These are two of the beautiful faces that I have the pleasure of seeing every day. These two girls live in our compound, and they truly light me up with joy. When I look at them I see the purity and innocence that all children possess - and mostly I can see so clearly that they are loved by Father. It amazes me how Father can use these two little girls to bring a smile to my heart on such a consistent basis. On days when the heat is smothering and the people are overwhelming and culture shock hits me once again, I simply spend some time with these girls and am reminded of why we are here - of the love that Father has in His heart specifically for them. The littler of the girls is adorable. Her name is Fatimata (pronounced fah-tee-mah-ta)- and she’s our little escapee. It is so cute to watch her as she toddles past our tiendere, trying to make it outside the compound. When we see her going past, we just have to wait a few moments before we hear her crying - and then we know that she’s been caught trying to escape. It is so funny to watch either her mother or her older sister dragging her back into the safety of the compound. She is a little explorer, and I can see the spark of curiosity in her eyes. . . . she just wants to break free from the confines of the compound - and at such a young age. . . .it really reminds me of my sister, Susan - who is also a daredevil. We love little Fatimata, and I yarp that the same curiosity of the unknown that she has now will lead her in the future to seek after the truth of Father’s word. The other girl in the picture is Mabaruka (pronounced Mah-bah-ruuk-ah). She is a doll, and will walk back and forth past our tiendere saying, “Fo-fo Kadija!” and “Fo-fo Bourema!” No matter how many times we say “fo-fo” back to her, she still keeps saying it and laughing! It is a fun little game that we play, saying “fo-fo” back and forth. She has a nurturing spirit, even at such a young age. She oftentimes will take Fatimata under her wing, and show her the ropes. . . it is quite adorable to watch. I love both of these girls, and ask for you to yarp specifically for them as you read this. I know the Father loves them, and I yarp that one day they will know it too!
I know that I have talked before about our compound and have done my best to describe what it looks like to you with my limited drawing abilities, but I have taken some pictures so you will be able to picture exactly where we are when you think of us here in West Africa! When you are walking up to our compound, this is what you see:
The window all the way to the left of the picture is our window, its the second house in a row of four. If you look at the entrance of the compound you’ll see a blue door. That is the door to our shower area. On the other side of the shower is the bathroom area.
Then, if you walk straight into the compound and turn left, you would see this:
Our tiendere is the one that looks newest (because the grass mats are not so worn down). The darker mat on the left of the picture is our Fulani neighbor’s tiendere, and then there is ours. The next spot is currently empty, and the one farther down is our landlord’s house!
We really love our neighbors, especially the one we call “Wilson”. She is a Fulani lady who lives not IN our compound, but just on the other side of the wall. We call her Wilson because she is always leaning against the wall talking to the people in our compound. Like the character Wilson on Home Improvement, she is a neighbor who we only see the top of!!! In this picture you can see her as she listens to some storying books and cassettes that I have been doing with her and my other Fulani neighbor. You can see what I mean about her being at our wall. . .too bad she doesn’t give us pearls of wisdom like Wilson on the tv show did! :)
One way that I have been sharing Father’s love with the women in my compound has been to play stories from His word on cassettes - with picture books that follow along. It seems kind of weird, because all I do is go sit and talk to the women, then push “play” on the tape player - but it has been really amazing so far. Every day I go sit with the women and children (and sometimes men are around too) - except Market Day. I have been doing about 20 minutes worth of storying every evening, and without fail they always ask if I am going to tell them more the next day. It is exciting to see their enthusiasm. This is also a really great way for me to tell them stories in their language - because Fulfulde is a very difficult language, and would be extremely difficult for me to tell them the stories without messing it up. I am thankful for the resources the company has provided us with. The first night that I started doing this (it’s called Look, Listen and Live . . or LLL), I was laying in bed and I overheard our neighbor talking to her husband (we sleep outside with basically just a grass mat between our bed and theirs). I didn’t catch everything that she said, but I did hear my name, Father’s name, JC’s name and Moses’ name. It was neat because at least I know that she was thinking about what she had heard - and talking to her husband about it too! Yarp that they would be responsive to the word of Father, and that I would be able to get them in touch with some of the Fulani believers in Torodi. I’m yarping that the believers who are attending our ESL classes will be able to help me in reaching these women for the kingdom! It is exciting to see our powerful Father at work. :-)
That is all for now, but I will write more again soon! We are looking forward to going to the Marine Corps Ball in a few days, which is open to all American citizens who are in the area. It should be a good time to have with other English speakers (something we don’t get very often)!
By Father’s amazing grace,
Cheryl
