I have been silent for a while which is a sign of how busy we have been. The past few weeks I have had a chance to catch my breathe and I realized it is time to break the silence. When I think about where to begin, the first thing that comes to mind was the celebration of our arrival in Senegal. We have now been in Senegal for 10 years! These 10 years have been a testimony of God’s faithfulness in our lives.
The day we arrived 10 years ago 
All the firsts we experienced 
A new life to figure out
Here are things that stick out to me of what God has taught us over these past 10 years…
- Just the next step…I want to know the 5 year plan, but often all I know is the next step. I have to trust that he knows the 5 year plan and be willing to follow him in the next step.
- He is strong in my weakness…Life is not about us having everything together, but about knowing that somehow He is able to use our weaknesses to bring him Glory.
- Peace in uncertainty…I have stopped praying for things to go smoothly, instead I pray for the grace and the peace to handle the bumps in the road.
- Keeping short accounts… Working with people is complicated, now add on cultural differences and it is just a big mess. I am learning to always assume the best and to not hold on to wrongs as it only weighs things down. The greatest testimony is love and love covers a multitude of blunders.
- Keep pressing on…There are times in these 10 years we felt like giving up, but God reminded us that it is not about us it is about him. We need to keep entrusting everything to him and just be faithful to the next step he has for us.
God has done amazing things over these past 10 years. We have gone from knowing nothing, to being comfortable in so many areas of life here. From knowing no one to having so many precious relationships. Yet while we are much more comfortable here, ministry often leaves us in a place of utter dependence on the Lord. We praise God that he has worked in and through us over these past 10 years and look forward to what he has ahead of us.
10 years later life looks a little different
We continue to marvel at what God is doing
And praise the Lord that we get to part of it
Pray that we remain faithful to press on one step at at time!
Hi Ethan,
It’s Manon.I wish you a happy belonged birthday and I hope that you have a nice year. I thanks you to be a very nice friend and I hope that you will see this message and also I hope that we can comunicate in the future.
PS:I Know, there are lot of “I Hope”
And I and Joel, well done. I loved what you wrote about your take always from 10 years. Perfectly said and what all of our focus needs to be regardless of where we are in the world. Praise God for his faithfulness. All our love for another 10 years or 10 days or decades. So good to know who holds our future. The Amandus’s