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

Building a pigpen!

Being forced to stay put due to the coup here, I used some of my 'extra discretionary time' as one friend put it.  Here are some glimpses of life that we have experienced in these past few weeks.

Ray & Adama marking off fence



Heather/Kadi and Ray w 'Fancy & Beau'

 Earlier this week I looked out of my kitchen window to see Ray marking off the upper end of our base  with  Adama.  Turns out  they were preparing to build a fence to enclose 2 friendly little pigs (whom Heather Riddle named "Fancy" & "Beau" during her tenure here in Mali) .and restrict them from rooting thru the gardens at the lower end.  Another reason may  have been to move their shelter and its attendent fragrance a little further from Claudia's front door. :))



The following morning Ray & Adama set to work early, and soon had the able assistance of half a dozen schoolboys who had an unexpected holiday.  (Near as I can figure, there were exams for one or 2 upper grades and extra classroom space was needed to spread the exam-takers out to only 1 student per desk.)  Eager hands (and backs) were set to work carrying stones from the stonepile to the assigned fence area.  Next thing I know, Ray is walking away with his shovel over his shoulder, looking for another job.  Seems that these guys knew just what they were doing, and with Paul (whose pigs these are) overseeing the job they set to with a will to complete the task. --with time for a little horsing around, too. :))

Now Fancy & Beau have a solid new enclosure along the inside of the west wall, where they can slop and grunt to their hearts content, as long as long as someone remembers to carry water to support their bad habits.

Julie has been spending all the time with the boys that she can.  They make Malian tea, an endeavor  which is very time intensive, and results in what you might call tea expresso, a very potent, sweet elixir that is poured from teapot to glass so as to make a foamy head, them slurped loudly. Best enjoyed at any time of day that you have friends to share it.  They also play a game very similar to the Parcheesi that I learned as a child. LIDO is best translated  "Dont get Angry" --which can happen when your friendly opponent sends you back home to start over, yet again .: ))



This palm tree & canal view reminds me of the canals out near Myakka Fla in days gone by.



Ray & I have taken a few rides on the moto to explore along the River, or up on the 'kulu' (hill) behind us, where building plots have been laid out with stone markers identifying owners and boundaries delineated with pebble lines.  I have also been fascinated to watch the gardens prosper along the waterways  in this season of no rain and hot dry air that seems to have 0% humidity.  The neatly laid out plots are watered by flooding the ditches between them at least once a day- works where there is easy access to water source, but that is not for the average person who only has acess to a handdug well for their household water needs.  While the bucket kits I ordered (to do more water efficient drip irrigation system for a home garden) never did arrive,  I have learned a few more things about gardening in this arrid place.  Perhaps some day we will be able to come back and I will make good use of that knowledge.

Stay true to your blessing.  Proclaim the goodness of God to the world in times of trouble as well as in the good times.  Then mayhap they will believe you and ask to know your Jesus.

(We are) Blessing the name that is above every name, and at whose feet all will one day bow.

Miminmali

Christmas Child and Campaign unrest.

There has been ongoing political and military unrest stirring in the north of Mai for some time now. Some say that it caused by the return of Tamesh soldiers that were Kadhafi mercenaries until recently. (Supplies of arms and men reportedly flooded across the desert when the Libyan leader lost power.) Others think that it is the recurring battle in the class war that has gone on for centuries, interrupted by colonialism for a period of time, and then by the 'independence' of a Malian state. (One people group were the vassals of the other 'noble' class before Malian independence gave everybody the same standing. Now the noble class wants their position back, and their vassals to work for them again in the old way. The 'vassals' are not so anxious to return to the 'good ole days'!

Whatever the cause, there now are large numbers of displaced peoples in Northern Mali (some say 200,000), who have fled their homes and villages and are either internal refugees, or are now in neighboring countries. That displacement complicates the upcoming elections:  If you go ahead and hold the elections as scheduled, a foul is called on the basis of the displaced peoples not having a chance to vote & be represented.   If you delay the elections, a foul is called by opposition candidates (there are over a dozen running for the office of Preident, I am told) for the current President holding onto power. Not a win/win situation seems to me! More like a 'can't win' for the party currently in power.

Pray for us here in Mali, and for others here in Western and Northern Africa.  God is certainly still in control, and we trust HIM.  We are also aware that that doesn't mean that all is 'hunky-dorry' or that there will be no trouble in our lives.  But we know that we serve the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, whom no one can serve a coup on.

On a different note! Some of our children received Operation Christmas Child boxes this week. Yes, I know it is a litte late for Christmas, but a gift is a gift anytime it is received. 3 littles who attend the one school were the lucky recipients, but I saw several others with the goods by the next day. That is the way it is here. The older ones can demand, and expect to get, from the younger ones. T I A! Everyone enjoyed seeing the electric tooth brushes vibrate, and each one got a special something that they will enjoy.  Thanks to all who have helped in this process in the states. 

When Ray comes back into the base on his moto, the kids sometimes catch him and he gives them a little ride around in a circle.  They love it, and he is smiling so I guess he doesn't mind it either.  THis is the most that I have seen on him at one time--usually ony 2 or 3.:))

Julie has been working with one of our boys on his daily Bible memory work.  It is such a delight to see him loving to learn, and especially to see him loving to learn God's word.   Each day he is trying to learn more than just the required one verse, and recently said to Julie, "When you are gone I won't have anyone to help me with this."   It gave her an opportunity to tell him that if it was up to her, she would be coming back, but sometimes those decisions are not ours.  She was also able to tell him that, just like she is missing her friends in the U.S. and has not forgotten them while she is here,  we will be really missing our boys here in Mali, and will not forget them when we return to America.  We will be looking for ways that we can continue to stay in touch with them personally and individually, not just with the ministry.

Well, I am falling asleep on the sofa, so I guess going to bed is the next order of business. I made an attempt to cool our beds by laying a wet towel over the sheet to evaporate while I have been on here. It really works pretty well and is dry again in 1'2 an hour!

Mim in Mali

Trying to continue to be a blessing.