Guinea-Bissau Team Blog

June 9-13 

Team Training.  We will be preparing skits, lessons, games, and crafts that will be presented during the time in Guinea-Bissau.  We also will be involved in language and culture learning.  These will be very full days of learning and hopefully bonding.

June 14 

Depart Charlotte airport for our trip to Guinea-Bissau.

Leave Charlotte:  12:15 PM
Layover in Atlanta
Arrive in Dakar:  4:40 AM (GMT)

3:30 PM EST - Bret called from the Atlanta airport and said they made it there fine and were on board the airplane getting ready to taxi for take-off to Dakar.

June 15 

Arrive in Dakar, Senegal.  We will meet up with Roger and Marilyn Reeck and stay at the SIL center for the next couple of days for initial orientation and to recover from 5 hours of jet lag.

8:00 AM (EST) E-mail Update from Mike:
We have arrived!  It is 6:00 am here (2:00 am your time) and we've arrived on the SIL center in Dakar.  Most people are laying down for a 3 hour nap before a late breakfast.  We will be having a briefing time later in the day.  All of the bags arrived (praise God!), and there weren't any problems, except for the bottles of glue that exploded in one of the bags.  We are thankful that the Portuguese Bibles that were in that bag were individually wrapped.  There are water shortages and electricity rationing going on in Dakar.  The SIL center has a water tank with a reserve, but please pray that we have a great experience, with or without the niceties.

Sunday evening, from Bret:
It has felt like a tremendously long day. After about 3 hours of sleep we roused ourselves in attempts to adjust to the new time. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruit including bananas, grapes, mangos, limes, and more. After breakfast we were given a tour of the Wycliffe (SIL) center here in Dakar. It's in the middle of the industrial portion of town, but rather nice. They have extensive facilities for housing people, offices, print shop, meeting rooms, recording studio, and more. However with it being a Sunday afternoon, hardly anyone was around.

Despite tiredness, we boarded three taxis and headed to the city market. The market is a vast network of small shops spreading over a city block. We were able to purchase African dresses/shirts for each team member to wear. The girls loved it trying on the different styles and colors. We also wandered through the market to get a feel of the culture, seeing everything from unknown nuts and vegetables, to the open butcher market. The students handled themselves well.

After dinner, we had a time of prayer and Julie lead a devotional on Jonah. She did an excellent job. Needless to say, after the team meeting, we were very tired and most intended to head to bed. (8:30 here, 4:30 EST) Mike shared that he nearly fell asleep while singing a song, and there were many others suffering from head bobbing and "long blinks".

Those with French backgrounds have proven useful. HM and Tali have impressed us with their accents and ability to make some small talk. Everyone has been great at pitching in to help out as needed despite being fatigued. We also were able to bring smiles to many missionaries here as we unpacked the goodies we brought over for them.

We hope to know by Monday afternoon if we will attempt to travel to Guinea-Bissau early Tuesday morning. Fuel crisis continues, but there seems to be a glimmer of hope that the driver was able to save up enough gas for us to make it a viable option. We've also been told that despite the uncomfortable heat and humidity that we can expect even more in GB.

Healthy wise the team is doing well. And we have all enjoyed getting to know the Reecks (Roger and Marilyn).

Prayer Request: The team will get a full and restful sleep. Wisdom about traveling to Guinea-Bissau Tuesday. For abundant opportunities to be God's hands and feet. Most importantly, that each team member will stay connected with their Savior as a vine does to a branch.

Editorial note: Individual team member updates have been posted on the Notes from Team page, as well as some pictures that Mike sent in the GB photo album.

June 16 

We will spend time doing cultural and language learning with the Reecks in preparation for our time in Guinea-Bissau.  The team will be headed to the market today to buy culturally appropriate clothing.

6/16 evening update from Bret
We have had a wonderful day. Everyone one had a good night sleep, and most people chose to go on an culinary adventure for breakfast.  The team (minus Tali and Julie who chose to enjoy an extra hour of sleep) walked a couple of blocks to a hole in the wall "restaurant."

There we watched a man cook up what can be best described as a roasted steak sandwich with butter and spices. His skill impressed us as he cut, mixed, cooked, and prepared our meal with the grace and skill of a Benni Hannah chef. It was strange to eat a "steak sandwich" for breakfast, but it was pretty good. Some also choose to try "coffee" which was made from instant coffee mixed with about half a cup on condensed milk.

We had a team meeting in which Charlie shared from Ephesians about how we were created for a purpose. It dove tailed beautifully with what was going on that day and really encouraged us all.

After sharing "coffee" break with the other SIL missionaries, we began some Kriol lessons, a blend of Protugeese and African languages. The team enjoyed learning important phrases that would be useful in our coming days. Everyone did well, and had a good time. Roger commented that he was very impressed that none of us struggled with having an American accent. Those who had studied Spanish in school found many similarities.

