Family Pics

Time for some of our kids' pics.
Here is Hilary, Ben and Caleb.
Hilary made two wonderful sweet bread loaves for supper last night.
Ben & Caleb helped with glazing.







Our kids are doing well. This last week was hard for everyone, as we were passing around flu. (it was a short lived 24 hr variety for most of us...)
Caleb was last, sick all Saturday evening, and Saturday night.

Hilary is getting ready for high school in Dakar. 9th grade! Where does that time go? We're sure she is going to do well, although it will take lots of adjustment for her to be in the new school environment....
She's looking forward to some of the good things about Dakar.
Subway, Pizza Hut, for food, High speed internet so that she can resume her website/blog... Seeing old friends and making lots of new ones...

Thanks for praying for our kids ongoing adjustment/acclamation to life in Mali.
Caleb is leaping along in french. Both he and Ben are learning bits of Bambara as well...

Thanks for stopping by....
Tom

School Year Finale

We received a formal invitation this week to go to the private school's year end finale. I've helped the director a few times with computer, and earlier this year, Jan Eadleman was able to bring him a new laptop (he paid for it...)
Also, a lot of our church kids go to the school.

So we thought it would be fun to go. All the kids were dressed up, girls with new hairdos, and everyone with school t-shirts with Ecole Fraternite (the schools' name) blazened on them. There were lots of singing and dancing presentations, and a theatre skit that was well performed. Our church kids had a part in everything, it seemed.
They announced that of 65 students in the higher grades, 14 passed with 100% on their national exams. Then they began to give out rewards, top student in each grade. They called my name, "Would Tom come up to give the awards?" So I got up to give elementary school awards. I knew a lot of those kids from Sunday School at our church.
Natascha, pictured here, was first place for her grade level.
"Bara Akani" I said, (Job well done, in Bambara)



Miriam & Katie



Abbie & Karin


A group of schoolboys.
"Mr. Tom!" They said, "Take our picture!"




The only downside of the morning was that was when Caleb's version of the flu began to hit. He got sick, and we had to take him home. He is much better this morning... (Monday)

This private school is a very important part of our Kadiolo community. The public schools are overcrowded, and kids are often at a 6th or 7th grade level, and still having a difficult time to read. The opportunity they have to choose a private school gives them a chance at a better education, and a better future.
The private school costs $5 a month for each student's tuition. We know kids who are unable to go to school because of finances. $100 would pay for one kids' school year, with supplies and books as well. If you would like to sponsor a child to go to school, please contact us. We'd love to put you together with a smiling faced child!

Thanks for stopping by,
Tom & Lisa

Funeral Trip- Sikasso

This has been a busy weekend.
Sunday morning, I'm getting ready to go to church, I was sitting out in our yard, waiting for the water to be pumped into our water tower.
Pastor Youssouf and Pastor Ibrahima came. (I thought they were going to ask me to preach that morning.)
They explained that Freddy's sister died in Sikasso, and would I drive so that as many church members as possible could be at the funeral. (Freddy is a close friend, and part of the drama team.) So I said, sure, lets go.
So I was at the church at 8am, getting ready to load in, and head to Sikasso.

We got to Sikasso, and tried to drive to the CMA church where Freddy had slept the past 2-3 nights while tending to his sick sister. It was market day, and all the streets around the church were closed.
I guess I'd never been to Sikasso on a Sunday before...

So we went to the hospital, to wait for the morgue to release the body.
The body was released, and taken to the other CMA church in town.
There was a memorial service, and Pastor Ibrahima did ask me to preach a message at the last minute. It was so last minute, that someone else spoke instead. I was grateful. Sharing a sermon on such a somber occasion at the last minute in french would have been a bit challenging, to say the least....

So then was the procession out to the cemetary, and the burial. The funeral was a Christian one, very different from the traditional village ones I've been to.
Usually at a village funeral, there is a lot of wailing, and commotion, and drums, music, dancing, etc. This one was simple, a prayer prayed, a word spoken, a few hymns sung. There was a sadness for this woman who had passed away, a sense of loss among the people of a lost friend. But she was a believer, and there was a hope of seeing her again with her new body!

