Happy December! Are you enjoying this advent season, getting ready to celebrate the birth of the Savior? Here in Senegal, as I work with colleagues in discourse analysis, we have been getting ready to celebrate. It’s been fun to be around for the putting up for Christmas trees, decorations, drinking of hot chocolate (and it’s actually been chilly enough that a hot drink feels nice!), meditating on advent, etc.
But we are also getting ready for them to celebrate someday with the people around them, the people who are currently offering sacrifices to spirits under many of the big, beautiful trees here, and who have no idea what Christmas is all about. How are we doing that? By studying the logic of the language, so that one day they’ll be able to teach and translate and share the Christmas story (among so many others) in a way that actually makes sense and that makes it clear that God speaks their language. Lord willing they’ll be able to share these truths with these people living in darkness within the next few years. And what a privilege to help them be able to take a forward leap towards that day!
We’re two weeks down and on our last week of this “discourse party.” It’s going well and we’re all learning a lot, so thanks for your prayers! Please keep them coming, too, as we finish up later this week and I begin the long trip home (to My Country) for Christmas.
Thanks for your prayers for the other prayer requests I sent out last time. Here are a few other answers to prayer:
- Even though the car wasn’t fixed enough to drive down on that Monday, we were able to drive down on Tuesday and started on Wednesday. It was pretty nice to have another day to finish getting ready.
- I’m feeling a lot better. I think that I was just extra tired, and the three days at the beach let my body remind my brain that I really needed some more rest. Here, though we’re working hard, I’m also able to get some good sleep, and that’s been nice. (It’s handy that if people knock at the door early in the morning or late in the evening, they aren’t here to see me!)