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December 17, 2007

Sunday – Day of Rest...

7.00 Village Trip.
After a quick breakfast, Pierre, Seydou, and I head out to a small village 13km away where a group of new Christians is gathering. Among the group is Amadu, the son of the imam. It is the first time he has managed to get away to come to church.

His father had taught him the Quran, but Amadu said that following the preaching of the gospel, he had seen four things that made him want to follow Jesus:
1. The names and honour given to Jesus in the Quran showed him Jesus was unlike anyone else.
2. He saw no-one else who did the miracles that Jesus did.
3. He saw no-one else who had risen from the dead.
4. He saw nowhere else he could get assurance of forgiveness for sin.

We have a short time to encourage the Christians, briefly visit the local families, who give us 2 chickens and a large calabash full of peanuts, then we head back to Pierre’s village.

10.00 Church in Pierre’s village.
About 11 adults, including 4 local Fulani believers are gathered together. It is Pierre’s last Sunday as he prepares to move up to Gorom, so we spend a lot of time encouraging the believers and praying for them. They in turn pray for Pierre and take up an offering for him. It is an emotional time, straining the limits of pulaaku, by which Fulani are not supposed to show emotion. They will miss Pierre.

While they wait for the new pastor, the school head teacher will continue to lead the church.

14.30 Move to Gorom-Gorom
After church, all the believers have lunch together, and then we load up the truck with most of Pierre’s belongings and his wife and four children. Two of his children are already in Gorom. Pierre will follow in a few days with his two camels and the rest of his belongings.

We arrive in Gorom at about 16.00, unload the truck, and move Pierre’s family into their new home. The two daughters already in Gorom are trying hard not to show how excited they are to have mum there. Monique wanders around checking that everyone is okay and has everything they need.

17.00 An Evening Off
I have a much-needed wash and sit down to rest. The weekend has been great, but tiring. I am looking forward to a relaxing evening, maybe doing the Guardian Weekly cryptic crossword…

A voice comes out of nowhere…

“Kok kok! A hebi beero!” “Hello! You have a visitor!”

Posted by Keith at December 17, 2007 07:33 PM