Market & Walk to the Waterfall

Yesterday we took a walk up the hill from our base of operations here in Yirimadio. We were joined by friends here in Bamako who also enjoy a bit of a hike-- well, not quite rappelling, but more than a stroll. Up a series of rocky paths, s-T-E P UP over rocks big enough to hide a small cow, hoist yourself down again on the other side, look for a steady place to out your foot...-- you get the picture! We always have a tag-along group of children, and since Mimi seems to be the easiest of our names to say, we hear "Mimi", "Mimi, look", "Mimi, Photo"(I had the camera), "Mimi...". It was a beautiful day, not too hot, and relatively good humidity level, for a hike and photo taking session--(I did tell you I took my camera! I have been good and had left it at home on numerous excursions early on in our stay, so as not to be the Ugly American tourist. Now I have to play catch up.) We also are making an effort not to just be "whiteman" and have been asking them their names and telling them ours. Since we are about the only white people in this neighborhood they can recognize us at a distance--"Mimi" Yakou"... jules always collects a following, and stops to talk to the little ones. She has realy picked up a lot of Bambara and has a better grasp of the sentence sructure than either Ray or I have at this point, but we are trying to keep up. We headed back after an hour or so to a dinner of meatloaf, baked potatoes, green salad, and Julies coffee cake, with coffee and tea of course., We had purchased a meat grinder at a downtown Bamako store so that we could grind our own hamburger. My one attempt to purchase hamburger at the supermarket left me wondering what they had included in the mix (at best it was some liver, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know what else). I decided that I preferred to eat meat that I had seen in its solid form, hence the grinder purchase. We can get a good chunk of "round roast' from the butcher at the local open-air market, and if I go in the morning I can get my cut right off the hind quarter, before it has been left open to the air and whatever flies and other pests have open access. Want to try your math again?? 1 kilo of meat(red meat only, no bones and other parts)is 2300cfa: 460cfa/$1.00 and 2.2 lbs/ kilo. So how much am I paying for a pound of "misi-sogo".... So, how much was that? Or you can do what I do, round it off to 500cfa/$1, and round off the kilo to 2 lbs close enough!.... Oh, did I tell you? First you have to take the number they tell you in Bamabarakan and multiply by 5 to get price in franks. (They used to have a 5 frank coin, and their money system is really saying "so-many" 5-frank coins.) S-o-o-o-o-! "A be joli?"she asks the butcher. "Kemenaaninibiwooro" ?? "Keme naani, ni bi-woro?" Lets see! That's "hundreds-4, + tens-6"--(460), times 5cfa....Oh that's 2300cfa! [I'll figure out the dollars when I get home!!] Count your many blessings and thank you for blessing us to be able to be here as your emissaries. Your support is much appreciated. Mim in Mali

Breakthu Power in PRAISE

Breakthrough Power in Praise Karim came looking for Ray today- saying that a boy wanted prayer, and Paul was not at the base. As we went downstairs I noticed that some of the children in the Dining Hall were singing one of the Bambara praise songs that we had sung the day before in our midweek Prayers gathering. “Too high, too high too high, Jesus is too high. Too low, too low, the serpent is too low.” I smiled as I thought about the IHOP praise music CD's that we have been listening to on our computer these last 2 days. It is 2 different languages and music styles but the same sentiments: Jesus reigns over all and we worship HIM!. (I don't know why we haven't had our praise music on for the past 3 months! We have been praying for a break-thru, and yet were not doing some of the basic things that brings us into God's presence daily. DUH!! ) Ray went to get Joseph to help do translation and we went to the gate to wait for our guest.. An old (probably 10 years younger than Ray, who is NOT old! lol:) gray haired man, dressed in a flowing white kaftan and with a turban on his head, came to the gate and was admitted, leaning slightly on his cane. (So much for our understanding of Karim's summons—at least we got the important part-he was coming for prayer! ) Florentine, whom the cooks had sent on an errand to the local boutique, came in behind him, his hands full of cooking supplies. Between Josephs' developing English and the old man's hand motions, we learned that he was having ear trouble. To encourage the boys to be involved in praying, I took the 4 tiny bags of tomato paste, 6 soup cubes and 2 onions for the cooks, and asked Flo to stay and help pray. Ray and 4 boys-becoming-young men prayed for an elderly neighbor, and we know that God heard! We know because HE promised that where 2 or 3 are gathered, and ask in His name, He hears and answers. They were more than 2 and asked in Jesus name! How thankful we are that we know he hears! A bit later those 4 teens were chiding one of the praise singers for not coming to pray at the gate. They were treating this younger one as a fearful or weak one. It gave me an opportunity to try to talk to them about the power of praise and their different gifts. Since I wasn't sure how clear that message got thru without adequate translation, I spoke it again in our evening family meeting—with Claudia and Paul translating it, first into French and then into Bambara. I was also able to give a word of commendation and encouragement to the whole group for the unique strengths that we see developing in each of them. I told them that 'Yakou' and I have been watching them grow, and that we are proud of them!! We are proud of each and every one with their different gifts and strengths. “I think that today was a good day. I saw you living together as brothers, tussling together and playing together. Some came to the gate and prayed, some stayed in the back and prayed or praised. Know that praise is powerful. It opens the gates of heaven to us. Today was a good day!” You could almost see them sit up a little straighter and really tune in and listen. Pray with us that the lessons we are all learning- or relearning-- take root and flourish, in us and in these boys who are on the journey to being powerful men of God in Mali. As I write this I am smelling the peanut butter cookies that Julie is baking-- I am sampling them too, just to make sure they are OK, you understand. :)) I am also listening to another praise CD: the “Acclaim” CD that my cousin Gaylen Blosser gave me of the men's quartet he is a part of. (God used fb to reconnect us last spring after not seeing each other for probably 40 years, but that is another story!) Thanks Gaylen. I never imagined how powerful a part of our mission here praise songs like this would be. They encourage us and put us back on track, reminding us that the God we serve is in control. “When the facts say that you are almost defeated, the truth says that you have already won. The facts may stack up against you right now, but the truth is that God is on your side!” I need to contact Gaylen again and see if he can send me the words of all the songs so that we can translate some of them into Bambara for our boys. (If the rest of you would like to listen to some good Gospel Quartet music, contact him at Gaylen & Becky Blosser 6655 Woodbriar Lane Greenville, Ohio 45331 --or try fb lol)   Be blessed, and continue to be a blessing to those God has put in your life. Mimi in Mali