Ministry Update & Lemons

Church
Church Sunday was a special event. The AGEMPEM (an acrostic for the multi-denominational organisation of evengelical churches of Mali) was asking all the churches in the big cities of Mali to meet together for fellowship and corporate worship. In Bamako, a stadium was rented; and we in Kadiolo didn't want to be left out. Our "Pain de la Vie" church invited the local C&MA church over for the service. (They are quite a bit smaller than us, but our groups get together often.) So the church was extra full, and the radio station, Radio Yeelen (Radio Sunshine) broadcast the service, which went from 9am to 1:15pm.It was a special event, very encouraging to all the believers here in Kadiolo. Here is a pic from last Sunday...

Study room
We're beginning to get a lot of requests from people who want to learn English.Nearly a dozen people in the last 2 weeks have approached me and asked when we are going to start English classes. Honestly, we weren't planning on doing classes. We were hoping to be open to make contacts with students by offering them help with homework, and a place to study. We didn't expect this much interest in English classes. So we're having to rethink our strategy, and make a few changes to meet these demands. It would have been handy to have had a TESOL course when we were in the States. But this strategy for reaching Kadiolo youth came to us after we arrived and surveyed the town and the possibilities. We didn't imagine the demand would be as strong as it is. Pray that the interest is maintained and that we can develop close relationships with the students. Because the room islocated at the bus station, it has easy access and is "neutral ground" for folks. Also, Kadiolo is in a buildingphase where there is new infrastructure being developed, and new banks and businesses are starting to open slowly. This means that the socio-economic status is rising slightly, and there are more educatedpeople coming to town. It is some of these who are interested in furthering their English abilities.Pray that we can use the open doors God gives us in ministry.
Pray for Joannie as she is going to have her hands full. We're opening the room this week on Wednesday, and hope to have a weekly schedule in place soon after. We've had to wait while our tables are being made,but they're supposed to be done tomorrow. Here is a pic of Joannie and Hilary walking through the high grass at the Pain de Vie camp outside of town...


LemonsIt's lemon season here, and the camp has an orchard to help support the older couple who live there to guard the property. We've been buying lemons while they're available and making little baggies of lemon juice concentrate for lemonade later in the year. One day last week, we all went out to camp to help gather a big 50 Kilo (100 pound) bag of them (and to see if there were any snakes or bats to hunt). It was a fun family outing. Here are Lisa and Hilary gathering lemons...

I wanted to put in 3 other photos with this blog, but it is now Wednesday, I started this post on Sunday Night. My Photos are sooo slow that I was doing them here at the cybercafe, and not at home. Still slow. Sorry. So this week we only have one new photo. Hopefully next week. Thanks for stopping by...

Tom