The other day I spent a few hours in prayer, and one big reason was the situation with Firmin. And the Lord answered my prayers and showed me what to do. Thank God!

Firmin moved in with us nearly two years ago because he needed food more than anything, and we needed someone to help with our boys. We soon realized that things weren't working out very well, but after half a year, we changed his tasks and responsabilities, hoping it would make a difference. It helped, but wasn't a solution.

These past few months and especially the last few weeks he did several major things that just showed it was time action was taken. Today Firmin finally approached me to talk - he knew his deadline was the end of the month, and today is the last day of this month. As always, he didn't clarify anything or give answers. So I shared with him what the Lord had given me, and he accepted it.

Tomorrow he is moving out. He's moving back in with his relatives that don't live far from us. Since he's good at working with Hama, I have asked him to come one hour a day to work with Hama, and he'll be paid for that. We've established a time-table for that. He'll also still come for services and prayer meetings etc., so we'll still see him every day.

Since Firmin was not here for Lora's explications and demonstrations, we took an hour to work with Hama this afternoon. I explained everything to Firmin. Since you always need two people to work with Hama, that was a good time.

Djelika

Summer Program

Lora - a speech therapist - showed us a lot of exercises we could do with Hama, to help him grow and develop, and today we got started working with him. It takes two people to do it, and I asked Saloum - my oldest boy - to help me. Saloum is turning 19 in January, and so he needs to become a team member then, since he won't be a child any more. I was also hoping Seybou could help out, since that would force him to spend some time with his son, but today he was out on errands, so we'll see. In any case, we had a good time with Hama, and he has much potential.

Continuing Vehicle Saga

Power Update

Construction Pictures

I didn't feel that great when I got up, and so I took it easy. It sure was a tough night without electricity at all; very hot. After a few hours I lay back down, and enjoyed reading a book; it had been a while.

In the afternoon, I spent several hours before the Lord which was wonderful. I also prayed for the situation with Firmin, for wisdom and guidance, and the Lord answered my prayer.

Firmin

Construction Pictures

We still need $16,000 to finish the house, and need some money to come in within the week to continue.

What a day! I woke up feeling pretty miserable, and still having diarrhea. I could barely stay on my feet. I didn't have to wait long, before person after person knocked at my door for something, while I tried to spend time with God. Finally it was time to work with Hama.

Lora is a speech therapist, and she started showing me (and Paul joined us later) what exercises we can do with Hama. It was great! I learned a lot, and Hama enjoyed the attention. The challenge is that we need at least two people to work with Hama, and who should those people be? Send the workers, Lord!

Noon came, and we took a break. I felt so miserable I had to lie down, hot or not. It felt even hotter in the house today, and I measured 37°C (99°F). Even with the fan, the sheet was wet where my body touched it.

I did get some rest, until a knock on my door. It was time to leave. Since I was constantly running to the bathroom, I wasn't sure if it was wise to leave the house, but I took the risk. Lora wanted to get some money, and have lunch at the restaurant that's by the bank. I knew I couldn't eat anything, but went anyway.

We dropped off Elisabeth and her kids at her home, where I took this picture of her family, together with Lora. Then we took Souleymane to his school, before continuing on to the restaurant. Seybou, Lora, and I got a table, and I had some fresh fruit juice that tastes wonderful there. We enjoyed talking, and then Lora got some cookies for our kids, before we drove back home.

Back home, it was time to sit down with Hama and his parents, as well as Paul, so that Lora could explain some things to them. She did an awesome job, and I hope they got it. She also explained how important those exercises were, and that Hama could advance dramatically if they are done faithfully. She gave us a lot of useful tips, and I'm looking forward to implementing them.

After 90 minutes we were done, and Seybou went to pick up Souleymane from school. Then it hit me - what I have is malaria! How could I not have recognized it earlier! I immediately took the medication, and a few hours later I felt considerably better.

I lay down again, and got some sleep again. I then got up and tried to do some work, but it was truly hard. Another hour later, though, the medication had kicked in and I was able to start working. Thank God, because there is so much to do!

Lora had enjoyed her two days with us, gotten some rest, and read a great book. However, understandably, she was looking forward to going back to the west, and cooler weather. I told her to remember me when she is in the airconditioned airplane.

Power Problems

9 pm came, and it was time to leave for the airport. I asked Paul to turn off the generator that had been running since noon; the noise is so deafening that you can't actually talk with someone on my side of the house. As he switched it off, suddenly it kept running for a while and then it made "boom". When he switched the system to batteries - that had been charged all day - the power didn't come on. Oh great! Had that boom fried our system? Where was the power?

But we had to leave for the airport, and leave the worrying for later. We dropped Lora off at the airport, and said good-bye and "see you next time". The police was already with us, as you are not allowed to stop there, only drop people off, and so we quickly moved on, driving home.

In the short time I've known Lora, she's become really precious to me. She's been a great blessing.

On the way home, I was honestly worried that "boom" had caused greater damage, and I couldn't wait to have a closer look. Back home, I saw that the batteries had not been charged all day. Great. That's why there was no power. To my great relief, the generator still worked. What a miracle! However, we have to turn off the generator over night, which will leave us without power all night. I honestly don't know how I'm gonna sleep with this heat tonight, without fans.

I think more and more I should do what I thought of a few days ago, and several people have told me to do it - spend the night at an air-conditioned guest house, to get some sleep and rest. We'll see.

Now it's 11 pm, and time to turn off the generator and face the heat. Please pray for us; pray also for finances as we pay over $25 per day now for gas for the generator.

We had to get up at 6:30 am and leave the house at 7:15 am. It was very tough. I had slept little, and the power went out in the middle of the night, leaving me soaking wet on the mattress, at 35°C (95°F). I got some tea and took it with me; Seybou did the driving. We had everyone with us, to accompany the Americans to the airport and say good-bye.

