Here in Tiepogovogo

After two weeks in the village, I can hardly believe how well I have adjusted to life in Tiepogovogo. I love it! Life is simple and there is no speedway or byway. They don’t have electricity, running water or toilets. Every time you turn around you see either cows, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, guinea fowl, dogs or a cat and any combination of those. I even had bats that would go in my house every night, for a little while (they are taken care of now). Every morning I awaken to the thud thud thud of women pounding their rice or corn with these huge mortar and pestle like things and the bahing and stirring of either sheep or goats outside my house. Yet I have not had a problem getting a good nights sleep, I am thankful God made me a heavy sleeper. I love all of the sounds, all of the animals and all of the people.

The people are amazing! Tiepogovogo (my village) is a small farming community. Every family has at least one crop near by. Many of them grow either chilies, cotton or rice as main crops. Other crops include what they call auberguene (but they are not eggplant), onions, peanuts, corn and so on. Right now is harvest time for the chilies and cotton. I love to watch them come back to the village with these huge sacks of one of these on their heads, I mean we are talking around 100 pounds or more on their head. Amazing. They are helpful people too. Most of the village has been trying to help me learn Nyarafolo. The children are fun. They will come in one big wave and stand around me, sometimes to help me with Nyarafolo, sometimes to just see what I will do, other times to share my food with me. The other day I had a house full of kids. They are fun to watch, fun to play with and a joy to interact with. My family is a large one. My host father has two wives (he married the second before he knew it was not good in Christ). He has at least 10 kids. Maari, my main host mom, has 5 kids, one was just born last Friday. The baby girl is so precious; it has been cool watching how Maari takes care of her and she has let me help! Names are hard for me but I almost have my whole family figured out, just don’t ask me how to spell them in Nyarafolo. :) I don’t really know people yet, I can’t talk to them really you know, but you would be amazed how much one can communicate with simple signs and tones in voice. Even so the whole village is like one big family, my family.

I have been learning Nyarafolo, I would really like to talk to them all. It is not an easy language for an Anglophone like me. There are at least five sounds they use all the time that are not found in any Latin or Germanic language that I know of. Kp, Gb, Ny, Ŋ have challenged me to learn to use my mouth and tongue in ways I have not used them before. The grammar is extremely different too. I am still working on that one though, I’m not even close to understanding that yet, but hey it has only been two weeks; little by little, it will come as they say here. I am so looking forward to speaking to the people I see everyday with more than just greetings which are a little more complex than hey, how are you?

My accommodations are just right. I live in the village’s old church. That means I have a concrete floor and walls and a metal roof, which is different than most of the village. I have a two room latrine about 100 feet from my house. One side has a hole for number 2 in the middle and the other side has a drain that goes out of one wall this is for number 1 and bathing. The walls are mud brick, the floors are concrete and there is no roof, but I have a nice set of doors (none of the other latrines have this, don’t worry they don’t look). I have a nice cot for sleeping, which is actually quite comfortable, a mosquito net (good for more than just keeping mosquitoes out), a large water filter that holds several gallons on a stool, a plastic chair, and my bags and things and that's it. The simple life is sweet and it has been fun adjusting, I haven't missed much yet.

Where I am going

November has been extremely eventful! It started with a week with a family here in Bouaké, and recently Thanksgiving and the regional conference for the missionaries in the area (that started on Thanksgiving). We also had a team of short termers with us. They left today, Friday the 30^th. But the thing I wanted to write about the most this month is all of our placements with different families. This placement will be for the rest of the year (until about next September for half of us).  

There are 10 of us. One person, Drew, who is not really a journeyer but kind of is, has been living with a family for a month already in Borobo, which is just east of Bouaké and will only stay there until the beginning of January (shorter than everyone else). Two people a guy and a lady will be in Korhogo in two different churches, two ladies in Niéméné, two ladies in Niakara (short for Niakaramandougou), two guys in Boundaili, and two leaders (a couple) in Katiola. I will be in a small village very close to Ferké (short for Ferkessedougou) called Tiepogovogo. There are several American missionaries in Ferké and it is pretty close to Korhogo also, so I am not alone there, but I am the only Journeyer placed in that immediate area. I really like my placement. All of us will be working very closely with local churches.

