Hello to all our friends.
First thing first. Asking for prayers to go up for our sweet missionary host, Amy. She needs a package to arrive ASAP from her parents and it was mailed 3 weeks ago. lift her up in your prayers. Amy hasn't had a good sleep in a month, and she just gives and gives and goes and goes over here and we know God is able to give her a good night's sleep because we know the giver of rest, and his name is Jesus.

Just got in from a blessed and happy Sunday in Dakar. We were honored to be invited to the home of Randy and Becky Tarr, the area director for West Africa for the special graduation party of a young lady named Elizabeth (Master's Degree) and the son of another Missionary couple Rick and Elaine.  Peggy got her Mexican food fix, and let me tell you,,,those missionary ladies know how to do Mexican. Some of the best Mexican food I have ever had. We then enjoyed an evening with Randy and was educated on Islam and the challenges faced over here. Many prayers need to be sent for all our missionaries and their families. Many have parents and relatives back home needing a healing as well as challenges faced here on a daily basis. Had a wonderful message from a missionary here in St. Louis we will be working with, Bryan Davis and praise songs in the living room,,just like what takes place in so many foreign lands were there is no established church. But the "Church" is really a body of believers, not a building..

We went to the "Mall" to a grocery store and was able to stock up on some items we can't get in St. Louis. Monday we went to an "American" store, limited on items but real American food. Had lunch at a café in downtown Dakar called Times Café, with real American hamburgers and Peggy had her huge salad, as usual.

Then made several stops thru downtown then headed home.

It is a 4 hour drive from St.Louis to Dakar, not because of the distance but because of road conditions, cows, sheep, goats, motorcycles, trucks, cars, people, people, people.
Driving here is really an experience and I am glad that Amy is doing the driving. In your wildest dreams you cannot imagine the traffic, not to mention it is a free for all with lots of traffic circles, uncontrolled intersections, street vendors (I mean "In the street vendors") etc.

Got back to St. Louis and we went to a local store and got some cookies for the kids at the Center and we had a delicious ice cream bar. We then stopped at a fruit vendor and got some more oranges, apples and bananas. While we were paying, 3 little street boys came up and said "Banane", so we bought 3 bananas and gave to them and they just grabbed them and devoured them. Then another one walked up and we had to give him one.  Then the crying started,,not the boys, but Peggy. Such a tender heart and she said "I wonder if that is all they had today?"  Only God knows.

Tomorrow should be our day of rest from the long day today and I couldn't post pictures on my last blog, so I will try to do so tonight. Will just be random shots on our trip to Dakar, won't mean much to everyone else, but these are scenes we see here daily.

In God's love

Ken and Peggy

Well, it was a slow day in Senegal compared to the last few. I guess we are adapting to the way of life and shedding our American "hurry up" and let's go.

My little friend I met a couple of days ago came by while I was standing on the porch, big smile and a "How are you? in perfect English. I actually was hoping he would come by again, he is such a sweet boy with a big grin, and I actually remembered his name, N'Diaye.  He seemed to be in a hurry and left, but he was replaced by about 10 school girls who came over and started writing their names, every one of them.
Peggy came out and I don't know what happened then, but all fun broke out.  They just had to "talk" to us and you know how well that went. Then they started dancing, like all little girls do, and wanted Peggy to do it. She tried, but quickly realized her talents lay elsewhere, especially from the laughs she was getting..

We went to the Community Center and met a young Argentine couple who are missionaries here who work with Amy,Laura and Bryan. His name is Nelson and her name is MiaTe' (spelling may be wrong but pronounced, My-Tea).
It is amazing, the kids were already there early and wanting to come in. It is such an oasis of love in their little lives and they LOVE coming to the center. One new little boy, who is not enrolled but Amy let him come in (such a servant's heart) and he (we) had a ball, literally. I believe he and I played with every ball in the center, wanted to jump rope, played catch with fuzzy Velcro mitts and a ball, and like every boy, he wanted to see how the jump ropes were built, how a broken yo-yo light would come on when he touched it. He DID not want to leave when time was up.

