed. Now his sponsors bought it (see picture), and two more people added to the price. I told him on skype later, and he was all excited that he had earned that much money with this! I have a hunch that all the boys are gonna start making these things.... Awesome!

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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Reputation For Healing

I forgot to tell you that we have people show up at our gate that come just to be healed. We just had a lady come who got sick, and Paul prayed for her.

Trip To Austria

At 9 pm last night it was time to say good-bye to my family. I embraced every one, and Abdias just said, I'll come with you to the airport, and I didn't hinder him. Paul came as well, and Seybou had to drive.

In the car Paul and I talked about all kinds of things. I was looking forward to leaving, but the trip to the airport - as is the trip from the airport when I come back - is always hardest. At the airport I said good-bye to them, and walked into the terminal.

My plane left on time just before midnight. It's only 5+ to Paris, and so I wasn't able to even get two hours of sleep before they woke us up again. We landed early at 6 am - which is 5 am Malian time. I had nearly 4 hours until my connection.

I went into the frequent flyer lounge, where I had a wonderful French croissant and hot chocolate, and even got one hour of Internet for free. After that was gone, I called my Mom and brother and a friend in Austria. It was so good to be back in Europe.

I got on the plane to Zurich, Switzerland, where my good friends from Western Austria would pick me up. That plane also arrived early. On the way out, customs picked me for a random check. What timing! This is the first time I didn't have a nearly empty bag. It's the first time I brought some bags with me with snake and iguana (large lizard) skin. You are allowed to import those (contrary to crocodile skin), but would they know the difference? The officer asked me some questions, and that satisfied him. He never actually opened my bag!

I then went to our meeting point, and my friends weren't there yet. The sleepless night caught up with me, and I actually fell asleep. I woke up as my friends called my name. I had slept really well.

We got into the car for the 2-hour trip across the border to Austria. My friends live just a few minutes from the Swiss border. I enjoyed talking with them in the car - it was great to see them again. Arriving in Lustenau, we went to his children's house (where also his office is), where his daugthers had prepared lunch for us. So we had a local speciality for lunch, followed by a British desert.

By then the tiredness came back full force, and we went home, where I lay down right away. Thankfully I set my alarm clock for 3 hours later - otherwise I would probably have slept until the morning. I slept SO WELL. No heat, comfortable bed, no noise....

Vineyard Church

It took me 15 minutes to really wake up after the alarm rang. It was hard getting up. I got ready for us to leave the house and go to the local Vineyard Church, where they have one hour of worship every Thursday night.

I first connected with this church 3 years ago, when I introduced a minister friend and holocaust survivor to Austria, who spoke at this church, and I interpreted him. Two years ago I preached my first German sermon at this church, but last year it didn' work out, and this year not either, since they had too much going on. But I was looking forward to seeing the pastor and his wife again.

They had a new, beautiful location, and a few people were there already. It was a warm reunion, and we agreed to talk after the meeting.

It was a wonderful time of praise & worship that I enjoyed very much. In the end we took communion together, and that is when my heart was deeply touched again in light of our awesome, amazing God, who has given everything. I had tears in my eyes, as we had to get up with the meeting being over.

Then we sat down with the pastor and his wife, and had a wonderful time of fellowship, talking about Mali as well as their church. They are a wonderful couple. They talked about what they could possibly do, and about possibly coming to Mali.

It was late when we left the church, but I was very glad to have met with those wonderful people again, when it looked like it wasn't gonna happen.

Back home, I checked my mails - enjoying the fast internet connection - and then fell into a wonderful bed to have a wonderful night of rest.

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Abdias With Glasses

Last night Emma dropped off Abdias's new glasses. Less than 12 hours later, this morning, one is already scratched. Abdias is our world record holder in destroying stuff! Will the glasses still be whole when I come back from my trip?

Teacher Hyacinthe

At 8 am this morning Hyacinthe showed up to start teaching our teenagers. I showed him the different things and subjects, and he got started. It went pretty well. Hyacinthe also looked at Souleymane's skills, who goes to a Christian school, and discovered that though he is in 7th grade, our boys I teach here know more than him! I knew that Souleymane was one of the worst students in his class, but that bad. Hyacinthe said he'd also work with him.

After his first morning of teaching we sat down to talk, and since he said my boys were pretty advanced in their knowledge, and he shared about the school where he teaches, I suddenly wondered if they couldn't go to school there. I found out that the teachers at the Christian school CANAAN (where Etienne, Anatole, Sama and Souleymane go) not only don't go through the Christian training YWAM offers to teachers, but they beat the kids and treat them inhumanely. Plus it's not a good school.

Hyacinthe's school has good teachers, they continue forming their teachers, and have a higher standard than most schools. Hyacinthe has quite a top position there and said he could see whether we'd get like a "group discount" for having that many kids in their school. If Daouda can go there as well (which is rather doubtful), we'd have 9 children there. It would be awesome for them, and for me. I could concentrate on other things, if the kids are out of the house in the morning.

The question would be, what grade the boys would start in. I asked Hyacinthe to work with them even in the summer to bring them up to a certain level. I think this is an exciting development!

Construction Update

Today they started putting the fans up, as you can see in the picture. The last few days they finished laying tiles on the walls of the boys' bathroom. Kossi said they'd install the toilet, sink and shower for them by Friday or Saturday.

Caleb came today and finished all the doors, putting on the handles and locks. While talking to him I found out that not only have Caleb and Kossi known each other for 8 years, but they don't get along. It was unsettling what I heard from Caleb. I told him that we need to sit down together with Kossi when I come back. After all, both of them want to join our church, so they need to get rid of their grievances. In any case, Caleb confirmed some worries about Kossi's work. I just hope that Kossi takes it to heart when I tell him to build well, even if it costs a little more.

In a few days the windows and my door will be put in - so that my cat cannot leave the house any more. She's very attached to me, and it's always hard on her when I leave. After that, they'll put in the windows and door on the boys' side.

The most difficult thing will be the painting, because of all the shelves and furniture. Especially my office and the storage room are going to be quite a challenge.

On Monday, Kossi will start the dining hall, marking the outline on the ground first of all.

Time To Fly

The time has come - I'm leaving for the airport in a few minutes. I'm flying to Paris overnight, where I take a connection on to Zurich, where my friends will pick me up. It's a 2-hour drive from Zurich to their home across the border in Austria. They have lots of snow there right now, and it's cold, so it's gonna be a difference of 45 degrees celcius between here and there! But I'm very much looking forward to this trip!

Pray for a smooth journey!

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Family Crisis

Last night everyone had gone to bed, when Firmin suddenly called my name just after 11 pm. He told me that he had felt like checking on the kids and found that Daouda wasn't there. We started searching the property (we don't have light during the night), but didn't find him. Only Abdias was sleeping tight (the others being in the village). Because of the intense heat, the kids have been sleeping outside.

We were shocked, realizing he must have left the property secretly. Where could he have gone? What was he up to? We finally decided to lock all the house doors for security reasons, and go back to bed. Just as we did, he came back - climbing over our property wall.

He didn't much have to say but admitted that it wasn't the first time. I was shocked. I told him that that was very serious, and reason enough to leave the house. We would talk about it in the morning. And no more sleeping outside.

It took me a long time to fall asleep, so the night was short. When I got up in the morning, Firmin had left the house (and didn't come back until the 9 pm family meeting). So I was by myself with Daouda and Abdias. I had told them in advance that we would do school, hopefully being able to advance well, since it was just the two of them. But of course, with Firmin gone, I also had Hama and Sarata to keep busy.

Daouda was pretty sober and it was obvious that he was making a special effort to behave well. I told him we'd talk once Paul was back.

Paul and the kids didn't return until 3 pm. After our visitors had left (see below), we sat down together with Daouda. Then Daouda told us that he is not the only one to leave the property at night - they were all doing it, except for Abdias. I was shocked. We called the other teenagers in to join us. They then shared how they leave at night to watch TV at the neighbors'.

I was so disappointed in them! How they could do such a thing! Leaving in their pyjamas, watching TV at night with the neighbors? What would the neighbors think?

Paul was also very surprised. Once more they had abused our kindness and broken the rules on purpose. I told them they would not sleep outside any more, and nobody was allowed to leave the property any more. Also, no more video games.

Paul then said he'd go and talk to the kids alone. Some time later he came back, together with the boys. He said they had told him the truth:

When they came back from the village, they saw that Daouda had packed his stuff and learned what had happened last night. To prevent him from being kicked out they decided to say that they had all left at night. Now they told me that was a lie - only Daouda had left.

Now they had added lying to their list of sins. My shock increased. Which of their words could I still believe? How could I still trust them? Saloum is 18 years old - he should be an adult.

