New time, new schedule

Over the past year, my basic schedule was going to class in the morning and doing many various things in the afternoon. I was able to use that time to talk to many different people and that time has brought out many different kinds of relationships. Now I don’t have language class and I must spend my time focused on a different task. The task that I came here for. The task of researching and finding more about the Fulakunda people. The research is and will be my main focus, but I will continue to have relationships and teaching opportunities in and around my home town of Kolda. As of now my research trips are in the surrounding areas of Kolda but they will slowly get to the point where I will need to spend more that just a day or two out in the villages.

As of now, I spend about 2 days of the week actually doing the research with a day before and after of planning and documenting the trip. I’m able to spend the rest of my time in Kolda, teaching and looking for opportunities to share the truth. I will soon get to the point where my trips will be taking the majority of the week and I wont be able to have a weekly cycle to be able to have time to meet with people in Kolda. Please pray that I will effectively be able to spend the time planning, researching, and documenting the areas of the Fulakunda people. And also pray for the relationships that I have in Kolda, as time might be shorter. Pray that the conversations and meetings will still be fruitful and seasoned with salt.

A CULTURAL TRANSLATION

Now that I don't have language classes all day, I'm trying to balance the time between my research trips and being in Kolda. I have filled some of that time with a group of people in a village a few kilometers out of town. After about two meetings, I made plans for exact times to meet . I told my three new friends to invite anyone that might want to listen to my stories. Sure enough, there were two new faces on my most recent visit. Just as I started to begin my story one of the original friends started talking about me. He mentioned when I came to Kolda, where I live, how many times I've been to the village, what I've been doing this past year, etc. He kind of introduced me for two or three minutes, then he looked at me and said that I could start. When he did this I couldn't help but laugh as I thought how I would have been introduced in the States. I'm perty sure the introduction would have taken no more than three seconds and gone something like this..."This is Erik. He's cool (head nod)."

Continue to pray for me as I travel. Pray for these meetings I have every Monday morning in the village of PB.

So, what do I do now?

I arrived January of 2008 and have been in language class everyday since, but guess what? I took my Pulaar language exam this Wednesday and passed! No more language classes, so what will I do????
Well, I will begin my research of the Fulakunda people and look for possibilities on where the gospel can be placed in order to reach the most people. I will begin in villages close to the city of Kolda. The better and more comfortable I get, the further away from home I will go. Over the next month or two I don't see myself getting too far away. One or two nights at a time is probably all I will do for a little while.
Please continue to pray for me in this time of transition. At first thought, it looks like I will have a lot more free time not being in class all day, but actually I will be even busier. I'm already seeing that my time is filling up quickly and I won't be spending as much time with some of my friends. I can also tell that I am going to be spending time with new friends. I'm excited that I will be having the opportunity to teach cool things from the Good Book to those new friends. Pray for my travels and that I can remember that God is always in control - even in the bush of Africa.

A PRAYER UPDATE

The time has finally arrived and I NEED your prayers. Yep! It's time for my language test. Meeting the standard on my Pularr language test means I can get to work and do what I came here to do. I will begin the test at 9 am on Wednesday Feb 4th (that's 3 am San Antonio and Corpus Christi time.) No, I don't expect you to get up at 3 am and pray, but I do ask that you throw up a couple of prayers for me before Wednesday morning. I feel good about my ability to speak the language. Just pray that nerves don't get in my way . I'll write by week's end to share my results. THANKS for praying.