We continued our cultural and language learning in the afternoon, culminating with groups of four having to create a skit putting together the new phrases they learned. Needless to say, 2 of the 3 groups centered their drama on "Where is the bathroom."

In the late afternoon we finally got the confirmation we were hoping for. The bus in Lenden was able to secure enough gas to pick us up. Praise God! So we began the process of repacking our bags. We wanted to get our luggage down to one person per bag... including our vast amount of VBS crafts and other supplies. Moms... you'd be impressed.

Several of the girls got down to bare essentials and were able to share one bag between them that weighed less than 20 KGs. They are really diving into the missionary thing. Only bringing two outfits for the next 2 1/2 weeks!

We are nearly repacked and ready to go to bed. We have to leave at 5:20am to catch a plane to Ziginshore, Senegal (across the Northern border from GB). From there we expect to be picked up by the Lendem bus and travel 4-6 hours on sometimes rough roads to Lendem... our home for the next couple of weeks.

Prayer Request: Amanda felt a bit unwell this morning, but was doing much better after a 2 hour rest. Pray that her anemia will not be an issue and that her medication will work effectively. Heat exhaustion, jet lag, and diet change is effecting many of us, but on the whole we are doing well. Pray for team health. Pray for safety on our long and tiresome journey tomorrow. Finally, many of us would covet your prayers on language learning. We are impatient with our limited abilities and anxious to see how well we can communicate once we get to Lenden.

We will likely not have Internet access until Friday. Thank you for your prayers and support. We know it's making a difference.

June 17 

We will finalize our preparations for our time in Guinea-Bissau, making some last minute purchases.  We will then travel to the airport, and fly down to Zig, Senegal.  From there we will take a 4-6 hour bus ride to the Lenden Center in Guinea-Bissau from where Wycliffe bases it's translation work.  This will be our home for the next weeks.

Email contact will be limited after this day.  Updates may not happen every day.

Tuesday
We had to wake up EARLY to catch our flight to Zig (4:30am here, 12:30am according to our jet lag)  We made it to the airport safely and were able to check in our bags without any problem even though some were overweight from VBS supplies.  What a blessing not to have to pay.

The flight was on a small, twin prop airplane down the coast line.  The farm lands and seascape below looked beautiful, and disguised the reality of the poverty existing in the country side.

Arriving in the small airport of Ziginshore, Senegal, we were able to collect our bags and meet up with the Lendem bus very smoothly.  Driving through the countryside really gave us a better since of this new country.  Termite mounds taller than 10 feet everywhere!

We passed through immigrations at the Guinea-Bissau border without any delays or problems… and didn’t even have to pay a bribe.  Roger, our missionary host, really has a way of making people laugh and befriending them.

The road to Lendem required a river crossing.  Fortunately the ferry was working (just the previous week it had broken down and drifted down river.)  Unfortunately, we missed catching the ferry by 2 cars, which meant that we would have a long wait.  But it was a blessing in disguise.  We ducked out of the sweltering heat of the bus into a road side shack for a cold coke and humorous conversations with the local people.  It was a first real chance to see how far our language learning would take us… and it wasn’t very far.  But gesturing, laughing, and patience lead to a beneficial interaction.

We arrived at Lenden late afternoon, very tried and very hot.  They have bunk beds with mosquito nets, showers, and flushing toilets.  Unfortunately the water pump broke the day before which meant water had to be brought in from a neighbor’s well by hand.  Water rationing meant bucket showers and finding a tree.

People at Lenden greeted us warmly and were impressed at our Kriol greetings.
Some team members chose to try and take a nap, but Lydnsie, Riah and Emily sat with the ladies preparing the meal and got some great language learning in.  At one point our girls went to fetch water and Lyndsie returned with a 20 gallon bucket of water purched on her head.  The students are all doing a great job of putting themselves out there and building relationships.

Dinner was surprisingly good. Afterwards we ended the evening with a team devotion and worship.

June 18-19 

We will have a brief orientation to Lenden and the amazing ministry of Bible translation that is happening there.  Some team members will begin the process of filming culturally adapted parables.

6/18 Evening voice mail from Bret, transferred onto the web site:
The last couple of days have gone pretty well and Bret mentioned a number of praise notes.

It is extremely hot and some of the team members are dealing with heat exhaustion, but they are doing better today as they adjust.  They will be heading to the capital city of Bissau on Friday and will have e-mail capabilities then so they will send an update from there.

