When you are about to move into a little village full of people who speak a different language and have a different culture, and who have never heard the good news about Jesus, what do you need to do? Well, there are a bazillion different steps, and I don’t even know all the steps that we’ll need to be taking in the days to come. But one of the steps is to talk to the traditional and government authorities to let them know that we’ll be moving in. And that is one of the things that we did these last two weeks while Dan and Sharon, leaders from Senegal, were out here for meetings.
With the security situation not quite as stable here as it was a few years ago, it’s especially important that the government authorities know that we’re in their area. I’m so grateful for Dan and the fact that he led those meetings. The rest of us were just like what he brought for “show and tell,” so we didn’t have to do anything except smile and nod. I accept!
He also introduced our new teammates, the Pryors, to the “king” of Our People. Ok, so he’s not a king, but he’s the chief of all Our People and gets to sit on that cool throne you can see in the picture above! I had already met him on multiple occasions, but Dan took the opportunity of being here to introduce the Pryors to him as well. In the picture above, you’ll see our whole team as well as Dan, the “king,” and Cegwe, a guy who has been key in our introduction into Our People. (It’s more interesting of a picture than of all of us standing by one of the government authorities.)
“So does this mean that you’re actually moving in to the village one of these days?” Well, that’s a good question. Maybe by the end of the month or so. But that’s what we’ve been saying since April, so who really knows. What I do know is that our houses are almost done (what’s left, last I heard, was the bathroom, solar panels and electricity wiring, and screens on the windows). We’ve started to buy things that we’ll need in the village that we didn’t need in the city (such as “bidons”, containers to carry water from the pump to my house). So what’s left, besides having the house finished? Planning a party for moving day, since it sounds like that’s an important step of moving in Our Village. Packing up. Saying goodbye to people here in the city. And then, who knows! So maybe we’ll move around the end of the month? I’ll keep you posted!