I miss you west africa
at least for this season, our time in West Africa has come to a close. our focus was helping and training another family - who will ultimately lead this academy plant - to transition and get settled in their new country. they are in a good place now, and will continue digging into language and culture in preparation for the opening of BVSA-West Africa. in the meantime, we will begin focussing on the next location.
there is so much to do when planting a ministry in a new country. starting a legal organization, visa and residency legalities, immersion into language and culture, housing, vehicle, schools, etc. each with its own bureaucracy and red tape. and this list goes on and on.
last year, we got the ball rolling on these things, but we were alone, which makes it even harder. it's always better to do hard things together with other people! and that's what made the last 4 months with the Wehmeyer's so special.
more so than most contexts, the mission field brings everything to the surface... and fast! life is already so hard. every errand is like a video game - complete with enemies and obstacles and hurdles flying at you as you move towards your goal. the only difference is instead of saving the world or military missions, the objective is paying a bill or getting a haircut!
the language barrier and all the uncertainties and anxieties are hard enough. then mix 2 families with their own patterns and rhythms... who previously didn't know one another... now sharing a bathroom, moms sharing a kitchen, and dad sharing a car... and you can see how tensions could rise! but if done with humility and grace, this can be one of the most precious things in life.
i'll never forget one of our first nights together (when sharing the same apartment), Stefan and Shawntel asked us if we had any pet peeves. when Kerrie replied "loud noises", their chins literally dropped 😂. with 2 rambunctious little ones, peace and quiet was only going to happen during nap time!
we already miss them.here's some other things we will miss:
- walks through the thick desert sand back and forth to school every day
- the many precious friendships God allowed us to make in such a short time
- Ruti, our landlord's sweet house cleaner
- Luci's teachers, principal, and school family
- the boutique across the street where we bought daily water and necessities
- sunday worship with the Wehmeyer's
- followed by sunday ventures out for groceries
- local dishes like mafe and yassa
- lunch meetings with Stef at Willie's
- hot coffee and cold Coke's with the Cuthberts
- sword fights with the axa playground kids
- m-w-f afternoons with Kathryn
- snuggles with my chubby fox
- road trips to the village. no time for potty breaks! pee in the back of the truck!
- mosquito nets, mosquito traps, mosquito spray, mosquito plug ins (ok, won't miss any of that)
- Leo, our friend and apartment security guard
- taxi's
- senfish
- pay-as-you-go electricity
- constantly loading phone minutes
- mawa's
- faking to be much better at French than i really am
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