Upcoming trips to Senegal:
December 2011
April 2012

Thursday, March 10, 7pm
Adult Small Group Room, East Campus Foyer

The Senegal Team

Thanks again for your prayers and support.  Pictures from the first half of the trip can be viewed at http://ehbcsenegal.shutterfly.com

It is Thursday evening and we have just arrived back in the city of Thies from our village,  Ndiadiane.  The villagers accepted us with open arms and extended much hospitality to us over the past four days.  They hosted an evening of dancing on Wednesday night to traditional Serer music.  They seemed to really enjoy sharing the dance floor with us as they clapped and cheered us on.  For each dance the drum beat starts off steady and slow and increases rapidly toward the end off the song.  The villagers dance faster and faster until the song’s ending that involves kicking your feet very fast and kicking up a lot of sand.  We truly felt like a part of their family and were touched by the joy they all seemed to have regardless of the daily struggles that they face.
-Elise Kidd

A few thoughts from Justin on his experience in Senegal….
A few weeks ago at Eastern Hills, Doug talked about how incredibly rich we are.  At the time, the things Doug had to say really made me stop and think how blessed I am to have a job, a place to live, and good health. While here in Senegal I have gained a whole new perspective on just how rich we are in the USA. In Ndiadiane, a place where villagers only have dirt roads and the main mode of transportation is to walk or to ride a horse-drawn cart (if you are one of the few wealthy people in the community); I was amazed at how challenging daily life could be. For the Senegalese living in Ndiadiane, necessities like basic food that families grow themselves and water that comes from wells (which can sometimes become contaminated and unsafe) are the only things readily available.  Frills like processed foods and meat are extremely expensive for them to purchase and things that we take for granted in the USA like electricity and running water aren’t even available. Real medical care is only available if you have enough money to pay for an expensive several hour car trip into the city and an expensive medical bill to see a nurse.  Although the people in Ndiadiane have so much less than we have at home, I have been amazed at how upbeat and cheerful the Christian community in Ndiadiane is and how such little things mean so much to them. I am very thankful that God has shown me so much on this trip about how incredibly wealthy and blessed we are at home in the USA.
-Justin Beers

Behind the clinic, on a mat in a sea of sand sand under a tree, was our prayer ‘corner.’   The villagers were told that if they wanted they could receive prayer, and before long a line had formed.   A Senegalese pastor, a translator, a couple of Americans and I made up the prayer team for that day.  If we felt inadequate to pray before we heard the prayer requests, only imagine how we felt after.  In addition to requests for healing and blessing, there was a true pouring out of souls.   A young mother told how her husband had taken a second and third wife while abandoning her and her three children with little means of survival, as the woman’s parents had died – and could we pray for her.  The translator spoke with great compassion and I saw her fight back tears.  It was only later that I learned that the translator’s husband had divorced her because she became a Christian, and that a few days earlier, she and her daughter had nothing to eat for two days.  She told me, ‘the women are suffering.’   Our hearts broke as we interceded before God on their behalf.
-Bonnie Beers

As you can see, we’ve had a variety of experiences, and we’re looking forward to sharing them with most of you in person.  Tomorrow we’ll spend some time together as a team and start our debriefing, and head to the airport for a very early morning flight out of Dakar.
Thanks again for your prayers and support,
The Senegal team.

We attended a church dedication ceremony in the village of Diohine.  This village is 45 minutes from N’diadiane where we’ll be the rest of the week.  There were 300 people there celebrating the opening of this building.  The church began 35 years ago when a group of Senegalese believers in the capital of Dakar began to pray from Acts 1:8.  They prayed around the clock for 4 months!  As they began to dialogue about what they were hearing from God, it became clear that they wanted to go to a village and share the gospel.  But which village, all the people in the church had at one time lived in a rural village.  As they prayed they agreed to go to the village where the majority of their people had friends and relatives, Diohine.  They began to visit, befriend and share the message of Christ.  The ceremony today outlined the people within the community that had come to Christ and were instrumental in the process.  One man, that many said was over 100 years old, accepted Christ and was influential in helping the pastor and church contextualize the gospel to the culture, to know what of the culture could be kept and what could or should be changed.  The list was long of those that had sacrificed along the way.