When we go to their house, they were already packing up the bus. Wonderful! We were able to leave the house on time at about 8 am. All the luggage was on top of the bus, and as many Americans as possible inside, the rest of them being on the back of our truck. It was tight, but we succeeded.

Arriving at the airport, I grabbed the two Americans whose luggage had arrived a day later, to go pick it up, since we still hadn't done that. It didn't take long.

Then it was time to say good-bye - at least to 14 of them we wouldn't see again. Lora had another day and a half with us, and the other 7 are coming back to Bamako next week.

Winding Down

We got back on our truck and drove home, where several of us were ready to crash. I started getting some work done, while Lora rested, and enjoyed a day of quiet and rest. After lunch, I lay down because I just couldn't keep going, and ended up sleeping for two hours, in spite of the heat.

Then Emma came over, with Abdias's new glasses, since he had broken the frame. They are not as nice, but at least it didn't cost much to find a new one and adjust the lenses.

I went back to work in the afternoon, until our family meeting at 9 pm. I announced to them the plans for this summer.

Three of them are joining a YWAM team for an outreach for 3 weeks, where they get training, as well as doing evangelism. 16 is the minimum age, so only Saloum, Fousseni and Daouda can go. And tonight I found out that Daouda is 2 years older than I thought; namely turning 18 this year. It was interesting to watch them at the announcement - only Saloum was truly excited.

Paul is gonna stay home with Abdias and Souleymane during that time, and when the others come back, all five of them are going to Dio for three weeks. That will give Paul three weeks off, and he's already making plans to travel.

Paul returned in the middle of our family meeting. We have talked with each other today, but our relationship is very strained right now. We finished the family meeting by just praying one prayer over everyone.

In the meantime Hyacinthe had arrived. He knows that Lora is leaving tomorrow and came to see her before that. We ended up sitting and talking for nearly 2 hours. It was nice for all of us to be talking with people our age for a change.

Midnight has come again, and I for one am hoping that we have enough electricity to last us through the night, and that I'm going to be able to get some sleep and sleep in a little.

 

Somehow it has become a tradition that we go swimming every time we have a team come in. Swimming is my kids' favorite thing to do, and since it's expensive with so many kids, we can't usually do it.

We invaded the hotel and took over the swimming pool - there was only one hotel guest there. We had never gone there as early as 10 am like today. Everyone jumped into the water right away, which was pretty warm, and we all had much fun. I brought a few more gimmicks with me from Austria, including this "motorbike". Hama immediately claimed it for himself, and would not come down any more. He just loved it! Hama loves the water and never wants to get out.

I didn't spend as much time in the water, but tried to get some rest and do a little reading. Two hours passed pretty quickly, and it was time to go to the restaurant to eat. The buses were held up somewhere, and so we had to wait for them for half an hour, which got us off schedule.

We reached my favorite restaurant, which opened only for us, since they are usually closed at noon on Mondays. However, it was pretty chaotic, and it took two hours for some of us to receive our food, while they got a lot of things wrong as well. That threw us off schedule even more. But everyone enjoyed the food - our kids their chicken and fries, and the Americans to finally have a cheeseburger again. We had much fun, and I enjoyed talking to a few people.

Street Kid Dance Party

The kids were still having fun, dancing with the Americans, and it was a joy to watch them. Everyone was soaking wet because of the heat. There were two AC's at the side of the room, and people kept going there for a little cool air; it just wasn't enough to cool the whole room with 80 people dancing like crazy.

Time passed so quickly, and 8:45 arrived - time to leave. We said good-bye to the kids, had them line up, and gave them each a bag of food and a hug on the way out. The two buses were waiting for them outside, and took them back to the bus station where they live.

While the buses were gone, it was time for us to clean up. Everything was pretty dirty, but with a good number of us getting down to work, it did not take that long. It sure had been worth it!

When we were done, we gathered in the courtyard, because Ryan, the team leader, wanted to pray over us before they'd leave tomorrow morning. So went into the middle, and they started praying. Then I thanked them, and asked them to send me some personal testimonies of what their time in Mali has meant to them.

We all got into the buses and into our car and drove home. It was pretty late by the time we got home. Hama was fast asleep in the car. It would be another short night, since we'd have to get up at 6:30 am.

The Americans were invited to visit and preach at Hyacinthe's church; Hyacinthe did our Bible school and is assistant pastor at another church. They all went, and their leader Ryan preached. I heard it was a good service.

I stayed home to get some much-needed rest. I got up early anyway and felt the tiredness in my whole body. I was glad one of the Americans was preaching in the afternoon, so all I had to do was lead worship with 3 songs, and then interpret.

Paul and Firmin were both dressed in their best clothes; in fact, Firmin borrowed them from Paul since he was in jeans and an old T-Shirt, while Paul had his new clothes on, so I told him to get changed.

Few people came to our service today, which was surprising, especially since we had done door-to-door yesterday and seen about 10 healed and a few give their lives to Christ.

We had a special visitor, the assistant of the CBN director of French-speaking Africa. I talked to him before the service for a few minutes, and he said he'd stay in touch.

Paul and Firmin did the Bambara part of worship, and then I did the French songs. To our greatest surprise, our old sound system suddenly worked again! That really helped.

We declared the goodness of God in song, and then I had one of the Americans give a testimony about our time in the villages. We have so much reason to thank God! After that I continued with two more songs to simply gaze upon the beauty of our Lord.

We did the offering, and then John came up to preach. He talked about us, making a difference, and also spoke in a way non-believers would get the basics. After he was done, I took a few more minutes to clarify one issue that Muslims needed to have clarifed to understand what John was saying. Then I asked Lora up to share two healing testimonies from the villages, before we got into our usual groups to pray for the sick and pray for those who wanted to know Jesus. There were a few of both, I was told.

Campus Concert

 

Picture: Claudia with Hama this morning; Hama is our nearly 7-year-old handicapped boy.

