Adjustments of evacuees

An ex-pat friend we learned to know in Mali started a chain letter to 'girlfriends' who have been scattered abroad. My path is easier than many. I am one of the fortunate ones, perhaps.  I have my family with me, and we are back in our home country, wih our family unit complete in one place.  Others are in temporary quarters in a neighboring African state, or their families are split between here and there, mom and kids evacuated, while dad stays on as 'essential personnel', not knowing when they will be reunited.  That is hard!.

Here is a part of my post to these friends.  We are not alone!  Many are hurting more than we, and yet they are concerned about the others that they know in this newly torn country.  Won't you pray with us for the establishment of PEACE-- GOD's PEACE, in MALI.  

It is SOOO good to read all your updates and hear your news.  I have been crying with some of the notes, nodding agreement with others.
Ray & Julie and I evacuated at the request of our mission leader on the 4th of April also.  We flew out via Brussels air and had a smooth trip back to the US.  I was unprepared for the rush of emotion that i felt when we touched down on US soil--didn't think I was that stressed.  When we arrived in Harrisburg we were warmly greeted by all of our children and grandchildren,  plus a few other family members and had a chance to debrief that evening a bit with them. We are blessed to have all of our kids (and grandkids) close enough to visit regularly at this point.  We are now ensconced in a small guest house at Roxbury Camp, where Ray headed up the ministry for 26 years before our too brief time in Mali this past year.  He had been contacted by the new administrator before the coup, asking if he would be available to work part time this summer when we were scheduled to be home on home ministry, and is already being put to work on some projects with this earlier arrival. What a wonderful thing to be so welcomed.  I am constantly amazed at the provision God makes, tho sometimes we do not see it so quickly.  We feel of all men most blessed!

Julie is back in school, after a full week's delay for the inevitable paperwork that was frustrating to us.  But again, God so provided! We were given great classes for her to complete this school year, and she was also able to register for her senior year--Gods hand was so evident.  One quick story:  the guidance counselor was trying to get that 12th grade registration done before the computers got locked down to do the scheduling--but failed to get in... twice. It seems everyone else was done!  I softly breathed a a quick prayer, "Lord, we just need an open window." She tried once again--Got in immediately , and said "hmm, your prayer must have worked."  YES GOD!  

We still wish we were able to be in Yirimadio with 'our boys' there-- but God has said 'no' to that request for now.  He has been gracious to give us enough 'Yes' answers along the way, not only in our lives but in the testimonies of many of you over these last few weeks and months, that we can see that He is not sleeping, that He is fully aware of the situation, and that He cares for us.  We have to accept His 'No' answers as His provision as well.  (Tho I must admit that I asked some of those questions several-times-more-than-once, in case He might change His mind on this one.:))   We cannot be there just now but we can spread the word about the need in Mali, and we can pray!
We are doing pretty well. Trying to make sense of what to do next-- and what to NOT sign up to do just because it is asked of us! :)) While Ray is working at Roxbury Camp part time for the present, and we are enjoying seeing all the new things that have happened here at in this year we have been gone, there are still many unanswered questions.  Lois, I feel with you and the lack of interest that there seems to be in Mali now that we are home.  I am trying to remember that they have not experienced what we did, and do not know anyone else that is there now.  I am trying to get a picture presentation together to share what we have seen and experienced, wanting the people here who have supported us to share in that ministry more completely.... and hoping that God will open the door for us to return.
In a word, we are BUSY! :)) looking forward to the summer here in PA.  Our readjustment seems so much easier than many of you since our stay in Mali was so short, and we were able to leave together, but we do miss you all greatly.  It was an honor and  joy to be a part of your family while we were there, and we covenant to continue to pray with you in the months to come.
Please keep us in the loop.  We love to hear where you are all living and serving this miracle working, wonderful God we all serve. 
Mim Heisey 

Then there are the many news reports out of Mali.  There is so much that is not said!  So much that the west ignores or does not care to know.  Africa continues to hurt and be in turmoil in many places.  They see things differently than those of us who grew up  under democracies that were run by "our people', in times of prosperity (for us) and peace!  IT IS different!
 Here is a short clip from one of those news articles that I read that adresses the coup d'etat and its future effects:
There may be elections in Bamako, or there may not be. Tuareg raiders may control the desert interior, or a battalion of southern-led soldiers from the capital may do so. The real fundamental drama will play out gradually, outside the strictures of media accounts. This drama will be about how, and whether, Africa's recently impressive economic growth rates can lead to the creation of larger middle classes. It is larger middle classes that lead, in turn, to more efficient and vigorous government ministries, and to more professional militaries, so that hinterlands might be brought under control and artificially drawn borders made more workable.


