Kijabe and Back and Then to Mali

After venturing to Kijabe, Kenya, East Africa with my husband in 2006, I embarked on an even greater adventure in 2007. I took two mission trips to a remote village in Mali, West Africa in both July and September with some women from church. Here's a bit of my story.

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Location: Northwest Arkansas

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Kijabe and Back and Now . . . to Mali

Tomorrow morning, July 4th, I will leave on a totally new adventure. I'll be "here today and gone to Mali" -- I know, it's a sad play on words!

Along with Sara, Beth and Kari Jo, I will fly to Bamako, Mali, West Africa, via Casa Blanca for a long layover and a day of sightseeing. After a day in Bamako, we will travel by SUV to a village of Bambara people.

Though we do not speak the Bambara language, we have learned some initial phrases of greeting. Beyond that, we have several interpreters who will be with us the entire 6 days in the village.

Our purpose in going is to share God's love with the Bambara people. The village we will go to is home to only 1500 of more than 4 million Bambara. Of these 4 million, less than one percent believe in Jesus. Even a smaller percent have even heard His name!

Village life will be primitive -- no electricity, no running water, strange food, sleeping on mats on the ground (but we do have our own mud house and individual tents covered with mosquito netting). Why vacation anywhere else?!!!

God is taking us to Mali. I'm thankful He's not "sending" us because when you send someone someplace, you stay behind. But God is going with us and will be with us all the while. He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. And with that confidence we go with great anticipation and expectation of what He will do through us. It's easy to think, What can the four of us Bambara-illiterate women possibly accomplish? The answer, Nothing in ourselves. But with God with us, who knows!

I will be taking a lot of pictures, and upon our return, I will again post on a regular basis, sharing the story of our trip to Mali.

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