It was after 9:30 am when the two buses with the Americans arrived, and some street children were already with them. Shortly afterwards Seybou arrived with the remaining children.

We had about 50 kids with us this morning, a sizeable group, and thankfully we also had a big team of helpers with the Americans. We sure needed that, especially since our sound system broke down, and the megaphone's batteries are used up. I had slept very little last night, and the power went off in the middle of the night leaving me without fan in a very hot room (34°C/93°F), and so I was very exhausted. Plus, a lot of things had not worked out this morning the way they should have, and so I really did not know how to make it through the next few hours. Then Lora came and prayed for me, and I was supernaturally strengthened. I was amazed how easy it was to do the program after that!

After praying for the program, we started off by playing a game that the Americans taught them. It was a great game, and they had lots of fun. It was followed by another game that also worked out well.

Then we had a time of praise. Paul led a few songs, and then the Americans did two songs with actions that they enjoyed a lot. I did a little video that you can watch by clicking here.

Next Lora did a great teaching on Jesus being the light of the world. I was amazed at how carefully the kids were listening, which is really rare. At the end of her teaching, she asked who wanted to know that light and follow Jesus, and many stood up. We then prayed a prayer of salvation with them.

The Americans had brought some gospel bracelets with them, and it was time to hand them out. The only way to do that in an organized fashion was to have them go outside the gate and then come in one by one. Still, they were pushing and shoving to be first, but it worked out, and everyone who wanted to got a bracelet.

I had asked one of the Americans to give a testimony about the Father's love, and Victor came up, sharing how he grew up without a father, and how he found his heavenly father. After he was done, he prayed over everyone. Then Lora came back and gave another short teaching.

After her teaching, our teams got into position to pray for the sick and whatever else they needed prayer for, and our medical student, nursing student, and local nurse Jessica treated those kids that had wounds. Few actually asked for prayer.

The Americans then got ready to leave, since they have their own (army) food, and our kids wouldn't really understand why they don't eat with them. After they had left, the food was ready and we got into groups, gathering around the bowls to eat together. I ate out of one bowl with Lora and Paul. As soon as we were done eating, the kids jumped on the back of our truck to be taken back to the bus station. Seybou had to go two times to take them.

Door-To-Door Evangelism

Last night I enjoyed being back in town and taking a wonderful shower. And I was looking forward to a long restful night, not setting my alarm at all. I expected to wake up early anyway.

I was wrong. I woke up and fell asleep again, and only woke up at 9:40 am! Have I ever done that in Mali before? I was shocked. I still had to correct and print out the invitations to be handed out on campus, and the bus was scheduled to leave our house at 9:30. I jumped up, and went over to the kids, only to find out that Firmin had gone to the market and missed the bus. The kids left all alone with the bus! I was shocked. Firmin was to be the only adult Malian with the Americans on campus.

I quickly printed out the invitations and gave them to Firmin, and Seybou had to take him to the Americans' house where the bus was waiting for him, after we had called the driver. One bus with Americans (not all - some needed to rest) then drove to campus, where they made 200 photocopies - that is 800 invitations - to hand them out to students. My kids then walked around with the Americans, handing out those invitations.

After they were done, they went to the nearby restaurant, where the rest of the team joined up with them. That is the second time in a week my boys get to eat at a restaurant! I hope they don't get used to it ;-).

From there they went back home, and then our boys continued on to our compound.

Prayer Meeting

Street Children At Bus Station

 

When I got up this morning, I felt a lot more rested than yesterday morning, though it had been hot and humid during the night. This morning we'd go to a new village called Diago. Diago is well known because it has a water factory, and so their bottles can be found all over Mali. The 1000 bottles of water we purchased for the Americans were all from Diago. Diago - a big village of 7000 people that is pretty spread out - had never had anyone bring them the gospel before. However, some people had gone to a meeting not too far away that a Malian healing evangelist did - a guy that is pretty controversial among Malian churches - where several of them were healed. So many expected this meeting to be just like that, and people came from all over expecting to be healed. So the faith level was high already.

We prayed together before leaving home, and I knew that I would give a clear, simple gospel presentation this morning, to see this village come to know the Lord.

When we got there, a good number was already gathered, and in the course of the morning more and more came. Hundreds were gathered, though I cannot estimate how many. We set everything up, and the village chief as well as the mayor came to greet me and welcome me. In fact, the village chief took the mic and greeted everyone. He told people that he knows that we are here to heal people by the power of God. He said he knows that that's what Christians like us do.

Paul and Firmin then started leading praise, and a couple of ladies started dancing, as well as some of the Americans. It was wonderful! I made a little video clip to watch - just click here.

All the village elders and important people had come with their chairs and sat down all around us. They also gave us chairs, which was really nice. Enoch was sitting right next to me for some time, as you can see on the picture.

After some time of praising God and dancing, I took the mic and gave my healing message. It was great, as I felt people's faith and expectation. They were so ready! I then told the teams to get into place, and start praying for the sick. Each team was surrounded by many people who waited to be healed, while I did the testimonies of those healed.

More and more started crowding around me, wanting to testify, and it was somewhat overwhelming me. I finally called Paul over to help me, which made a big difference. We had several older people who had not been able to stand upright who were completely healed. People who could not see well had their eyesight improved. A deaf-mute girl could hear and said "amen" twice. A lady had several tumors who disappeared. Another could not lift her arm and was healed. Many were healed of Malaria and stomach pains (often worms). And there were so many more testimonies - I don't even know what all they were healed of. We counted 611 healings this morning - and I make an effort to not exaggerate but rather stay low when in doubt.

Praying for all those people took quite some time - good thing we were so many to pray. We finally called them back to sit down and listen, promising them we'd pray again in the end if they hadn't received prayer yet.