Read more: Africa's Tuareg Dilemma by Robert D. Kaplan | Stratfor
I would add that the biggest change would be if they see the GOd of all eternity for who He is, a loving, caring, and yes, all powerful God; but a God who chooses to give people choice.  He is the one who loved so much that He paid the price to buy back what was initially his thru right of creation.  Wow!  THat is way out there LOVE.
Praying that Mali sees that thru those of His children who are radical enough in their Love to show it.

mim-Blessing Mali with prayer from PA.

From last June -Comings and Goings and 'Settlers'

(I decided to publish this draft that I wrote last summer.  It'll be here for me to remember, if no one else :))
Ray and Julie are playing a quiet game of "Settlers" with Eva Durst this afternoon-- the first that we have had that favorite game out here in Mali, after a full week of celebrations of hellos and goodbyes. This the season of comings and goings in the missionary community. School is finished for the year, so it is a good time for transitions. We are thankful to be well settled in at this point, rather than just arriving.
Eva Durst arrived at the Bamako Airport on Monday evening on Tunis Air--minus her main suitcase, unfortunately, which has not yet been found! She is returning to give us another summer of service just as Christian Spindler, who has served here for a year, prepared to leave to return home to Austria. Then Claudia arrived back at the base from the United States--also missing a suitcase,just in time to participate in the goodbye festivities for Christian.
All that and more.  Julie had a goodbye brunch with several new found friends who are leaving and not expecting to return to Mali anytime soon.  Several families of the missionary community we have met in the greater Bamako area have also left this week, some for summer committments and others who are not planning to return.
We have been into Bamako several times,  and also out the other side to the Village of Goro. We have also traveled, several times, the shorter distance to the Village of Dara-pronounced "d'ra", where we have received some of the best mangoes I have ever eaten!  Nothing is quite as good as fruit picked ripe from the tree.
This week the trip back was a bit different.  Christian needed to stop at the livestock market along the way to purchase a sheep.  He is planning to prepare a feast as a parting gift to the boys here. A small goat can be purchased for maybe 12,000-18,000 cfa, but a sheep large enought for this family's feast costs 35,000-50,000 cfa(about $70-100 USD). A large ram was selected and given a ride back to our base in the back of the bus, then tied up and fed some fresh pulled grasses and millet overnight, before the butchering that took place the next morning. Quite an event!

WOW! 'Home' in Pennsylvania

We have had so much change in the last month.  We are 'home' in Pennsylvania since we evacuated on April 4th.  WHat a whirlwind that was.  Sunday morning we thought that we were staying, by Monday morning we were buying tickets to fly out on Wed night.

We flew out of Bamako Wed evening, had a smooth flight to Brussels and then Washington before landing at the Harrisburg Airport early evening on the 5th. I was not realizing how much stress we were under til we experienced the rush of emotion on landing on US soil.  Brussels felt 'safe', but DC......  We were home! (and I splurged on a cup of Starbucks 'Coffee americain'.)
Warmly greeted by our 7 grandchildren, their parents (you see the order of preference there, don't you?  ;)) and several other family members at the Harrisburg Airport, we got hugs all around, cryed a few more tears, got out of the way when Julie spotted Megan Roper(her BFF) and there was a scream and mad rush into a hug, secured our luggage (PTL! It all arrived with us!) and headed to my sister's house nearby to eat and unwind.  Norma has a house that allows for several conversation groups to be going on at one time, all the while we 'grazed' around the kitchen counter of goodies everyone had brought. At 11pm EST, they pulled me away from a nonstop monologue (well a little bit of questioning from the listeners), our kids drove us 'home' to Roxbury Camp and we all dropped into bed. 