The people in Lendem are amazed how well the kids are doing with their language learning.  There is still a fuel crisis there, but aparently the diver, Ndafa, knows the right places to get the gas we need.  The well pump at the Lendem center is broken so the team has to take bucket showers and flush toilets with a bucket.  So that is sort of a pain.  They are hoping to have the pump repaired soon.

Bret and the team thank all of you for your prayers.  They know people are praying and are seeing the Lord answer prayers.

Special request from Bret to parents of the mission team members:
Please send a brief e-mail to hank_scott@sil.org to pass along to your kids.  I will collect those e-mail messages and forward them as a single note to Bret at the e-mail address he is using (not his sil.org address.)  Please send the e-mails to me by 2:00 PM Eastern time this Friday, 6/20/08 so that I can send them along to Bret (6:00 PM GMT).  Thanks!

Wednesday
It was a hot and sticky sleep for all.  Temperature was way too hot and humidity to boot.  Add to that being under mosquito nets which essentially block any circulation and it lent to some weary faces in the morning.

After a morning breakfast, the team broke into 3 groups to do some culture and language learning.  Each group was lead by a church member who didn’t speak English.  One group ended up being lead on a long hike to the nearby town of Bissara, greeting people all along the way.  They ended up walking about 6km in total that morning in the heat.  I (Bret) have been impressed at how much the students are willing to push themselves despite the very hard living conditions.  And Roger has lavished compliments on them at how quickly they are picking up the language and getting the accent right.

In the afternoon Roger elicited the help of some locals to help us with some language learning.  They taught us some songs and new vocabulary.  It was a fun time.  The team has been drinking LOTS of water, but some are struggling with heat exhaustion.  Pray for this.

Bret, Mike, and Charlie discovered the “killing fields” across the street today.  That is what we affectionately refer to the soccer field as.  We can’t imagine having to play soccer in this heat against what has been described as full contact soccer.  Our first match is on Monday.

Devotions and team time that evening was very encouraging again.  As we went back to the dorms for sleep, God blessed us with a brief rain which significantly cooled the air.  Probably down to 75 degrees.

Thursday
After morning breakfast it was time to do some laundry.  Of course no electricity and limited water means in buckets and by hand.  The girls on the team did a pretty good job, though we had a problem with several of the new dresses they bought bleeding significantly.  We since have learned that the dresses are supposed to be soaked in salt water to prevent this from happening before their first wash.

After getting a good bit of it done, we invited a local lady to come and show us how to do it right.  She taught them how to do it by taking the laundry back to her house.  At "Rosa's" house, several of the girls really enjoyed playing with the children… including teaching the children how to play kabra, kabra, purku.(chicken, chicken, pig).  After lunch, and some rest, we had a teenage girl named Rosa (different from the one who did laundry) come and teach us some more vocabulary. She taught us the name of various parts of the body and then we played a game of Simon Says using body parts.  Bret clearly is not a quick learner and was unfairly picked on by everyone.

The Team continues to do amazingly well with language learning.  Roger and Marilyn said that we were the first group that has really ever come to interact with the local people.  All the other groups that come to Lendem are busy with meetings and never get out and meet the people.  Lendem people seem to be very happy that we have come.

In the afternoon half the group went to go visit some of the local villages to continue language learning and building friendships.  Marilyn, Bret, Charlie, Amanda, and Tali began filming the parable adaption of The Good Samaritan.  They made good progress, shooting several of the scenes.  They’ll finish taping Sunday evening.  This will be the first movie made in the Balanta language.  We’re pretty sure it’s going to be the best Balanta film ever =)

June 20 

The team will travel about 45 minutes to the capital city, Bissau.  There we will spend our first of two days at an orphanage run by two women from Costa Rica.  Approximately 100 children are in the facility.  We hope to be able to minister to these children on a personal level through games and other interactive activities.

6/20 10:00 AM
Update to the above request for e-mail messages to team members.  Bret will be checking for these on Saturday morning, so the e-mail messages should be sent to hank_scott@sil.org by 8:00 PM Friday night Eastern time.  That way I can collect them at 8:00 and e-mail them that evening to Bret.  A number of parents have sent messages for their kids and yes, it is fine for grandparents or other special friends to send e-mail messages too.  Just keep them brief since Bret will have to pay by the minute to receive the messages at the Internet Cafe that he is using

Bret sent an e-mail update this morning covering details from the past few days.  I have posted the details for each day above in green so that they can be distinguished from prior updates.  Also individual team members sent short updates, which have been posted to the Notes from Team page.

Friday
We got up a bit earlier this morning to head in the bus to Bissau.  We’ll be spending the next two days at the orphanage.  Although many were looking forward to this day, the majority of the team had “wet their beds” last night from sweating in the heat.  Pray for energy and love to pour into the orphan kids today and tomorrow.