I had an American give a testimony, and then it was my turn to preach. I was born for this! I can't tell you how it feels to preach to all these people! I love it, though it's extremely exhausting in every way. I told them a story, a parable for the gospel the Lord gave me last year. People love stories in Mali. I then explained the plain gospel to them, and invited them to know this wonderful God, and this wonderful Savior, and to live for Him from now on. I also prophesied over them how the Lord would do a great work in this village, if they served Him. Before the meeting, Lora had told me that the Lord had shown her that pastors would come out of this village that are gonna help us disciple this region. Praise God!

Having finished my presentation, I challenged them start serving Him today and to raise their hands, and many did. Then I asked them to come forward, and we'd pray together. About 200 came forward, crowding around Paul and me (see picture). I led them in a prayer of salvation, and they repeated after Paul. For a change, there were a lot of adults and older people, including the elders and the village chief. After our prayer, I told them to go to our ministry teams, and that they would pray for them to be filled with the Spirit and blessed.

So the teams kept praying for everyone, in spite of heat and fatigue. As more and more people were done, we started packing up. The village chief gave us the gift of 3 chickens, and the water factory director some water. Both asked us to pray for them, and for the village/factory. The village chief asked us to pass by his house on the way back to Dio, and so we did. His house is where Enoch is gonna teach the new believers every Wed morning starting next week. I had challenged all the new believers to go there and grow in their faith.

At the village chief's house, he asked us to pray for him and his wife, as well as his son. Those two were sick, and so we gathered around and prayed for them. I prophesied over him and his village, after asking him whether he and his house would serve Jesus, and he said yes. Then we took a group picture with them - the first we've taken at all!

We returned to Dio praising God, and ready for some rest. However, things wouldn't be as planned. Enoch told me that some people were still showing up as we were packing up in Diago, and he had sent them to Goro, where we'd be that night, having rescheduled the Tue morning meeting. He said that doing the meeting at night, it would be too far for those people who've traveled great distancest to come to go home. He suggested we'd do the meeting at 4 pm.

I was so very exhausted - as was Paul - that another meeting like this morning without any rest seemed totally impossible. However, the Americans being young, they didn't mind. Discussing it, we realized we could already drive home to Bamako tonight if we did the meeting early, and everyone was ready for "civilization" - a bathroom and shower etc., and so the decision fell to do that.

I was also glad to return home tonight, but concerned as to how to do a meeting. I could not think clearly or make any basic decisions, just go along, while I was praying for strength. We only had lunch at Enoch's compound, and then started packing up so we'd only have to grab our stuff after the meeting. I lay down for 15 minutes, but that didn't make any difference at all.

Goro - Reached Since Last Year

After the sun had come up, the buses left to pick up the Americans who had spent the night on the ground of a little one-room building in Bamabougou. Lora and I were woken up by Paul's alarm on his phone that was set for 5:30 am. Great! It went off every few minutes after that, robbing us of much needed sleep. It was hidden somewhere in the pile of bags in the room with us.

We finally got up, and I was extremely tired. We had some breakfast, and I had some tea, but it didn't make any difference. To my amazement, the Americans looked very rested - I guess they're still young. In fact, they are between 17 and 25 years old, the youngest being half my age!

We gathered together to pray - would we finally minister this morning? We were expected in Sotoly - a village we first went to a year ago, where hundreds were healed and saved, and where Enoch goes regularly to teach people, though their number was small.

They prayed for me and Paul, who do most of the talking, which was much appreciated. God gave me the message to pass on to Sotoly, as he had done the day before, when I was never able to deliver them.

We hopped into the buses and drove through the bush to Sotoly. Nobody was there to welcome us. We got out and set everything up, and slowly people started coming. In the end, we had half the people we had a year ago, at the max! Enoch told me the reason was the abundance of rain the night before; the conditions for field work were perfect because the ground was soft now, and so people stayed on the field instead of coming to the meeting at 10 am, which they had planned originally.

The village chief and elders came, and finally all the children from the local primary school came together from school, singing the national anthem of Mali while walking in a circle around us. Paul started leading us in Bambara praise songs, and then I gave a healing message the Lord had put afresh on my mind for those days in the villages. I shared it three times, and I could feel the anointing on it. After my short message, the ministry teams got into place. We had 7 teams - 3 Americans and 1 Malian each - and they were spread out in a circle around everywhere. People went up to the teams to receive healing prayer, and those that were healed, came over to me to give a testimony. We counted 65 healings that morning, and 29 who gave their lives to the Lord after having been healed.

Then I had an American give a testimony, before I preached. I preached on the story of the prodigal son, giving it a slightly different twist, as the Lord was calling this village to come back to Him, and honor their commitment they made to Him a year ago. I asked who would come back to their heavenly Father and serve Him, and make a commitment in front of everyone, and stay faithful, and come to listen to Enoch when he comes every week to teach the Word. About 50 people responded, and we prayed for them. Then we got back together in prayer teams, praying for the new believers.

I also started praying, and it was all kids that came to me. I prayed for them in Bambara, and felt so much love for each one of those children, realizing what great plans God had for them. If only they'll really get to know God and grow in Him.

Throughout the two days, many of the Americans enjoyed interacting with the children and adults, and it was great to see them having fun with kids and holding babies.

It was after 2 pm when we got back to Dio, where we had lunch. I was so exhausted, I just needed to sleep - and without drums playing all afternoon this time! I was hoping not to have a headache again like yesterday when I got back up, and lay down for a nap. It was very hot, but I got a little rest, and then spent some time praying for the evening meeting.

Main Village Dio

The one bus was supposed to be at our property at 8 am to pick us up. First, I found out that Paul wasn't here - he had gone to get something done, and then lead the bus to our compound. So he wasn't there to get everything ready. We were ready and waiting. It had been hard for me to get up that early anyway, and now I was sitting around waiting. I got my Bible out to read, with Hama and Sarata sitting next to me.

