Darkness or Light

Can you imagine being without electricity for almost 72 hours straight? No lights, fans, refrigerator, washing machine, charging cell phones and computers…nothing. As I write this our little city of Fria has just endured 3 days without power anywhere in the city because the factory workers were on strike. Thankfully the Coleman’s have a generator, so we were able to use power from it for a few hours a day to print,  charge computers and phones, and do other tasks. Without the generator these past few days  would have been even more frustrating and difficult. Tonight, around 9:30, the real electricity finally returned! It was amazing. My first thoughts were Praise God, because although we were able to get electricity from the generator it wasn’t the same as having the real thing. So then I started to think…

Is that how it is with God? We go about our lives in the dark; struggling, frustrated, not able to complete important tasks because we lack light or power. Sometimes we can find light for our lives in “generators”, but it doesn’t last, eventually the gas runs out. We have moments where we think “Oh, I’ve finally found the light!” “I’ve found the truth!” But if this light and truth doesn’t last is it the real deal? On the other hand, when we find Christ and open the door at which God has been knocking, light floods our soul. A real, lasting Light and Power fills us. Unlike the power from generator-like sources, this Source will not run out or falter. Is that why Jesus invites us to come “out of the darkness into His marvelous light”? [2 Peter 2:9] He invites us to experience the His wonderful power flooding our souls. After becoming accustomed to living with electricity, its difficult if not impossible to go back to living without, and so it is with Christ. Once you allow Him into your life, its almost crazy to even think about returning to the frustrations and difficulties of your former life in the darkness.

Sadly, my time here in Guinea is coming to an end. As I reflect on these past months, I pray that I have aided at least one person in coming further our of the darkness and into the light of God. There’s so much spiritual darkness here and its easy to believe that I don’t have what it will take to make a difference among the people. Yet, the more I think the more I realize that the little things I say or do, and whether I choose to walk in darkness or light can have a great influence on whether those around me will make the decision to continue to walk in or turn from their life of difficulty and frustration in the darkness. My prayer is that more people here in Guinea will get to experience that moment when the Light comes on in their lives and they’ll stop looking to other sources to produce light and power that will only fade after a time. Over these previous months I pray that I’ve planted many seeds and now I must pray that God will nurture them and draw these individuals to Him, the true source of Light and Power.

“For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light” Ephesians 5:8

March 17 – Stop Smoking Clinic

The clinic is over! The stop smoking clinic was one of my major tasks to accomplish while here in Guinea, and it went very well.

The first night of the clinic we had a decent size crowd to begin with, maybe 10-15 people. By the end of the 1st night we had around 20-30 people. Day 2 was a little discouraging at first because not many people were there when it was time to begin, but as the night went on more people came, mostly young people. Throughout the following 8 nights we had anywhere from 25-35 people in attendance, outside of church and team members who were there to support the program in various ways. 50%, if not more, were young people probably 18 and younger. The rest of the participants were probably in their 20s or 30s. There was one older man there that came every night and successfully quit smoking.

The young people were so interested in what was taking place each night, some even took notes. I don’t know if they were all smokers, maybe they smoked once or twice, or only occasionally. Either way they are all now more informed about the dangers of tobacco and the lies produced by the manufacturing companies. We even dedicated a night specifically to marijuana. That was the most interesting night. There was an older gentleman there who was amazed by all the facts and everything I shared. This man quit smoking cigarettes 5 or 6 years ago and was coming to the program as a support person. But he was literally shocked by all the facts and dangers about marijuana. I said something about how the effects of marijuana on the brain aren’t reversible and showed a picture of the brain activity of an abuser and he was like…..”Wait, wait, Miss….what you’re saying is serious! Noooo…you’re saying this is what happens to the brain. This is serious!” He must have stopped the presentation 5 or 6 times to interject or ask questions. All the students were laughing at him because, as we found out later, he used to smoke marijuana and was probably worried about the effects it would have on his life. All in all it was a good night. Marijuana is a big thing among the young people here so I hope that the information given sunk in and that they’ll share it with others. Many students skip school to hang out in unfinished houses and smoke marijuana. When I say many, I don’t mean 5 or 6. I mean groups of kids, lots of them from every school. Probably like 20 or more from a school…and there’s a school around every corner. Within 5-10 minutes of where I’m living there are 3 big schools (those are just the ones I know of, there’s probably more). Sometimes when I’m walking to the market I’ll see so many kids skipping school, just hanging out, walking around….anything as long as they’re not in school.