This has been an extremely difficult trip.  The heat, humidity and diet change has been rough on the physical body.  And the significant language barrier has been mentally exhausting for most.  Overall the team has done extremely well and not complained at all.  Bug bites have been minimal considered how many ants and other bugs are crawling all over the place.  Our team times in the evening have been a wonderful blessing.

We hope to send another update on Saturday morning.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS.  We sure do need them!

June 21 

Return to the orphanage in Bissau for a second day of ministry.

6/21 Morning e-mail update from Mike

Note: Mike also e-mailed 15 new pictures.  Those have been posted on the Web and you can view them by going to the Photo Album and clicking on the Guinea-Bissau Trip link.  The newest photos will appear at the end of list on the Picasa Album.

We had a good time at the orphanage on Friday. By the end of the day, everyone had a couple favorites that they wanted to stick in their carry on. The orphanage is an amazing place, and so is the story of the two Costa Rican ladies that started it. They moved to GB as missionaries, and while here adopted 9 children between the two of them. Then the revolution came, and the needed to be evacuated. But when they got to the boat, the soldiers wouldn't let their adopted children on. Another missionary that was being evacuated gave them the keys to her house, and so the ladies and their adopted children rode out the war hiding there. Many times God saved them from the bombs and starvation.  Once a bomb litterally blew the walls of the bathroom apart, leaving the person nearly unscathed.  After many months of living through the war, the Portuguese government sent a special deployment to rescue them. The missionary lady that had given them the keys to her house had spent her time in Portugal pleading their case to the government. The woman and their children were evacuated and spent a year in Portugal at the expense of the government.  While refugees in Portugal, they made many friends and contacts. After the revolution, they returned to their house, and people started bringing them war orphans. They were able to get support from the contacts they made in Portugal, and today take care of 125 orphans.

Our kids had fun loving on the little ones and learned a new word: "Lambu", which means "Hold me" or "pick me up". We heard that word a lot. In the afternoon, we made balloon animals for them, which was very chaotic, but we all had fun.

In the evening, we went out for supper with Rachel, an Austrialian missionary here who will be our translator next week. It was good to meet her, and to have a meal in an air-conditioned restaurant.

We spent the night in a Youth For Christ center in Bissua, enjoying the running water!  Early this morning, it rained... very hard. The rainy season was supposed to have started, but it hadn't yet, and so people were worried. Praise God it has started!

Right now, everyone is at the orphanage doing a more structured program, including VBS activities, and a craft.  The Reecks have been surprised at how fast everyone has learned Kreole; you parents can be proud!

Please continue to pray for us. Lendem is still without running water. We are hoping to pick up a well pump while we are here in Bissau, but we will still need to install it. Please pray for energy for the team.  Learning a new language, walking a lot, and playing with orphans has worn them out. As well, continue to pray for our health: By the grace of God, no one has gotten sick, but we have a few cases of heat rash, bug bites, and head aches.

Thank you for your prayers: We can tell that you are praying for us. Please keep it up!

June 22 
Attend a church service in the morning.  Finish filming the cultural adaptations and begin the editing process.

June 23 

Begin day one of a three day VBS for small children.  We are planning crafts, games, lessons, and skits.  It will be challenging with the language barrier.

In the evening we will have a time with the older youth from the area.  After a Bible study, the team will split into women and men.  Women will do a craft while the men will engage in a friendly game of soccer.

June 24 

(Same as the previous day.)

6/24 – Phone message update from Bret, calling from Lendem, GB

Update from Saturday:
The morning activites at the orphanage went well despite not having a strong translator.  Being founded by Costa Rican missionaries, they have taught the children to speak Spanish in addition to other local languages.  This enabled Charlie and a few others to shine as we attempted to run the VBS program.  God showed his power to transcend barriers, and it became clear through the skits and the craft that the children understood the Bible messages we were attempting to communicate.

In the afternnon, the teens got to go to the market in Bissau and practice their bargaining and haggling skills, and came away with some good deals.
All returned Saturday night to Lendem.

Update from Sunday:
The team attended a church service in Lendem.  It was shorter than normal – only 2 hours long because many of the youth were at a retreat.  In the church, dancing is a big part of the worship service (remember this is an African culture!) and so all the teens had an aoportunity to participate with that which was a lot of fun. Tali and Riah jumped up quickly with the women to stomp and move with the ladies.  And when the rest of the team joined in, the congregation errupted into excitement that rivialed a football game.

Sunday evening we made final preparations for the VBS and youth programs that would be taking place on Monday through Wednesday.

Update from Monday:
Several of the team did not feel well.  It was very hot that day and some of the team had bad dreams the prior night, making them more tired on Monday.  There was still a problem with the water on Monday so conveniences like showers an flushing toilets were not readily available.