Finally, at 8:30 am, the bus arrived with Paul. We loaded everything up onto the roof, and finally left at 8:45. It was 9 before we arrived at the American's house, and nearly 10 before we left there! So we were already nearly 2 hours late! They were expecting us in the village of Goro at 10 am.

The bus drivers weren't even helping us putting the stuff on the roof, and then we had to stop for gas. Then they took a different route, and then we discovered the sound system and lamps weren't with us. We had no choice but to turn around. I called Seybou who brought the sound system and lamps part of the way, so we didn't have to go all the way back.

Now it was 11 as we left - delayed by 3 hours. Now the bus driver went the way he should at first, but then took a "wrong" road. He corrected his mistake, but later turned right when he should have gone straight. In shock I asked him why, and he said something about a check point he wanted to avoid. However, there was only one check point, and there was no way around. So what was he talking about? So he took this huge detour, and then we were stopped by the police at one intersection, who controlled the buses' paperwork. Paul was pretty angry by then, and I was frustrated at another delay. We finally continued on, and reached the check point which is 15 kilometers before Dio. When we go through there, we just drive through. However, we stopped, and the drivers wanted money to give to the policemen so they don't check us. Paul told them we had nothing to hide, and so they had to pay with their own money. But still, we waited there for over half an hour, wondering what was going on! Finally we continued on.

It was 1 pm when we finally reached Dio. I had already called Enoch to tell him we had to cancel this morning's meeting because we wouldn't make it. I was annoyed, he was, and hundreds of people that had gathered to hear the gospel had to be sent away. We rescheduled the meeting for Thu night - but most of the people that had come for nothing did not return that night. The enemy had succeeded in keeping them from hearing the gospel.

Arriving at Enoch's compound, the children we feed three times a week were just eating, and so I took a new picture of them. We then had lunch, and then I laid down to rest in the afternoon, since I was pretty tired. The Lord had given me a message for Goro in the morning, and as I took a nap and then prayed, he gave me one for Bamabougou at night.

Bamabougou

It's only 10 pm, and it feels like 2 am, as I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open. Everyone's tired in fact - and we haven't even left for the village yet!

The day was full of organizing, planning, preparing, packing, baking a cake, making phone calls, directing, etc.

At 10:30 am, the American team came over to our property, following Seybou. The 4 that came last year hadn't seen anything built yet - we started a month after they left. So they loved seeing it today, especially since they've also contributed financially. I showed them around, and they went up on the hill. At 11:30 they left to go downtown to eat, first of all, before touring around town. All my teenagers and Paul went with them - they had much fun. After 5 pm they were back at their house, and Seybou brought my kids back to our property.

Birthday Party & Impartation Time

Sleeping in my office turned out to be a good idea - it seems to be a few degrees "colder" here.

On Sundays, I always spend the day alone with God, until our service at 3 pm. This morning, I saw our visitor a few times, and she spent the day with our kids. She said she had fun.

Today was the first service since my return, since last Sunday was the Day of Prayer with all churches gathering for a joint service. I was curious to see what the church would look like. I had had the topic for the sermon in my mind since yesterday, and developed it. We always fast lunch on Sunday, and everyone spends an hour alone with God instead of eating, and I always give them the sermon's main passage to read for that. I had two passages today, but in the end I only preached on one, doing a short sermon for a change, but which was good.

They set everything up for the service, and it was great to see our new benches - it was high time for that, though it was quite an expense. I also like the straw roofing they put up while I was gone; it was necessary because the wind had destroyed our plastic tarp.

The service started at 3 pm. Seybou always drives to our old neighborhood to bring Paul's family and any street kids over to the service, driving them back afterwards.

Paul and Firmin led Bambara worship, with three of our boys playing the drums. Then it was my turn to do three songs on the keyboard, in French. Then came the offering, and then it was my turn to preach. Truly, this was not my typical way to preach, to preach on a passage, that was more like a story (end of Luke 11), with the Jewish perspective and context you just need to know to understand the passage. In the end I gave an altar call, and nearly everyone came forward to be those that restore God's honor. I then prayed over them.

So our service was over pretty early. I went and talket to a few people - I really have it on my heart to know them better. I'd also like for people to come to our weekly prayer meeting, and so we're gonna do it outside in the future.

Below our dining hall, and Seybou with our car in front of the dining hall.

22 More Americans Arrive

I let Paul do the street kid program another Saturday, so I could continue my preparations for the arrival of the team. The guestroom was ready, but there was still more work to be done for the house to look nice. One of the bookcases was still in chaos and very dirty, with pieces of wall everywhere, and so I tackled that, and then continued making my office nice and organized.

In the afternoon, Paul and the kids went over to the house we rented for the Americans to clean it. In my opinion, it would have been the landlord's job to do that, since he's gonna get paid, but he didn't. While they were there, I continued working at home.

When they came back, it was time for me to go over there. Our freezer was already over there. It will keep their water cool, and we don't use it anyway right now, to save energy. We also needed to pick up the 20 benches Caleb made for us. While Paul and I looked at the house, Seybou hopped over there to get the benches.

The house is not quite finished, but in process. Electricity and water are on, fans are installed, and bathrooms operable. That's about it. No furniture, no kitchen. Tomorrow I'm gonna take my electric kettle over there - I can't use it now anyway, because it needs too much energy for our system. We're also gonna leave them a few benches.

Seybou came back with the benches, and since we still had to go to the supermarket, we left the benches there for now. Tomorrow we're gonna pick them up.

We continued on towards downtown, and stopped at an ATM before going to the big supermarket. I got some cleaning materials - those missing was the kids' excuse for not cleaning their bathroom - as well as some food. I looked at my watch and saw that time was running. So we quickly made our way back home - which is pretty far.

Our Very First Visitor

With open mouth I'm watching everyone going crazy, acting weird, broken down communication, to the point that we're practically inoperable. Everyone's upset, and I'm so fed up with it all, I don't even want to tackle anything. Paul avoids me, doesn't talk to me, and Seybou just left my office upset for nothing.

