A Letter To Myself!

Back in September, right after I got my new computer, I put a countdown that tells me how long until I leave for Senegal. My roommate, who is going to northern Senegal, called it my Fulakunda Countdown! Today I had another mini freak-out when I saw the clock go under 35 days. I’ve been doing that a lot lately. I’ll be just sitting there talking to someone, or even just reading something about Africa and I ask myself, “What in the world am I doing?????” I know that it’s God’s will for me to work with the Fulakunda and I truly want to go but as you can image, there are sometimes when the devil slips his ideas in my mind and I believe them. It was over the Thanksgiving holidays I got a little homesick and really had to be reminded why I’m doing this. I hope that the ten days that I will have with my family before I leave on January 1st, will be both a time of fun and one with lasting memories.
Yesterday the Regional Leader gave me and the other West African missionaries an assignment to write myself a letter that will be mailed to each of us in six months. They asked me to tell myself the reasons why I am where I am. It’s meant to be a reminder to myself that I’m being obedient to God and that I’m doing what I was called to do. I can imagine that after living in Senegal for six months the “What in the world am I doing????” feeling will still be constantly running through my mind. I wonder if my own words will have any impact on me. To write a letter to the Erik six months from now, I had to think of the Erik six months ago. I want to share just some of the things that I have learned in the past six months and some of the things that I want to learn in the next six months.
In the past six months I’ve learned
...that I’m not as much of a morning person as I thought I was.
...it’s really neat to just pull out your Bible and randomly read a Psalm.
...I’m spending more time in prayer (and I want even more).
...that I can cook for myself!
...the book of Acts is awesome!!!!
...I have fallen in love again with the red letters in the Bible.
...that I need to know more about the Old Testament.
...that I can sew a button back on a shirt.
...I can feel my prayer partners’ prayers everyday (especially Saturday night.)
...that I have a lot more work that I need to do to be the person that I want to be.
...that I love the Fulakunda people, even though I have never meet one.

In the next six month, I want Erik to
...be able to speak Pulaar!!!!! (the language of Southern Senegal.)
...feel peaceful when I wonder, “What in the world am I doing here????”
...bring the Fulakunda closer to a relationship with Jesus Christ.
...be happy with the decisions I have made.
...know more about the Bible, especially the Old Testament.
...have a more dynamic prayer life.

I hope this has given you a feeling for how to continue to pray for me. This year has been such a year of God stretching, teaching, and molding me into a new person. I am positive He is not done! Pray that when that letter comes next June, I will be proud of where I am, why I am, and whose I am.

I got it figered out....I think

This past weekend without electricty was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. It got dark around 7 o'clock but I had a realy cool flashlight to be my eyes. The cooking from scratch wasn't all that bad. We had to pretend we had gas stoves like we will have in West Africa.

Here is a pic of me cooking the one thing that I know how to cook, TOAST!! The other West African Missionaries and I cooked more than just that, I just wanted to share this picutre.

A World Vision and a Heart for the Fulakunda

Yesterday was the Worldview Workshop Day. We got to hear someone speak about a certain worldview and how through understanding them we would be able to share Christ with them. I chose to go to the Tribal Worldview. It was very interesting and we got to talk about many things. The teacher mentioned times when she has tried to share and ran into barriers. The tribal people couldn’t understand the difference between the one true God, and the god that they have been told about. We also talked about many different animistic beliefs and what to do if tribes are practicing their beliefs while you are in the village and about to share. (Would you drink the blood of an animal if it was offered to keep from offending the tribe?)
The afternoon of the workshop we watched a video about the Taliabo people who live in a very hard to-get-to island in the Pacific Rim. The video shared the stories of the Taliabo people and what they believed and how these people are so afraid of death. There were two missionary couples that found these tribes and asked to live with them and learn their language. Once they learned the language they shared the stories of the Bible with the tribes. It was great to hear how these missionaries went about breaking through the barriers and were able to lead the Taliabo people to Christ. It was a story of people being obedient to Christ that were told to share with people that were waiting and needed to hear the good news. I thought to myself, “Man that would be great if something like this would happen to the Fulakunda!!” And then it just hit me, the Fulakunda are just as needy as the Taliabo. God wants the heart of the Fulakunda just as much as the wants the heart of the Taliabo and the heart of you and me. I stopped right there and started to pray for the Fulakunda, that God would work in their hearts, so they can long for that eternal joy that the Lord gives me. I still don’t know what will be in store for me or the Fulakunda, but I do know that God is seeking the hearts of the Fulakunda and he is going to use me for his glory. Ohh, I pray that I can see the harvest of the Fulakunda. Pray for with me, please.
On a different note, this weekend we are simulating a West African experience and we will spend the weekend without electricity and cooking our meals from scratch. I hope that I will learn from this experience. Cooking has never been my strong point and I hope that I learn enough to not go hungry while I’m by myself in Senegal.