July 28, 2019

It is amazing what becomes the norm after spending six months in W. Africa. Today when pulling in from the baptism to open our gates, I saw movement on the walls and didn’t think anything at all about our resident lizards. I don’t flinch anymore when I find big ants crawling on my cupboards for Tom just sprays them. I have learned how to deal with what I can or can’t find at the market and we eat what is available.  Several women touch my hair to see if it is real—they think it must be a wig because of the style. I tell them that I have been cutting it myself this way for more than 45 years.

This week I started thinking about what will be most memorable about the villages:
  1. The Peacefulness of sitting under a mango tree in a dirt back yard, waiting for the Elders to return from their teaching appointments, the children playing—making gravel pies and practicing walking with the bowl on their heads, wrapping an empty bottle for a baby and carrying it around all afternoon, a brother spending time with his little sister.  Even the sheep are at peace.

2.The Strength of the women and the simpleness of life — scrubbing clothes by hand next to the well where you drew the water and hanging them on the line or the roof.  Cooking over an open fire after you have arranged the rocks, made your own palm oil, cut the wood, harvested the rice.  Being a grandma—tending the kids during school vacation.  Listening to the word.

Our assignment will be changing. The leaders in our 3 little branches are no longer dependent on us to be trainers or liaison to the Mission President. They now have a District Presidency to teach and advise them.  You come to love people even when you and sometimes they don't speak French well or Bété at all.  But the language of love and of the Spirit is well understood.

July 21, 2019 District of Issia!

We have had an exhilarating, exhausting, spiritual high kind of weekend.  It started on Friday when we helped the missionaries teach “our” family , a couple and their young adult daughter.  They had been given a copy of the book of Mormon the week before and had been reading.  The father shared with us his testimony of the book which he received after simply reading Moroni 10:3-6.  His wife also felt that it was true.  Their daughter shared her testimony which she received after reading (in Mosiah 4) King Benjamin’s exhortation to take care of the poor and the needy if we wish to keep a remission of our sins.  The father and daughter attended Sacrament Meeting today and were very attentive.

Daughter and father

Yesterday we traveled with Pres. and Sr. Sherman as he extended calls to the new district presidency.  First stop was in Saioua where the first counselor lives. The Saioua building is now officially rented by the church from its owner . The design is a large centered courtyard in the middle with apartments on opposite ends.   Members are being paid to clean, paint, re-stucco, and do electrical work.  The Temporal Affairs workers in the mission will enlarge the pavilion in the center and refurbish the apartments as classrooms.  We are hoping it can accommodate two branches soon. Second stop was in Issia to call the second councilor . We waited for his wife to get there. Her husband was not aware that she needed to be in the interview. 

Finally, we visited Zoukougbeu (fun to pronounce!) for the first time.  They also have a branch building under construction.  Two houses minus an adjoining wall, have been combined to make a larger meeting room.  Workers are doing painting, masonry work, installation of a sound system, etc. It will be a nice small chapel shortly.  More interviews for the president.

Today we picked up the 1st counselor in the mission presidency, Pres. Djea, and the mission clerk.  We attended two Sacrament Mtgs in two villages about 30 miles apart. The Shermans attended two others so that our 4 branches had the opportunity to sustain and hear from the Issia District Presidency.  Six hours later we met back in Issia for the setting apart and initial training of the new leaders. 

We were thrilled to be with the saints and friends in Godoua to see how many were there (77 !) and feel the spirit of joy and love. It was clear to us how these new brothers, with the support of their wives, had been prepared for these new and challenging roles. 

District President

1st Counselor

2nd Counselor

July 14, 2019 Self Reliance

A couple of weeks ago we were contacted by a local church leader who requested an interview.  We went hoping that he had some work for us to do closer to home.  Instead, he showed us a business plan.  He had gone to a course where they taught how to take care of domestic quail to produce their eggs and sell them.  Apparently there are a number of claims about the health benefits of eating quail eggs and we have seen them being sold in the local supermarket.

He had what seemed like a good business plan and was looking for someone to invest so he could get started.  Senior missionaries are not permitted to engage in this kind of business activity, but I offered to contact someone with great experience in helping develop small businesses in West Africa whom we had met on our previous mission, to get his advice and see if he had contacts who would be interested.