I told them how very disappointed I was in them, and that the consequences for their actions remained the same.

The boys left, and Paul stayed. Now that that was cleared up, I still needed to talk to him. When I came back out to talk to him, I had tears in my eyes because of my boys' behavior. My heart was broken. And now I needed to address some issues with Paul.

I shared my heart with him, including a recent action that had not been okay. More tears flowed as I shared, and Paul's tears started flowing as well. But all those were good tears. Paul shared how God spoke to him after leaving for the village yesterday, and he would have wanted to turn around and talk to me right away, asking forgiveness. He said God had shown him that his actions weren't okay, and that that message had been for him as well on Sunday. We had a good time of crying together, voicing how difficult this time is, how we both don't know how to lead this ministry and what to do, and that we both fall short of being a reflection of Jesus.

But then I lifted our eyes towards Jesus, who is our only hope. I told him we'd throw ourselves on His grace, because in our own strength we aren't able to do anything. We are totally dependent on Him, and this season would also bring its fruit, because it all works to our best. We encouraged ourselves, knowing the breakthrough was ahead, and this season would also end.

Those tears were purifying, and we both felt a lot lighter afterwards. Our relationship was restored. Our disappointed in the kids would take longer to get rid of.

American Visitor

Yesterday I had a phone call from Hyacinthe that somebody who knows me was with him, and he wants to meet with me. It turned out that we both have a mutual good friend who had told him about me, and he had checked me out online. He came to Bamako for two days, looking for ministries to support. He works for an organization that does a lot of supportive work in a lot of countries.

Hyacinthe came with a couple of Malians and our American friend. We spent some time talking, sharing with him what we are doing here, and he shared a little about our organization. He lives in greater LA, and I might meet his wife during my 3-day-trip there in April (he'll be traveling). We'll see whether that was a divine appointment with future fruit.

Village Ministry

As always, Paul came back with praises and testimonies of what the Lord has done. Last night they showed MATTHEW after some technical problems. Over 400 people had gathered. Our biggest village church - that we established in May 2007 - is in that village of Goro. They loved the film.

Paul told me that while he was leading praise songs before the movie, a big poisonous snake - bigger than his arm - approached, but the villagers were able to kill it. Too bad he didn't take a picture.

In the morning, many people had to go work in their fields, but over 60 people stayed. Paul taught them, and they also prayed for healing. Most people were healed (all but one). Many were healed of different pains. And then there was this boy (see picture). He couldn't walk, trembled all the time, and had stomach pain. God healed him of all that! He walked away by himself, totally healed. Praise God!!!

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Rising Costs

In neighboring Burkina Faso, there is already a very serious crisis as food prices have doubled, and people are revolting because they cannot afford to buy food any more.

Thankfully, in Mali prices have been rising slowly, though rice is now more expensive than it has ever been since my move to Mali. Kossi told me that prices for cement and metal and other materials needed to build have also risen dramatically, even since we finished our house just over two months ago. He had to recalculate the cost of building the dining hall, and it's a lot more now. I've just corrected the figures - though not on the construction flyers yet. I also have to change how much my house (next after the dining hall) will cost, but will leave the prices for the second building phase for now. We can only hope and pray that the dollar will stop losing value - because it doesn't only affect the exchange rate, but prices for every day necessities here in Africa. Pray that it doesn't get as bad in Mali as in Burkina, because it would mean a humanitarian crisis.

Rain In March!!!

Today it rained a few drops! And it's only March! It's not supposed to rain until the end of May.

Children

Time to go to bed once again. More immaturity, more things happened today. No point in telling you. Just pray.

Paul has left for the village, together with Seybou, Saloum, Fousseni and Souleymane, though he hadn't regained his peace and joy. They are gonna show MATTHEW in Goro tonight, and then spend the night there.

I enjoyed the house with fewer people - Firmin said he missed them!!!

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Sunday, March 23, 2008

Before The Service

This morning Abdias broke our rearview side mirror on the car - he was throwing stones, just playing, and then it happened. Well, the breaks also need to be repaired, so we'll take care of all that tomorrow morning, before they go to the village in the afternoon.

I had bought some cake yesterday that my kids and team had for breakfast. Because of Easter, we also had a meal at noon instead of our regular Sunday fast.

I talked with Paul and told him I had no clue how we ended up where we did in our conversation last night, but asked his forgiveness for my part in it. He forgave me.

I took the opportunity to add some more house rules to the list I started a while back, printed it out, and put it up on the door for all to read. No more excuses. They knew all those anyway.

Unexpected Service

I wasn't very keen on doing the service, but prepared my yearly Easter sermon, explaining from the Jewish perspective all that was going on during the Easter week. I also prepared a few songs for French worship.

Team and kids usually set everything up for the service, and I often I help out as well because they forget stuff.

Today I got ready for the service, and then went over for our time of prayer before the service. We also pray 15 minutes before. Today I was the only one there. And they had forgotten to set up the keyboard. I was wondering if they'd notice.

That nobody had shown up for prayer discouraged me. I lay down on a bench, face down, and started praying and crying out for God to have mercy on us, to intervene, to change us. Tears started flowing. Just before the service started, they started showing up. It was time to open the doors and start.

Still no one had noticed the missing keyboard. My heart was still broken and I walked around in the back praying. While doing so, I felt the Lord speaking to me and giving me words to pass on.

They finished Bambara worship, and I dutifully came up to start leading French worship on the keyboard. I went to the empty space where it should be. Only then did they notice. But I already had God's message burning on my heart.

I took my notes and tore them to pieces. People were shocked. Then I said, "Hallelujah! He is risen!" but what do our lives look like? We are all hypocrites.

I started talking about Sunday-morning-Christians; about not praying, not reading His word, about saying the right things, but actions that are saying something else, lack of love and consideration. We have made Jesus our servant with us being Lord, while it should be Him who is the Lord and us his servants. We dishonor him with our actions. We trample His sacrifice under our feet.

As I started talking about the price Jesus has paid, how much it cost him to go to the cross etc., I broke into tears. I was overwhelmed by the realization of how much it had cost Jesus, and how little we appreciate it. I lost it and couldn't talk for a while. I wanted them to get it, how much it cost Jesus. Yesterday we had watched THE PASSION, and the day before we saw the crucifixion in MATTHEW as well. He has given his ALL for us, how can we not do the same?

How come we don't give our best to Him? How come we don't look any different than the world? If He has truly risen, His resurrection power should be in us.

I then mentioned how we had dedicated this piece of land to the Lord, consecrated it, and still it was just a garbage dump with garbage everywhere. How dishonoring to God! I told them I was compelled to restore God's honor and would start removing the garbage right away.

I went into the house and got a couple of trash bags. Then I started picking up piece after piece of trash off the ground, putting it into the bag. Others started joining me, and I saw them all over gathering trash. There were my teenagers, and then a new guy who I don't even know or know if he is a Christian.

Seybou came up to me and tried to get me to stop. I asked him, if he hadn't understood. I needed to do this!

There were some thorns, and I hurt myself, with some blood running down. I didn't mind, even felt honored to "suffer" a little for Jesus. This was so nothing compared to the suffering Jesus had gone through! And I was doing this for Him, for the honor of His name!

After a while things looked so much better, and I approached the microphone again, with my trash bag. Most people had stayed seated, watching us. Paul was gone, in the house. I found out later that he was upset. He must have taken my words personally, as an attack even. That's too bad.

I asked Emma to go get Paul, even if he didn't translate, I wanted him to hear the rest of what I had to say. Then Firmin interpreted for me, though that's difficult for him. I told them this bag of trash is the best offering I have given to Him in a while. I told them it was a fragrant offering to Him, precious. And that that scratch on my arm was nothing to what Jesus went through for us.

I encouraged them to give themselves a hundred percent to God, holding nothing back. I encouraged them to put God first in their lives, with nothing else above Him. I encouraged them to fall in love with Him, and be a light and salt on this earth. Everybody got up saying they wanted to be that person, and I prayed a prayer to that end. Again, my heart was touched and my voice broke a little as I told God I wanted to be a 100% His and serve Him. Then the service was over.

I handed out candy for the kids, as our Easter gift for them. Then there was an old lady with crutches because of a broken leg. I prayed for her healing before she left.

Talking With Hyacinthe

I talked with Emma for a while, while Hyacinthe talked to Paul and Firmin. Then Hyacinthe came up to me saying he needed to talk to me.

He told me that both Firmin and Paul were discouraged. He reminded me that they are still young, immature Christians that have a long way to go. I reminded him that he is all the team I have. It's true that my whole team and children, they have all come to the Lord through me, and are still very young in the Lord. It takes time to grow.

