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