There is no electricity or internet in my village, and no running water (don’t worry I will have a filter and a well). In my village people in every family have their own hut (except children), so I will have a very small building to myself (well that is what we think they will do, not sure yet really). I will be working with the Nyarafolo who are officially an unreached people group. I will have to learn Nyarafolo because not many people in my village speak French. I am supper excited to learn a local language. In my village there are 50 believers already, which is about half of the village (there were only 3 when missionaries arrived there many years ago). But the entire ethnicity of Nyarafolo only has about 0.06% Evangelical Christians (according to Linn Boese a missionary working with this people group). I will be in close contact with Linn as I stay in Tiepogovogo. She and her husband Glen have been working with this people for over 20 years and translating the Word of God into Nyarafolo. You can learn more about my village and the neighboring city Ferké from Linn’s perspective here: http://missionsfrontline.com/profile/LinneaBoese

We all were placed in our specific places because of our interests in helping the people. For example Haylei and Carina were placed in Niéméné because they are interested in social justice and the legal side of that and Niéméné is a very political town. I was placed in Tiepogovogo near Ferké for one because the Christian hospital in Ferké is expanding and I might be able to help there with my background in Landscape Architecture and my connections, but also because I can help in my town. The church in Tiepogovogo requested a young journey corps volunteer. I don’t know why yet, but I do know they are reaching out to a neighboring village that only as a few believers in it. So I look forward to working with them in whatever way I can and moreover however God would allow and open doors. Linn and I talked about maybe working with women also. All of these things are just pieces in a puzzle right now, but I know that God has a plan and I am excited to see what he does with me in Tiepogovogo!

My first home stay

This last week was one of the best here in Cote d’Ivoire yet. Each journeyer, including me, stayed in a family here in Bouaké for one week. It was awesome. This is not the family I will be living with in a month and a half or so. All of the families are Christian and local Ivoirians.

The idea is to get a taste of the culture, work on our French but the biggest reason we were there was to build relationships with the people who live in each house. In my host family there are 9 people. The mom and dad, who I call Tonton and Tantie (terms of endearment for uncles and aunts here), are in their 30’s I think and have 2 sons one is 7 and the other 4 years old. Tonton’s sister lives with them also, she is 22. Two of Tonton’s nephews live there, they are both 17 and one of his nieces, who is only 15 is there. A daughter of a close friend of their's lives there too, she is 14 I think. They are all there for different reasons, some of them for school and others to help the family and a couple of others. Having so many extended relatives living with the family is quite normal for an Ivorian family.

I went into the family without any expectations. Ok well I tried to put them all by the way side. I faced all of my fears before I went and gave them to God, who gently told me: I am your strength, I am your capability, trust me. So when I arrived I simply took everything in. I was amazed, really, their house was so charming with matching furniture, colorful tile and a bathroom any westerner could easily respect. Then they treated me like a princess at the beginning of the week. I definitely had mixed feelings about that, but that is how they always treat their guests, it is normal here. Since the idea was to also learn how to do things the way they do them, I asked several times to help with chores like cooking, dishes, laundry, sweeping and the like (all completely different than how we do them in the west). I did get to do a little bit of each of the things I mentioned. Also I got to help one of the nephews with his English homework from school. That was neat because he was one that really helped me in French (because he does know a little bit of English). But most of all I was surprised at how soon I felt completely at home there. After just 3 days of the 7, everything they do seemed like the most natural, most normal thing in the world, like I had lived like that all of my life. And I did get to know them! Even though we only had a week together, I was really sad to leave them and I definitely want to go visit them whenever I can. The amazing thing about that is that my French is still actually really terrible. It took a lot of effort and patience on both sides to communicate anything and sometimes it still didn’t happen. We did it, and some things don’t really take words to communicate and there was a ton of that too. God gets all the credit for this because I know these people and I barely can understand how with the language barrier, but just like he said, he is my strength and ability,  the fruit of the spirit was evident on both sides too, something that only he can do! My french did improve too! It was a privilege to stay with my Ivorian brothers and sisters and a real blessing in so many ways. I can’t wait to continue to build these relationships and I am very excited for my long homestay in just over a month.

