Meet Mariama

Mariama & I on moving night

Mariama is my best friend here in Guinea-Bissau.

She's (give or take) around 17 years old. It's not uncommon for Africans to not know their age.
She's married and has a little son, Mamanjan, who will turn 1 next month.

Amadori and his friend packing all their possessions
into this little hauler when they moved.

 Mariama, lived in Catel with her son, husband, and brother-in-law until about 2 weeks ago when they moved to a village a few kilometers away.  Mariama is part of the Fulani tribe which stretches across Africa and is originally from Conakry, Guinea. And thus her primary language is Fula, but she's also pretty fluent in Portuguese Kriol as well. Mariama was a bit reserved when I first met her but has generously opened her home and her heart as we became friends over the last 6 months.

Though, like most Fula people, her family is Muslim, I see her seeking truth and pray God will reveal himself to her and her husband and take a strong hold on their lives so that their son might grow up knowing Him.

Amadori & Mamanjan   May 2012

Mariama and her husband Amadori have struggled emotionally and financially as their little son, Mamanjan, has been ailed by one illness after another during his short life. A long battle with malaria, at the beginning of the year, left Mamanjan's body frail and developmentally delayed. In April, at 9 months old, he weighed a mere 4.2kg (aprox 9.2 lbs). In addition to breast milk he's being supplemented with fortified baby cereal and fortified formula to help him get the nutrients he needs to stay healthy and grow. He's now up to about 5kg and we praise god that he's been relatively healthy these last 2 months and is now able to sit on his own, play, and babble

Mariama and Amadori both adore Mamanjan and I pray that God will strengthen them as a family and that they will come to know him. I'm so thankful for the friends God has blessed me with in Catel and I pray that he will use me to be a blessing unto them!

~ LoVe Is A vErB ~

"Give your hands to LOVE and your hearts to SERVE"
 -Mother Teresa (emphasis added)


Women's Bible Study

Picture from women's bible study a while back...

Alyssa, Lia & I take turns leading a Kriol women's bible study, for any women in the village who wish to attend, every Sunday afternoon from 4-6pm

  

"How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you see, whom you touch, with whom you live? And so it is very important for us to realize that love, to be true, has to hurt. "

 - Mother Teresa

 As Mother Teresa said, I have also I've found to be so true. The last two months I have begun to identify the shift in perspective. I'm unsure if this is the shift from a history of very short term missions or more relationship based focused assignments, but God has certainly been at work in this. It’s one thing to be sad or shaken over someone else’s tough situation, but it's another thing to sit and suffer with your friends here when they receive a grave medical diagnoses, anguish over a chronically ill child, or live with abusive spouse. These things are no long longer sad problems of the third world, but daily the daily sufferings of your best friends. Recently one of my friend was enduring a really emotionally and physically bad situation in her home and I was distraught. My heart hurt for her. I didn’t sleep well. For a short time I tried to figure out how to love and support her without experiencing all the pain myself. I was afraid of perhaps “burning out” with so many people to love and so much suffering all around, or perhaps not knowing how to handle the grief myself. However, I have been reminded that we serve a God who loves to fill us up. He is our strength in weakness. Our ever present help. So, I am here in Catel. A nurse, a woman, a missionary, and most of all a friend here to love the people God is putting in my life, even when it hurts.

  

I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.”

-Mother Teresa

The Dynamic Duo

Sadja & Adromani

Sadja (left) was a good friend of Andre's and Annette's long before we got here. He's a hilarious, smart, fun loving 13year old son of our village Chief. Sadja is infamous for the riddles he loves to tell which always involve something about a man’s child which is never actually a child but more so a metaphor for something. Needless to say, I never understand his riddles, but its hilarious when he tells them! Sadja is a bright kid who seeks truth and wisdom and dreams of serving his people as a physician one day. We just love hanging out with this little guy. He actually spends M-F in another village to go to school but we always look forward to him coming home on the weekends!

Adromani (right) is Sadja's older brother. These 2 are an awesome duo that God is really going to work through to reach the people of Guinea-Bissau. Adromani is nearing his 22nd birthday and is a fantastic teacher, friend, leader, and man after God's own heart! He spent his adolescent years attending school in Bissau (the capital) and is a youth leader at His church there. He also blesses our congregation here in Catel with His musical gifts of guitar, piano, and singing and helps to lead the children's worship Saturday evenings. Adromani has also recently become my new language tutor and is doing a fantastic job with that as well!

I'm so thankful for the work that God is doing in both Sadja and Adromani's lives and for the passion they have to live a life transformed by His will. I consider myself blessed to fellowship with them and I pray that God will continue to bless them with strength, courage, and hope to withstand the persecution of their friends and loved ones.

Visual Updates

Sorry its been a while. With visiting teams and so forth I had been super busy. Then the internet was down for the better part of a week, go figure ;) So, here are the visual and written updates you've all been requesting. Blessings from Guinea-Bissau!
PS- please pray for peace during the upcoming election in Senegal

Sean & his new puppy "Klinik"

This dead rat measured 28" from nose to tail... ewww!

He was about to be dinner too!!!

View from hotel in Z-world (Senegal)

Pete & kiddos  :)

Village Fun