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