P.S. Pictures to come on this blog, couldn't get it to work.
Also, I have 79% of my monthly support, praise God! If you would like to be apart of what God is doing here in Cote d'Ivoire either in prayer or support please visit my about page to find out how.

Meet the Journey Corps RIC Leaders

The leaders of this Journey Corps team are pretty awesome. We have five leaders over the age of 35 and four (give or take depending on the week) leaders who are our age and have just done a year or two in the program.

Our French teacher is amazing and very good at what he does. Timothé is Ivoirian, has a pretty cool wife named Leah and they are both only in their late 20’s. We actually had two french teachers for a while; Timothé has been my teacher. One class is for those who knew a ton of French already and the other is for beginners. The second teacher is a Frenchman named Benjamin (also late 20’s), but he will only be staying with us for a little while longer. They are both doing a great job of immersing us into French so that we can learn the language well and quickly. I really look forward to being “comfortable” in French as Steph put it once. I had French many years ago in High school, but most of what I learned then has been completely forgotten. It is not that amazing remembering things and expanding on that. I have been truly amazed, though, at how quickly the other Americans have been picking up the language. I was the only one who had any French at all, and yet in just four weeks they are understanding whole sentences, telling whole stories in French and learning a ton every single day. They inspire me to push harder to advance in French as do the Ivoirians living on campus with us.

Rod Ragsdale, kind of the chief of Journey Corps, has been in this country for a very long time. He actually grew up here for the most part as a missionary kid. He knows all of the ins and outs of the culture, is fluent in a couple of languages spoken here (there are 66 in all) and has a wealth of knowledge that he imparts at just the right time. But don’t let all of this fool you, he loves to tease and joke around. It is so funny when he does too. Sometimes you can’t tell whether he is being serious or joking, except for that little twinkle in his eye, as he is joking. When people fall for the joke he gets this look that is just priceless, I don’t think I could describe this look though. Angelika, his wife is really awesome too. She is German, a nurse and has a “we can do this” attitude about just about everything. She is a total sweetheart also, she loves people and truly cares about us doing well here and staying healthy.

Phil Bjorklund was a missionary in Rowanda for many years, once he and his wife moved back to the states they worked with college students all over the country. He has also taught at seminary and is a very knowledgeable and effective teacher especially when it comes to the bible. He has a real heart for helping and guiding the next generation. He also enjoys jokes, funny video clips and listening to and telling stories. Phil is about the same age as my Dad. Mimi (short for Miriam), is his wife. She also has a heart for the next generation and preparing them for the work that God has for them in any context. She has training as a counselor and truly just wants to be there for us through the good and the tough things alike.

I feel that this blog is getting a little too long, so next time I will introduce our peer leaders, (although one of them is leaving just next week :( and share what we do on a typical week day.

P.S. I am at 79.80% for monthly support! Praise God! Please continue to pray that the Lord will provide through partners. Check out my "About" page if you would like to find out how you can help.

Meet the Team

So I have been in Bouake for a week and half! We all have learned so much, done so much, experienced so many new things that the first week felt like an entire month! This week is proving to be a little more manageable. I really want to introduce the team to you all. We have Americans, Germans, Ivorians and even a Frenchman. I will start with the ones I have known the longest, the Americans.

Haylie has a heart for justice and human rights (especially for woman and children) and is a sweet, quite but fun personality. Eric is interested in sports ministry and is a fun outgoing very very tall guy. Emily has a heart for women’s ministry and has a sweet, outgoing and caring personality. Drew isn’t really a journeyer, he is a mid-term missionary with World Venture who is into video production for missions and he just needs to learn some language and culture with us before he embarks on his missions video production trek through Africa.

