J'arrive a Bouake!

Dear friends,

If you get anything out of this blog post, let it be this:

A. I am “tres bien” (very well), safe and secure here at Mission Baptiste in Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire.

B. Where I live is beyond beautiful - full of fruit trees, singing birds, vibrant flowers, and in the best company I could ask for. I stop and praise God every hour, if not more.

C. God is good. We arrived safe, as did our bags. The smoothest traveling I’ve ever experienced There is much to praise Him for here. It is a strange mix of extreme excitement and newness, along side overwhelming adjustments. One of our leaders said, “nothing can prepare you for this,” and I now understand exactly what they meant.

　

Now for the details.

Words cannot describe the past few days. Though the journey here was long, including 4 flights, a 6 hour sleep in Abidjan, and a 5 hour bus ride to Bouake, it was unnaturally issue-free. I remember the ride from the airport by its smells. First, there was the aroma of pineapples, then cocoa, and then coffee and dust - all flooding through the windows of our van. I kept thinking, “we are going home!.. And it’s for a year!” No getting on another plane next week. But don’t interpret that as a hardship, because that’s not what I feel. I feel extremely content beyond words. I find myself often sitting and taking in what’s going on. I have to. It’s like I’m a child again, and I have to ask lots of questions. By the way, I really did ask a lot of questions as a child. Everything is new: the birds that I hear, the fruit trees (I have grapefruits, limes, lemons, papayas, mangoes, pineapples, avocados, passion fruit, guava, coconut, and banana trees ALL right outside! - though it takes a bit of climbing and searching for ripe ones), the geckos, the heat lightning storms, the humidity (a bit like our Philadelphia summer), the food (the first night, we had fresh killed chicken with cucumber, tomato and onion salad, attieke -similar to cous cous, spicy tomato chili sauce, and hot peppers. You mixed it all in your hand, squeezed it, then popped the handful into your mouth.. Which takes some grace I have not yet developed. For desert, fried plantain pieces, delicious!), the people, their customs and the language (French and Dyula).

Right now, at this moment, it is torrential down pouring. It does this every now and then, as we are at the end of the rainy season. Yesterday, we were sitting in a training session, the sun was out, and we heard this loud pounding on the roof, then saw the rain through the windows. So we ran outside, and there was the BIGGEST rainbow I have every seen, stretching across the entire sky. Absolutely beautiful. It is said that rainbows are symbols of “God’s promise”. And the rain reminds me of God’s healing. There have been a handful of memorable rainstorms in my life. This perhaps tops them all. It came at a time when we were struggling with our own expectations of what Africa would be like, alongside of the customs, language, and differences that we were learning. I couldn't help myself and ran out into the rain. We praised God together, for his restoring power, and for the rain and rainbow that reminded us of Him.

I mentioned at the beginning that I feel very content. This is partly because of all of the excitement, but I know I need to credit it mostly to God. I am content knowing that THIS is what He has for me right now. And man, do I praise God SO MUCH for everything here.. I wish I could say the same about life back in the US.. Sometimes it takes nuances to remind us to praise Him. There’s an incredible feeling when you realize you are living out God’s plan - and it is in that knowledge that I am free.

There is so much more I'd like to say, but for now, I am working on processing it first, before I start spitting it all out here on my blog... because there would be too much to read. Also, pictures are coming soon. I am taking it in for now.

One last word on relationships. I came here with 9 others, and there are a handful of leaders here. God could not have handpicked a better group of people to live together and serve, in community, in Bouake. Again, we have much to praise God for.

Ways you can pray for me:

Patience: in relationships, language learning, understanding. Good health. That we will take on a missionary living lifestyle, including waking up at 6, and living the way that the people do here.. with humility and not pride. For community and deep relationships (praise Jesus, they form fast here). That I would seek God for His will, for my time here. And as always, for my own heart, that God would do great works in it and with it.