Bonjour toutes les mondes! (Hello everyone!)
I’m so thankful for each of you who are following my journey and supporting me in the ways you can.
I’m now in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire working with the children in some nearby villages. I’ve loved translating for my team as well, since they speak French here. In the villages we sing songs together, dance, share Bible stories, memorize scripture, give out clean water and toothpaste, play games, and have lots of laughs. While it’s true this has been the most poverty I’ve seen, the number of smiles outweighs it by far. I wish you could see the sweet grins, like the ones of Stephanie and Princess, in person. I know that when most of us think about African countries, we only see this picture of poverty; yet I hope me writing to you helps create a picture of beautiful people over poor people. If we really want to see people for who they are and love them well, we have to see past small things like financial status or other differences. The last thing my team and I want is to be the white missionaries going to help all the “poor people”. It’s dehumanizing and lacks love.
I have already been so encouraged by my short time here. Most people that I’ve met have been super kind and interested in what my team and I are all about. I’ve been amazed by how fast the children have opened up to us and impressed by how quickly they understand the little lessons that we’ve taught. My favorite ever is how the kids start each class- singing and dancing all crazy and laughing at us while we try to keep up.
God has been giving me dreams and ideas recently, regarding bridging the gaps of miscommunication between culture and language too- so I’m super pumped about that and what will come of it!!
In February, I’ll be traveling to Ghana so please pray for my team’s safe travels. I hope you guys feel loved today. See you soon!
Alyssa