Then it was food time. I was served a plate of rice with peanut sauce, with what looked like spleen for meat. :-) I passed on the spleen.
We sat together, and shared, and smiled. Pastor Youssouf began to count heads, and realised we had one person too many for my van. Oops. Freddy was going back to Kadiolo with us, and we didn't have an empty seat for him.
It was decided that Pastor Youssouf would take a taxi bus back to Kadiolo.
We had to act fast because there is a curfew on leaving town. You have to leave Sikasso before 6pm or you have to pay for a military escort.
So I was anxious to leave, so we wouldn't be stuck in Sikasso for the night.

We left Pastor Youssouf at the taxi bus station, hoping he could find one.
Pastor Ibrahima, and another man were driving a motor bike. So we all left.
We got to Kadiolo ahead of a torrential rain. I was thankful. Driving in that would have been difficult. But 2 hours later, Youssouf, and the others hadn't arrived yet. Their wives contacted me as it was after dark, and they were worried. I became worried too, It is no joke to be driving at night in a heavy downpour. I told the women to have faith, God was taking care of their husbands. About half an hour later, all three men arrived safe and sound!
Youssouf had trouble getting his taxi bus, and Ibrahima had two flat tires to repair during the trip. We were so glad it wasn't something more serious.

That night, the church family stayed with Freddy's family all night. People came and went, there was singing, and prayer, and times of just sitting together quietly. This is a normal custom, but within the church family the expression of love was evident. (We are here for you, brother, no matter what...)
Lisa and I went over, and spent some time as well, though I was tired from leaving at 8:30 am, and arriving back in Kadiolo at 7:00 pm.
It was a good tired, though...

Thanks for stopping by,
Tom & Lisa

Tom & Lisa, Malaria, Womens ministry

Lisa & I in front of our tree. (we have one lime tree in our yard.)
Last week was a bit tough for me. I had malaria. The treatment went well. (5 day treatment of quinine... quinamax it is called.) The medicine is as hard on your body as the malaria is.
I'm doing 99% better today, I'm thankful for good health again.
When you're healthy, you act like you'll never be sick a day in your life again, and when you're sick, you're thinking the whole time... "If only I could get back on my feet again, ....."
The good news is that I lost a bunch of lbs in the process. :-)

Yes, we do take pictures together once in a while. :-)

We are doing well. Womens ministry is going strong right now. The women are meeting 3 times a week for literacy with Pastor Youssouf. They are making good progress.
There are about 10 women regurlarly involved now...

One woman, has been very interested in the literacy. She has been coming to that, and now has come to church for the past 6 weeks or so. Two weeks ago, she shared how her husband is a m-lim, and would be very mad if he caught her going to church, so she explained how she has to sneak out of her courtyard each Sunday to come. She asked for prayer that he would finally allow her to come to church openly. Meanwhile, this week, He announced he was going to send her back to her parents. (African equivelent of divorce.) Pastor Youssouf met with him, and shared how as a m-lim he should be a man of God, and that he should want his wife to attend literacy classes, to read Gods Word for herself, and that a woman of God like that is worth keeping. He agreed to send her to her parents so that her father could straighten her out. (In other words, he didn't agree with Pastor that church was a good thing...)Now we've heard that Tuesday, he packed her up and sent her off.
Please pray for this woman. She is being persecuted by her own family because she wants to learn to read, and because she is interested in the gospel!

When's the last time you were seriously threatened because of your faith? Thank God for freedom of religion in America. Thank God for the many ways we have available to us to learn and grow in

Gods Word.