Despite these obstacles the VBS program began.  Rachel, a Wycliffe missionary from Australia helped out by translating into the local language.  The lesson was written by local church leaders the previous week in Balanta, so we were excited to be part of this ground breaking presentation.  Never before had a lesson been written and taught in this language.

Initially we were surprised that only 7 kids were there at 9am, but before an hour had passed, there was between 60 to 70 elementary age children.  The team played various games with the kids and did a airplane craft.  The VBS program went well, and we expected numbers to surge in the following two days.

Monday afternoon we had a reprieve from the heat as a brief rain storm passed through and that made the temperature nicer.  That evening they had a Bible study with the young adults, people in their teens up through the 20’s and early 30’s.  Once again lessons prepared by church leaders the previous week were tried out.  Although the lesson was in Kriol (local trade language), it required the students to read, write, and think about the scripture.  It was challenging, but the lesson went really well with good participation by all in attendance – about 55 people.  They did a short skit (the same one they did at the Spud Supper for those who saw it) which included a brief Gospel message.

June 25 

Same as the previous 2 days

Praise Notes:

• The Lord has really been helping them with their language learning and is helping remove language barriers.
• On Monday night the well pump was repaired/replaced and they now have running water!
• Tuesday morning they had 102 kids at VBS.  Crowd control was a bit of a challenge but it went well overall and they are glad to have such good attendance and participation!

Prayer Requests:

• A number of the teens have been feeling sick at various times.
  - Tali had a throat infection that appeared on Monday.  They gave her some strong antibiotics and she seems to be getting better.
  - Lyndsie has had a persistent rash for a few days on her back, stomach, neck, and knees.  She is getting treatment for that and it is working, giving her relief.
  - HM has been fighting a cold and not sleeping well.
  - Amanda has had some bouts with nausea but otherwise is doing well.
  - Julie had an upset stomach on Monday and was bothered by Asthma that day, but is feeling better now.
  - Emily was not feeling well on Monday but is feeling better now.
  - Most of the team has been dealing with various bug bites and itching.  Pray for some relief and not to get infections from the bug bites.
• Continue to pray for their VBS activities with the elementary kids, and their teaching with the young adults.  Pray also for the upcoming activities on Wednesday as they expect to have even more people in attendance.

June 26 
Hosting a special Women's Retreat from material recently prepared by national translators.  The team will help with logistics as well as do child care so the women can maximize their learning.

June 27 

Team will have an opportunity to observe the translation process to gain a better appreciation of the work involved.  In the afternoon team members will be paired up and assigned a host family.  They will spend the night with the families, attempting to learn language and culture.

Phone call message on Friday afternoon from Bret -
(See also individual prayer requests from the kids)

Tuesday night (6/24) - The youth Bible study went well.  They spoke on sex and purity which seemed to be well received.  The mission team gave testimonies about why they have decided to wait until marriage.  They received lots of questions and there was good interaction.

Wednesday (6/25)- was the last day of VBS.  They had approximately 120 little kids.  They played jump rope, tug of war, and various relays.  It was lots of fun and the children did great learning their verses.  A few children even managed to memorize the rather long verses in BOTH Balanta (their home language) and Kriol (the trade language).  Praise God, this it the first time people have memorized scripture in Balanta.

Wednesday evening they had their youth program.  They played soccer in which the mission team actually did pretty well, but Bret thinks the Africans went easy on the mission team!  The youth group was a bit smaller due to rainy weather, but the Bible study went well.

Thursday 6/26- they hosted a women’s Bible study course where about 25 women showed up.  The mission team helped by watching their kids, and sharing their testimonies, doing a craft, and doing a drama.  HM and Riah shared their testimonies.

Friday 6/27- the team geared up for their first village stay.  Roger Reeck demonstrated a monolingual translation in Pepel (another local language).  Without have ever learned the language, Roger motioned to the Pepel language helper and pointed at various objects to elecit vocabulary and sentance structrure.  Within an hour the team had learned a great deal of Pepel and realized how this skill could be incorporated in their village stay were there would be no translators.

Friday afternoon the team headed to the nearby town of Bissara to enjoy the market. Inpromtu stalls littered the entire town center, and crowds of people shopping made it an overwhelming experience.  A few souveneers were purchased, along with needed supplies.  But the high light was probably the cold cokes.

Notice to parents: Tuesday the team will all be back in Dakar.  There is a possibility that they will have Internet access then and if Skype works OK that day they will try to call their families on Tuesday afternoon (Eastern time.)  Parents should send e-mail messages to Hank_Scott@sil.org by Monday night (6/30) along with the phone numbers that their kids can call them on for Tuesday afternoon.  I will consolidate those messages into a single e-mail and pass it along to the e-mail address that Bret & Mike are using.  It is not guaranteed that they will be able to call but they hope it will work out.