Anyway, the clinic was a success. At the end there were about 15 people who received certificates. Hopefully that’s at least 15 people who will not pick up a cigarette (or joint) again, or if they never smoked they won’t ever stop. The  biggest blessing was that some of the young people are actually interested in our church. During the clinic we would pray at the beginning and end of each lecture and emphasis throughout the lecture that cessation is possible when you give your will to God and that God will give you power and strength to fight the addiction. One of the youth made a comment that we “speak about God as if He’s real” and he said he wants to come to our church and find out more about why we speak of God like this. The majority of the people who came were Muslim, so to hear that from a Muslim young person was amazing. Many are respectful but to say they want to attend the church…that’s unheard of.

God is blessing in many ways and I just thank Him for using me and the rest of our team through this clinic. We not only want to show people how to quit smoking and live a healthier and better life, but we also want to show them the love of God and Christ. We want to share that God loves you so much and wants you to be in the best health and take care of the bodies He has given us. Our mission is to share Christ in all that we do and I think we definitely did that at the clinic. So I thank God. And I thank everyone for all their prayers!

~Alex

King Jesus is a listenin’…

About a year ago when I decided I wanted to take some months and serve as a missionary there were a few obstacles I had to overcome.

First I had to get over the fear/sadness of being away from my family and friends for possibly a year. Then I had to figure out where in the world I was gonna go. Was I going to end up in the bushes somewhere on a tiny island that no one has every heard of or teach in big morally corrupt city? As you all know by now I ended up in Guinea, which is somewhere between the boonies and corruption.

So I have a destination and its time to fundraise (oh joy ;/) but there’s still one big hairy obstacle in my way… L-O-A-N-S. Yes, the loan companies had started calling, the sad lot of the majority of college grads. I had no idea what to do. Letters were written, phone calls were made, but I had no assurance of getting my loans put on hold. I was told I had to wait until October to apply, and then told I had to make my account current. Then told I had to wait for this and that and the other. I prayed a lot and decided to step out on faith and just go. I figured God wouldn’t have brought me through the application process, fundraising, and training just for me to not come to Guinea.

When I finally was able to get in touch with the loan company from over here in Guinea, which is NOT easy! I had to Skype them late at night when its normal business hours over in the USA and the internet connection is better here. And when I say better I don’t mean high speed internet, I mean that it doesn’t kick me off every 5 minutes and it only takes a few minutes to load web pages. You didn’t know internet like that still existed huh? Well it does here in Guinea!! No high-speed wireless for me! Anyway… I was finally able to get in touch with the loan company in December and applied for the forbearance over the phone (Skype). They told me that it would be 10 business days before an approval or denial letter arrived at my home. So my dad and I waited… and waited… and waited. Every time I emailed them or we talked on the phone I asked if the letter came. The letter never came. So I decide to call (Skype) up the loan company one day and ask about my loans. They tell me that the forbearance was denied and I should have gotten a letter, which my dad never received. My next question for the loan folks was what do I do now? They said I had to make my account current before I could take any further action on my loan situation. By the grace of God and with the help of my parents I was able to bring my account up to date (that is a miracle in and of itself).

Next step: call and try to consolidate loans, get an extension or something. Remember how I said the internet connection is not always so great here? Yea well the time I tried to get something worked out with an extension the connection cut out while I was in the middle of my conversation with the loan guy…very frustrating. By now I’m past the point of frustration and just ready to give up. I had begun formulating a plan to just stay in Guinea forever and change my identity in hopes that the loan companies wouldn’t come after me. It was really starting to sound like a good idea, stay here, start a garden, live off the land…yea sounds good. BUT…

About 2 weeks ago, my dad and I tried to Skype the loan company again. I wasn’t looking forward to the call because I figured it wasn’t going to do any good and I’d be in the same position as before calling them. But alas we called anyway because we had to. So after a few attempts we finally get connected and have a decent enough connection that the customer service rep can hear me with minimal echo. I go through my story about how I’m calling from overseas and I’m a missionary who is broke and living off of less than $200 a month so I definitely don’t have money to make a $500 something dollar payment on my loans every month. I’ve sung this song so many times I can do it in my sleep and I figure this time won’t make a difference. That is until the loan lady says: “I think I can help you with the forbearance.” My first instinct was to say “Hey lady we already tried that and it didn’t work so just help me with the extension and consolidation like I asked.” But thank God I kept my mouth shut and listened as the beginning of a miracle took place. She didn’t only apply me for the loan but read me the agreement over the phone! She asked if I agree to all this formal loan business and I said “Yes ma’am”. I was dumbfounded and confused. I asked a few questions before getting off the phone about if it doesn’t get approved or something like that. Then my dad and I talked about the strange conversation we had just finished. I’m pretty sure we were bother confused and wondering what had just happened. Looking back, I was confused but had a sense of peace. We decided to just wait and see what happened… the worst thing that could happen would be a rejection right?

