From the moment we landed in Africa I have had this thought: being in Africa is like being in One Direction, or really any boy band-but let’s go with 1D.
Picture this.
You arrive to a country after hours upon hours of traveling and you are not exactly feeling or looking your best. Everyone is staring at you wondering why on earth you are so far away from home.
When we were riding in the car, my pal Jess caught a teenage boy in the midst of picking his nose in aw of seeing us. Everyone stared as we passed by. It is such a strange feeling because we did absolutely nothing to receive this attention.
The people here are the most hospitable people I have ever met. Once we arrived at the bus station, our host waited in line for us until it was time to get on the bus. After the bus ride to Bouake, our hosts took our bags and put them on top of the car. Our new pals whisked our bags into our new home for the next month. We did not have to pick up a single thing.
The first night we were hanging out in our little patio area and we noticed a few children across the way. We went outdoors to say hello and eventually it seemed the whole entire village came outdoors to see what was going on. People were calling their friends and telling them that white people were in town (or at least that is what it felt like). They sat and watched from across the way. Slowly but surely they inched their way across the street and into our area just to observe us.
Our first day in Diabo, we went around town and met the Chief of Cheif’s, the Mayor and the Police Sheriff. We passed a school with a few kids in the front-and eventually the entire school was outside and watched us walk by. Later we went into a classroom and all of the kids surrounded us. They touched our skin and our hair in awe because we look so different from them.
We are not allowed to go anywhere by ourselves. This is partially due to the fact that we do not speak French or the local language, but also because we tend to start parades wherever we go. Everywhere we go we have at least three or four body guards it seems. They protect us and help us communicate with others. It seems we are never alone because well our hosts want to protect us and always ensure we are well.
We are still figuring out what our ministry will be this month (we are this host’s first World Race team!!!- therefore still figuring things out). We have been going door to door to share Jesus’ love around the neighborhood. Each house we enter, the people immediately pull out chairs and offer us food or water. Even though many of these people have nothing, they want to ensure we are taken care of. This is for sure a cultural thing, but it makes you feel so so welcomed wherever you go. No one ever shooed us away. They always welcomed us to hear what we had to say even if they were in the middle of something.
People stare. They take pictures (selfies with us but also pictures from afar). They tell us they want to marry us. And are so happy to see us. We have done nothing other than simply showing up to deserve this spotlight on us.
Although we have no wifi, we have to dump water in the toilet to flush, we sleep under bug nets and our shower is a drain in the floor, we have truly been treated like queens (aka One Direction) during our time here thus far. It has been so humbling to feel so loved and appreciated. Although it is a bit strange to have others stare and follow you, it has been cool to use this platform of looking different to minister the gospel to those of Diabo.