June 28 
Team will do morning chores with the family, then come back together for debriefing.  In the evening the community will be invited to watch the recently completed parable video adaptation the team had been working on.  Team members will the return to their host family's home for a second overnight experience.

June 29 
Team will wake up and go to church with their host families.  After church we will have a team debrief to go over language and culture questions that have surfaced.  Late afternoon team will return to their host family's home to begin 40 hours of cultural immersion.

June 30 
Team members will spend the entire day shadowing and participating in their daily life.

July 1 

Team members will conclude their cultural immersion by returning to the Center late in the morning.  We will then head to the capital city where we will catch a flight to Dakar, Senegal.

Evening Update:
Mike sent back 20 pictures via e-mail which I have uploaded to the photo album in the Guinea-Bissau Trip section.  The newest pictures are at the bottom of the GB Trip album, starting with the picture which says "Emily with VBS kids".

I expect to receive a more detailed e-mail message tomorrow from Bret covering their events for the last few days.  The kids were able to make brief phone calls via Skype to their parents.

July 2 

Team debriefing will take place back at the Wycliffe (SIL) center in Dakar.  We may try and attempt a trip to Goree- an island just off the coast where thousands of captured Africans passed before being loaded on slave ships to the Americas

E-mail update from Bret (Sent late last night but I just saw it this AM)

Friday night each team was paired up with a family. The teams were HM and Julie, Riah and Lyndsie, Amanda and Emily, Mike, Bret and Charlie. Tali opted to stay at the village during the day and sleep back at the center due to a variety of reasons.

The homes varied from thatched roofs, to corrugated tin roofs.  Most had swept dirt floors, but a couple had some concrete.  All team members had a foam mattress to sleep on as well a mosquito net.

For the first night, most spent it trying to learn a local language... Balanta.  It was fun trying to indicate what you wanted to learn through gestures and the broken Kriol that had been picked to that point. Everyone did very well.

Sleep was rough as chicken are penned up inside the homes, as well as a hot night and bugs.  Particularly the home that Mike, Charlie and Bret slept in had its mud wall infested with termites.

Saturday Morning:
Team members enjoyed various chores like hand tilling fields for corn, sweeping with a whisk broom, drawing water from a well and carrying it to the house, hand scrubbing any cement floors, cooking over fires, and more.  All of us were surprised that though on the surface the conditions of living were dirty and appalling, they really did have a sense of cleanliness and wanted things to be nice.

Saturday afternoon we gathered together as a team to exchange stories and get some help on language problems we were encountering.  It was helpful to get a reprieve from the living conditions and not have to concentrate so hard to communicate simple sentences.

Saturday evening we headed back to our family houses again.  Rain that night brought much relief to the temperatures and most slept much better the second night.  The family chickens crowing at 3am didn't seem quite as loud.

Sunday:
After rising with our families, we got cleaned up at the Lendem center and then headed to church.  Due to the women being gone at a retreat, the service was rather tame.  No dancing in church, and it was only an hour an a half long.  The pastor spoke on giving to the poor, and many of us couldn't help but feel the message was being directed at us Americans.

Language learning continued with many laughs. Bret learned what he thought was a morning greeting "toe usa sele" only to later find out he'd gone around telling everyone one that morning "go buy fish." Riah and Lyndsie were given nicknames by their families "What is that" and "I don't know" respectively.  But despite the language goof ups, the people have responded affirming our attempts and the Reecks indicated that all are doing extremely well.

After church Sunday, we were invited to attend a traditional wedding. There was music playing on the radio, and the village women greeted us warmly.  The elderly women promptly grabbed our girls and danced with them around the yard.  It was noted that the wedding had not started yet because though the bride was there, the groom wasn't.  We also saw the alter built for the spirits who were going to be called upon during the ceremony.  Well after a few hours of the girls dancing, and no groom showing up, we decided to leave.

During the team time, Lydsie and Riah won the competition for putting together the longest Balanta sentence which basically said "Guinea-Bissau has 99 turtles that like to dance and pigs that like to play soccer."  Of course when the word ninety-nine in Balanta is 5 words and about 15 syllables... well you get the point.

Sunday evening the women returned from their retreat. They had a wonderful time worshiping together.  Sunday evening also began our cultural immersion where the next 40 hours would be living with the family.

Monday:
Having the women home from retreat resulted in changes at some houses.  Dishes that had been neglected were promptly scrubbed, and there was a great deal of cleaning and bathing at some houses.

HM and Emily escorted a village girl to a local doctor office.  The girl had cut her leg with glass several years ago and allowed infection to spread.  Roger was concerned that the leg would need to be amputated.  Despite the appalling conditions of the doctor's office, the wound was cleaned and praise the Lord, didn't look like it would have to be removed.  Pray for this young girl as she's not likely to get the continued treatment she needs to recover.