That was then!  This is now! 
3 weeks later we are pretty well settled into the 'Guest House' that we will occupy here at Roxbury Camp for the next month or so.  Following that, we expect to move to a slightly larger home next door that we will live in for the summer.  After that..... we will see what God has ordained! 

Julie is back in school at Chambersburg Area Senior High School, after seeing God's hand in opening up classes just where she needed them.  Ray has been getting some work to do here at the Camp where he was such a regular fixture for the past 26 years, and we will have housing thruout the summer, as well as that part time job.  God is good!  All the time!
A quick 'God story':  The guidance counselor tried to get into the computer system to register Julie for the fall- for her senior year, but was locked out.  I just quietly breathed a prayer to my God, "God, we just need is a little window here."  She decided to try one more time, and Voila!  She was in!  "H-m-m-m!" she says.  "Your prayer must have worked."  Thanks God!

We have been assessing our finances and job prospects, keeping apace of Reuters' and BBC's  Africa news, asking God, "What is our next assignment?", "When can we go back to Mali?", and "What do we do in the meantime?'  As a result, we are trying to plan for the summer and the next school year for Julie here in PA.  Ray is looking at using his years of plumbing and construction experience to do some plumbing/construction work, partnered with his Roxbury Camp parttime job. (Anyone have a project that needs done? I know a very experienced plumber who is available.  ; ))
Me??  I am seeing a ripe field of work that is laid out before me.  Interacting with some beautiful young ladies and pre-teens who are in need of a listening ear, and maybe even some 'mom' advice.  Well, maybe that will be 'gramma' advice. Godly advice that will hopefully reinforce what their own moms are trying to say to them.  In a word: Mentoring!

Isn't it fun (yes, it is also stressful sometimes, because I am impatient)  to see what God has planned?
GOD IS GOOD!  ALL THE TIME!!       ALL THE TIME!!!     GOD IS GOOD!!!!

Go, intentionally, with God today and prepare to bless and be a blessing.  You WILL be blessed in the process!
Mim, in PA at the moment but with a heart divided between here and Mali.

 
 



Our boys sleeping under the stars


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Sahara dust!



A tempestuous dust storm moved in this evening, lending its physical presence to the unsettled feeling of the last few days here in Mali.   Our reident boys, who eagerly looked forward to sleeping out under the stars this last week (they are on school holiday for spring break) took their foam mattresses outside after family meeting, placing them on the bare ground that slopes away from the cooking area between 2 main buildings. They soon picked them up and moved back inside again, apparently deciding to deal with the heat inside rather than the dust and wind outside.  Even the street boys, who have been sleeping out on the other side of the dinginhall these last weeks, all moved inside again as the wind howled down out of the north, bringing stinging sand and dust.  They are scattered willy-nilly on the dininghall floor, more than 20 of them tonight. The older ones have commandeered the few remaining mattresses and the blankets we recently bought for them, and both they and the yougest ones, who are laying on the bare tile floor, lay spread eagled or curled on their sides as best suits them, sound asleep.

Julie and Ray listen with our boys and the street boys to a Bible Story

 The coup that took place just a week ago today, continues. (How long do you say a coup d'etat exists before it is something else?)  We are hearing that world governments have unanimously condemned this military takeover.  ECOWAS (the West African Economic Union) has been joined by national gov'ts the world over in condemning this military coup by troops that are characterized as 'mutineers'. Most countries have unilaterally cut off their foreign aid to Mali as well, except for some ongoing humanitarian aid, perhaps.

There are new developments today that we pray will led to a peaceful solution.  ECOWAS is reportedly sending a delegation of 5 West African Presidents to meet with the coup leader, Captain Sanogo, and urge that he step down voluntarily and restore civilian rule. If that does not happen, they say that troops are at Mali's borders ready to move in to force that transition. We hope that it does not come to that.

We are thankful that we serve the GOD on whom no one can pull a coup!  He is the one on whom we rely and in whom we place our hope.