Then he told me that Paul and Firmin had told him that my reputation among our neighbors is that I am mean. I was shocked! For two reasons - that our neighbors would say that, and that Paul and Firmin had never told me. Why did they tell that Hyacinthe?

The reason why they say I am mean is because our gate is closed. They want the gate to be open at all time so they can go in and out at any time. I told Hyacinthe what I had told others before that the gate needs stay closed for security reason. To protect our children, and to protect the valuable building materials on our property. When somebody wants to come visit, they can always knock at the gate. I guess this is a cultural clash, but we just can't have our gates open at all times. Already it's open most of the time.

However, it really saddens me that that is the reputation I have. And that my team didn't even tell me. They needed Hyacinthe to share their frustrations.

In the end, the conversation with Hyacinthe was valuable. He tried to encourage me. He said I and the ministry had been on his heart all day today, and he knew he had to come to the service. He also said that God has spoken to him about us, and that great things are ahead. A good reminder.

By the way, Hyacinthe is one of our Bible School graduates and an assistant pastor at another church. I've known him for years, as he has always had an interest in this ministry. He is also a school teacher, and will offer his time to teach the kids as much as he can while I'm gone. He has high expectations of the great fruit he will see in the kids. We'll see. I could imagine him being the school director of our elementary school. In any case, we've both known the time will come when he works with us.

Family Time

Though I was pretty discouraged by all this, I spent some time with the kids and Firmin, watching the Christmas Program of our sister church in Paris. My friend Corinne had given me a copy in January, and we still hadn't watched it. We enjoyed watching it together. Hama and Sarata sat with me, and had fun with me. Hama cannot sit still when there is music, and he danced like crazy while I held him up. At least those two don't think I'm mean.

Paul came back just before our family meeting. He just sat there, not saying anything. Somehow the subject of our service came up, and the kids made fun of it all, of the tears. I was shocked and saddened that they hadn't understood anything. Are their hearts that hardened?

I then asked Paul to come to my office to talk. I asked him what was going on, why he was like this, but he wouldn't answer. Finally I got a few words out of him. As I had thought, he had felt personally attacked by my words, and so he is in pain. I offered a TPM session so he could be free of his pain, and told him he needs to have those doors to the enemy closed. I need him "up and running", and I need him to be in shape to go to Dio tomorrow. Hopefully he'll get around in time.

Just before the family meeting, I found out something else concerning Firmin that was shocking, showing once again the irresponsability.

Lord, have mercy on us! I feel like we've never been in such a season before! May we come out of it alive!

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

Shocking Behavior

I nearly wrote something last night, since the boys' behavior has been very shocking since last night, and they continue today. I feel helpless in face of this situation.

Fousseni this morning refuses to go to his room, though we have repeatedly told him to. His answers are filled with lack of respect and rebellion. Firmin also tried to make him go to his room, without success. I believe Paul would be able to get through to him, but he is still at school.

I'm so shocked by their lack of spirituality, lack of respect, lack of work. They have become lazy ego-maniacs, and I don't understand it. They seem so far from God, and all reasoning and talking is not changing a thing. I'm at the end of my rope. Because threats of sending them away are not helpful either.

Firmin also shocked me. Hama got a last minute appointment at the eye doctor yesterday afternoon, because his eyes were all red. That's because he's sitting in the dust all day and then rubs his eyes. He received four different medications. Since Firmin works with the little ones every day, and that's his area of responsability, I asked him whether he could administer the medication every day. He said "no" because he would forget. I was shocked. It's true that he's very forgetful, but if it's his job... Who else can take care of it? Paul's plate is already more than full! Firmin also refused to feed my cat while I'm gone (which he has done before).

Help us, God!

Good News

The good news is that the kids often come around. Paul talked with Fousseni for quite some time. Then they asked if they could talk with me. So we sat down and talked things over, and Fousseni asked for forgiveness. He was serious, and you could see the relief on his face afterwards. I'm glad it worked out that way.

Then Souleymane also came to talk, and asked for forgiveness for a "minor" offense. I also had some more serious things to say about his grades, and I think he got it.

Praise God!

One-On-One Time

For weeks I've been wanting to go to the big supermarket on the other end of town, because it's the only place where you can usually get cat food. However it takes a long time to cross town and isn't much fun.

Since I needed to do it before my departure - if I don't want my cat to starve - I decided to do it today. Because of the movie nights we didn't have a street kid program.

First we did one hour of school, since we hadn't done much yesterday either because I had needed to go to the bank. This is what triggered this morning's rebellion. But we did one hour of school. When Seybou came back with the car, I got in and left.

I took Abdias with me today. I had already been out to eat with Saloum and Fousseni. Abdias has been behaving really well on the whole, better than the others, so it was his turn. It took us nearly an hour to get to the supermarket - and there was no dry cat food, to my greatest amazement. So I bought a few cans, and dry dog food. Hopefully she'll like that; I guess she'll have to. I also got a few groceries, and some cake for breakfast for the boys tomorrow, since it's Easter after all.

The Passion Of The Christ

Again, we showed a half hour animated children's movie, this time the miracles of Jesus. Already a good number of people had shown up. Then it was time for THE PASSION. Since people can't read or don't speak French, I had to read the French subtitles, with Pau interpreting everything into Bambara.

A lot of people came tonight - we need to have more benches made! Many had to stand. We also had our typical crowd of 25 or so street children that Seybou had picked up from the bus station, and taken back after the movie. They also received a big sandwich each before going back.

We had some technical problems in the middle of the movie, and had to restart it a few times. Even then, it jumped over the long scene where Jesus is flogged, so I guess they missed the most horrible part of the movie. We also advised for parents to send young kids home, and the young kids to leave, but of course they never do. I made sure, though, that Hama and Sarata weren't watching.

I believe many people and kids were touched. Even Paul had a hard time - it was only his 4th time seeing it; I thought it had been more often than that. I've seen it at least 10 times. We show it every year at Easter, and once we actually showed it on the university campus.

At the end of the movie, people immediately got up to leave - even before the resurrection, since they thought it was over. We ignored the leaving people, and I quickly gave a gospel presentation, inviting them to begin a life with Jesus. Then we invited them to our service tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have more people come.

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Friday, March 21, 2008

Easter Miracle

My friend in Austria had already made some insinuations, and today I went to the bank again. A few days ago I was there to sign up for internet banking, but the lady had never done that before and didn't know how. So she called me later saying I needed to come by again to sign a paper. Since the car was being repaired on Wednesday, and it was a public holiday yesterday, I went there today.

I signed the paper, and asked how much money was on the account. My mouth dropped open as I heard the amount. Then she told how much the recent transfer had been. Kossi was right next to me, and rejoiced with me. It was time to continue building!

I came home and made the announcement, and everybody else was amazed with me. They rejoiced as well! Soon they would have doors, and fans, and a bathroom!

I spent some time talking with Paul about it, how amazed we are by this couple from Austria, who has donated more than everyone else. They have paid the whole well and water tower, much of the car and part of the house. We are totally humbled that they would bless us this way again. We've received $30,000 which not only finishes our house, but enables us to start the meeting hall (future dining hall), and make much progress with it. Maybe it will even be done by the time rainy season starts end of May? Then we can have our services in the dry.

Not only that, but our carpenter Caleb will also move in with his wife and two children. They will move into the storage room in the dining hall, until my house is built, and more room will become available. Incidentally, Caleb was at our house today, doing some work. He rejoiced with us. He said he hasn't seen his family in four months, and he wants to bring them back to Bamako by the end of this month. He also said that his old work place is dissolving, so the timing for everything is perfect. He'll just have to wait a few more months.

Caleb owns a few machines, and a few more will be for sale when his current workplace closes. I have asked him to come once or twice a week even now to teach our boys some stuff. That's the perfect way of occupying them.

All this is very exciting!

So, these are the first pictures of the dining hall - of course there is nothing there yet :-).

Now I have to redo the flyers I'm gonna hand out in Austria. A good problem.

Watching Of Life Of Jesus

Since our move we haven't done any movie nights - so it was high time. For the occasion of Easter, we showed a movie tonight, and then tomorrow as well. We had gone door-to-door to invite people to come. We started at sundown at 7 pm, at first with a half-hour animated children's story, tonight the death and resurrection of Jesus. Seybou had left to pick up the street kids from the bus station, and arrived a little late.

The screen hung down from the roof, and we put up all our benches in front of it. There weren't enough. The more the movie progressed, the more people came. And they loved it, and didn't move when it was over. I used the opportunity to briefly share the gospel, and prayed a prayer of commitment. Then we invited them to come back tomorrow night for THE PASSION. We will also pick up the kids from the bus station again, and give them food.