Thanks for stopping by,
Tom & Lisa Seward

Ministry update, Fourou & Study room

This past weekend was interesting. We took the van to Fourou. Our colleagues, Tom & Laura Requadt have been working there with a miracle church. The church is a miracle because a cluster of 4 believers began meeting without a Bible in their own language or a pastor to lead them. They did have a hymnbook in Bambara, which they speak as a trade language. They prayed for someone to help them.
God sent Tom & Laura. (God contrived to have their house in Cote D'Ivoire destroyed in the war there, and when they sought a place to relocate, Fourou was the best place in Mali for their language translation project.) So Tom & Laura were brought into this congregation. They began basic theology classes, and baptism classes. More people are now coming to church, and getting saved.
This weekend we went to a grounds dedication ceremony for the new church. They have bought property and are ready to build their building. They are a small body of believers. About 12 adults, and 30 kids. (Laura has a very active backyard Bible club!!) It was such a joy to stand with the people and pray over the land that God had provided for them! Here is a pic of the service at the Fourou church that day. With Tom Requadt in the foreground. Danielle is in the background...


Danielle started her ESL conversation class last week. We were dissappointed that after radio announcements, and personal invitations to which 7 people showed marked interest, we only had one person show up. Too bad. The good news is that Issa, who showed up is a moslem, but very open to hearing about the gospel. At the end of today's class he mentioned that he had to finish a bit early because he had to go pray. I told Danielle he was a moslem. She asked him "are you a moslem?" He said "yes, what are you?" She said "I'm a Christian." He says "are you allowed to
have a moslem friend?" She says,"Of course!" He had a big grin on his face...
I've been working with Issa all year. He is very brilliant as a student, and wants badly to improve his english. The catch is that he has only about 40% of his hearing left. He had an illness which robbed him of his hearing, and he wasnt' able to finish high school because of the illness.
Pray for Issa, pictured here. He is a soul who needs Christ. (Issa means Jesus in Arabic...)

We had four students on Monday. :-) (We actually have 8 that have said "Yes, we will be there, but obviousley, some aren't showing up. I hope they do...)
Two others of our study room students have asked for Bibles at the end of the school year. Just in the last two weeks. Pray for them, that the Word of God would not rot on their shelves, but be read, and have life in their hearts. Pray for Ibrahima (Abraham) and Khahki!

Also, We've had a terrible time connecting to the internet recently. I have to dial up 20 times to get a connection, and the last two days I was thrown off before I could download email. Email is so important to us out here!
I also value greatly this blog connection so that you can come and see pics, and hear current events! Please pray for this email problem to be resolved.

We have heard of an opportunity to sign up for sattelite high speed connection. We're considering that.

Thanks for stopping by,
Tom & Lisa Seward Seward

Lots of New Pictures!

We've had terrible internet issues in the last two weeks. Even to the point of not being able to send & recieve simple email. Today, the connection is good, so I'm uploading pics like crazy to keep up! :-)


This is a pic of Hilary, Ben and Caleb when we visited the church in Fourou. It was Tom & Laura Requadts last Sunday before leaving for home assignment. It was also a celebration of that church's purchase of ground to build on. It was a fun day, two Sundays ago...


Saturday, we were invited to another village for a funeral service. The woman who had died was a believer in the local church there. But her family insisted she be buried in a Senoufo tradition. So Pastor said the spirit is more important than the body, and allowed them to have their traditional service. But we went to encourage the family and the local believers there. There was lots of dancing, drums, and balafones and other instruments being played. Most of the village came to this important event. It was a treat to be a part of...



This is a pic of Danielle with Sara & Lydie. Danielle & Joannie were having a short drum lesson. If you would like to know what a visit here would be like, you could come and enjoy a drum lesson, too. :-)


Here is Caleb with a couple of friends from our church here in Kadiolo.



Here is Hilary, with new hair extensions. She has done so well this year, we are proud of her. Pray for her as she transitions to Dakar for school in August.


Thanks for stopping by once again. Please continue to pray for our family, we've been a bit sick the last few days. Joannie is doing a whole lot better. But Tom, and Lisa now have a head cold issue. It makes it hard to get ones rest, and keep your strength up. The kids seem to be doing okay healthwise.
Thanks again,
Tom & Lisa Seward