July Prayer Letter

I have been writing a (mostly) monthly prayer letter for about 10 years now and my parents suggested that I post it here on my blog.

July Edition

Hi,
how are you? I hope you are doing well. I pray that your May and Junes went well. I am now back in the States getting ready to go back to Africa in a month, in fact. But more about that later.

 -Parents: My parents are on furlough now - or as they call it these days, home assignment. For the first two months they are hoping to have a kind of sabbatical - in other words they are not doing the normal States side thing at first (visiting churches), they are just taking a break. After that they are going to North Carolina to be Missionaries in Residence at their mission's training center. Then they are coming back up to Baltimore (where we are now) and will then start travelling around and visiting churches. We just finished two weeks of packing up our house, so they really need a rest. Please pray that they will get rest in these next two months. Pray also that the rest of their year will go well and they will have a good time seeing family and friends they haven't seen in at least two years.

-Mali: Mali is still in turmoil. The current leader, Dioncounda Traore, is in France after being attacked in the Presidential Palace. Although I call him the leader, it really is unclear who the leader is, which is part of the problem. There is a big famine going on. There are thousands of refugees from the famine and the war. The Toureg rebels and Islamic rebels still have control of Northern Mali, although they are fighting each other. The people in that area of Mali are upset with the rebels because their lives are harder than they were before. The Islamic rebels are making things difficult because they are making the people follow Sharriah law. This means that people are not allowed to smoke cigarettes, women have to wear veils, bars were closed and destroyed, TV has been censored, and more. In following this law, they are destroying shrines of folk Islam, which really upsets the people. Please pray for Mali. Pray that a leader will be established, and that the leader is one who can lead well and find a way to end these problems. Pray also for rain. It is good to have one rain a week from June to July for the crops. After July it is the regular rainy season, but the crops need a good foundation before this starts. Last year there was not enough rain and West Africa suffered. Pray that this year will be different.

-Coworker's car: We have friends who bought a car in early March. They have only been able to drive it for about a month in that four month time period. The rest of the time it has been at the mechanic's getting fixed. Please pray for the mechanic who is working on it now to be able to fix the various problems that the car has. Pray for the owner's of the car to not get discouraged from this. And pray that they will be able to raise the support necessary to pay for the work being done on the car.

-Siblings: Danielle has quit teaching for the time being and next semester will be a dorm mom at Dakar Academy. After that she is coming to the States and will get a job, apartment, car, all that good stuff. Please pray for her as she ends her time at DA and moves to the States. Pray that she will be able to find a good job, and an affordable apartment and car. Ben is travelling around with one of his school's worship bands as the sound person. Pray for safety on the road and that he will drive carefully (he is the driver as well). Pray that the band will be able to reach people through their music and their attitudes. And pray that Ben will learn a lot about his chosen career. Susanna just graduated from high school and is now in that transition time between high school and college. Please pray for her as she gets ready to go to college, she is hoping to get in a lot of driving hours once I am gone, and she has some shopping to do. Her older siblings all had bad initial roommate experiences, and she is really hoping to avoid that. Pray that she and her roommates (she has two!) will get along with each other, they are already e-mailing and Skyping each other. Pray that she likes the school she is going to (Greenville College, the same as my brother), and what she will be studying (Elementary Ed.).

-Me: I hinted above that I am going back to Africa. When I was in Dakar in May I had an interview with the director for a position that might be opening. I was told that they would not know if I was needed until late July. But then a few weeks later he asked me to send in the application. So once I did that and gave him my references, I was accepted to work at DA! I will be doing a variety of things: training for the cashiers position, switching the Accounting software over to Quickbooks, monitoring elementary recess, helping to recruit new teachers, and maybe more. So now I am preparing to go back, and I have much to do: get in 40 hours of driving, go to Ohio to get my stuff from a friend who generously stored it for me while I was home, shopping, raise support, and more. Please pray for me as I prepare. Pray that I will make wise decisions about where to spend money and how to spend my time. To learn more about this, check out my blog: ruthannebowers.blogspot.com.

I hope this finds you well. If you have any prayer requests of your own, please tell me and I will pray for you. Enjoy your July, get some sun but not too much, go swimming and eat ice cream! Have a great day. Ruthanne