What's going on??? The only explanation is that the enemy is doing everything he can to keep us from advancing God's kingdom next week by destroying our unity and peace. He's scared because he knows of the exploits we're gonna do.So far he is winning.

We need your prayers!!!

Home Alone

One the 3rd, another the 35th - Sarata and I are 32 years apart! We only knew Sarata's birth month - not the day - so I simply picked the same as mine.

I made two cakes - with bake mixes from the US - and had just bought a "3" candle in Austria for this occasion. The room was all dark when I came in with the cake and lit candles. We were all singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY, and Sarata had the honor of blowing out the candles.

Then one after the other started giving Sarata her gifts, and she loved them. I then cut the cake into 12 little pieces - which is why I made another one - and they all loved it. The only time we ever have cake is for birthdays - but we are enough people to have a birthday every couple of weeks.

As I was collecting everything again - our parties are very short - someone finally gave me my first gift, with more following. They know I love peanuts, and so I got a lot of peanuts. One gave me a diet cloke - something else I love. Abdias gave me a drawn picture. And Paul gave me a note that on Sunday, he'll give me pork meat. He knows I love pork, and he knows I'm fasting all week. He said there'll also be another gift that's coming in the weeks to come.

Today, I also finally passed on the gifts I brought with me from my trip to Paul's siblings - caps, T-shirts, sunglasses, and a gift from one sponsor. They were very happy. I'm looking forward to the day the five of them will also live with us. That will happen once my own house is built by the end of this year.

The next birthdays are fast approaching - Paul is turning 20 on Sunday, and then Fousseni and Marie-Madeleine both have their birthdays on Monday. We're gonna celebrate with the Americans Monday night, I hope.

Two days without a blog - that's quite a record for me :-). I guess I'm still dealing with the heat, all the work to do, from housework to paperwork, to preparations for the team, to people to talk to, and construction input to give.

Old Car, Rice, Gas

Three Weeks Of Fasting & Prayer

After a short night with little sleep because of the heat, I was very tired when I got up. I was sweaty all over and looking forward to a shower, but when I turned the water on, nothing came out. Great. It's Saloum's task to make sure the water tower is always filled with water. However, it also takes electricity to have the water pumped up.

The power had also gone out in the middle of the night. No shower, no fan, no internet. I grabbed my Bible and did the only thing I could do - spend time with God.

My team and kids went to a Pentecost event, but I just wanted to stay home and get work done. In the end, I didn't get much done without power. When they came back, they turned on the generator creating power, but that only lasted for some time as well. I was in the middle of doing accounting when the power went out again. Now it's been two hours, and I'm sitting in the dark, writing my blog on my computer's battery power. When that power is gone too, I will be in the dark altogether, not able to do anything at all. Good reason to go to bed early - if only sleep would come in a 35°C house.

But for now there is still some hope; Firmin is on his way back. Right now he is the only one who knows how to change some settings in our delicate system - generator only, solar only, or both together - since I've forgotten all that while being away for weeks. So possibly, he can make the power come back up soon.

Unfortunately, the missionary who installed our solar power system and knows it in and out won't be back in Mali until August. So, NOT being in Mali seems the best option right now, until those problems are taken care of. Maybe I should start my summer trip sooner than planned.

We only have one week to go before a team of 23 young Americans arrive. May God help us and do a miracle this week for everything and everyone to be ready then.

I woke up early - after all, it was two hours later for my body clock. I woke up to a dirty house in chaos. Already, I had so much work to do, and now this additional, not expected work, to put my house in order. It was nearly too much - I didn't even know where to start.

I decided to just take one little step at the time. I had an important email to write so we can have some money soon, but there was no electricity. The hours passed, and still nothing. It was nearly 1 pm before it came back on, having been charged by the sun. Anco raised the settings on purpose, at what level the power goes off, so that the batteries don't get totally discharged and last longer. But what is the point of taking good care of the batteries, if we never have electricity?

We had power for about three hours. I turned on a machine needing much power, which made the power go off altogether. Great job, Claudia! We were without power for a few hours, before we had gas to make the generator work again, getting power directly from it now.

What all did I do today? I started unpacking, which meant lots of presents for our kids coming out. One by one, I gave them to the kids, and they loved them! I had met with a good number of our children's sponsors, who had all given me gifts for their kids.

I myself had also bought some gifts - the most exciting one definitely being this swing I got for our little ones. I put it together, and we figured out a way to put it up on our metal construction where we do our services. Both children just LOVED it! Hama was shouting for joy! I made a little clip you can watch by clicking here.

By the way, when Hama (6) and Sarata (3) saw me this morning for the first time, they started smiling all over their faces and running into my arms. I just love those little ones! I was as happy to see them as they were to see me.

What else did we do? Some cleaning! When Kossi came he got some strong stuff and started removing the paint from furniture - it did not come off all the way. But I was glad he was helping.

As expected, it was a very short night, and then I got up before my alarm rang, and I was very tired. But at least it gave me more time to get ready for the guy from Austrian state television who had announced himself for 9:30 am to film my departure.

He wanted to film me as I put stuff in my suitcases, and he was lucky because I had so much I just couldn't get it into my two suitcases. I always have much, but it's never been as extreme. So I started a third suitcase with stuff of lower priority, just in case I can't take it along. I didn't know whether I could take a third baggage or not.

But that third suitcase wasn't enough. I had another, little suitcase, and put more stuff into that, having another big bag left over. Those will have to wait until our next visitor comes and can take it along.

My Mom arrived at 9:15 - half an hour early, which was good. A few minutes later the journalist arrived. He got his camera out and filmed me as I finished packing my bags. I had two very heavy suitcases, and a third light one. My carry-on backbag was 16 kilos, and very heavy on my shoulder, and then I had my leather jacket, plus my winter jacket where I put more heavy stuff into the pockets. I also had my big winter scarf. And then I had the two special canes for Hama in my hands as well.