I have copied from his response to me: “I read your email and business plan and can understand your desire to help.  It seems like a small amount that looks like it could reap results.  That is such a common response to the needs of the local people.  I realized through our work with small business development that the most success comes from starting small, having mentors and using savings to grow.  The discipline of that approach helps build their understanding of business much better than capital given to them.  Repayment of loans is very difficult, if not impossible to effect.  Everything about building a business is more complicated than they expect and the management of money is a real challenge.

Our suggestion would be to encourage them to save some money, buy some hens, start selling their eggs and learn all they can about keeping the hens healthy and saving money to invest in additional hens.  Usually, money received is not spent as effectively and has a way of disappearing without the desired results.  Then more money is needed and given in an effort to help them succeed.  We were advised not to give money but thought we had a good business plan with repayment providing funds for future businesses.  That simply did not work in most cases.  If you have time to encourage and mentor them without supplying any money, that would be our suggestion.”

So often when we travel to underdeveloped countries, we want to help people by fixing their problems.  It’s hard not to see things through our own eyes.  We have participated in several medical mission trips to Central America.  The teams went to underserved areas and provided surgical, medical and dental care.  It is well-recognized that this type of assistance is the least effective.  The best help is education, where those who are dealing with the issues are given the understanding and mental tools to enable them to come up with their own solutions.

In a similar vein, we were told a couple of years ago by two esteemed African men from different countries that the worst thing that has happened to Africa in their lifetimes has been NGOs that give stuff to people, because it has created a dependence that has stymied home-grown effort and solutions.  Opportunities to serve in projects truly do bless the giver, but will it really help the receiver?  That is the question we should be asking ourselves before we jump in with the heart because we see others in need.

On a family note, our son Tal recently posted this on FB.  “I’ve been doing the first half of ‘Take the jobs you can get until you can get the jobs you want’ for a very chaotic seven years or so, and as of a few days ago I can finally move on to the second half”.  He will be hired to teach full time by the San Antonio Music Academy starting in January (part time until then) and that will reduce his travel time significantly and give him a much better schedule.  And he will continue to tour with the band (Terry Cavenaugh and the Alpine Express) during the late summer and fall.  We’re very proud  of our youngest’s success and the fact that all of this is a result of his own desires and efforts.

The favorite toy of young boys in the village: a wheel and a stick

A little girl from church

July 7, 2019 The Little Things Are the Big Things

We wrote last week about the first meeting in Niakia. We have had an interesting experience finding a place to meet that would keep everyone happy.

For the first meeting, a middle-aged active man was asked to find us a place to meet.  He selected the very first home where meetings were held in the village. It was occupied by a member formerly from Abidjan when his father and half-brother (who had owned the home) both died.   The member decided to live there to take care of it while he finishes his own home (overgrown with weeds) in the village in the next six months or so. The half brother’s nephew was living else where. We don’t know about the agreement or lack thereof between the half-uncle and the nephew, but somehow this owner decided that his half-uncle was taking advantage of him by living in the home and out of the blue evicted him.  It actually occurred when the occupant was out of town on business, but his wife and belongings were put out of the house into the rain.  That put a damper on the relationship.

When the member found out that the meetings were going to be held there, he said, “That’s fine, but I will attend elsewhere.”  When the group leader was called during the week following the first meeting, he thought we should move the meeting elsewhere so this man could attend.  A group met and after discussion the offended man offered the house of his son, where he was living.  We met there last week.  Somehow this bothered the first man who’d been asked to find  the original place to meet, and he decided he didn’t want to attend in the 2nd house. The group leader has now found a third house and we are praying that the owners give us permission to hold our meetings there. 

It seems surprising that everyone can’t agree on a way to accommodate everyone in the group.  This little group needs each person, and we will find a way to sort this out so that all can participate and contribute.  We realized that the half-uncle wasn’t present for the first decision and the 2nd brother who found the first house wasn’t present in the second group that decided to move.  Simple things, but essential that everyone knows that they are important and their viewpoint needs to be heard.

Notice the sister below. She is the mother of one of our new branch presidents. She used to walk 7 kilometers to Sacrament mtg. until the new branch was formed close to her home.  If you look at her right foot, it is twisted. That is why she uses a walking stick. She was preparing to go to a funeral. In the second picture, she is untying a knot from the hem of her top. Inside the knot was the equivalent of a few dollars which she gave to us to return to the mission office. It was extra money assigned for a specific purpose and not needed.  She was the one who made sure that we received it.