Haylei, April (comes in the Spring), Me, Emily, Eric (in Colorado)

The Germans have been super amazing to get to know also, there are 5 of them. There is a bit of a language barrier here though. Even though they know English pretty well, there are still quite a few words they are not familiar with. So it has been a little harder to get to know them well. Julia (my room mate) is a sweet funny and smart young woman, and she has a heart for children’s ministry. Karina is a kind, fun but soft-spoken personality; she also has a heart for children’s ministry especially with the handicapped. Lina has a fun, spontaneous personality, and she enjoys working with children also. David, who I call little brother (same name as my Dad and other weird stuff like that), is a caring individual who enjoys leading worship. Lucas has a fun personality and also enjoys worship.

One of the best moments we have had as a team (in my opinion), was when Lucas and David started playing worship songs they enjoy… that we all knew! That’s right two Germans knew and loved several contemporary worship songs that we all know, so we all worshiped God together, just because we could and we love him. There was so much unity in Christ in that moment.

Angelika, Lina, Julia, Carina, Emmanuel, David, Lukas, Haylie

We have many people on the leadership team. Six of them are Journeyers who have been here for a while (between 7 months and 2 years).  A few of them have gone back to their host families; they were just here for our first week. Now it is just Steph, Tricia and Devin here with us. There is also a Frenchmen, Ben, who sort of falls into this category, he hasn’t really been through the program though, I think. It has been really good learning from their experience and life lessons. We also have two Ivoirian twenty-somethings living with us: Maï and Emmanuel. They are both fun loving and very very helpful. They also have been very quick to make friends with all of us, which has been amazing. There were also five older adults with us last week (one of them is Ivoirian) who have taught us various things. I am running long in this blog already, so I will introduce them in another entry.

Steve, Kelly, Jess (back), Devin, Tricia (front), Steph (all journeyers that have been here for a while)

I have only been here since last Saturday, but it feels like I have been here a whole month. It has been one of the best weeks of my life but also one of the hardest. We have done so much, learned so much and have met so many new people, and we have all left so much behind. I have absolutely enjoyed progressing in French and learning a new culture, but none of these things are easy. All of the stress piles up, until it just bubbles over. The best thing about that is, God has provided for this also. He has provided people to counsel us wisely, he has and will continue to draw us near to him, give us understanding and grace to get through the tough times and be there for each other through it all.

For those of you who are in Texas, be jealous (jk ;), it has rained six times since we arrived and they have all been torrential downpours. It is so beautiful here, and all of the fruit (like bananas, grapefruit, tomatoes and papaya) that grow here have such a wonderful potent taste. It will be the dry season soon though. They tell us that everything is really brown and dried out during the dry season (sounds like home). This is hard to imagine when the campus looks like an absolute Eden. There are things that we have to watch out for here though, like driver ants, mosquitoes, unfiltered water, pot wholes ect…

Also internet is not readily accessible here. I haven’t been online since we were Abidjan, until just now. That takes some getting use to for me lol. On the other hand it has it’s very nice moments…

So this is what my life will be like for the next couple of months as I learn how to communicate and interact with an amazing people before I move in with a host family.

Blown away by His provision

I cannot believe I am sitting in the airport waiting to go to Côte d’Ivoire with my 3 teammates! This past year has been such a great learning and growing year for me as I waited (trying to be patient) for the call that the Lord has given me. Now that I am here, on my way there, I am finding it really hard to believe that the wait is over. God has been so faithful in every way. He has taught me more about trusting him for every need; trusting his provision, trusting his timing, his wisdom and even trusting him to teach what I need when I need it.

I graduated from college in May of 2011. At that time I thought I would live in my hometown for a total of 4 months, maybe 8 or 9 max. Haha! My timing was not God’s timing. Looking back at my year and 4 months in my hometown, I can see that God’s plan was way way better! I was planning to get a great job and earn what I needed there. God had me do a volunteer job instead with small jobs on the side. It was such a blessing to serve him there and watch him provide for my every need instead. His plan was what I needed, not mine. He provided some amazing friends there also, people I will dearly miss. People, that through His grace and healing, I actually let into my life. I am thankful for the pain of loss I feel now in leaving my friends and family. It shows me that I actually have allowed myself to love them.