The days pass and I count every business day. I wait for a call or email or smoke signal from my dad telling me the fate of our strange conversation. As the days pass, I think about my loans more and more during my free time. I try not to worry and remember that God is in control, but I’m a worrier by nature. Finally tonight (its Sunday the 1st as I write) I get a call from my dad saying my loans were approved for the forbearance! I didn’t think I heard him correctly so I asked: “I was approved for the forbearance???” The next thing I said was “Hallelujah, Thank You Jesus, Praise GOD!” I can’t explain how happy I am. God is truly amazing and on time. It makes me wanna cry.

I’m not sure why I was approved now as oppose to 2 months ago. I take that back, I do know why….God is why. For whatever reason He saw fit to delay the forbearance until now. I’m so grateful for what He’s done. King Jesus listens when we pray! He’s a powerful God and He’s in control of ALL things. Just when we feel that all hope is gone, He shows up and shows out. God never ignores our prayers, sometimes we just don’t hear when He tells us to wait.

I want to thank everyone who’s been praying with me over the past months, probably since last March or April when I made this decision. You’re as much a part and witness of this miracle as I am! Thanks Dad for being patient with me and the loan people and everything else you’ve helped me with since I’m not home to do it myself. And of course I want to give thanks, glory, praise and honor to my God and Father in Heaven. I serve a very much living and powerful God. He knows, He sees and He cares. He’s SO concerned with us and our problems.

 

Proverbs 15:29 “He hears the prayer of the righteous”

Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”

James 5:16 “The effective prayer of a righteous man (or woman) can accomplish much”

AMEN AMEN and AMEN!

God is powerful and willing to answer our prayers…all it requires from us is a little faith and giving up the problem to Him.
So I dare you…step out on faith. Let go of your problem and let God. It may be small compared to my loans or much bigger, but God sits high enough and looks low enough to handle them all.

What a MIGHTY God I serve!

Just some pictures…

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Not many but a few pics from my time so far in Guinea. Tenneh’s birthday, Marguerite's graduation, Chelcie’s birthday. Maybe some other randoms.  Enjoy. I’ll try to get better about pics.

Parenting 101...

Another Sabbath is over and a new week awaits me. Today I had the privilege of experiencing dealing with kids, not that I haven’t dealt with them before but today really tested my patience! There are 3 families that make up our missionary team, plus us two student missionaries. So after eating Sabbath lunch I kinda helped keep 3 of the kids occupied. 3 kids, aged 7, 6, and 4. What an afternoon! We started with a bible game, then did some bible questions and then a puzzle of Noah’s ark. After having worship to end the Sabbath, I read two stories to them and then let them color. During those few activities which spanned maybe 4 hours, I can’t count how many times I had to ask them to talk quieter, stop aggravating each other, wait to answer until I call on the, stop talking while I’m reading, share, stop arguing and trying to tell each other what to do! Individually they’re really good kids, but put the 3 together and its a recipe for disaster. They always want to out-do each other and get the other in trouble. At any given moment one of them is saying, “Aunty Alexandria she did this or he did that or he’s not listening, etc etc etc!” By the end of the evening my patience was waning and all I wanted to do was make them sit in separate corners and stare at the wall so they couldn’t disrupt each other. In the end kids will be kids. Apparently they’re gonna try their best to bother each other and prove themselves as the best and get each other in trouble and boss each other around. They’re kids and they’re learning and its the responsibility of parents, aunts, uncles, older people to teach, guide, and show them the proper way to behave even if they’re getting on our last nerve and we want to just end it all and punish them.

In this I see how God is with us, His children. It’s different, yet so similar. I’m sure that if we were to look through God’s eyes we would see how silly, annoying, obnoxious, and childish we act. Always try to blame someone else for our actions, wanting to prove ourselves to be better people or Christians that the person sitting on the pew in front of us. We’re very effective at knowing how to grate on each others nerves and boss each other around, just because we think we’re more righteous or holy or sanctified that the next person. But unlike us humans God’s patience is lasting and doesn’t get tried as easy. I’m sure God sits and looks at us and wonders if we’ll ever learn to stop acting so childish and silly. Instead of getting aggravated and just giving up, God looks at us with the tender compassionate eyes of a Father and gently corrects us and tries to guide us in the correct way. Like a loving parent who only wants the best for their child and doesn’t want them to go through life fighting over silly stuff with the people they interact with….God wants what is best for us and wants us to learn how to act as Christians, and more importantly as His children. Children are a reflection of their parents and God corrects and reproves us so that daily our we will be changed to look and act more and more like Him until we reflect His character perfectly, by the grace of God.

So I thank God for being patient, loving, and extremely slow to anger and aggravate when I get to acting like the kids were this evening. What a patient God, and for this I am ever grateful because I know at times I can act really childish and want to try to prove myself better than the next person instead of helping that person.  God help me day by day to be less like child like and reflect His character more.