Peggy had her "Nail Salon" open and the girls loved  having their nails painted, imagine that. Peggy told me how she felt like it was a "foot washing experience" as she prayed for each little life she was holding in her hand.

We left the Center with Nelson after Amy dropped us off at the "Market Downtown". Now Amy  told us that we may be overwhelmed at the Market, and I said we were used to crowds so it would not be overwhelming..I was wrong,,,it was a sea of humanity! The sights, sounds, aromas, people were all mind boggling. But we loved it. We were on a mission to buy screws and nails and was looking for a "Hardware" store. Mission accomplished and then we left Nelson at the bridge and walked back home.

Feeling ambitious (and hungry) we decided to try to find a Hotel we had eaten at earlier and viola! I found it. Peggy was begging for a salad/veggies and I had a really good steak (fillet de beouf) and we met 2 wonderful waiters, one which spoke good English and the other spoke good Spanish, and we actually were able to communicate.

Walked back home and had a restful afternoon, did some washing and ate little, unpacked some more just to find more "Happy Notes" tucked in our suitcases from our babies back home..

Don't fear if you don't hear from us till Tuesday, tomorrow we go to Dakar to attend a graduation party for a MK (missionary kid) and spend the night to get groceries.

May the love of God keep you and bless you and sustain you, as He is doing for us.

Bonsoir

Ken and Peggy

Where to start? I guess at the beginning.. Woke up at 6:30am (1:30am Texas time), not good. I may be reverting back to Texas time. Oh Well!

Note to self: Do not plug a 120 volt hair clipper into 230 volts. You will hear 2 distinctive "pops", the one from the clipper and the one upside your head from the wife who is holding the clipper! Ouch! Guess I will do the shaggy look for the next 3 months unless I can find a good barber. Not ready to trust Peggy with scissors yet.

Took a long tour of the school across the street at the invitation of the Master of the School. I was in his office waiting for Peggy to come over and about 15 minutes of waiting I decide to go look for her. Nowhere to be found. Then she appears. She said she was hijacked to go to all the classrooms, but I think since she had the green light to tour, she took off. By the time I found her, I believe she had made every class and had loved ever child.
We were very impressed and sad at the condition of the school. The Master, after our tour, asked if we would bring letters back home for anyone who would like to "sponsor" the school. So many children, many sitting 3 to a desk designed for 2, classrooms with 60 kids, limited supplies...you get the picture. They try to feed the very little kids, 4 and 5 year olds, breakfast at 10:00am each day, but today their pantry was empty. Most of the kids come hungry to school and will have no meal.
I will say, there was much happiness and a lot of learning going on,,kids are very amazing!  They even try to open the school up the the Talibe' or street kids, and they have a few that come.

I was adventurous this morning, and went out to by fruit and bread. The fruit vendor did not speak English and I do not speak French, so I don't know what I paid till I got home and counted my money and did some quick math. I think it turned out I paid 5.39 for 4 oranges and a grapefruit, not bad I would say when your wife wants fruit..

We made it over to the Muslim prayer time at the Mosque (outside) since Friday is a Holy Day and seeing the sea of men and boys, the only thing that I could think of was the scripture "Train up a child in the ways of the Lord, and when they are old they will not depart from it".  We as Christian men must be training future Christians as the Muslims are doing their part...so many boys there, on there own, no man or dad but someone had trained them.

Peggy got us cornered downtown by wearing one of her beautiful "African" dresses she bought even though it says "Aloha" on the skirt by 2 Senegales men who stopped her and commented on the beauty of the dress and how it looked so "African". We had a good conversation for they both spoke somewhat good English and we got a quick course of the Wolof language. We also learned they were brothers, both fishermen and how Senegal got it's name, and that we have an African President named Obama...That last tidbit we already knew, but they were proud of it.
After a while, the big pitch came, as one of them asked if we would buy him some milk for his family as they had some rice but no milk.