Shopping for coconut snack



We did go to the market nearby to get  a supply of fruits & veggies and some peanuts. Ray & Julie joined me and we took one of the younger boys with us.



Ray Julie and Bakary on the way to market(I am behind the camera)

  I have also done some different kind of planting recently:  we planted 'mud-pots' which will serve as reservoirs for the water to leach out below grade and thus more effectively water the roots of our fledgling trees.  As the

wind howls aound us,  it reminds me of some of the blizzards we've experienced  in colder climes, except that the sweat is running down my face and dripping off my chin as I write this, and instead of snow we have the grit of Sahara sand on our floors.  I think I could make mud pies on my kitchen counters this evening, even tho I washed them down at 7pm.

Nonetheless, we rest in that truth: GOD Almighty is in control.  He loves us and He calls us by name!  What better place could we be than to be where he has called us.

That being said, prayers gratefully accepted on our behalf, and on behalf of the people of this land tht we are coming to love.

miminmali

The RIver Niger from Below



Ray waits by the moto while I explored along this old, one-lane

 causeway which served for many years as a passage across 

the River Niger below Bamako, but only in dry season. 

Now a sweeping new bridge looms over it and provides

 4 lanes of crossing,year round . 



Ray suggested this shot of the setting sun beaming thru a tower. We were exploring along the old casuseway on a Sunday afternoon.



A view of the Niger

By the River Niger

Here are a few pictures that I thought would help you see this part of Mali and where we have been. we have enjoyed getting to know some of its people and its places- both beautiful!

Independence Monument in downtown Bamako

Mim in Mali

"Bless and be a blessing to someone today."

Coup D' etat in Mali

There has been a coup here in Mali, and understandably,  things are unsettled.  The post that I had started earlier this week, "Christmas Child and Campaign Unrest", I finished & posted on Wed night, when we knew there was some unrest, but defore the coup became known.
Now, 3 days later, the information that we have is mostly the same as you can hear on BBC.  There were gunshots heard in many parts of the city over the first 2 days and nights, and some reported looting. We also heard it reported that some of the soldiers had confiscated cars at the bridges crossing the Niger River, ("keep your 4 x 4 at home", emails suggested) and demanded goods and fuel at boutiques or gas stations that were open. There has been a curfew announced that is to last til Tues am at 7:30, at which time Malians are supposed to be free to return to work. Some reports say that the curfew has been lifted during the day from 6am-6pm. It helps to know that there was a scheduled holiday on both Friday and Monday, so Tuesday morning makes sense.
YOU might even have acess to some things on U-tube and fb that is more than we know here, where we are confined to our base.  Following US Embassy reccommendation, we are 'sheltering in place', staying put but watching and listening.
BBC broadcast an interview today that they were granted with Captain Sanogare, the reputed leader of this 'military coup', which has also been referred to as 'action of renegade soldiers' or 'a mutiny'.

The Presidential Palace stands high on a bluff overlooking the Niger River and the City of Bamako from the North. There was a protest march announced to be taking place on Wednesday March 21, 2012, proceeding from Kati, a military base area N of the City and of the Presidenial Palace, and ending at the Presidential Palace. 
There was also 'a remembrance for the martyrs of 1991'  scheduled to take place in downtown Bamako on Thursday.  Our school decided to cancel classes for Thursday, since many parents had had difficulty getting across town to pick their kids up from the school in a timely fashion when this kind of thing happensed earlier. It really was more about convenience than about danger to students at that point. hence my joke about substituting 'Political unrest days'  for  'snow days'. ( Not so great , in retrospect.)
When the announcement of the coup came thru on Thursday, it all seemed surreal! This kind of thing does not happen in Mali, or not for the last 20 years at any rate.  Mali has been held up as a model of democracy at work in Africa, and the attendant stability is at least one of the reasons that it has been the fastest growing city in Africa for the last while.  Elections were scheduled to take place in just over a month, and there were probably 12 or 14 candidates vying for the position of President. so a coup to get to the will of the people rings hollow .

Sleep overtakes me, more tomorrow.
Stay with God, so that you can continue to Bless and be blessed!
miminMali