“On  the other side of the water” God was working as well.  A man in Peekskill NY, Horst, was on the missions committee at his church.  This church, 1st Baptist Church of Peekskill, was supporting the pastor and work in Diohine.  They had a small chapel that held 30 people but was crowding in over 60 each week.  Horst wanted to see the church continue to grow and felt a larger building would help.  With little warning he was diagnosed with cancer and died a short 2 months later.  His wife, Arlene who is on this trip with us, set up a fund as a memorial to her late husband to help build this church.  The funding came in and today’s celebration was the culmination.

Those are the “facts”.  There’s always more to God’s story.  On our drive to the village we were told that this particular village has a strong culture of alcoholism.  Horst struggled with alcoholism for over 25 years.  His story of recovery was shared today.  Last year this church baptized 70 believers in a church of just 150.  Today’s dedication was standing room only.  I think there’s more to come.

Tomorrow we travel to N’dianiane for 4 days, 3 nights.  Pray that we see God’s story continue to unfold.

Kathy Schreiber
for the team
Pictures can be seen here:  http://ehbcsenegal.shutterfly.com/1633

Robin Maurer
Sam Conley
Brenda Conley
Alison Fisher Cullen
Theresa Kidd
Elise Kidd
Mike Rufo
Kathy Schreiber
Andy Newhouse
Justin Beers
Bonnie Beers
Matt Paschall
Denny Burns
Arlene Zitzelsberger

If you are interested in joining the team, please contact Mike Rufo at ehbcsenegal@gmail.com. Please visitehbcsenegal.wordpress.com for more information and stories from trips past.

At the same time Greg Fisher (from Hosanna – Faith Comes By Hearing  FCBH) was in Dakar Senegal asking for the rights to another language spoken in Senegal from the Senegalese Bible Society.  As an aside it took 3 years to get the meeting.  At the conclusion of the meeting Greg asked if there were any other languages that are available.    The Bible Society person offered Serer and using a blank contract the rights to Serer were granted.

When Greg returned from Senegal Rick called him asked about the  rights to Serer and was told the story that at the same time he was being asked by EHBC for a proclaimer he (Greg) was being given the rights to Serer.  According to FCBH the process for getting recording rights to a language typically takes 2 to 3 years.

Proclaimers are delivered!

Tuesday of this week we were handed 2 working proclaimers in the Serer language!  What is typically a 3 to 4 year process, because of all the approvals and production, has been completed in 1 year.  We have seen the amazing hand of God again.  Many thanks go to Rick Chiesa (Wycliffe Biblke Translators) and Greg Fisher (Faith Comes by Hearing (FCBH)).  FCBH manages the recording and production of the Proclaimers.

The next step is to produce 100 proclaimers and train 100 Listening group leaders (READ groups) from many Serer speaking villages.  The training is done by Christians from Ghana under supervision from FCBH.   Our short term goal is to have Pastor Mbaye and one or two of the village women from Ndiadiane trained to lead listening groups.  These trained leaders can then lead groups in Ndiadiane and neighboring villages.

A listening group (READ group) has a handful to over 80 listeners using the Proclaimer. The group leader is trained to have about a 30 minute listening session followed by a 30 minute open discussion with the group.  When this process is followed FCBH sees a 40 to 50% rate of church plants.  For example when this project is underway it is expected that 40 to 50 churches will be planted in villages in Senegal.

Our friends in Ndiadiane have been asking for a way to hear to Word of God because most can not read.  The travel team later this year will bring proclaimers to the village.  As one person has already said “there will be great dancing and pounding on the drums” when they hear the Word.