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.