Sanguine September

September Edition

Hello Friends,

How are you? I hope this letter finds you well. Ah, August. What an interesting month. It started with the arrival of the new staff and “old”/experienced staff and sorting through school supplies, “middled” with the start of school, and ended busily.

-Mali: Thank you for your prayers concerning the elections. They went well and we now have a new president. Pray that the new leader, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, will be able to help restore peace to Mali. Pray that he has good relationships with the other members of the Malian government and that he will use wisdom. Pray also that he will think of not only those in power when making decisions, but also – primarily – of the people. In addition, last weekend Bamako, the capital city, experienced some heavy rains and as a result has a lot of flooding and several people have lost their lives. In a time of instability, the Malians must be feeling the old adage: “When it rains, it pours,” what with famine, a coup, and now terrible flooding – all in just a 2 or so year time period. Pray that the life of the Malians will soon get back to normal. Pray that the problems they are facing will encourage them to seek the one true God.

-My parents: In a little over a week they will be flying back to Mali. Between now and then they will be packing, shopping, visiting churches, and visiting friends and family one last time. Pray for safe travels and for their packing – that it will not be overweight or too many bags, and that it will all arrive when they do. When they arrive in Mali they will be searching for a place to live, so please pray that they will be able to find a place quickly so they can get settled in quickly and move forward in their ministry. Please continue to pray for my mom as she seeks the Lord’s guidance in where and how she can serve him. There are many ministries in Bamako for her to get involved in, she just needs to learn which one God wants her in.

-Missionaries: For several months last year I asked you to pray for the release of two Brazilians who had been taken to prison on unlawful terms. While they have now been out for almost 5 months now, there are still legal issues that need to be resolved. They are not allowed to leave the country and they are feeling stressed about their situation – they need rest. In addition, some officials came to their organization a few months ago and threatened to shut the place down but they have not returned. They are once again in a time of waiting.  Please pray that they will have peace about their situation, peace that God will take care of them and peace despite their stresses. Pray that the people who are putting in this time of waiting legally will make some decisions and finally free them. Pray also that those who threatened to shut down their operation will come to realize the good work that it does and that it is teaching young boys who would otherwise be on the streets or starving how to live a better, life preserving way.

-Me: This may seem silly, but I know that God hears all prayers. My camera is missing and I haven’t seen it since June. And while I don’t take a lot of pictures, it is nice to have the option to do so. I also don’t know what pictures are on it – they may be ones I want. I have searched all over my apartment which wasn’t that difficult because painters were in it over the summer and at the end of the summer I had to put it back together. Please pray that I find it. Also, this weekend and the next few are our school’s annual handball tournament and for some crazy reason – I signed up to play. I am kind of nervous. Please pray that I will play to God’s glory. In fact, that is something that you could pray about for everyone involved – that we have good attitudes, that we don’t experience any really bad injuries, and that we have fun.

I think that is all for now. I now have 3 weeks of being the cashier in the normal setting and it has been nice – although I generally have a lot more free time than I expected, I can’t wait till container season, haha! Have a great day.

Ruthanne

Micah 6:8

Petit Poteaux

               Petit poteaux – or “tippy toe” as some elementary kids call it – is a game we play a lot here at Dakar Academy. I wrote this last night in a notebook after having just finished playing and had the notion to write. I don’t know why I am posting it on my blog, but I thought it was appropriate.

               The words “petit poteaux” are French for “small goal.”It has a special court which has walls about 4ft high – which the guys (and some girls) can just fly over! The actual game is very similar to soccer. I don’t really know what the technical differences are since most of the time I have only played for fun. On any given night you will see students and staff members alike playing the game.

               So why am I talking about this? When I got back last night I started thinking about the role it has played in my life. We have not always had the court. It was built in 2003 soon after ICA became part of DA. For those of you who are unaware, ICA was a sister school in the Ivory Coast until they had to be evacuated due to civil war. When the court was first built, I was not excited. This ugly mass of concrete was another example of the ICA invasion. ICA had to evacuate in September 2002 and in doing so they brought 90 students to DA. That was a difficult year. I was not happy. I did not like the ICA people: they were too sporty, I thought they were snobs, and they just changed everything. Then my family went on furlough and I kind of became fine with everything. For the next two years after furlough I carried a resentment of the ICA-ers. Finally, my junior year, I had these AMAZING dorm parents – who were originally from ICA. But God had done a work in me and I told them about my resentment and asked their forgiveness. With their help I was able to do the same with other ICA people who were just as gracious to me as my dorm parents were.

               Once again, you are asking where I am going with this. The petit poteaux court was once a visual reminder of my resentment toward a group of people who did not deserve my treatment of them. But now it is a reminder of my thankfulness to God for bringing those people here. They are wonderful people who are here to further God’s Kingdom – wherever he places them. I am sure that first year was difficult for them, too, but many of them stayed. Those people have now been my friends, classmates, dorm sisters, mentors, teachers, dorm parents, and more I am sure. They brought music, petit poteaux, outreach campaigns, and God’s love. Sometimes, Satan gets hold me and I get frustrated when I hear them talk about ICA: “Remember how it was green” “Remember how many soccer fields we had” “Remember the cafeteria” “Remember we had grass on the field?”etc. But then I tell myself that if the same had happened to me, I would still be remembering DA (but not the grass on the field part, haha!). They loved ICA just as I love DA.

