As the heavens flood, so then will men seek the Lord

We arrived safely in Niena on Thursday and for the rest of the day met the people surrounding the Barnwell's house. There is a new Malian pastor who has recently come to work in the church here, and he is currently living in the Sunday school house. Thursday night I had the chance to walk through the bush and experience a very calm and peaceful look at Africa, much different than my experience in Bamako.

Thursday night was very eventful. I had woken up in the middle of the night to an odd noise that sounded like a fluttering. I was trying to figure out if it was a bird or lizard and thought that I should just go back to sleep. The noises really kept bothering me, so I asked Meghan if she heard them too. She sleepily replied yes and I told her that I was going to turn on the flashlight and see what it was. As quickly as I turned on the flashlight, a HUGE bat swooped down over the bed. 2 seconds later I had jumped into the bed with Meghan. We decided to wait until the next day to get it and then went to sleep.

The next night we were watching The Cosby Show with Randy and Marsha Barnwell (via power from a generator), when our little buddy (who by then I had appropriately nick-named RJ, short for Randy Jr.) came out to join us. He had us ducking all over the place, when Randy finally ended RJ's short life with a cookie sheet. Ever since then, the night's have been awful lonesome. :)

On Friday, the town's Moslem leader came to talk to Randy about praying for rain. The people here have been in a nasty drought and have not been able to even plant their crops yet. At the time of his request, we were all painting the new pastor's house which was in a horrible state. We then prayed immediately as a group for rain. God answered our prayers that night and sent a rain that allowed the farmers to plant their crops. Praise God for that! Please pray that He will send more rain and bring glory to His name through this blessing.

The end of last week was spent finishing up the Pastor's house and now Meghan and I are starting an informal English class for the students here who are entering grades 7-9. If no one shows up then we will teach the adults. Please pray that we will be able to help these people with their English.

Life here is amazing. The people are beautiful, and on Sunday I was able to attend my first African church service. It was so inspiring to worship with the people in Bambara. The testimonies here are amazing. The Barnwell's houseguy has a deep history of Christianity in his family, with his dad being imprisoned for his faith. The children and I click very well. In the market the children yell "Tubabu" which is Bambara for white person, and it is funny to see their reactions to silly faces as well as Godzilla like chasing.

My internet will probably cut out soon, but thank you all for your support and prayers. Please pray for rain! God will use that in amazing ways for his Kingdom!

K'an Ben Sooni! (That is Bambara for talk to you soon!)