Monday evening, after various delays, the rough cut on the video production was complete.  The room quickly filled up with eager viewers despite the downpour of rain that began to fall.  The movie was received well and they look forward to getting the final cut which will require another 40+ hours of editing.

Tuesday:
The teams woke up and ate a final breakfast with their family.  After saying goodbye and exchanging parting gifts, the team washed up and headed to Bissau.  We arrived with plenty of time, so we enjoyed a relaxing lunch at the Youth for Christ facilities in Bissau.  Afterwards we drove down to the harbor to get a glimpse of what the colonial Portuguese rule was like, and then headed off to the airport.

After a very long check in, we boarded the plane for our 1 hour flight to Dakar.  All luggage arrived safely and we made it to the SIL center without any problems.

Bret and Mike gave "awards" to the students to recognize their contributions to the team.  Although they are humorous in nature, all the students have done well.  There's at least one story behind each award:

• Charlie- Hottest Guy on the Team
• Emily- Honorary MK
• Julie- Aspirated H Award
• Amanda- "Got Milk" Model
• Tali- Misti Bijah Award
• HM- "There's no place like Home" Award
• Lyndsie- Going Native Award
• Riah- The Initiator Award

Prayer requests:

• Julie has become ill since arriving in Dakar.  She may have a stomach flu.
• Mike developed a rash this morning which quickly caused swelling to his face, arms and stomach... possibly from a cashew nut not fully cooked.  He's responded to treatment, but it's still very itchy.
• Pray for the team to get the most out of the next couple of days.  They will be prayerfully creating goals, reflecting on lessons learned, and have time with team leaders discussing possible next steps.
• Pray for Bret and Riah as they reconcile the finances of the trip. Due to fuel prices and other unexpected issues, the budget has to be examined again.  Also reconciling receipts can be tedious.

Next update expected Wednesday night.  Some students may have another chance to phone home via Skype on Wednesday between 2PM and 6PM Eastern time.  Only a few made Skype calls on Tuesday night.

Wednesday night e-mail update from Bret:

The team enjoyed the amenities of the SIL center in Dakar, including running hot and cold water and 24 hour electricity (backed up by generators occasionally).

The next few days we begin the critical part of reflecting on the trip and searching out what God would have us do next.  Students have been given 21 questions to help them evaluate what they have experienced during the past 4 weeks.   Additionally they are praying through goals for the coming years.

Lyndsie, Riah, and HM have lead devotions the past few times, all doing a great job presenting God's word. The team continues to enjoy musical worship, with a sort of team theme song having the words "I pour out my heart, to say that I want you... say that I need you, say that I love you, say that you're wonderful."

In the afternoon we took a trip downtown (via 3 separate taxis) to do some shopping and enjoy some ice cream.  Tali has come alive, enjoying being in a French speaking African country, using her language abilities to talk to taxi drivers and people on the street.  Roger continues to make us smile as he makes friends with everyone he meets, and loves learning new languages... his latest favorite being Lebanese.

In the evening we spent some time remembering how much has happened, viewing some of the many pictures Mike took to help jog our memory. Most agree that each day on this trip has felt like 2 or more.

Tomorrow (Thursday) morning we are planning to go to Goree Island in the afternoon.  It's the place where many West Africans were taken and held until slave ships came to take them away.

PRAY:

• Julie has recovered significantly from her illness, and hopes to be well enough to participate in all our meetings and activities tomorrow.
• HM has come down with something causing a fever as well as other psychological correction: physiological problems.  She has been in bed most of the day and not feeling much better this evening.  Pray for quick healing...especially before our flight Friday night.
• Pray God will bring to mind all that He has done in and through the team as we attempt to embrace all that he has done.

PRAISE:  So far we have had wonderful taxi drivers and no problems with transportation in Dakar.

Plan to send updates Thursday and Friday night... Lord willing.

July 3 

Continue team debrief, specifically on trying to understanding God's calling on their life to full time ministry.  Potential afternoon excursion to the beach for swimming and R and R.

Thursday evening e-mail update from Bret:
(Also click here to read comments from the students on what God taught them during the trip.)

It's hard for us to imagine getting on a plane tomorrow night to finally come "home."  Some are eager, but many would love to stay and continue.  In the morning and afternoon hours students have continued working on processing the trip.  Team leaders have been meeting with students to highlight with them some of their strengths and potential next steps.  All of the students are struggling to put their mind around all that has happened on this trip, trying to imagine what it will be like back in the States.
 