               So now petit poteaux has wonderful memories associated with it. My dorm first started playing it once a week in 9^th grade and continued until I graduated, and even till now. Those first two years of high school were not easy and I had 4 things I looked forward to: tutoring, mentoring, handbells, and petit poteaux. My junior year has exceptionally good memories associated with petit poteaux – two stand out. Frequently throughout the year we have sports tournaments, including a petit poteaux one. I was sitting in study hall one day when a senior came up to me and asked if I would play on his team. He was asking because he needed another player on his team but I was shocked and touched that he would ask me: shy, insecure, behind the scenes, non sporty, socially awkward/inept me. I was looking for something in my diary today and found out that I said no and he put my name on the list anyway. So I showed up. I ended up having a really good time and my team actually won the tournament! The other memory makes me smile and laugh when I think about it. If you know anything about me, you know I don’t like hugs - J - except for special occasions: when I haven’t seen you for at least two weeks, if I won’t see you for at least two weeks, if you’re a guy I feel comfortable around (I know, I didn’t need to put that in there, but I am not nothing if not blatantly honest!), and (this is a new rule) if I feel like it. So one night I was playing petit poteaux with my dorm sisters, dorm parents, and four “brothers,” just having a blast when all of a sudden one of my dorm sisters yells “OREO!!!!” In my head I’m thinking, “What??” Suddenly everyone is running toward me, my brothers tackle me to the ground and everyone else piles on top in a giant hug. (Big smile on my face as I write this :D) This is a memory I cherish. That they would plan “Operation Oreo” so that they could give me a hug, wow.

               So in the last two weeks I have played petit poteaux about 5 times, each lasting 1 ½ to 2 hours. At the end of each night, one of the other players (our librarian) says “Already?” Which is exactly what I am thinking: “Why (stop) so soon?” Each time has been so much fun. I hope I continue playing during the school year for several reasons. 1) It is fun! 2) It is better exercise than walking around the track for half an hour. 3) I get to be around people which, I know: shocker, I enjoy. 4) It is an easy way to socialize (I dislike small talk – like the kind after church – I prefer “big talk,” aka meaningful, deep talks). Related to 3, 5) it is not as lonely as walking around the track alone listening to music even I can get tired of. And many more reasons I am sure. I am thankful to the dorm parents who kindly let me join in their dorm’s weekly game last year. And I am thankful to the person who invited me to play the game two weeks ago when I was to shy to ask to join in.

               What is my conclusion? Even though I have several bruises, have never scored a goal, I smell at the end of a game, and sometimes my mediocre defensive skills fail and the other team scores, I love petit poteaux. Thank you, ICA, for this gift.

P.S. I would post a picture but my camera is missing. Word says this is approximately 1,200 words, so this is worth a little more than a picture.

P.P.S. If there were any ICA people who I did not ask forgiveness of 6 years ago, I do so now. Y’all are wonderful people and I am grateful to have you in my life. 

August Already??

August Edition

Hello Friends,

How are you? I hope this letter finds you well. Well, I skipped writing in July thinking that since we are out of school there is not a lot to pray about – that God is not at work anymore. Well, obviously, that is so not true! Almost as soon as I consciously (as opposed to procrastinating on writing it) made the decision to skip I realized that was a bad decision. So now it is the end of summer. And what a long summer it has been, too long. Thank you for your prayers about babysitting – opportunities did avail themselves and I had a great time with each of them.

-Mali runoff elections: Well, Mali finally held their presidential elections on July 28 with the result being that there would be runoff elections on August 11. So next Sunday when you think of politics or Mali or presidents or coups or hot weather or something else that might jog your memory, please pray for the elections. Pray that they will go smoothly and that the new leader will be able to help restore peace to Mali.

-My parents: Well, last year they planned that this year they would go back to Mali at the beginning of July – but God has different plans than we do. Then they thought they would go back at the end of July after the Mali elections in case of trouble caused by the elections. But Malian officials and God had different ideas for that. So now they are going back toward the end of August, Lord willing. For years my mom has had a dream of teaching at a small, American Christian school in Bamako that is similar to DA, but smaller. But with all the troubles in Mali the school decided not to reopen for this coming school year. Please pray for my mom as she seeks the Lord’s guidance in where and how she can serve him. There are many ministries in Bamako for her to get involved in, she just needs to learn which one God wants her in.

-Beginning of school: Well (I need to learn some new transition words, huh?), in just a week and a half school will be starting. In that period, at least 100 people will be flying in from all over the place and the new staff members will be having orientation. Senegal recently changed its Visa policy and created all kinds of chaos for many countries. The visa people did not give very good information about who needed a visa, whether our residency cards would be effective, or even how to get a visa. It has been a confusing summer in that regard and so far no one has been stopped from entering the country – but what could they really do, leave them out on the runway (You have to know our airport to understand that – it is basically just 5 large rooms plus VIP areas.)? Pray that everyone will be able to go through passport control successfully, that luggage will not be lost, and for safe travels. Pray also for the new staff who are arriving or have arrived, pray that they will adjust well to living here and being a part of the DA community.

I think that is all for now. These days I am enjoying the heat, the rain, not the humidity, having people return, meeting new people, and getting back into the routine of things. Have a great day.

Ruthanne