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Thursday, March 20, 2008

Long School Day

I worked with my boys morning and afternoon again; usually it's just morning.

Prayer Meeting

In the evening we had our weekly prayer meeting, since our Easter events start tomorrow night. We did one hour of singing first. It still grieves my heart to see only the adults really worshipping. The kids are just bored, and half of them fall asleep.

During the second hour we did intercession for different things.

Another TV Program

I was informed today that the Christian TV channel in Austria is going to do a program about the work in Mali. They have asked what day I'd be available for the taping. That channel is really small, and I've always wondered who can even see any of those programs.

Mali can be seen on Austrian state TV in the news every day right now. I can watch those news online here in Mali, so I see it with my own eyes. Two Austrians were kidnapped in Tunisia and then brought to Mali, where a lot of terrorists hide in the desert. Now they are negotiating their release, and the Austrian media is following it. So Bamako can be seen on TV every day!

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Car Troubles Again

Once again the car wouldn't work. Seybou took it to the mechanic who then repaired it. It was the clutch again.

Former House Troubles

I got a call from the agency we rented the former house from. The owner has looked at the house and wants $700 because we destroyed the garden. She claimed something inside the house wasn't in order either. We paid $300 to have the house painted and the plants cut before returning the keys. I'm not willing to pay her that much for the garden. We have to find a way to determine a fair amount. The agency wants me to come to their place to discuss the amount with her. I could truthfully reply that I had no transportation at the moment, and would travel soon. An unsettling situation.

Rising Heat

The hot season is getting worse and worse. We have 37°C (99°F) inside the house, and my office is even 38°C (100.4°F) because of the computers etc.. It was pretty tough today. It made me appreciate more the air condition I had in my room in the old house. I used to run it on and off during hot season to make it through the heat. I'm thankful I'm leaving for Austria next week - where I'm going skiing! From the heat to the cold.

The picture shows the mattress I sleep on now, next to the entrance, with the little fan.

Eye Exams

All the boys have been to the eye specialist now - Souleymane today. Only Abdias needs glasses, and he needs them big time. But two other kids have eye problems and have to do a treatment for a few weeks. I'm glad we were able to get that done.

The dentist would be necessary again too, but I really don't want to send them back to the cheap dentist who did such an awful job. And good dentists are expensive, so I don't know yet what the solution is. From time to time some of them complain about toothache.

Issa

Issa - who was our school teacher - abandoned us from one day to the other in July of last year. I haven't seen him since (except for once maybe). We called him 6 weeks ago, and he said he'd come by which he hasn't.

I just had an email from an African-American couple who contacted me a year ago because they were getting ready to move to Mali to start a church and work with street children. Today is the first time I heard from them since. They must have moved a few months ago, and their ministry is up and running. When I looked at their website, I was shocked to find out that Issa now works with them as a teacher, and interpeter in the services, and is very involved there. They are saying how much of a blessing and asset he is. It makes me sad, but they sure got a good person.

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Master Plan

Today I adjusted the first three houses on our master plan, and made a proposition for the shops and workshops that we needed to "reinvent". What do you think? I hope you can decipher it.

House Help

It looks like I've found somebody who was trained by Westerners to clean, and she's gonna come over to clean the house. If it works out well, she'll come regularly. She can also cook.

School

We did school morning and afternoon today, though we have 37° in our house (that is 99°F). I also gave out clothes to our boys today who destroy theirs very quickly. Instead of saying thank you, they wanted more.

Monster Insect

A few minutes ago I was typing along, when something touched me on my leg. I thought it was my cat Sweety, but she was sitting ON the desk. I looked, and screamed, as a HUGE bug walked away. I only saw it a few moments, but it looked like a huge scorpion, 20 cm long. I was in shock! So big! Weird - the other day the mini-scorpion, tonight the giant one. Paul and Daouda finally came running, but of course the giant bug had hidden by then, and they couldn't find it. I told them I would definitely not sleep on the floor tonight! No way! Now Paul is still sitting here in my office. I'm not sure if I should go to bed in my hot room, or take the risk and sleep on the floor in front of the doors. Paul said he knows what insect I'm talking about - of course it's not a scorpion, just looks like one.

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Monday, March 17, 2008

Running Errands

I did school with the boys this morning, but they didn't seem very motivated. Rather than repeating myself, I decided to leave and run the errands I had to do. For that, I had to leave the boys alone. A scary thought. Thankfully, Paul came home from school earlier than expected, and so they weren't alone for long.

I took Fousseni along with us, since I'm supposed to have dinner with each boy individually. I thought it might work out. We stopped at the bank, where I wanted to get online access to my account. It's a Malian bank account that is only for our construction work. You have to pay extra for online banking, and they said their headquarters would call me in a few days with the access details. I finally had to do this since I don't always get my bank statements in the mail, and it comes very late if it does. I need to have better overview, though Kossi is the one withdrawing money from the account.

From there we went to get our car papers. It had taken them from July of last year until now to change the papers to my name! But finally.

From there we went to a VISA ATM to withdraw money, and then to the restaurant to eat. Seybou was also with us - why not. We had a good time. From there we went back home. I couldn't run the remaining errands because big shops close at noon.

School & Fun

Since school had been short in the morning, we continued in the afternoon. Normally they just do homework in the afternoon. But we had a good time studying.

Later I played cards with Abdias, Paul, Firmin and Seybou, and we had fun together.

By the way, I made an interesting observation. I told you about the wasps that build their houses inside the house everywhere. They are much bigger than Western wasps, but less aggressive. The other day, I saw a wasp fly to a house and put a worm into it! And then later I saw a wasp again, with a long worm! You could tell that flying was somewhat hard with that weight. Do wasp larvae eat worms??? It was somewhat shocking.

Yesterday

By the way, we had a service yesterday. I preached on love. Loving our neighbor. Love permeating our every word and action. Hopefully we all took it to heart.

My wireless microphone wouldn't work, for no reason at all. We have major problems with our sound system now, and can barely make it work anymore. It's a portable system I bought three and a half years ago. We'd really need a professional system, but that's costly, if you can find one in Bamako at all.

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Saturday, March 15, 2008

Cut Off From Outside World

The whole of Mali is cut off from the rest of the world - in terms of internet. There is no internet in Mali at this time.

This morning the internet stopped working, and I thought it was just a temporary thing since it's not like that doesn't happen. Later I heard from someone passing by that all the internetcafés are offline as well. Later Anco came over who was informed, telling us that the cable that brings the internet from Senegal into Mali was broken somewhere. That's why the flow is interrupted. He also said - what an encouragement - that last time that happened, it took them 5 days to repair.

Well, you'll see when you get this email (if you get it in your inbox).

Street Kid Program

Today we had the first real (after last Saturday's) street kid program on our property. Seybou came with 17 boys piled on the back of his truck. Yesterday I hadn't been sure whether I'd be up to doing the program, but today I was. I've now measured 36.4°C inside the house (97.5°F).

I had been unhappy with the way the program was going on the old property, and had been praying for new inspiration, creative ideas and wisdom to know what to do differently, and the Lord has answered.

One problem was their attention span is very short. Half of them would always fall asleep during the program. I was teaching them an excellent curriculum and seeing the fruit of it. What to do?

I remembered the pre-school curriculum I had from the same ministry, and decided that would be more their level. I prepared three 5-min lessons from that curriculum. I also prepared several games.

Paul was not really at his best - whether for physical or emotional reasons, I'm not sure. The kids did the first game - clearing cans off with balls - and loved it. Those who succeeded got a candy and a point. Then I gave a five-min lesson, plus verse to memorize and little activity to visualize the lesson. Those who did the activity got a point. Then another game, the same way, and another teaching. And then a final game. All this took quite some time, and I burned my skin since I was in the sun much of the time.

One kid had gotten 3 points in total, and he got a special prize.

I was pretty tired by the time we were done. I was also disappointed that some of my own kids don't behave better than the street kids, talking and being disruptive. Paul stayed with them and supervised the meal. Then Seybou took them back to the bus station.

Hope

As mentioned, Hyacinthe came by today. He is an assistant pastor and school teacher and has done our Bible School. He asked me on the phone a few days ago, how he could help, and I said rather cynically, to come teach. He is an excellent secondary teacher (he's from Togo, not Mali). He said he'd come as much as possible to help out and teach. Wow!

So today we were talking about that. I told him and showed him what we're doing in school, and what way. He's gonna come help as much as he can while I'm gone. Thank God!

I've known Hyacinthe for years, and we've both known the day will come when he'll work with us. I could very well see him as our school director!

Where Goes The Power?