And a big shout-out to all you parents and teachers out there, especially my parents! I’m sure dealing with your kids, especially if you had more than one was no walk in the park. Being a parent is not easy and its a huge responsibility. Patience is truly a virtue that one learns when dealing with kids!

~Alex

Thanks for all your prayers! Please continue to pray for the work here among the people of Guinea. Changes are taking place in the church and its good! Pray for the country of Guinea. Also pray for me as I go to the hospital to shadow during the week, that I’ll be a light to the people I come in contact with and that when and if I’m asked questions about Christianity or my beliefs I’ll have the words to say…in French :)

A New Year… (1/3/09)

2009 is gone, 2010 is here. It’s a little hard for me to believe that it’s actually 2010. Leaving behind the problems of 2009 and facing the challenges that lie ahead in 2010.

The holiday season was good here, relaxing. For Christmas we didn’t do too much. We had a gift exchange/appreciation with the missionary team. Good food, good times, good people. Christmas was a pretty relaxed day, had Christmas dinner and just relaxed. I like Christmas here because there wasn’t the hype that the media and stores put into it. There wasn’t all the pressure to buy huge expensive gifts..at least not for me. But I guess its different for the average Guinean.

Most people here are Muslim so they don’t really celebrate Christmas for the birth of Jesus, its just another holiday to have parties, eat food, and take off from work. Everyone saves their money and they buy lots of food and fabric for new clothes. So I guess spending is the same here since everyone is broke come January. Christmas and New Years are party times!

New Years was fun, just stayed up watching movies. It was kinda strange since this was probably the 1st New Years where I wasn’t able to watch the peach drop in downtown Atlanta or any of the New Years eve programs they have on TV. I didn’t even realize when it turned to 2010. But the people in the neighborhood knew, they partied ALL night long.

We had communion this past Friday (the 1st). It was a nice way to bring in the new year and the Sabbath.

Health talks are going well at church, kinda. We’ve been stuck on the protein section of nutrition for the last few weeks because most people don’t want to see that meat was never intended to remain part of our diets. It’s a struggle for a lot of people to fathom the idea of giving up meat. I know it was a struggle for me, I never thought I could give up meat…but I did. Doing these health talks is really teaching me a lot and confirming/solidifying a lot of things. I’m starting to really see just how dangerous meat is and how God wants the best for us…and meat is not the best. Its hard to convey this idea to the people, and I’m sure if someone had given me this information a few years ago I would have reacted the same way they are reacting to me. Even before coming here I would have said that eating meat is a personal choice between an individual and God, but now I’m seeing that God wants us to get rid of meat from our diets not only for our physical health, but also for our spiritual health. Today’s meat is so full of disease and sickness, it causes and/or is linked to the majority of health issues. Also, we don’t need meat in our diet to have all that our bodies require for sustenance. God gave Adam and Eve a simple diet that would ensure they were in the best physical, mental and spiritual health. God tried to bring the Israelites back to the original diet when He brought them out of Egypt, but because they moaned, groaned and complained God gave them quail. Along with that quail came sickness, disease, and a drastic decrease in longevity. God only wants the best for us, but so often we try to ignore what God deems as best…thinking we know better than God. Hmmm, its something when the creation thinks they know better than the Creator!?! Anyway, that’s where I am with health talks. Next week I’m gonna press on to fat..so we’ll see how that goes.

Time is getting ready to fly by, they were telling me that after January things pass super fast. Before I know it I’ll be on a plane back to the states. I’ll try to keep everyone updated on things here. Mangos are starting to bud, so maybe by February I’ll have my first mango, I’m excited :)  French is getting better. I’m understanding a lot more, even though I’m still hesitant to speak most of the time. I’m trying to force myself to speak though because I know that’s the only way I’ll learn to speak properly and get better.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and for reading my blog. Here’s a few things I’d like you to remember in your prayers…

Prayer requests:

1. The Fria church, continued growth and searching for the truth.
2. The Adventist school here in Fria
3. My health talks, that people would be receptive and realize I’m just presenting truth
4. We need a bulb for the projector so we can have the stop smoking clinic soon
5. The country of Guinea

Thanks :) God Bless and Happy New Year!

~Alex

P.s. here’s a bible verse for the new year:

Casting all your cares on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

If the reference is wrong sorry, but I’m pretty sure its in 1st Peter 5. But the point is to cast all your worries on God. He cares about us and our problems and is willing to take care of them. So don’t bring any of your worries from 2009 into 2010, cast them at the foot of the cross and let Jesus take care of them. Start 2010 with a clear slate and let God handle the problems that will come this year. He offers to take care of them because He loves and cares for us so much.

Just in case you aren’t sure what I look like over here. Me in my African dress and my mosquito net in the background.