May 30th Posting for Brooke

This is Brooke's mom posting.

We spoke with Brooke on Wednesday. She is doing well and seems to be really enjoying her time in Senegal.

She is living in a village with her African family. She says that it is very hot and she is sweating alot! She has learned to really appreciate her bucket showers!

She has started teaching English, mostly so far in the home that she is living in. There are quite a few people living in the home, she said that it changes daily, but usually 6-8 women and 2 men. They have TV and the family likes to watch it. The funny thing is it is dubbed in French. So they watched Extreme Makeover in Africa dubbed in French!

Brooke says that she is picking up the Wolof language. She said that she communicates well with the preschoolers since they are on the same language level! She is also doing some work in the medical clinic too.

She has gone to the market and is learning to barter for goods. She is very excited - she bought fabric and a tailor is going to make her an African outfit. She has been on a taxi ride and a horse and carriage ride to get to different places.

A very cool thing - the family that she and her roommate live with are Muslim, but they know that the girls pray for before meals. Brooke said the family pauses and waits for them to pray before they begin eating. She is planning to translate a prayer into Wolof so she can offer her grace in their language.

She is healthy so far and says the food is fine. But, of course, Brooke is one of the most unpicky people ever! There are right on the coast but she says the beach there is not very clean. Too bad since Brooke loves the beach so much.

Please continue to lift Brooke up in prayer. It is still a long time until she comes home! (At least it is to her mom!)

Senegal here I come!

Senegal. In 3 days!!!! I am so excited that it is finally almost here! It hasn't fully sunk in yet that I am actually going to be gone for 64 long days.

I am so excited that I am finally getting to live my dream and go to Africa. I have been longing to serve God in this country for forever it seems like! I can't wait to meet all of the people and see what it is like.

I will be posting on this blog as much as I can this summer to let everyone at home know how things are going. Thank you all so much for being so supportive and faithfully going to the Lord in prayer about this trip. I am forever thankful for your prayers!

Here are a few prayer requests I have for the next coming week:
* Pray that the people would be willing to hear about our great God.
* Pray that all of the teams would arrive safely.
* Pray that we wouldn't have any problems with the airlines or making our flights
* Pray that we also would be well rested and ready to serve God where ever he leads us!

Thank you SOOOO much for your prayers! God is going to do such great things!


Brooke

Oh yeah.... here is a little bit about the people that I am going to be working with.

Quick facts about the Lebou

• Location: Senegal
• Also Known As: Lébu
• Status: Engaged by the International Mission Board
  
• Population: 150,000
• Primary Religion: Islam
• Number of Christians: 15-20
• Language: Wolof, French, Arabic

• The Lebou are West Africa's fishermen and are located in villages sandwiched between the Sahara desert and the Atlantic Ocean.
• The Lebou love to laugh, love to play, and love to spend time with friends.
• Although many have heard the gospel, few are willing to leave Islam.

They Lebou need to know about the everlasting and freeing love of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are enslaved by a faith that is dependent on their works. Pray for their freedom!

I got the info from www.gowestafrica.org. They have loads more info about the people of West Africa as well as lots of prayer requests.

Thank you all so much!