That was the question to solve. Anco had installed a counter, and was puzzled by the amount of electricity we use, without having much plugged in. Today he found out that it was the fridge. It's an old fridge, and doesn't even keep very cold at all. It consumes A LOT, which is definitely a reason our electricity bill at the old house was so high. If you remember, we bought it second hand, and it was a nightmare of 5 weeks, until we finally had a fridge that even worked! Anco recommended we'd buy a new fridge. Easier said than done.

He also checked how much my AC needs. Same story. It's big, old, and uses far too much. That's why our system can't handle it. So there is no hope at this time for me to sleep in an airconditioned room at night.

To my greatest surprise, I was able to sleep pretty well last night. That was a first in 10 days or so. Of course I woke up a few times, and went under the shower with my night clothes once, but other than that, I slept pretty well. I was very thankful for that, feeling the difference in the morning. May this coming night be as good!

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Friday, March 14, 2008

Weekly Prayer Meeting

The day was pretty discouraging, with the way the boys were behaving - from fights, to lack of respect, to mockery. Once more I contemplated dissolving the center and starting over.

The time for our weekly prayer meeting came, and nobody showed up. So I just sat down at the piano and started worshipping God out of my discouragement. If we can't pray, then there is no point in doing anything else. I started singing MY LIFE IS IN YOU, LORD and before long tears started streaming down my face, as I meant every word I was singing. He was my hope, and I would praise Him. After a few minutes of playing and singing (my voice would break up again and again as my tears came forcefully), they started filing in and joining me. I didn't look at them, but just kept worshipping God with tears running down my face. Then I switched to BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD, which speaks about worshipping the Lord during the hard times, and more tears flowed. We went on like that for a while. Then I got off the piano, knelt on the floor and poured out my heart to God, asking for His intervention, His help, His mercy on us.

After some time, I got back on the piano and played a few more songs. Then we went into a time of prayer and intercession for different subjects.

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

A Scorpion?

Last night I was lying on my mattress next to the house door still reading a few minutes before going to bed, when I suddenly saw something crawl real fast around my book and lamp, and it looked like a scorpion. I jumped up and shouted for Seybou to come. He came, and they found it, but it turned out not to be a scorpion.

However, we are on the foot of a hill in a rural setting, and scorpions and snakes are not a rare occurrence. But God promises us that we will trample on them, and they won't harm us. Keep up the prayers!

Flying Termites

As the sun went down tonight and we turned some lights on, suddenly dozens of flying termites were flying around each light. I immediately told them to turn off the lights. Every year around that time is a season when those flying termites come out. They don't live long, and an hour or so later, you can sweep the heap of them off the floor. They come through even under the door, but without glass anyway, they came in unhindered, of course.

In fact, a lot of animal life finds refuge in our house, especially insects. The cockroaches I have already grown somewhat accustomed too - we had many of those in our old house as well. I still don't like them, though.

And then there are those Malian wasps. They are much bigger than in the west, but are not aggressive and don't hurt you. However, they build these caracteristic little houses all over the wall, and I've already seen several of them all over the house. That doesn't surprise, since I see them inside the house much of the day.

I guess that's enough about Mali's wildlife for today :-).

Battling The Heat

Wishing to get more sleep during the night, I decided to take drastic measures and apply one of the most basic missionary tricks. I got a bucket of water I put beside my bed, and a sheet that I put into the bucket. I wrung it out and then covered myself with the wet sheet, while the stand-alone fan was blowing on me. It actually makes you freeze! So for a few minutes - until it's dry - you're not hot, but I have to admit it isn't very comfortable. During my first year in Mali, when I had no AC either, that's what I did. Is it age that makes it harder to live certain ways?

In any case, this didn't really work for me as much as I had hoped. The first time it allowed me to fall asleep, but the second time I had to finally pull it off. Maybe it was too wet.

The second possibility is to go under the shower with your nightgown. It's basically the same scenario. Maybe I'll try that tonight.

Since I couldn't sleep, I finally decided to get up and spend time with the Lord. Good choice! I'll just have to get up early every morning, and lie down again later. Of course, the mosquitoes are still very bothersome when you want to pray or read the Bible. They bite you constantly! But you just have to choose between putting clothes on and being hot, or few clothes and mosquito bites.

Back To Teach

I was feeling nearly back to my normal strength and knew I just had to go back to teaching the boys. We made quite some progress this morning, thank God, and they did their homework in the afternoon. I looked at Douda's homework and found out that Abdias had done it for him. Daouda just learned the new letter "k" today, and since it's hard to write, simply let Abdias do it. I explained to them how serious cheating and then lying is, and they had to fill some papers with k's (Daouda) and the sentence "To help cheat is a sin." (Abdias), and spend an hour in their room. They later asked forgiveness for what they had done.

Tomorrow

Paul's school had an important event with some other schools today, where he played an important role. It went well. He asked permission there to stay home tomorrow, so he could get some rest. My plan had been to grab him and go to the swimming pool with him, so we can both get some rest, maybe have lunch at a restaurant, plus I need to go to the supermarket near the swimming pool, which is a long way from our house, on the other end of town. (We've been unable to find catfood anywhere in town, and I'm hoping they'll have some there.)

However, it was only a dream. Firmin has exams Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and is gonna go off to study tomorrow. So nobody would be left at the house with the boys, and that's not possible. Plus, the boys need to have school, so it's better for us to stay. (sigh)

New development - I've been talking with Emma about getting the kids eye exams. Abdias's sight is really bad - he has to sit all close to the board to see. So tomorrow morning they have an appointment for eye exams, and Emma will be with them. He has connections there. At least Abdias will have glasses soon!

So at least Paul and I will have a quiet morning with them out of the house.

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Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Business Not As Usual

The three of us are still sick, and it's pretty certain it wasn't malaria. I was wrong that Paul was back on his feet. He is on his feet, but not doing well at all. He doesn't want to eat, and so he doesn't, but he still goes to school every day, and that's tiring with all the walking and the heat. I told him today he needs to eat, and if it's only a little. His morale is also very low.

Hama is also still sick, but on the way up. As for myself, last night was pretty bad again. I lay awake in bed for 3 hours, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The kids did something that wasn't nice at all last night, and it was a strain on my strength.

It's the third day that the kids haven't had classes, and that concerns me probably more than anything else right now. They simply can't handle having that many hours in a day and nothing to do. That's when they get all kinds of ideas what they could do.

Today I talked to Paul about this. I was lying in bed, and he on the floor outside. Itold him there are things the kids can do without me, naming a few. But of course, with Paul out like that, he can't enforce anything. And Firmin can't enforce anything by nature.

Conclusion: I need to be up to teach them again. Jessica told me to get out for a day, but I guess it's not happening. I also told Paul he needs a break, a day away. But he has school 6 days a week. Otherwise I'd take him and go to the swimming pool for a day. With the intense heat right now, that would be nice.

By the way, the heat is another reason it's hard to sleep at night. I start off lying on a mattress near the house door, where the breeze comes through (since there is no glass), if there is one, but then at one point during the night I go back to my stuffy room because my back aches too much from the thin mattress on the floor. It's too bad the power we have is not enough for the AC. I can tell it was God's timing for me to go to Austria in two weeks, skipping the hottest time of year in Mali.

Your Ideas:

I'd like to ask for your creative ideas out there, what our teenagers could do while I'm gone - something constructive. This is my list so far:

  • Play educational games.
  • Finish the ten-finger-system typing learning software.
  • Memorize scripture passages.

If you can think of anything physical, that would be great. I think it would be wonderful if the construction work could continue, and they could help build.

Mosquito Nets As Windows

There is this lady from a ministry I've been connected to for years because I translated a big devotional book for them. She is an amazing networker and when she heard of our plight, she knew of some group who raised money for us to buy mosquito nets for each one of us to sleep under, and the rest to tape across the windows so they mosquitoes can't fly inside. We just bought those today, and now we have to put them up. I don't know if Paul and I are up to it, but it is exciting anyway.

Paul later said that it's not gonna work to put them on the windows. Well, we'll see.

Serious Family Meeting

Firmin told me he has to study tomorrow, since he has exams Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. And Paul is in school. So if I'm still sick, there is nobody else to oversee the boys.

The kids all apologized for what they did yesterday, the last ones tonight. I told them how concerned I was about them having nothing to do, and one of them admitted that they are bored. I told them, if I'm not fit to teach tomorrow, I expect them to work on their own, naming different things to do for school that they could have done even today. Instead, they go outside to goof around - of course, if no adult is watching.

I told them the situation is serious. If we were not enough people to keep our operations running, and then they are not doing their part, then there would have to be serious consequences nobody wants.

Our Health

I am feeling much better today, though the constant demands on me are wearing me down. Constant knocks at the door, and always a different person... I understand now why our nurse Jessica told me to get out for a day.