We loaded everything into the car - with the journalist filming - and then said good-bye to my good friend and once again host Renate. Before he shot us driving away, I said good-bye to the journalist. He's a kind, young man. He said he'd come to Mali in September to do a few days of filming.

Actual Airport Miracle

Since I went to bed late, I got up late. When I turned on the computer to check my mails, I had a friend request from skype pop up on my screen - my pastor friend from Bulgaria. He told me that they're in Vienna, on the way to England, and would like to see me if at all possible. It had to be right away, so half an hour later they were here.

I've known Zhoro & Mariana from Sofia since 2002, when one of my Bible School professors went there for the first time, starting a new ministry. I was very involved and felt like I had gone there myself. In fact, I had learned some Bulgarian and taught the team who then went there. Zhoro once came to Kansas City, and so I met him. Another time he came to Vienna with his whole family, just at the time I was there, so I got to see them again, and today for the third time. What timing! The only day I'm Vienna this week, and that's exactly when they come through!

I so enjoyed reconnecting with them. I hadn't heard from them in a while. They had changed their email address, and so they were not up-to-date on what's happening in Mali either. Our time was short, but precious. The picture has three more people on it. Zhoro & Mariana on the left, and a couple who works with them on the right, together with a lady who lives here in Vienna they'd been witnessing to.

After they left, my friend and host Renate and I went out to run my last errands for Mali. We had a fun time together. Then we had lunch together in one of the places we always go to to eat and hadn't been to yet. It was after 5 pm before we were back home.

Packing For Mali

I got up earlier than intended, but was glad about the additional time - it was gone faster than wanted anyway. I enjoyed all the time online, being able to catch up on emails and the like. Thank You, Lord!

At 11 am my new friends were gonna pick me up. I was ready when they came. I had briefly met Betsy at the meeting yesterday, but now I had a chance to really meet her. Betsy and her husband are friends with our architect and his family.

We went straight to their house, where I met the rest of the people living there - Betsy's husband and two more ladies I had not met before. We had lunch, and I enjoyed the fellowship with them. They are all American.

Then we went into downtown Delft, walking around on this beautiful spring day. It was a gorgious little old town, and I took lots of pictures. We finally sat down at one of the famous coffee shops, where we had coffee/hot chocolate and the famous Dutch apple pie (I had not heard of).

After a nice walk through town, we returned to their house, where we had a little more time to talk and share. All of them are really wonderful people. One of the ladies really wants to come to Mali, and is praying about coming in 10 days, when we have the team of 22 Americans come.

Then it was time to say good-bye to Betsy & Hermann. I've found new friends, and was invited to come back for longer. It was the other three ladies who drove me to the airport, and we had much fun in the car. Somehow a humorous streak inside of me came to the surface, and so we had much reason to laugh. I said good-bye to them, knowing I'd hear from them again.

Return To Austria

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I had worked late into the night, and so I got up late. I was happy about a free morning, and got working on my computer again. I did something pretty time-intensive, and so time just passed. Today, the conference was over, but they had an 8-hour prayer meeting for Holland from 2-10 pm. Because of the emphasis on Holland, I wasn't that keen on going, and could have imagined staying at the hotel - a scary thought, now, after what happened there today. I would have missed a God-moment!

The reason I went was that Jill's assistant wrote me that Jill would be there for some time today, and she would be able to spend a few minutes with me. So as I finally left the hotel at 4:30 pm, I went hoping this was gonna happen, but by now being rather pessimistic.

So what happened? I got there at 5 pm, and went straight to the front to see if Jill was there - she was. I said hello, and she told me to take a seat next to here. Worship was going on at that time. She said to stay a little, and then we could go talk.

A little while later, we walked out of the hall to the speakers' lounge, where I had not had permission to go. We started talking, though we were interrupted a lot.

I also talked to Shara for a few minutes; she is Heidi Baker's personal assistant. I knew Shara when we were both in Jill's class in Kansas City, and then we both went on the trip with Todd Bentley, when he worked together with Heidi in Malawi. That was five years ago, and four years ago she became Heidi's assistant, after having been Jill's.

I had emailed Shara after getting her email address, telling her I'm trying to connect with Heidi, and she only got it late, after Heidi was gone. So she was very apologetic and said that next time, she'll set up a meeting. It looks like that won't be until January, at Todd's conference. Unless I make it to Mozambique first, which I'd very much like to do. Hopefully it works out before Shara moves on, because she told me she's gonna go back to Kansas City.

Just after ten o'clock the conference was over, and it was time to say good-bye again - to Shara, Jill, and Wesley. I was standing around with them, until their bus took them away to their hotel. I made my way out of the other side of the building and to the subway station. I got home to the hotel at 11:30 pm, amazed at what God had done these last few hours. Imagine if I had stayed in my hotel!

I thank the Lord for his faithfulness, and since He's taking care of all these things, He will also take care of the rest. I've had a lot of responses to the situation with Paul, some good, some bad, so thank you for caring. May God's will be done in all things!

Originally, this conference was to be a world congress with a representative from every nation of the earth. Over time, that changed; maybe because they couldn't find national leaders from every nation. In any case, I was an invited guest, but not informed that this conference now is all about Holland. I feel somewhat out of place.

I was there at 9 am this morning, an hour before the beginning. The doors weren't even open yet, and I was very thankful for my special guest tag to get in and get a good seat, just 2 minutes before the doors opened for everyone.

I went upstairs to the refreshment room, hoping to make some new friends. I did talk to two people.

The service started, with Dutch worship, and after different things, today's speaker came up - a Dutch evangelist. When it became clear right away, that his message was about reaching Holland, I decided to return to the hotel. I left a paper with my name on the seat to reserve it. Yesterday I had left my Christian novel, and it's gone; it's not in the LOST AND FOUND, so somebody must enjoy reading it.