Went to the Community Center and worked on a few projects. Have to try to find some screws in town tomorrow to fix some windows. I did the best to bring what I thought I would need but have come up short on a few items I will try to find here..Everything here is concrete and hard to drill without a hammer drill, but I am sure I will make do.
Tomorrow we will help out at the Center with the kids, and then try to complete a few more projects.  Note to self: there are BIG spiders in Senegal, bigger than a Texas tarantula.
If you remember the little girl who we pictured that was wearing the pretty "Princess" ring from our Ashley, well she came by the center today with her dad and when I told her Madame Peggy was inside, she took off and gave her a big hug and a big happy smile. So rewarding that she remembers us.

Saw some boys taking home "dinner" tonight from Colonel Sanders Live Chicken establishment (just kidding) I don't remember the name of the place they sell the chickens but it is only a few doors down from us, but they were alive and they were heading home. It is safe to assume, not as pets.

Well, I do have some words of warning...do not accept 2 free gifts from the street vendor selling his wares, as it will cost you $20.00 for the $2.00 item you end up buying....live and learn.

Au Revoir from Senegal

Karim and Penda

Day 4 and my sleeping habits seem to be getting better. Went to bed at 11:pm and woke up at 9:00am. Of course that is 6pm and 4am our Texas time.

I went outside this morning and a little boy named Ndiaye stopped and we had quite the conversation. Between our language barriers, I found out he was 10 years old and he helped me with some Wolof.

Then the fun began...the school across the street let out for recess and I was surrounded by a hoarde of kids wanting to talk. Well, you can imagine how that resulted. I made the good mistake of letting one write his name for me, and then all of them mobbed me and wanted to write their names.  It was fun for all. Only problem, they all wanted my pen and it was hard to keep track of who had it..would love to be able to give them all a pen so we will see.

Peggy and I wandered the streets for a while, and the next thing I knew, Peggy had been kidnapped by a Grandmother who took her inside her home to take a picture of her grandbabies. Well, we think that is what she wanted. But after getting inside, the grandmother started directing the photo shoot and I think we satisfied her.. We went and had the pictures made and brought them to her and you would have thought we gave her a million dollars (500,000,000 francs). She patted her chest and just kept talking to us and told us to come back tomorrow and she had a gift for us. So simple to please these lovely people with something as simple as a photograph.

Went to the bank (on our own, thank you) to exchange our US dollars for African CFA, and I was so proud of Peggy. She only waited 3 minutes before she drug me in a dress shop to "look around" now that we were empowered with "purchasing power!!!".

Then we actually went grocery shopping (on our own) and was able to find our way home..It really isn't that hard for me.

Going to go looking for hardware and lumber tomorrow for some projects. Pray they open a Lowe's or Home Depot tonight.

Peggy only had 1 major breakdown today after visiting with the Grandmother and a few small ones seeing the street boys, she is doing great and I kid her but God gave her a caring heart and this is her ministry.

Yes, she is still freezing, but I am sure now we can find her a coat somewhere.

Again, I know I say it everyday but it is truly from our hearts. We are blessed  by great friends, a great God, and a wonderful Missionary Host.
We just want to be more than normal for God...and with His help and guidance, we will.
A few more today pictures,,sort thru them and figure out what is what. Too tired to label them again...sorry.

Day 2 in Senegal,,and what a day!  I got up early 6:30 am Senegal time to investigate the garbage truck outside our window. Turned out it was one of many taxies bringing staff to the school across the street. It sounded like a garbage truck with it's loud diesel engine and pots, pans, stoves, food, etc. being unloaded. Today was a holiday, and they were preparing a party for the staff.

