West Africa Update, Tuesday Part 2

Tuesday has ended up being a good day. The time at the University was fun. Eighty of the 120 students returned to meet with us so they can practice their English and get to know us. We did not know what to expect or how many would return. The response was great.

Many of the students where full of life and very inquisitive. Several had a good use of the English language. Of course, they were curious of American culture and what we thought of Guinea and the Maninka people. It was good to be able to use English to communicate about our culture and about Christ. I was able to share with Christ with the two groups of students I spent about 45 minutes with each. Some of their questions included:
What is the geography of the United States like?
What is the best university in the United States and what is the best singer?
What would I tell people back in the United States about the Maninka people?
What do Americans think of black people?
Why did I come to Kankan?
What are my dreams?
Will I remember them?
What do I enjoy about the United States?
Why do Christians and Muslims both speak of Abraham?
Christians pray to God, God’s Son, and the Holy Spirit, why not the mother of God’s Son?
Do I believe Christianity is the only true way?

Their English and my lack of Maninka (and my poor English, too) made it difficult at times to understand each other but in all we had good conversations in our smaller group. In the large group, the energy and friendship was a great buzz. The students and faculty were so kind and grateful for our time with them.

Following our two hours with the students, we stopped by the American Reading Room at the University where there is a classroom for students to study English more and a library for them to read English books and discover American culture. Scott donated two books to the reading room and gave them to the Director. He was very gracious and invited us back and said that anytime we needed assistance we are welcome to ask.

Both experiences at the University caused the wheels to start spinning of possible strategies of how we could effectively partner with our missionaries in the field, provide them resources, leverage the opportunities at the university, and hopefully see the next generation of Guinea leaders come to know Christ.

We returned to the guest house for dinner which was a great home cooked meal by Donna, o’ so good. It was awesome as dinner winded down the conversation around the table was very lively. I was talking with Rocky, one of the semester missionaries, about each of our journeys with Christ, our calling, dreams, and experiences. Kelly, Donna, and Scott talked family, ministry, and more. Ron and the other semester missionary, Matt, were talking about creativity in the church. At one point I stopped and soaked in the energy in the room of the eight of us who have been serving alongside one another throughout the day being challenged and stretched, now building relationships and truly being the church.

We closed out the day in a time of devotion and debriefing. I had the privilege of leading the devotion and sharing some of my recent learnings (which I hope to share in a later post). We each shared our faith story of embracing Christ, that is always powerful to see the incredible ways God draws us to Himself. Plus, it give us another avenue to deepen our relationships. Then we began to dialogue how we saw God moving today through the curveball and opportunities he gave us. We all sensed that we had a great opportunity to sow seeds. It was enlightening, too, as Perry and Donna shared a lot about their journey as missionaries, the uniqueness of their calling here in Guinea with the Maninka people, the uniqueness of being on a frontier mission field (unreached people group), and the dreams for the future.

As we dialogued throughout the evening, I had a burden wishing all Christ-followers would know the real depth and spiritual growth that comes from serving with a group of fellow believers and then sharing and debriefing what God is teaching us, our desires for the work of God and more. Once again I am learning that the greatest catalyst for our growth is serving, putting our life in the path of others to point them to Christ, sacrificing, giving of ourselves…not head knowledge, activity, church attendance or other things we often replace for moving out and partnering with other believers for kingdom impact.