Whats up in Kadiolo?

Hello. What is going on in Kadiolo? You ask? We've been getting back to life as normal after all the travelling
that was done.

We hosted 2 women from SIL, Wycliffe who came to visit from Bamako. The one, Karin has come from Germany to work on our local dialect of Senefou for Bible translation. Our dialect, Shannara (Not how it is spelled.) is a close cousin of Cebaara that was done in Cote D'Ivoire. However, with the literacy rate as low as it is, people have a hard time reading their own language, and reading a dialect, even if it is a close cousin may be harder for them than for us, who are used to reading new materials every day.Of course, the King James 1611 is a close cousin to our English Bible as well. Whens' the last time you read that?
If you say it is understandable, but not 100% clear, that is the same thing a Shannara speaker would say
about Cebaara.

So the translation will begin... An interesting thing about this translation is that Shannara is one of the
target languages in Mali for schools. The government is offering language classes/literacy in Shannara for the
people to learn to read it. Also, the Catholic missionaries in Diou, (a village about a half hour from us.) are
interested in working in Shannara. I took Karin & her director to meet with the Catholics in Diou, and they are
willing to help in the translation work. It could be an exciting collaboration that will allow the Word of God
to be widespread in this region. We are looking forward to this happening!


Pastor Youssouf is in full swing with literacy classes. He has students broken up into 3 groups. beginners, intermediate, and advanced. They start learning to read Bambara, but as they advance, they move on to french. Here is a pic I took this morning in class.

Please pray that the Word of God continues to go out, and that people's hearts and minds are ready to recognise the truth when they hear it, and be willing to commit to Jesus.

Also, continue to pray for our family's health. I've been going through something this week. It seems to be
passing, but please continue to pray.

Also pray for Hilary at Dakar Academy. She is doing so well, we are proud of her, but she needs daily uplifting
in prayer. Here is a pic she sent to me...




Thanks for stopping by, Tom & Lisa Seward

Hello from Tom and Caleb

Hello. It is the end of January.
Sorry, I've had a difficult time uploading the blog.
Since Mid-December our internet connection has been very slow, and difficult to work with.
Even email takes 10-11 dialups because the connection gets lost so much.
Sorry.

As you may know, Lisa and Ben were whisked off to America for Mel Holsteens funeral.
She went to encourage her mom, and from all reports, mission accomplished.
Please do pray for Valerie Holsteen as she has a lot of transitions to work through this next year.

Caleb, and I hosted Hilary who came back from Dakar for Christmas break.
We had a good time, and Hilary got to start driving lessons.
Stick shift at that. She did quite well.

Now Hilary is back at school. Lisa and Ben were able to make Dakar a stop on their trip.
So Ben got to see the school there for the first time, and They didn't have to miss Hilary's visit completely.

So now tomorrow, Caleb and I drive to Sikasso to meet Lisa and Ben as they come down on the bus from
Bamako. I'm sure Lisa and Ben feel like they've been on the Amazing Race, as we drove to Bamako, put them on a plane to Dakar, Paris, then to Detroit, They spent a while in Michigan, then drove her mom to Florida,
Got a plane from Florida to Detroit to Paris, to Dakar, and then to Bamako to ride a bus to Sikasso to come home. Whirlwind tour, eh?

Caleb and I have done well, but are ready to be back in a whole family again. Caleb is ready for a steady playmate again. I'm ready to give up the mom roles that I had to take over...

Here is a pic of Caleb when we were up in Koutiala when Hilary left for Dakar earlier on.


Here is a pic of the drama team. They are such an encouragement to us, and helped as much as they could while Lisa was gone. Freddy's wife even brought over Cabato for us to eat one night. (Pounded corn dumplings.)
She also helped us with salad and attieke another time.



We thank God for bringing Lisa and Ben back to us, and are ready to be whole again. :-)
God Bless,
Tom

Hilary's 15th Birthday at waterfall!

So Hilary is home for Christmas vacation. Lisa & Ben are in America, they return later this month. So what sort of things are Caleb, Hilary and I up to in the meantime?
We've been doing driving lessons with Hilary. She is adapting fairly well to the stick shift Pajero. There are cows and donkey carts in the road, so that makes lessons more challenging than usual. But she has been doing well.

For her birthday, we went to the waterfall. We took along 3 other girls who are working as short termers in the area. Two of them had never been out to the falls yet. Everyone wanted to ride on the roof. If you've never ridden on the roof of a vehicle over very bouncy roads, you are missing out on a great roller coaster ride!
However, it is a very dusty ride in dry season. So Hilary & Ashley opted to ride inside the cab with me on the way back. Here is Caleb with Sue & Amy.



Here is Hilary, Caleb and I at the falls. The falls are so nice to visit, especially when our town is so dry and dusty. Normally we enjoy a dip, but right now the water is very cold. (I say very cold tongue in cheek. Because there is no snow & ice, but the water is too cold to swim for an extended period of time...




Here is a pic after Sunday School this week. Hilary enjoyed Sunday School with me because it is in french. The kids really enjoyed seeing her again.
Karin & Miriam asked to take a pic with her.



Day before yesterday we visited a courtyard where a lot of our church friends live.
We brought along our trusty crokinole board. (You have to be a Canadian to appreciate Crokinole :-)
We all had a great time. Our friends loved the game, and struggled hard to shoot the other pieces off the board.



One day we went into town. We were doing official New Years visits.
You go to the peoples houses and wish them a happy New Year.
When we got to the Mayors' house, he had a full blown dance party going on!
I asked what the fete (party) was about. He said it was the end of last year.
They were dancing in the New Year. I did get a little video footage of these guys, as
the still shot doesn't do it justice. But the pic does remind you how we are in a very foreign environment. (This dance was not a witch doctor mask dance, it was
traditional fun for them... I asked... not wanting to encourage witch doctor stuff.)



Here is another pic of Caleb with Sue & Amy at the falls. We had a picnic for Hilary's Birthday. We all had a good time...
Sue & Amy work with One Story, and are sponsored by the Southern Baptists. They are working near us, and will be nearby for another 1.5 years as they work to do translation work.



Well, that is the stories and pics for this week.
Thanks again so much for stopping by.
We appreciate each one of you,
Thanks so much for each of your prayers and notes that have been sent
during this time where Lisa has returned to America to support her mother
at the time of the death of Lisa's step dad. It is still hard to believe he is gone.
He was such a good guy. He is missed.

God Bless,
Tom & Lisa
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