Sitting on the front porch, I had a ringside seat to the new day dawning in St. Louis,,.
Talibes (street boys) were already begging and would stop and say something to me and hold out their cup but I had nothing for them..plus they would come out of the woodwork if I gave to one.  They would laugh and talk as they passed by, occasionally one would try to strike up a conversation, but I don't understand enough Wolof to make conversation.
Almost everyone who came by would say "Bon Jour", and I would respond "Bon Jour" and then the fun began. Naturally they assumed I spoke French and you should have seen me trying to communicate,"No, Francias only English". But they understood quickly and we had a good laugh.
I then walked down to the water's edge to watch the fishermen going out for their daily fishing trip. It was funny seeing them try to get some of the boats to go against the current, some not able to get their small engines started, going aground and having to get out and push into deeper waters. No one gave up and everyone seemed to make it out.
Two young men stopped and asked me to take their pictures, one was 16 and the other 18 and we actually were able to communicate. The older one spoke some English and I had a Wolof language book, and he could read Wolof and English and could write English quite well.
Went downtown and they were having a large festival because of the holiday and we roamed the street for a while.
Went to a nice restaurant and Peggy had a salad, she really loved, and I had chicken and rice with a local sauce made with spices and onions. It was good.

Spent a few hours at the Community center setting up for 3:00 pm class and came back to help Amy (not much help when you can't communicate) but children are universal and we had a blast. I showed them how to make origami tee shirts and they loved it, Peggy passed out jewelry and the kids went wild, gave some tennis shoes to one of the street boys and Justin's old football pant.  Played a little soccer and put puzzles together with the kids.

Went home and got ready for Wednesday night church and arrived late and the front door had blown locked and we couldn't get in. Tried throwing rocks thru the open upstairs window, but they kept throwing them back. Finally they heard us downstairs and looked out and opened the door. Sermon was in French, but you still knew you were in church, God's Spirit is universal, too.

Came back home, and Amy had been invited to a birthday party down the street and we walked with her. We were overwhelmed! Invited us in and we became part of the party. They brought out 2 large plates of food, but Peggy wasn't that hungry (plus she had no idea what it was), but I dove right in (can't be rude) and it was good. Some type of meat in crust deep fried, something similar to cake balls, and something that looked like pink pork rinds but really had no taste to speak of.

Came back home and cooked some chicken breasts for later, Amy is on her nightly run, and we are getting ready for the evening..Loud speakers with Muslim chanting in the night,,sounds not too bad.

Nights are really cool, and since Peggy only brought one light sweater, looks like we will go shopping tomorrow. Going to include some pictures of the day, hope you can understand them because I am too tired to label them

Again, God is so good and I wish I could tell you everything but I can't tonight.

Thanking God for all of you.

Ken and Peggy

Well, we made it and it was uneventful...Spent 4 hours driving from Dakar to Saint Louis, or should I say riding..Amy is a seasoned pro at driving these roads. I felt like I was home riding with Michelle in Dallas traffic. Had breakfast at a local café, Peggy had grilled cheese sandwich and I had ham and cheese omelet, I think.  Had really good local pizza tonight. Saw so many little kids and adults walking the streets, which is normal around here. Everyone was friendly and tried to strike up conversations, and if I answered in the only French I know, "Bonjour", they immediately started talking and Amy had to step in and tell them "English" only. Heading out tomorrow to the Community Center and to meet the staff and children.

Carried this picture of school across from Amy's house in case we had to show it to someone to get us home.

Shot of bridge we came across since we live on the Island side of Saint Louis. This is a river, but we also abut to the ocean on the west side.
Tomorrow is a holiday, so we will see what life is like on a non-normal day.

Truly are blessed and honored to be here in what small capacity we can help.
Oh, I did fix one of Amy's water heaters, (the one we use). Simple fix, just turn on the water feeding it...

Thanks to all for your prayers and support behind us..

Three more sleeps, then off to Senegal. Have 7 bags all packed and ready and all under 50#. Really getting excited for what God has in store for the next 6 months. So many memories of all our friends who have stood with us in prayers and support and now it's time to "Just Do It!"...It is extremely hard, not only to leave family and friends, but such an awesome group of believers at the Oaks Fellowship early worship time, Manna class with powerful words from Paul Brooks and an awesome small group that met at Bill and Karen Miller's home....Thanks to all of you is all we can say, and we can't say it enough.
This time next week, the Lord willing, we can report of God's grace and goodness, but we can do that every day, can't we?
Thank you, thank you , thank you


Ken and Peggy