I'm concerned about Paul's health too - he has chest pain, he said. Paul works hard, at school and then at home, and I told him he needs to rest. Sick or not, he won't miss school. He was gonna go to the villages on Monday, staying overnight, but I forbid him to leave. He needs to get well first, and get some rest. And now he just went off to visit his family, instead of going to bed!

It's time for another hot night, and I'm not sure what to do about sleeping better. Can't change the heat, or the mattresses, or the mosquitoes.

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Sick With High Fever

I had a horrible, restless night, unable to sleep, and shivering with cold, though it wasn't cold. The fever was pretty high obviously. I could barely stand on my feet in the morning and knew I had to stay in bed.

I took some medication to lower the fever, and some time later I felt better and though I could teach my kids. They haven't had much school since the move, and we just need to make progress. I went over there, but after a few minutes I started feeling very miserable again, and I knew I couldn't do it. I had to lie back down.

Firmin was at university all day, and Paul at school, and so the boys were by themselves while I was in bed shivering. Hama is also sick. Paul was the first, and it seems, it's a virus that he's passed on to us. We have all taken malaria medication, but it hasn't made a difference.

I don't like being in bed all day, and I was too sick to even read most of the time. I finally measured the fever and was shocked how high it was.

With Denise and Hama sick, I asked Paul to stop over at Jessica's house, our American-trained nurse who I haven't seen in three months. And then Jessica came over to our house with our car, to look at me and Hama. That was very kind of her. She gave me antibiotics to take, gave antibiotics to Hama, and bandaged Abdias's foot that was injured while playing soccer. Then Seybou left to pick up the kids from school, and Jessica went back home with the car.

I was glad my loving cat Sweety was always on my side - she's the sweetest cat there is. Later in the evening, I called Paul and asked whether he'd spend some time with me, since I was really bored. He helped with some stuff, since I couldn't get up, and we talked for a while. At that point I measured 39.5°C (103°F) which was pretty shocking.

After talking for a while, I asked him whether the kids would maybe come over to talk a little. They all came! I was really glad. We all talked for a little while, and then they all laid hands on me and prayed for my healing. That's probably why I'm even able to write this blog right now.

Things have been going well with the boys, and I told them from a sincere heart that I had the best family in the world. I love them dearly and want to be a good Mom and reflection of Jesus for them.

During the day, I had been grieving about the events yesterday, because in reality the fault was with me. I had jumped to wrong conclusions. Before going to bed yesterday, I needed to talk to Paul and told him I was sorry, asking for his forgiveness. I told him tonight that what I'm currently working on personally is to love like Jesus. I was gonna preach on love yesterday. In any case, I know I fall short by far, and I pray God would change me so I could love them with His love.

By the way, the car wouldn't start in the afternoon. They pushed it and then it started. A cable had come lose. They put it back in, and now it works fine.

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Sunday, March 9, 2008

No Sunday Service

This is the second time in a few weeks that I didn't get to preach the sermon I had prepared.

I'm fed up having two childish team members. I'd like to send every one away and start over; with orphans, and with mature Christians.

But of course, I can't do that. I have to work with what I've got. But I'm tired, and need God to help me and give me wisdom, and give me love. I was gonna preach on love today. I know I have far too little. I don't know how Heidi Baker does it, but she is a great example for me.

Last night, no one came to worship God, so I guess the outpouring is over. If they are not hungry for God, there is nothing I can do. I doubt He'll pour out His Spirit if nobody is there.

I'm looking forward to leaving Mali in a few weeks. Now all I want to do is survive until then. But I'm also concerned how it's gonna all work with me not being here. But then, maybe it's gonna work better. There is so much they don't care about, so it doesn't bother them.

Honestly, I wished that TV reporter wasn't gonna come back to Mali with me from Austria. That's scary, the way things are now.

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Saturday, March 8, 2008

Failed Street Kid Program

I was actually excited to start our weekly street kid program again - that in itself was a miracle, since I had felt we were only doing a routine any more, without any life in it. But now on the new property, the Lord had answered my prayer to know how to do things differently, so there is life in them again. I was motivated, creative, and had done my preparations.

Paul has school until 9 am on Saturday, and Seybou was gonna pick him up at the bus station, together with the street kids, to bring them all home to our property. The perfect plan - or so I thought.

Paul has been sick, and did not wait for Seybou at the bus station. Though that meant a one-hour journey home, by bus and then a long walk. And then Seybou forgot his cellphone at home, and so I couldn't call him to tell him Paul was home, and he could come as well with the kids.

We waited and waited, and Seybou didn't show up. So I did some games with the kids from Paul's family, and they loved it. Finally I was getting pretty hot and tired, and I told Firmin I was going inside. If Seybou came now, it was too late for a program anyway.

Seybou came at 11:30 am, with about 25 street kids. I was simply not up to it, and so we put a Bible story DVD in, and had them watch it. Firmin asked questions about it in the end. Then they had a meal together, and already asked to be taken back to the bus station.

I was disappointed that Paul had let us down that way. He should never have gone to school, as sick as he is. He spent most of the rest of the day in bed, and we went to buy some malaria medication for him. It was a serious of unlucky circumstances, but I'm sure disappointed.

Solar Power System

Anco came again to improve our solar power system. He exchanged one of the machines that has been malfunctioning, and so we should have more power in the future. The generator has been running all day since Anco showed up, hammering noise in my ear. In spite of a working system and the generator, the power wasn't sufficient to make my AC run. So with a sigh I put my mattress next to the open door of the house again, where I'll spend the night, in the hopes of a wind blowing through the house, as it is typical this time of year.

Anco said he's willing to improve our system already and put more solar panels up, but only if we pay another $12,000 by the end of the month. With no money anywhere, and no hope for money, I could only tell him with sadness that I believed that unlikely.

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Friday, March 7, 2008

Errands Again

We finally got our car back last night, which enabled us to run some much needed errands today.

I let Seybou do a few first, while I did school with the boys. When Seybou came back, it was time for me to leave. I took Saloum (our oldest) with me. I promised them I'd take them out to eat one-on-one, and the lack of transportation kept that from happening. So Saloum was gonna be first.

We went to the bank, and then to the supermarket, where I spent a lot of money filling up on groceries and other necessary items again. Seybou then dropped us off at the restaurant closeby, while he went off to pick up the smaller kids from school.

Mother-Son Time

I spent two hours with Saloum, and they were very precious. We had good food, and a great conversation - probably the best ever. Saloum told me more about his family, and his future dreams. It was great. He is a fine young men who God will use mightily for His kingdom.

Seybou came later than expected, since he had to eat and take the kids back to school. So it was quite late, when we got back home. Time for homework or rather more school, since we had stopped school early in the morning. I sat with them until 5:30 pm, doing schoolwork.

Worship Meeting

Then it was time for our weekly prayer meeting. Since we didn't do a meeting yesterday, I was curious what it would be like tonight. Paul has been sick all day, and dragged himself to the meeting. He just lay down on the floor right away.

I got on the piano, and we started praising God. At one poin we sang a song saying the kingdom of God was here, and I asked them to surround Paul and declare it over him, that he was healed. Then they did the same with Firmin, who has been having hip pain.

We did a RIVER song, and then we made a circle, and invited everyone to jump in. Firmin, Abdias, and I ended up on the floor, where we stayed. His presence was there! I enjoyed His presence, and really wanted to go deeper. Hama was on my left, and Sarata on my right, each holding one hand of mine. Finally I got up and started praying for each person - and Sarata (who will turn 3 in a few months) helped me out. She also lay hands on them with me, and repeated what I was praying. I loved it!

Finally Paul got up and said he felt much better. Firmin as well.

We stopped earlier than we would have normally, but it was time to go to the bus station.

Street Kids

I stayed home, while all the others went to the bus station to hand out food to the street children and invite them to our weekly program tomorrow. Because of the broken car, we had not been there last week, and they asked us where we had been. They were happy to us.

Tomorrow is gonna be the first program on our property. Please pray for it.

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Thursday, March 6, 2008

Break, Broke, Broken

After the car, guitar, the solar system not working properly, now the computer my team and the kids use has reached its end of life. The adults do their email on there, and use it for school/university work, and the kids do educational games on there. It was a cheap computer, so it shouldn't be surprising. With the heat and dust, the lifespan of electronic equipment is condiserably shortened. That's why twice I bought a good quality computer, even though it cost more, but it was sure worth it. After over two years, it reached the end of its life, and so I had to buy a new computer while the US in January. This time, however, I thought I'd take a chance, and bought a cheap computer. Only a few weeks later, I already have problems with it. It looks like I should buy a good quality computer again - that will last - and then I could give my present one to the team and kids to use.

