Pink Lake Trip

Hi Everybody,
I wanted to include a few pictures of our trip to Pink Lake.  This was our first trip there and the lake was actually pink.  (It isn't always pink)  Fourteen of us went on the trip and eight of us took a camel ride.  Our ride was only 30 minutes, but that was enough for me!  I'm not sure how the people in the Bible could manage riding for months on camels; ouch!

We rode our camels to the ocean and then back to Pink Lake.  On the way back our visiting student teacher in music had us all singing "We Three Kings of Orient Are".

Here are a few pics of our group riding camels.

Aunt Ramona

My camel was working up some ammunition for spitting

My camel is the one in front

Dakar Academy Outreach 2015

Hi Everybody,
Jim talked about the DA Outreach in our email update, but I just wanted to add a couple of comments and pictures.

God works in many wonderful ways during outreach, but this especially stood out to me this year.  We have one team who goes out to different villages and presents a VBS-type program with games, stories, etc.  During outreach they typically visit about 9 or 10 villages in two days.  This outreach, on Saturday morning the team had so many delays. 

First, they had to wait for someone to find a part so they could run the generator. Then after a couple of hours, they finally got the part but couldn't find the key to the van.  Then, pictured below, they got very stuck.  While others tried to get the van unstuck, they walked to a soccer field and did a program there.  Afterwards they met a couple of teen-age girls, who asked if they could go to their village to do a program.  After talking to the translator that was with their team, they decided that they could do that, but only after eating lunch.

It seemed that it was one delay after another, but these girls waited for them and took them to their village.  The translator, a national pastor, had never been to this village; the gospel had never been presented there.  The adults and children were very receptive and one man invited the pastor to come back to his village and talk some more.

The teen girls asked if they could go along to the other villages that they were going to, so they did and heard the gospel two more times.  This was a total of four times that these girls heard the gospel that day.

So, everything is in God's perfect timing.  If it hadn't of been for all the delays, they never would have gotten to this new village!

Love,
Aunt Ramona

This & That

Hi Everybody--
It seems like every time I write a blog post I have to apologize for not doing one for so long!!  Anyway, I just wanted to write a little something.

It seems like our "cooler" weather may have arrived, and not a moment too soon!  It has been quite miserable.  It still gets hot during the day but the humidity is down and the nights cool off a little.

I saw this little girl with her dad the other day in front of our apartment building.  She was happily playing with her "toy".  Even though it was only a stick with an empty soda pop bottle attached to it, she was quite happy!  Her name is Sarata (or Sarah).

The other thing I noticed when I looked at the pic afterwards was the "amulet" that she is wearing around her neck.  On the upper part of it is a necklace, but the little bags are there to keep the evil spirits away!  It is SO sad that the people here believe this is needed to keep them from getting sick.

Please pray that they would see their need to have God in their lives and not have to rely on things like this to stay safe.

Aunt Ramona

DA Outreach 2014

Hi all--
Sorry it has been such a long time again since I've published on my blog.  I am so excited about my first DA Outreach trip that I wanted to share some photos.  It was really wonderful to see how the DA staff and students, national pastors, etc. all worked together to accomplish much for Him.

We went to the town of Diohine (pronounced Joe-een) where there are three cell church groups meeting.  Even though there was a lot of opposition before we went, there was a real openness to the gospel there. 

Keep praying for those who accepted Christ and for those pastors who are following up with them.

Aunt Ramona

Our dinner that night, a gift from some pastors

Old man riding a donkey

Woman pounding millet

Some national pastors with a computer

Huts

 

 

Outhouses at the school where we camped (the toilet seat was brought with us)

 Outside school building where we camped

Little girl that visited the mural painting

in one of the classrooms

Group of children watching the mural painting (you can

see the desks they use in the background)

Blackboard in the classroom

One of 12 murals painted at the school

Another of the 12 murals painted at the school

Jim overseeing and helping set up tents (they set up a total of 40 tents)

 

Jim also was overseeing the water filtering

Cooks making dinner (we fed 140 people)

Ramona (in the funky hat) helping chop up vegatables

for the cooks. That's a LOT of onions!

Bench-making team making benches for a church

Some of the 20 benches the team made

Drama team performing a skit at one of the evening

evangelism campaigns

DA staff & students' choir singing in the

Serere language at the evening campaign

(I got to be part of the choir)

Some of the crowd at the campaign (more than 6000

people heard the good news over the weekend)

DA students making bricks to build a church

Some of the 1600 bricks that were made for the church

Group of girls watching the brick-making

Waiting in line at the medical clinic

Waiting outside for the medical clinic

DA students playing games with the children of

patients waiting to be seen at the clinic

Painting team painted this church inside & out

Painting team taking a lunch break

Ladies receiving their New Testaments

that were given out by the church

 

Man riding donkey

Hi Everyone--
Hopefully soon, our hot, humid season will be ending and we'll be able to breathe right again.  It just gets downright miserable during this time of the year.  Once it cools off it still gets hot sometimes, but not as humid which makes a big difference.

On Sunday mornings we go to church a Dakar Academy.  Our worship times are really a blessing.  If you would like to view one of the services, please click on this link.  You can tell how hot it is by all the fans waving in the service!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGCvlP_CUJ0

Where We Live

Hi Everyone,
I just thought I'd share some pics of our home here in Africa.  God has been good to us in providing us with Dakar Academy housing.  In the past we have lived in the homes of missionaries who have been on Home Assignment.  However, starting last January 2013 until now we are living in an apartment provided by DA.  So when we came back here in August, we didn't have to move and that was a very good feeling!  Our apartment is off campus, but a short walk to DA, so that is good.

I'm also going to include some pictures from a building project that is going on right outside our living room window.  Our apartment is on the second floor and right now they are building an apartment building and have reached the second floor.  One of these days we will be looking right into someone's apartment!

It has been interesting watching the guys work.  All the foundations, etc. are dug by hand.  Also, the bricks are handmade right in front of our apartment building.  They also mix the cement by hand.  They work really hard all day long!

Love,
Aunt Ramona

Front View of Our Apartment Building

View from Our Rooftop

Combination Living Room/Dining Room

My Office Desk is Part of the Living Room

Our Bedroom (we usually each have a fan blowing

on us but during the day

one is used elsewhere in the apartment)

Our Kitchen (very nice and fairly modern)

Beginning of Building Project

Walls Partially Up on First Floor

Second Floor View From Our Living Room Window

Making Bricks