Hello Family and Friends,
In an attempt to both update you and preserve my memory of my very first World Race week, I’ve created a brief summary of each day. (note: this was written 8/13/16… no wifi until today!)
Friday—Sunday: Arrive in Atlanta, GA and stay at a nearby hotel.
training seminars, safety practice, team meetings, parent program, worship, watching Olympics (on off time—honestly, this is one of the things I’m most sad to miss)
Monday: left at about 8am EST for the Atlanta airport
Our flight was delayed from 12pm to 4pm, so we arrived to JFK at about 6pm.
Our Squad of 50 hung out at the airport until about 11pm—boarded Emirates flight to Dubai
[small aside: I met an elderly man from India on the flight. He was coming home after visiting his daughter in Florida. I found out that he was a Christian and directed choirs in several churches in India. He didn’t want to talk about his home as much as how concerned he was for the United States, spiritually, economically, and politically. I asked him several times about the spiritual climate in India (because we will be spending a month there) but he didn’t seem half as concerned as he was for America. Part of me was grateful to be away for a year and part of me is already excited to come home, because it was so evident from his perspective how much the US needs the power of the Gospel to heal our nation. It was also very difficult to understand him, even though he spoke fluent English… I was in for quite a shock when we got to Cote d’Ivoire.]
Tuesday: arrived in Dubai after 13 hour flight and not much sleep.
Checked into our hotel for about 6 hours –10pm to 4am (2pm to 8pm EST)
First spontaneous adventure: a tour of the city from 12am to 2am. Thank goodness the bus was air conditioned because it was about 110 degrees. Dubai was fascinating because it’s built completely for tourism and everything is new—the city was all desert 25 years ago.
Some highlights of the tour:
- Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world (over 1 mile high, 160something floors)
- “7 star hotel” that looked like a sailboat; we contemplated going inside until we learned that having tea there is $200 and a night’s stay was more than we raised for the entire year.
- A beautiful mosque
- Man-made islands with private beaches
(I will try to upload my pictures when our wifi is better)
Wednesday: Boarded plane for Abidjan—left at 7:30am (11:30pm EST)
Arrived in Abidjan after 9 hour flight at about 1pm local time (9am EST), restless and jet-lagged.
We were transported by several pastors to one church where we were welcomed with a variety of fruit juices and snacks. Ivoirians are very hospitable and are always offering us food, which totally won me over.
5 of our teams settled into one hotel in the compound—each team in one room with cots.
Mission Ephrata gated compound includes… 2 schools, 1 (giant) church, football (soccer) field, basketball court, other homes, small open-air restaurant, small library
Thursday: We learned that we’d arrived in the midst of a huge weekend program, so we wouldn’t start ministry until afterwards. It was helpful to just participate and observe because (1) we wanted to learn about the community and culture and (2) we were still exhausted from travel.
There was an afternoon program for widows in community; probably 200 came in buses and taxis provided by the church. They started arriving over an hour before the program began. Pastor Zacharie shared the Gospel and prayed for healing, and immediately several women came up to the microphone and testified to God’s power—some could walk without help, others felt relief from pain. It was beautiful to see, and there were a few tears on my end. Afterwards, we passed out bags of food, and then participated in a spontaneous dance circle with some of the women and children!
My teammate Hannah and I ended up staying with some of the children and taught them how to play Duck, Duck, Goose for about two hours (They had no idea what we were saying and usually just shouted for “goose!”). It was a blast and they had so much energy!
There is a church service on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30pm. This service began with worship, and then Pastor talked through several scriptures about persistence in prayer. We finished with a 15-minute prayer walk around church, praying for their weekend events. This was a bit of a shock for us Americans who are usually told, “stop talking, be quiet, it’s time to pray,” because Ivoirians shout, clap their hands, stomp their feet, and sing before the Lord. They are completely unashamed of prayer and worship and don’t mind doing it in front of others—not in a prideful, “look at me” way, but as a natural outflow of who they are.
Friday: This was the best morning yet because breakfast was coffee and French bread with butter, jam, and NUTELLA! What a treat. We were all a bit too excited about that last item and cleaned out the jar in about 20 minutes. We had the morning and afternoon free, so I set up my hammock along with some other squad mates. Two of the local children we met yesterday, David and Mika, were very intrigued and spent the afternoon swinging with us.
That night, we had an all-night prayer vigil 9pm—4:30am. Though it was a challenge to stay awake (especially when everything’s in French), I loved their worship! They sang/played with so much joy! I could recognize a few songs (all in French) and we all faked our way through the lyrics. J
If you’ve stuck with me through this entire post, congrats! To sum up…
Highlights: dancing and playing with local kids, time to relax and adjust before ministry starts, prayer walk, widows’ service and healing, food!!, growing close with team (and enjoying time with 4 other teams), worshipping at prayer night
I’m so excited to begin the World Race here in Cote d’Ivoire! I keep waking up and reminding myself that we’re finally in Africa. It’s surreal and still takes some adjusting. I’m looking forward to the next 3 weeks here before moving on to Ghana!
Prayer requests (as of 8/20):
We are speaking tomorrow at church to share about World Race and why we became missionaries. Please be praying for our nerves, a clear translation, and that God would speak through us.
We have gone evangelizing two times so far with the church’s youth. Pray for the people we’ve met—that they would understand what we’re sharing and come to join Mission Ephrata (the church we’re representing).
Many people on our squad seem to be suffering a mysterious stomach bug/headache/fever that passes quickly, but is never fun. Pray for healing and protection from illness!!