Of course, all this is pretty ridiculous at this present time. I just spent $3000 I don't have to have our car repaired, and we are out of money on every side. We can't do anything in the house, and I have to figure out how to pay my ticket to Austria.

Solar Power System

Anco has finally come back to town and came over today. I've been unable to use water kettle or microwave, and several times we were without power for many hours.

Anco noticed that we use A LOT OF energy, a lot more than makes sense. He's not sure if he has the right equipment with him, but he'll try to find out where all this power is going. It's tomorrow he's gonna install another piece, so that we'll hopefully have more power. We'll know then whether I can use the AC at night, so I'm able to sleep.

In fact, I'm very tired because of the heat and not sleeping well at night. The hot season has started, and we have 35°C (95°F) inside the house at all times. And no AC or even fans. Outside it's about 40°C (105°F) during the day now, but at night it goes down to the temperature we have inside the house. So you can see why it's hard to sleep. The mattress is really hot to lie on.

So I'm really hoping we'll have enough energy for me to turn the AC in my room on at night. Sleeping well would make a big difference.

In any case, Anco said he needs to install more solar panels to give us more energy, but of course we don't have any money now. I'm thankful that he brought a good generator with him that he can lend us. He said it needs to run because the batteries are too low. However, it costs a lot of money to run, and the noise is deafening. I'm sitting in my office, with the noise hammering on my ears. If somebody stood next to me, I would not be able to hear him. Since I'm really tired, the noise is not helping me.

Because of the noise, we are also unable to do a worship meeting tonight.

School

I was in a great mood all morning, enjoying doing school with the kids. It was definitely an answer to my prayers that I had the idea to do math one on one with them in my living room. It works great! We got a lot done today, working morning and afternoon.

The Car Is Back

In the afternoon our car returned, after 10 days with the mechanic. It's repaired and working. I pray that it will work A LONG TIME now before something breaks again. Why don't I have faith for that....

Tomorrow Seybou can pick up the normal routine again, taking kids to school and picking them up. No more taxis! Also, there is a whole list of errands to run - for him as well as me. I have hardly any groceries left at home any more. I'm not sure if it's gonna work out for me to go downtown tomorrow.

We will also be able to get back to the bus station again, to hand out food to the street kids and invite them to our program. We have not restarted our program on our property yet, but will do so Saturday.

A few days ago I was so full of energy and looking forward to having the street kids with us again. Now I just feel tired. We need God to come down and refresh us again!

Visitation

Nobody showed up again to our 6 pm time of worship. I was somewhat saddened by that. I've paid the price - the hunger, the crying out, the contending for an outpouring - but they haven't. I don't think an outpouring or revival can be carried on me alone.

Paul showed up at 7 pm, praise God. He sure is hungry! And then Firmin showed up some time later; none of the kids. I got on the piano and led worship, and it was good, but not like the nights before. No outpouring of joy or His tangible presence. And they didn't stay that long. When they left, I got down on my face and cried out to God to keep pouring out His Spirit, more and more, and to not stop what He has started!

Tonight, the generator is running, and the noise makes it impossible to get together.

Is the visitation over?

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Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Car Update

This morning Emma - who is in charge of the car - came by and informed me how much the mechanic charges. It was somewhat of a shock. It's the first time we use this mechanic, because he was recommend to me.

In the evening Emma came by again, and told me there were even more costs involved. It was somewhat discouraging since we don't have any money anway. We are now up to $3000.

On the upside, we should get our car back tomorrow night. I really hope so. Then we have one month to make sure the engine is good. There is a one-month-warranty on it.

Visitation Day 5

We did school again this morning, while Enoch watched a Jill Austin DVD. He then left in the afternoon.

Emma left at 6 pm which was the time we get together to worship God every day. However, Paul was asleep, Firmin gone, Seybou gone, and the boys at the nearby soccer field. So I just started worshipping God on my own. I was so hungry for Him. I need so much more of God!

After an hour, Paul suddenly showed up and joined me. We spent another hour seeking God's face, Paul on one side of the room and me on the other. At one point, God poured His joy and new wine out again, and I went over to Paul and layed hands on him, and he got filled to overflowing, laughing and trembling in His presence. It was wonderful!

Paul left at 8 pm, but I kept going a little more. I realized that while I'm so thankful He is coming down, I need Him so much more than that. I'm hungry and desperate for Him! And I'm excited, because I believe this is the time for the fulfillment of promises. It's the beginning of so much more to come!

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Monday, March 3, 2008

Quiet Day?

The events of the last few days were taking their toll. I was very tired and wanted some rest instead of teaching school. So I canceled school but unfortunately I got caught up in office work and never had the rest I needed.

Enoch (our village pastor) showed up later in the day - great timing.

In any case, I was glad for the first day without a major crises in a while!

Visitation Day 4

Our 3 weeks of praise & worship ended yesterday, but how could we not get together to meet with Him now that He is visiting us. I spent some time talking with Enoch before our meeting. He told me that things had been very difficult for him as well this past week. He shared how several times he saw the devil walking around his property, with a sword and flaming torch, trying to find him, but he couldn't. He also shared about a fight with his wife. And then he told us how his service yesterday was on a whole new level. Praise God! While He is visiting us in Bamako, He's also moving in the villages!

I was glad Enoch could join in with us and get some much-needed refreshing.

I had translated two new songs in the afternoon, one of them a fast river song. We started dancing UNDIGNIFIED and other fast songs, and were all dancing like crazy. I left the piano a few times to join in the jumping and dancing. His joy was so tangible! Then we all held hands and invited God to come down in power, and He did. I went around laying hands on those who wanted to, and His presence increased on and in them. Enoch was also touched powerfully. We then went into a time of intimate worship, and I did some prophetic worship.

The meeting lasted two hours. There were some disruptions, the kids were already gone, and then I asked the team whether they wanted to continue or stop. I was energized after having been in God's presence, and knew we had barely touched on all He wants to do, and wanted to go deeper, but they didn't. So they left to have dinner.

After dinner, I showed Enoch the video clips I showed to my household two weeks ago, of God's glory manifesting through gold dust, diamonds and oil. Those things should stir hunger in our hearts that there is so much more out there, so much more He has for us. It did amaze Enoch.

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Sunday, March 2, 2008

Paul & Firmin

I can still hardly believe the behavior of Paul and Firmin! Yesterday it was the boys, today it's them. And the intensity of their reaction! That's not at all Firmin's nature! I don't know whether I have EVER seen him like that! It would all be so funny, if it wasn't so sad.

I guess I don't have 7 children, but 9 children. They act like kindergarteners today. It makes me sad because I thought they wanted God's presence more than that.

I'm thankful for the peace and joy I have in the midst of this, no anger at all. At the same time I feel that determination to not let the enemy stop this starting revival.

Since I will not let the enemy win that easily, I decided to not just wait and pray, but to be proactive. I humbled myself, and went up to them to talk. They just kept doing their stuff, not responding to me. I took away what they were doing, and then they just sat there, staring and not responding. They refused to look at me or talk to me. I tried reasoning with them, but to no avail. Finally they said they'd finish what they were doing and come over to talk later.

Now I had not slept well at all last night. It was so hot, I finally moved my mattress into the living room, where it's 2°C cooler. It was 2 am. Two hours later I moved back into my bedroom. Because of that restless night, I got up later than usual. And then the situation with the guys, and they finally came around at 11:30 or so. Our teenagers had left to do door-to-door without them because of it all. They took note of their behavior and had fun with it somewhat, since now they were the kids, and our boys the adults.

I sat down with Paul and Firmin, and they didn't say anything. I just waited, and finally get up to do something, coming back a few minutes later. Then they spoke up. We talked over half an hour. They told me how shocked they were that I had locked the door, locked them out. I told them if I had known what effect it would have on them, I would definitely not have locked it. However, their intense pain and anger shows they need healing there. They didn't want to admit that, though they know the basics of TPM. I offered to do a session with them to go to the root of the issue and be healed. They were not willing, of course. Somehow they didn't want to listen, and when they left, nothing was resolved. They said they'd go think and pray.

Fifteen minutes later - while I was FINALLY praying - they came back asking for forgiveness for their behavior. I gladly forgave them, and was so glad we'd be able to do the service, expecting God to move in power. There was little time left to get ready for the service.

Service - New Wineskin Needed

I was so glad Paul and Firmin had come around, that I started setting up for the service real early, while the others were still busy. I put up all the mats we have so we could lie down on the floor, in case God came down again.

Finally the others joined me and we got everything ready. I don't know why, but most Sundays I'm in a bad mood before the service, and it was a real testimony of God's work in me that I was joyful today. I could hardly wait for the service to start! It was the end of our three weeks of praise and worship, and we would do just that.

