Can you believe a month has already passed since we arrived in Cote D’Ivoire, Africa! One month down, 10 more to go!! There are some days when I wake up in complete AWE that this is currently my portion! We arrived in Cote D’Ivoire on January 8th ( around 2pm– their time) via Ethiopian Airlines! Immediately once I got off the plane, I forgot how exhausted I was ( I didn’t sleep NONE on the plane) and experienced a rush of emotions… or maybe I was just delirious from no sleep! It’s debatable! HA! ‘THIS WAS HOME’! This continent ( even though I am not exactly sure where in Africa my ancestors are from) has my bloodline etched in its very foundation. My ancestors cultivated the very land I stood on through their blood, sweat, laughs, labor, love, and tears! Being here gave me chills!
Another beautiful piece to this story is that since I am apart of a much greater bloodline (Jesus), now, years later, I am blessed to be given the opportunity to travel through Africa, to fulfill God’s purpose & the Great Commission- “ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Sons and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” ( Matthew 28:10) I felt like my ancestors prayed for this very moment….. SPEECHLESS!
I did not know the very essence of what God was doing…. until we arrived in Assafou, CoteD’Ivoire…. to a remote village:
The Village of Baoule!!!
I fell in love with the people that lived in this particular BAOULE village ( there were a plethora of other surrounding villages). Besides the vicious mosquitos, I fell in love with the food, culture, children, and the way God showed Himself to the village. The village has no access to a bible ( or electricity), so they heavily rely on multiple church services throughout the week, teachings, missionaries, and the pastors to teach them about Jesus! So Ministry for us this month looked like:
5am prayer service (Tuesday-Saturday)
8-10pm Outreach ( Tuesday & Thursday- which a lot of the women attended or sneak to!)
Church on Sundays from 8am-12
10-2pm Church on Wednesdays
8pm-9pm CHurchnight service ( every other night).
Children’s Ministry.. everyday! ( we lived with the children, so we got to be with them every day)!
Ministry in the village
God does not need ANY of the above to show Himself….. He does it in His way, powerfully! Not everyone in the village are believers, actually, only a small amount of them believe in Jesus. Our host, Ezekiel, communicated to us that the village practice some form of animism ( they worship rivers, sun, mountains, particular trees). Worship for them includes (from what I was told) other things plus sacred dances, that sometimes women are not allowed to participate in or see. There is usually this man that dresses in this unique costume! ( No, I did not see the dance)… ( I saw him)!!! Women aren’t allowed to look at him ( during certain times), nor could we… however; one time he ran passed us and we were told to put our heads down. ( Actually, they pushed our heads down). I got a little glimpse. The suit the man wears looks very HOT and is light brown, with a head piece, feathers, beads.. thats all I can give you. At night you can hear them singing and worshiping. Our host, Ezekiel, would not go into deep detail when asked, because he was not proud of it! Women are not allowed to attend Church (Christian) service because if their husbands found out, their husbands would stop supporting them! So alot of our ministry was at night because the women would sneak away or sometimes allowed to go.
This was our host, Ezekiel Kouakou.
Ezekiel, like us, knew a thing or two about leaving your ‘comforts’ to spread the Gospel! He left his wife and two children to live in the village, to build a church and spread the gospel through the village ( before he came to get us from the airport, its been a year, since he hasn’t seen his children or wife). He admitted that it is very hard and that he misses his children, however, the work of the Kingdom was more important to him. Souls rested in Ezekiel’s ‘ Yes”! Ezekiel, ‘Papa Zeke’ was like a father to us! He covered us in prayer, protected us, translated for us, ministered to us, loved us, gave us the freedom to be ourselves, laughed with and at us, rolled his eyes at our ‘American’ ways…. He even prayed that our husband would find us.. AMEN somebody!! HA! Ezekiel( even though not his birth name) was given Ezekiel when he started to preach in a Nigerian church after he graduated from Law School. God changed his name … HOW COOL! Month ONE, would not have been what it was without EZEKIEL He is a true example of pursuing the Father’s heart through reckless abandonment, fasting, and prayer! I am very sure our ‘ American’ ways’ stressed him, but he always continued to serve us! If you come to my wedding, he will be there! #soserious
Once we arrived to The Baoule village, we were welcomed by singing, running, waving, dancing and shouting children.… lots of children! As the children of the village began to gather around us in awe struck wonder of “Foreigners”; Ezekiel began to translate to us that they haven’t had ‘American’ visitors since 2017 ( a Youth With A Mission (YWAM)- missionary group). Excited, the children began to shake our hands, smile, and talk to us. Eziekel then began to listen to the children, that were still gathered around us, and then he looked at them, shaking his head. Ezekiel, then turned, pointed at me, and then shook his head with a smile.
*The village does not speak French, they speak Baoule. Other parts of CoteD’Ivoire speak French and other dialects.**
“They think you speak French!” communicated Ezekiel, as he smiled my way. I began to explain to him that I did not and why did they think that I did. He followed up by explaining that they have NEVER seen a ‘BLACK AMERICAN’. The only Americans they have seen were, white; and so when they saw me, they thought that I spoke French because they think I lived there ( in Africa). Taken aback by what I just heard, I froze in my tracks, realizing that this was a GOD thing and that this was a special time in history for not only the village but for me. The Village never ever seeing a ‘BLACK AMERICAN’ was something that I could not comprehend fully the impact that it made.
A week later, during a walk, Ezekiel and I was able to have a conversation about what me being there meant to not only him but to the village and the Gospel. Ezekiel began to explain to me that 2 years ago, the missionaries that came to visit were all white. So through what they have been previewed to and the stories they have been told, WHITE= AMERICA! Not completely amazed at their association, the face of America is indeed White, but to not know that there are people that LOOK like them ( dark skin), gave me an underlining purpose and joy!! ** every time we were introduced to people in the village, the chief, captain, or anybody, they always said. “ I am happy to have White Americans Foreigners in our country!”
“YOU ARE AN ANSWERED PRAYER!” communicated Ezekiel as he looked at me. “I prayed for a Black American to come to our village. It teaches the village that there is so much more outside of the village. That their opportunities are endless. A lot of them NEVER leave the village, so they don’t know how the world looks. All they know is what they see, what they are taught and that is very limited. They are going to be more open to you just because you look like them!”
At that moment, my heart jumped into my throat to have a bird’s eye view of what the Lord was doing through me. He brought me thousands of miles away to change the perspective, imagination, dreams, and aspirations of a whole entire village, especially the kids. SPEECHLESS. This for me was ministry! This was a purpose that only God could orchestrate that only I could plant at that moment. This was JESUS!
Later as I processed with my Squad Leader, I discussed with her that going from the majority ( at home) to the minority ( in the sea of my squad) then back to the majority to where I carried a special purpose made my heart full. That I did not know exactly why God chose me in this season, but this was an amazing start……..
God…..yall, is so SOVEREIGN but so SPECIFIC! Ahhhhhhhh……..
Thanks for reading!
I cannot wait to share this journey with y’all! BUCKLE UP…. Its just getting started!!!
P.S. As I get more wifi and more time, I will be posting more blogs ( as much as I can)! Please make sure you follow my blog ( subscribe) as well as follow me on all social media! Also, I only have $5,000 until I am fully funded, I would love your support!
Love y’all,
NYANMIEN RA WO SU ( God Bless you in Baoule)
Meyuna
