Child-like Faith

Bonjour from Cote d’Ivoire!


We’ve been here for a week now and to say we love it is an understatement. We both expected that there would be a time of adjustment and awkwardness while bonding with our team, but we came and felt at home and found new brothers and sisters in Christ right away.

After a 3 hour plane ride, a 7 hour plane ride, a 5 hour layover, another 7 hour plane ride and a 5 hour drive in the dark, we finally got to Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire at 1am on December 3rd. We’re living on a campus that used to be a missionary kid school until about 2005 when it was right in the middle of the war. It’s a beautiful campus that keeps reminding me of the Garden of Eden (I picked my own grapefruit to eat for breakfast this morning off a tree out front our dorm).

We started French class on Monday and have been learning so much about language and culture ever sense. I’m just going to post a bunch of pictures because I can’t really describe it here in words.

The biggest thing we’ve been learning is child-like faith. Since we don’t really know the language (or the accent that they use), we have to depend on others for everything: to get us a moto taxi (everyone rides on the backs of motorcycles – seriously, a family of 6 can fit on one), help us buy clothes and food, schedule our French lessons, even things like teaching us how to cook or use the restroom (no toilet paper for Ivoirians). Because of that, we have to trust that these people know what they’re doing. That they’re going to get the best price for us (it’s rude not to barter for taxis and clothing). We have to trust that they’re not going to tell us false things about the culture.

Anyway, faith has been a huge thing this week – as we learn the language little by little, I more understand the “being sure of what we hope for and certain of things unseen” Heb. 11:1. Because I see that the Journeyers who have only been here for 4 months and the ones who have been here for a year can get around and are really having no trouble, I can be sure that we will figure this language/culture thing out, but there are a lot of unseens – what is our ministry here? What family are we going to be put into? Am I going to figure out the language by the time we get put in host families? What does it look like not only to be a Christian in this culture, but a Christian couple (we’re the first couple to do Journey Corps)?

Both Steve and I have learned that we need to trust God for these things and follow and trust Him, just like we've been trusting our friends, who know more then we do about this culture and language.

Anyway, we have internet about once a week or so, so we’ll try to keep you updated! Please keep praying for us, here are some prayer requests:

• Language – our French teacher, Timotee is getting married at the end of the month and here the man is the one stressing out about all the details, so he’s probably not going to be around much. Pray that we can get another teacher lined up.

• Culture – pray that we can know, understand, and embrace this culture. It’s an amazing one full of traditions and protocol (more on that in another blog).

• Team – we have a team of 3 returners (who have been here a year), 3 girls who have been here 4 months, and then us. The girls are in host homes and the returners are training us in. Pray that we can learn to work with one another and learn from one another.

• Service projects – the campus is getting ready to be rented out to med school students. There’s a lot to be done, pray for efficiency.

Okay – it didn't work to post pictures onto here, but here's the link to our facebook album...we'll add pictures from Dec - Jan as we go:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.595807810320.2068805.110900884&type=1&l=4a63a6e4dd