Looking back, I can see how amazing my Lord has been to me. He has healed me in so many ways, freed me from so many things and kept me from falling in so many ways. I am thankful for his everlasting steadfast love. So thankful that he is not done with me yet though too!

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5

Looking forward, I have no delusions that this is going to be easy. In fact it will probably be one of the hardest things I have ever done (if not the hardest).  Yet, I trust my God. He has told me to do this. He knows the plans he has for me, even though I really don’t. His love is steadfast and perfect and so I trust him. I trust him with my very breath, even though I tend to hold on to my delusion of control often. I know that any hardship I go through will only teach me to trust him more and place more of my hope in him. So please don’t expect all of my blogs to be sunshiny and happy, but do expect to hear about God’s amazing grace in this broken and terrible world.

P.S. I am actually posting this from Abidjan though it written in transit (internet in the airports cost too much) but I am too tired to write about my really long day here. God is good, we are here and safe! Also the last time I checked (Tuesday) I only had 76% of my monthly financial need met. Check out my about page to see how you can help, if the Lord so leads you.

Coming soon...
What is it like in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire? Who is on the team I will be working with? and what will I be doing for the next couple of months?

PDX Training in Denver

It has been  quite a journey already to get to Côte d'Ivoire. This week I was in Denver for Partner Development training called PDX. World Venture has training for their members for Partner Development. They put on a special one for the Fall 2012 Journey Corps team, mostly because there weren't enough people signed up from outside Journey Corps to have a full one... Anyway, it was amazing! All of us Journeyers met and got to know each other (except Shasta, who we all missed dearly). So many prayers were answered. I saw God move in many ways, some of them were subtle and others not easily missed. We all had a blast and I now have a couple of brothers and several sisters. One of my prayers was that He would help us all be ourselves and bind us together. We saw that! A ton of questions were answered too.

Specific Stories:

For me, a long standing problem was resolved, so let me brag about the Lord for a minute... My computer has been in trouble several times since I returned from Kenya a couple of years ago, the logic board was replaced a couple of times and I had to redo the whole thing one other time. I have talked to Apple so many times I could be an Apple repare person myself. Anyway my computer stopped working on Tuesday at PDX. I mean it wasn't even turning on most of the time. So at the leader's insistance, Chazz took me and my computer to the Apple store down the road. They ran a test, said it was amazing that I was using it at all in the last month and kept it to replace the hard drive. I got it back the next morning. Everything worked out so well, it could have only been God, he is literally the only explanation! There is no Apple store for miles around were I live. So what did he do? Made it last until I was just down the street from one. I was going to miss work time for my presentation in PDX, so what did he do? He had me start on it months ago, so it only needed to be refined. The repair would have cost me money I don't have to spend now, so what did he do? He had me extend the warranty a year ago. I was going to loose everything on my computer, so what did he do? He had me back up my hard drive May 2, something I rarely do. It is about the only time I have been so happy to see my computer go out, because God is so good and now the problem is fixed! Yay! All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Anyway enough about that.

 We all met an Ivorian living in Denver. His wife made us an Ivorian dinner. As we ate and talked with him he told us a lot about Côte d'Ivoire: the politics, about life there, the food. Between he and Chazz (a journeyer from the first team) I learned a ton about the country and culture. He was so blessed by our visit too, I was so glad we got to go!

Oh and an important detail, we are shooting for a departure date of Sept 14th. It is all so much more like reality now and I am excited to see God work and move through the work he has set for us all to do from now until we leave Côte d'Ivoire in particular.

Prayer Requests:

That the team would continue to grow together over the summer
That we all would bless our friends and family with our stories as we share what God is doing in our lives and what He has called us to in Côte d'Ivoire
That we would have the time and motivation to work on partner development

Thanks for reading! Blessings!