However, everything was plugged and still we didn't have power for the sound system and keyboard. We tested each extension cord and found the one that wasn't working. It was our longest, and we don't have any other left, so there was nothing we could do about it. No power, no piano.

I told everyone that that didn't make a difference at all - we'd still praise and worship God. I put the keyboard away, and got my guitar out.

First, Paul and Firmin started leading Bambara worship, and we all danced along. I haven't danced like that in public for a while - usually because I lead worship myself. We had so much fun! More and more people showed up, mostly kids, but they all just sat there, even though we encouraged them to join in.

After 45 min or so I talked to Paul who told me he felt we needed to go inside the house to seek God like we've done the last two nights. I also felt like we weren't getting anywhere. I picked up the guitar anyway to lead French worship. With percussions and drums, my voice was not heard, and the worship felt totally dead, not even reaching the people present, though Paul and Firmin and a few of our kids danced. I finally stopped, and spoke a few words to those present before closing the service.

I told them that God has started moving, that He was doing a new thing, but we didn't know yet what that looks like, and what we'd be doing.

Our service had lasted a total of one hour. We decided to pick up inside the house after an hour, giving us time to talk to people and get a little rest. As we put everything back into the house, my guitar broke - not for the first time. The top broke off, and I think this time it can't be glued back again again. That's sad.

Visitation Part 3

Back in the house, I realized how extremely tired I was - after a short and restless night, all the emotional stuff going with Paul and Firmin, and fasting lunch like we always do on Sunday.... I really just wanted to lie down and sleep. I finally put my head down on my desk and was close to falling asleep, when the hour was up already and everybody showed up to meet with God.

I wasn't the only one who was tired. I was wondering if and how we were gonna get anywhere. I felt too tired to play the keyboard. Finally I got on my knees and started praying, telling God I had nothing in me at all, but all I wanted was to meet with Him. I asked Him what He wanted us to do, and felt to just lie down on the floor and soak for a while. So I put a CD on, and the others followed my example.

After a short while, I felt strength coming back and I got up and sat down at the piano to start leading worship. I sang a few songs, and sang prophetically, while everyone just rested in His presence. Finally I got up and started praying for each one, and God visibly touched a few of them.

After some time, I felt it was time to get up and hold hands and let Him fill us. Paul couldn't get up, and others didn't want to. So it was Firmin, Fousseni, Souleymane and myself, and His presence started filling us powerfully. Souleymane was acting in the flesh, but Fousseni was truly touched. A little time later, I felt God speaking to me prophetically about Fousseni and I laid hands on him and released it. He was touched powerfully and lay in His presence for quite a long time.

Just after that, I looked at Abdias who was sitting there bored, and I felt I needed to pray for him. I prayed for God's fire, and he was touched powerfully. He stayed like that for quite some time, and confirmed later that God had done something in him. He sure needs it. :-)

Again, all in all, we praised & worshipped for over 3 hours. Paul, Firmin and I were the last ones up.

Benefit Concert

I told you about the benefit concert in Austria to help with our construction that took place on Friday night. Much work had gone into it, and we were praying hard that the proceeds would allow us to finish our house.

I heard that the concert itself was a great success. However, a monumental hurricane swept over Europe, killing people - including 4 in Austria - and people were advised to stay at home, and so not many showed up. For that reason, our hope was 10 times higher than reality, and so we can't even pick up work on the house again. That's definitely disappointing. Especially after all the work they've put into it in Austria.

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Saturday, March 1, 2008

Open Rebellion

We asked the children to clean the floors, and they refused. One said they are not slaves, and together they all went outside and sat down. I told them if they didn't want to do their job, they'd have to go to their room. They refused. Instead they were playing around, and I had to take a cord from one of them. They were out of control, not listening. So we started removing the percussions set and drums so they couldn't play those or have anything to do outside. When they came into the living room for a few moments, complaining about all kinds of things, I told them clearly they were free to go if they didn't like the rules of the house. We couldn't do anything but just let them be. And I was waiting for Paul to come home from school who can usually reach them better than I in those situations.

However, when Paul came home, he was extremely angry about their behavior and I was fearful to let him close to the kids. I tried reasoning with him that his anger was not helping, and that he'd have to be able to sit down with them and talk calmly. In fact, I was even surprised about myself that I had total peace about this all and was not angry or upset at all. If that is not proof that God's been visiting us!

I told Paul the best thing to do is have them read Scripture and then talk - if they were willing. Since the kids had an issue with being disciplined, I wrote a list of verses talking about discipline. Paul was able to quiet down, and together they read all the verses. The kids realized that discipline has to do with love and is necessary. Paul then talked to them without me.

Some time later, one teenager came up to me and asked forgiveness. And then one after the other came, until all five had done so. We then sat down together to talk. One issue of contention has been that they want to be able to leave the property. I let them leave but they were unable to respect the time frame, and so they had to stay on the property. I told them they could leave for 2 hours every day, but needed to stay close to the property and be back within the time frame, and that they shouldn't be surprised if they had to bear the consequences of not respecting the boundaries. They were happy with that. We all hugged each other, and everything was restored again.

I was amazed how that had changed from extreme lawlessness to complete restoration! Now we were ready to worship God together and see Him come down again.

Visitation Continues

At 5 o'clock the kids started praising God in Bambara in the courtyard, with the percussions set and drums. Neighbors came to join in, mainly children. At 6 o'clock, they came inside, to my living room, where we do the prayer/worship meetings. I was curious whether God was gonna come down again.

We started praising God, and tonight the teenagers also participated truthfully. There was much joy as we were praising God. As we sang UNDIGNIFIED, I joined in the jumping though I was at the keyboard. It was awesome!

I switched to more worshipful music, and to my amazement, it was the boys who were on the floor first. Usually it's Paul and Firmin - but they soon joined them. Most everyone was on the floor worshipping God. It was beautiful, but no visitation yet. I asked God what He wanted (us) to do. I felt we needed to hold hands in a circle, and He would come down. We did, and then I realized, Paul, Firmin and I needed to do a circle within that circle, since the three of us had "caught" it yesterday. We held hands and invited God's presence, and He came down. We kept drinking and letting Him fill us, on the floor and laughing, and then turned around to lay hands on those who also wanted God. Only two of the teenagers responded, and they received!!! Fousseni was mightily touched, and Souleymane also got it. One of the other boys jumped in in the flesh.

We had an awesome time in the river! The meeting lasted three hours. Paul and Firmin said His presence was more intense than the night before. Firmin saw an angel walking around me, and a bright light filling the house.

I talked to Seybou afterwards since I had seen he had trouble with what was going on, and he admitted that what he saw scared him. Please pray for him.

Again, it was Sarata and Hama who stayed with the three of us the longest.

Next Fierce Attack

One of our house rules is that my two team members who are responsible for the kids - Paul and Firmin - let me know when they leave the property. Several times they left without saying anything, and we talked last time, when Paul admitted his mistake and said he understood.

After the kids had gone to bed and I had done some work, I was gonna tell the two something important for the morning, but couldn't find them. I was told they had gone somewhere. It was after 10 pm. I was disappointed that once again they had not told me. I was gonna wait for them to tell them those things when they'd come back.

However, I would not hear them coming back, and so I locked the doors (remember - no glass anywher), to make sure I'd see them and could tell them. Again, I was not angry, was just gonna tell them calmly that they had forgotten to tell me they'd leave.

I did some work, waiting for them. Seybou was on the roof and noticed the door was locked, and so I opened it for him.

Finally it was 11:30 pm. Another rule is that everyone has to be back home by 11 pm. Suddenly I saw that they had returned without my knowledge. Firmin passed by and I told him I had waited for them and wanted to talk to them. He went up to the roof, and I thought he'd go and get Paul, and so I waited. And waited, but they didn't come.

Now you have to realize, I had joy and peace, and was completely innocent and ignorant. When they didn't come, I went up on the roof and called them. No answer. Finally I saw them in the very back and walked up to them, asking why they weren't coming and telling them I wanted to talk to them. Suddenly Paul got up and walked away, down the roof. I called out to him, asking him what was going on. I was in total shock, not understanding at all what was going on. Firmin wouldn't talk to me either. There was nothing I could do. Evidently, they had taken the locked house as an act against them.

I was truly in shock and unbelief, that they would give in to the enemy so easily, for no reason at all. Only two hours earlier I had warned them that the enemy would continue trying to shut down this visitation from God - obviously they had not heeded my warning. I was really disappointed. I wanted to talk to them, but they preferred to go to bed with their anger (see Eph 4:26-27).

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