I picked up some fast food on the way home, and was happy to be in my hotel room again. I was gonna lie down, since I was so tired, but when I did, so much was going through my mind that I got back up. I ended up having a fruitful afternoon of writing important emails.

Having watched some of the Lakeland Florida Healing Revival online, I logged on again to watch. However, something else was on - a black preacher in Australia. I didn't know who it was, and I only listened to a few minutes, but the Lord spoke to me through his words. He was right in the middle of it. He talked about being a 10 on a lower level or a 1 on a higher level. We don't like being a 1 again, after having been a 10, even though it's on a higher level, and so most of us prefer staying a 10 on the lower level. Wow! I feel like that's for me. I know I've gone up a level, but I sure am a 1 there. A great chance to realize afresh that I'm nothing and no one - Jesus in me is everything.

Another short night, as I wanted to be there at the time the doors opened to get a good seat. I arrived exactly at 8:30 am, but the doors were still closed. I ended up standing in line for half an hour - not much fun. At 9 o'clock they opened the doors, and some people were actually running to the hall. I got a good seat.

I still had an hour, and so I decided to try once again to find the guy I'd been emailing with, and who had sent me the official invitation to represent Mali at this conference. This time, I was lucky, and finally he was called over on the radio.

We made the introductions, and then I asked whether there was a name tag for me, as a special guest. So he led me to the guest lounge, where I received a tag. Then he showed me around everywhere, before he went off to do other things. I was very thankful to now have a special guest tag!

Che Ahn did the first session, and he gave a strong holiness message. I was absolutely shocked how many people responded - I guess that's why God changed his message.

After his session there was still about 40 minutes until the pastors' meeting at 1 pm. I went upstairs, and reserved a seat, before going into the guest lounge. I was looking forward to meeting some new people, and I did talk to a few.

After a rather short night I got up early, had some breakfast, and left to walk to the conference venue. I was planning on taking the straight road there this morning. However, I took a little detour, and so it took me 25 minutes to get there. I still got there an hour before the beginning of the meeting, and did get a good seat in the leaders section. During the one hour I still had, I talked to my neighbors, and went around the stands. I talked to a ministry that helps missionaries, and was encouraged, that they would potentially help us as well, with computers for example, or a car for me to use while in Europe.

The first meeting started with Kevin Prosch leading worship; he's a radical worshipper, with a whole new style. He told us to go around talking to people and fellowshipping with each other. I saw Bill Johnson a few rows further to the front, by himself, and went over to say hello. I reminded him that I had been in his weekly pastors meeting in his church last summer, and he remembered. I gave him a short update, and then returned to my seat.

Walter Heidenreich - one of the best-known revivalists of Germany - was the speaker of the morning session. He spoke about the poor, and reaching out to them with love. Just after my heart!

The morning session lasted until after 1 pm, and the afternoon session started at 2 pm. I had a snack with me. While sitting on my seat and watching, I saw this guy I had noticed earlier, knowing he was from Austria by the way he responded to the Austrian Hip Hop band in the morning. I walked over to him and started talking to him. The more we talked, the more he opened up, and the more I saw the hunger in this young believer. Finally he asked me to pray for him, and I did. The Lord really touched him. I hope I'll hear from him again.

The afternoon session started, with Bill Johnson doing the first part. Three speakers were scheduled. After Bill, Che Ahn came up. He shared about the Lakeland Florida Healing Revival he's just been to, and how it's already changed his ministry, and he said he wanted more than anything to impart this to everyone present. The third speaker had given up his session, so Che could lay hands on every person. Speaker after speaker speaks about the Florida revival - something extraordinary is happening there. God used Todd Bentley to start it, and as I (try to) write my blog, I'm watching it live online for the first time. It makes you hungry to go there!

We all lined up, and Che quickly went down the lines. Most people went down under the power of God, including myself. I didn't stay down for long because I wanted to go back to the hotel before the evening session. I was very thankful that we could leave our stuff on the chairs, and so keep our seats.

Leaving the building, I was decided to take the subway back to the hotel this time, as my feet were already aching. I asked someone how the tickets worked, and the guy at the subway station was very helpful to explain me how it all works. I easily found the right tram, and went the one stop. It's sure a lot quicker!

Back Home In Mali

After 4 hours of sleep, my alarm and cellphone woke me at 4:25 am. I had packed everything possible the night before, now I just had to add the last few things. The sun wasn't even up yet, as I quietly moved about getting ready. We left the house at 4:40 am, and were nearly alone on the streets of Vienna.

I'm so thankful for a friend like Renate, who drove me to the airport. She's one of the most giving and generous people I know. She dropped me off, and went back home to lie down again, while I checked in and went to my gate. My flight was at 6:45 am. We left a little late, but arrived in Amsterdam on time.

Holland! A new country to discover! New territories... I've never been to the Netherlands, and it's always exciting to go somewhere for the first time. The view from the plane was absolutely fascinating - water channels everywhere, and then seas of color in the middle of the green. Holland is known for its tulips, and right now is the tulip season.

I got off the plane, and soon had my suitcase. I exited and looked around for my ride - a lady I had never met before. She's a friend of friends of friends of mine, and also attending the conference.

Having slept 4 hours last night, and 5 the night before, I was very tired. I had barely kept my eyes open on the plane, and now I had to wait. There were no seats at all, and so I leaned on my suitcase, my eyes falling shut. I ended up waiting for 45 minutes, before the lady came with two friends.

We got into the car, and on the way to their home, we stopped a few times to see the tulip fields close up. It was absolutely beautiful! I took a lot of pictures, and it was hard to choose just a few to show you.

We continued on until we arrived at their house - a place where several people live. We had a little snack, and then she offered me a bed to lie down. I was so thankful! I lay down, and three hours later I woke up, surprised it was so late. I can't tell you what difference that nap made!

Heaven On Earth Conference