At our evening meeting Roger and Marilyn Reeck encouraged the team by sharing their perspective of how it went.  They were extremely complimentary of the group saying, "It's the best group they've ever hosted on a short term mission trip."  They also commented on how well each student did and said they would love to have ANY of them come and work on the mission field along side them.  In their perspective they believe the people of Lenden were highly encouraged by our team, and that out language efforts to learn Balanta will encourage the people to read their Bible which should be going to print in the coming months.
 
Thursday afternoon we took a break from the "homework" Bret assigned them.  They took a ferry to Goree Island.  (See two photos here in the GB photo album.) Over 20 million Africans were brought to the island to be prepared to load on to ships headed for the Americas.  The beautiful island and the brightly colored historical buildings contrasted sharply with the human brutality which took place on the island for almost 300 years.  From learning that over 6 million people died in the slave’s houses there and seeing the barbaric conditions, to hearing horrific stories of how young women and even children were treated, it was to much to fully comprehend.  In the evening Marilyn shared a devotional based on Eph 1:1-14.  Reminding us we were slaves to sins and how freedom was purchased at a costly price by our Master.
 
Prayer Requests

• Pray for students as they need to finish up their evaluations and reflection by Friday morning.  Many are struggling to sum up well all that has happened.
• Pray for packing, good closure, and safe flight Friday night.

Praises

• HM woke up feeling well and was able to fully participate today.  Praise God for a quick healing.
• Although Julie struggled with significant abdominal pain this morning, she feels completely better this evening.  Also her father, Clinton arrived last night on a scheduled trip, and they were able to spend time together.

Bret plans to send the next update on Friday evening just before they head off to the airport in Dakar.

July 4 

Muslim day of worship... we hope to be able to observe a mosque.  We will depart late that night (2am) for our return trip to the USA.

Afternoon e-mail update from Bret:

Happy 4th of July... or at least that's what we've been told.  Otherwise we wouldn't have known or even remembered.

This morning we got going with breakfast... leftovers. Powered milk, bananas, mangos, and of course, bread rolls with butter.  Amanda lead us in a devotion on asking the Lord of the Harvest for workers.  Seemed appropriate especially considering how much of Bissau was completely unreached... still 20 languages don't have a single verse of scripture.

After devotions, the team got cracking on finishing their evaluations, interviews, and goals.  We did not have time to go to a mosque, so instead we opted to go to a beach.  We had an enjoyable time despite the beach having recently had large boulders wash up after a the last rain here.  Basically, there was little to no sand, and swimming was almost impossible.

Some chose to adventure up the beach where we were shown a cliff jumping spot.  Lindsey, Emily, and Bret chose to take the 30 foot plunge into the brimey Atlantic Ocean.  And yes... we have video proof.  Mike, Charlie, and a local MK choose to hike up to a nearby light house for some awe inspiring views.

Despite warnings of needing to use sunscreen, there are several crispy critters on our team.  Special mentions include: Bret, Amanda, Julie, and Tali.  Most team members are hoping to have a gentle hug and a bottle of aloe waiting at the airport for them on Saturday.

We have been invited to join the Jenkins family for supper tonight.  They made home made pizza for all of us and milk shakes too!  After dinner we have about 2 hours of final team time, followed by last minute packing.  Our van arrives at midnight to wisk us away to the airport.

Thank you to so many of you who have faithfully prayed us through this trip and contributed generously to our financial needs.  As we continue to debrief we have come to understand more and more of what God may have been doing through us on this trip.

The team is scheduled to have a reunion in the Olive Branch on Sunday night.  All are welcomed to watch raw video footage and view some of the 3,000 pictures taken.  Check back Saturday for the time.

Deusi bon (God is good- Kriol)

July 5 

Leave Dakar:  2:50 AM (GMT)
Arrive at Charlotte:  1:35 PM CORRECTION! arrive at 11:35 AM!

Reminder: Parents are expected to pick up students from airport or arrange to carpool with other families.

Saturday morning phone call from Bret at 9:30 AM EST:

The team has arrived in Atlanta and got through immigrations and customs fine.  They will arrive at Charlotte on Delta flight 1554 around 11:35 AM today (this is a change from the previous schedule of 1:35 PM).  From the beach visit yesterday, Amanda has 2nd degree sunburns on her back.  They will try and recieve treatment during their layover in Atlanta.  They all expect to make their next flight fine and have a good amount of time between flights.

THEY'RE HOME! 

The entire team arrived safely in Charlotte.  Emily will stay a few extra days, leaving Monday evening to return to Nebraska.

The team will be having a "reunion" Sunday (7/6) to watch some of the video footage taken as well as exchange copies of pictures.  All are welcome to attend.  It will begin at 6pm in the Olive Branch.

A synopsis of trip highlights will be posted in the coming days to recognize some of what God accomplished through the students on this trip.