I'M IN AFRICA!!!

I’m presently in a guest house owned by the IMB in Dakar, Senegal, and I’m lov’in it! I was kind of dreading the flights that I had to be on, but all three of them were very pleasant. I saw a bunch of snow in Chicago, walked about a mile in the London airport to get to my gate, met my friend from orientation, Roy, who is working with the Wolof in Northern Senegal, and while waiting in the line to go through customs in Dakar, got to talk to two other Christians who were also coming to do the Lord’s work in Senegal. My traveling went perfect but Roy’s bags did not come in. We’re hoping that they will be in the next flight that comes in on Saturday.
Thank you for your prayers concerning my travels. I’ve have been just hangin’ out here in Dakar the past few days. The local missionaries have taken turns showing Roy and I around the city and helping us get some assignments done. The first thing that we did was to go back to America - well, the American Embassy, which was still very African. We got all our paper work set for a Senegalese ID card. I got a Visa so I can go in and out of Gambia, and I got a phone so I can look cool. My unlocked cell phone that I had in the states works here!!!! All I did was buy a card that was 4,000 CFA (a little over 8 bucks). Praise God for the little things too!!!! The first thing that we really did was get our cash advance from the business facilitator so we can pay for all our stuff. I’ve been meeting a lot of my colleagues that are working here in West Africa and they all are fun people that I hope I get to know better.
Saturday morning I will take about a one hour flight to meet up with the Fulakunda Team!!! They will pick me up and take me to Kolda. I’m really excited that I will finally get to meet my new family and some Fulakunda people! They have told me that they have a nice house set up for me and several things planned for my orientation. Pray that over the next couple of weeks I can soak up and remember every piece of helpful information as I learn about Kolda, the Fulakunda, my job, my team members, and everything that goes with it.
As I’m typing right now I can hear the call of prayer for the Muslims to all come to the mosque and pray. The whole time I’ve been here I have heard, seen, or sensed things all around me. The only word that I can use to describe it is … dark. I wish that y’all could be here and just see this. Your heart would break just as mine has for these lost people. Today is Friday and some of you know that Friday is the day of assembly in the Muslim world. Today I have seen, heard, and felt this presence even stronger than the other days. I’ve only been here 3 days and can’t imagine what this will be like later on down the road. Please join me every Friday as I will pray especially for the Christian workers among the Muslim. Pray for strength, encouragement, courage, and truth to be heard!
I started my journey on the first day of 2008. I know this will be a good year and I can’t wait to see what God has in store! Oh yeah, did I tell you…. I’M IN AFRICA!!!