June 5-7

Hello from Africa! Our team has planned to use Sundays for updates and Internet, but on days like today when we're done by noon, it seemed like a great time to let friends and family know how we're doing. There is so much to share, and we're constantly wondering how we'll ever explain it once we get home. Don't worry, we are all taking lots of pictures to help!
On Saturday, I'd say we encountered our most difficult day yet. We went into a slum area to a small Nazarene church. By small, I mean twenty feet by twenty feet with a stage in the front and made up of wooden planks. The church functions as a preschool for fifteen kids in the slum, and our host Parfait is the manager. We of course planned for fifteen children, but quickly realized that our white skin is very interesting to the children of the neighborhood. We ended up with at least sixty children in the small church, playin with the soccer ball, learning Red Light Green Light, and just sharing laughs and hugs. The children here are all hungry for attention. Once they warmed up to us, we each had ten children hanging onto our hands, shoving to sit near us, petting us (haha!) and even pulling out pieces of our hair! They are incredibly sweet and joyful.
Leaving the church, we had to walk for wbout ten minutes through the area they lived. It really affected each of us to have been playing with these sweet children, then thrust into the reality of their circumstances. There is more trash and stench than you can imagine, dirt roads, some washed out leaving ten foot long puddles that we drove through to come in... Children in various states of having been clothed, and mothers looking at you from rows and rows of shacks and boarded up rooms used as homes. It is heartbreaking.
Our hosts took us to the zoo, where we saw many animals, especially monkeys! Sarah and I handed bananas to monkeys that werent part of the zoo, but ran right up to us... And we even fed the elephant that has no fence whatsoever, just a five-foot wall that it balanced on sometimes! We also stood about five feet away from two lions separated from us by a link chain fence. So if anyone wants to know if I saw those animals in Africa, I can say I did... in a zoo :) Sarah pointed out that we became a zoo attraction once we sat down for lunch... A mother brought her children to say hi, and another large group of Muslim kids walked over to wave to us!
We were exhaustedwhen we returned home on Saturday... physically and emotionally. Three of us just went to sleep for two hours before dinner, unable to think about what we'd seen anymore. Dinner was quiet that night. I wrote about our friend Leslie in the last blog, but I need to reiterate her profound importance to us. She has been stranded here for the past 3 weeks waiting on a car part, but I know it was so she would be here to help us. Saturday night was her last night before heading back to the tribe she lives with. She came in later at night and talked with us for an hour about everything we were seeing and feeling. She reminded us that we don't have to be brave every day, we're allowed to say we hate it here or we really miss home... But most importantly, she reminded us that we cannot change the circumstances around us. Yes, we must live wisely, but the only thing that lasts is God's love and salvation... And especially with our language barrier, that's all we can hope to convey. She prayed for each of us and encouraged us... I know God was with us that night. Please pray for her, if you think of it. I know our team was greatly blessed by her wisdom and understanding this past week.
By Sunday, we had recovered. We went to the Nazarene "headquarters" of the district to be introduced in church and play with the kids. Once again, we're learning to be flexible as our numbers doubled once the neighborhood kids saw us outside playing games. We acted and shared the story of the Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep on Sunday, and even taught them Jesus Loves Me! We were completely blown away, however, when they began singing. Their four teachers harmonized beautifully, one young man played the drum, and they sang so loudly and joyously, with all ofd their hearts! It was incredible. Of course there was dancing involved! We pretty much had a mosh pit in the middle of Sunday School. Can you imagine the heat of 90+ degrees, plus humidity, plus 100 children singing and dancing? It was a joy to sweat right along with them. Again, we were exhausted after about 3.5 hours with the children... We sat in on a church council meeting, then walked to find a taxi. Stqnding right outside the church, a group of kids gqthered and were waving and giggling. They started chanting something, and we waved back and laughed... Walking away, I asked Parfait what they'd been saying... They were chanting "You are white! You are white!" We're still laughing at that! Part of our walk took us through a huge landfill where children were playing. It was unlike anything I've ever seen.
Today we went back to the headquarters for a French lesson, and after the Internet we'll go to the store! We usually get bread from the bakery in the morning, eat leftovers or sandwiches for lunch, and cook for dinner... I really enjoy our meals together, devotional time in the mornings, and laughter around the table. Please continue to pray for our energy! It seems to be sapped quickly here, qs we continue to get used to our surroundings, the work we're doing, and the language barrier.

Love,
Paige