saying goodbye

well i am back in alabama now...a few days early. erin, ben, and i arrived back in america on monday with no problems, except for my delayed luggage.  it is weird to be back, good but weird.  it is so hard to think about how quick i can go from senegal to america.  they are not similar in too many ways. 

saying goodbye to my family and friends in dakar was much easier this year than it was for me last summer.  i was able to leave them behind this summer knowing that i did what God had sent me there to do.  trust me, it was not too easy though.  its not easy to leave behind my senegalese mother, Awa, as she is crying her eyes out. its not easy to leave little papa, knowing that he is gonna continue to get sick.  it is not easy to leave any of them, knowing that they do not have eternal life.  i have spent two summers now with the Lebou people of yoff and i hope to go back in the future.  God is working in their lives, stirring up their hearts and minds.  last summer i did not speak much wolof at all, and my main purpose was to build relationships.  well returning this year to those very same relationships allowed me to have many conversations about Christ and what i believe.  for granted i am not fluent in wolof, but i can get my point across by the grace of God. 

last summer was the first time that the IMB had missionaries living in the yoff area.  now there is a couple living there for two years.  this is so exciting, because they are learning wolof and will be able to have a lasting ministry with the people they live around.  they will be able to continue with the relationships that were formed the previous summer.  please pray for this couple as they are living in yoff and ministering to the lebou daily. 

pray for the lebou of yoff.  pray that they would welcome this couple into their lives. pray that they would continue to show interest in learning English and moreso about learning about Christianity.  pray for the family which is reading books about Jesus Christ.  pray that God will bring each of these people to know of his saving power.  pray for more servants to go and live among the lebou. 

thanks for all of your prayers for me throughout the summer.  our God is always faithful! i hope that you will continue to lift up the lebou people in your prayers and the missionaries that are serving in Senegal.

by the way, i will keep this site updated with prayer requests and such.