Christmas Celebrations.

Lisa with her Santa Hat. (the hat was not part of her regular Christmas dress.

Hi. Christmas is different in Africa. The church has an all night party Christmas eve, with singing, theatre, dancing, a film (this year the Jesus film was shown..) Midnight coffee, and more dancing. They asked me to give the evening sermon. I shared about Mary's angel visit, and Josephs' angel visit, explaining that the angel was announcing no normal baby's birth. I then jumped to John 14:6. What did this baby later say about himself? "I am the way, the truth, the life, nobody comes to the Father except through me..." I shared that unless you have Jesus in your heart as your sacrifice for your sin, it is impossible to have a right relationship with God. I was preaching to a very fidgety crowd of 300+. (Most of them under 13...) After I sat down, an invited m-lim friend poked me. "Is that true what you just said? About Jesus being the sacrifice, and unless he is in your heart there is no way to have a right relationship with God?" Someone had been listening... Pray for Khaki as he weighs through what he heard, and that the Holy Spirit would work in his life.

Dusty and Lydie Christmas Eve 2009

Early evening Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas day was church service, followed by a huge potluck. This year the ladies cooking decided to make a huge pot of french fries! What a joy! They called me, "You like ketchup with your fries, don't you? Maybe you should go buy some..." I did, and it was so good with them... put a smile on our faces.... The everpresent rice & sauce was pretty good too.. :D

So then we switch gears, and move to a more family celebration. We exchanged gifts, laughed, and are now getting ready to eat! Pic to come...maybe... :D

In our house people,(especially Tom) get excited about licorice.

Caleb with a new shirt.

Tom & Hilary... (no no daddy.... not that picture... LOL)

A Merry Christmas to all of you! May God bless you!

One can be full of self-pity being far away from family on Christmas,

But we really feel like we are right where he wants us to be.

And that He is not done using us....

Thanks for stopping by,

Tom & Lisa Seward

Together again

"Together again, together again...." if you recognise those song lines from the Muppets take manhattan, then you may have watched too many muppet movies...

But the song represents how we feel right now....

We are happy to all be together again. Lisa and the kids bused down from Bamako on Friday. They had quite a good bus ride... So we've enjoyed being together.

This week is going to be full. I'm (Tom) recovering from an amoeba. (dyssentry) so that is fun. Today we had the opportunity to go to a village to witness a baptism, but I declined to go because I'm still a bit weak. Tomorrow Dusty and I will visit Fourou, and Dusty can see what a miracle church the Fourou church is...

I'm supposed to be picking up a motorbike tomorrow. The mason is supposed to come over to start work on our septic system. I was able to buy 2 fat chickens, they will be delivered tomorrow, and be eaten Christmas day for our family meal! Two ivoirian guys are coming to Kadiolo to celebrate Christmas with Ernie & Jan, so they will stay with us for a few days. Ernie & Jan are arriving tomorrow with their son & family (4 kids) who are coming out to visit. So their house is too full to house anyone else... Our cat gave birth to 3 beautiful kittens. But our dog wants to steal them from the mother, and nurse them...

Does our life sound crazy yet? Oh- yes... Freddi came by today to inform me that they announced that I would be preaching Christmas Eve. (Nobody told me that yet...) It is fine, I'll be ready... but it was a bit of a surprise.... in fact, I don't think Lisa knows yet, cuz I haven't had a chance to tell her... LOL

Life in Africa is fun... :D This entry may sound a bit disjointed, but that is only because that is how today was.

Come visit sometime and experience this kind of chaos firsthand.

We're so pleased that Dusty has the opportunity to see all of this.... And we pray that God is able to speak to him in the midst of the rush....

Thanks for stopping by,

Tom & Lisa

Dusty arrives!

Hi. Our new friend Dusty just arrived in Mali. He is here for 4 weeks. He is exploring to see how God could use him in Mali. He will be living with an african senoufo family, he will be learning a bit of Bambara. He will be generally experiencing what missionary life is in southern Mali. Also he will be visiting the various ministries, and hearing from our African brothers and sisters what their vision is for the church and the advancement of the gospel here.

If you are twinged with a teeny bit of jealousy because you're saying to yourself. "HEY! Could I do something like that??" Maybe you could. God has gifted you in many ways that you are aware of, as well as a few ways that would surprise even your mother. Sometimes we need to step out in faith to find these things.







On the other side of experiences in Mali, our colleagues Ernie & Jan E. had a car accident. They were on a very dusty road, and stopped because they couldn't see. They were stopped lest than a minute when a semi truck (who did not stop when he couldn't see.) hit them almost head on. Fortunatly he was going fairly slow. But the semi truck just about demolished their car, but did not harm Ernie or Jan nor their 2 passengers.





I've had a very busy week this week. I've been meeting with Ernie, and with our pastors of the Pain de Vie (Bread of life) church association. (In case I've never said this, Pain de Vie is the name of our church association here in Mali.) Anyway, they have been reworking their Statement of Faith. So we've been talking through issues like baptism, communion, baby dedication. We walked through the example of World Venture's statement of faith. So now they're writing theirs along those lines, but in french. Once the french one is accepted by the association, then they will write it in Bambara.

The idea is that when we are done, the pastors will have a statement of faith that can be taught to believers who neither speak nor read french.



I've also been meeting with the radio drama team. A mission concerned with media would like to come to Kadiolo in February 2010, to offer some training to the team on video production. So we've been discussing/working through a lot of issues with that trip as well.



I really felt needed and useful in a profound way this week. I was at the right place at the right time, and able help navigate some of these issues. And God is blessing.



Thank you for praying. Your prayers, even in the "simple" matter of travel. As you can see, it means a lot.



Thanks for stopping by,

Tom & Lisa

Moving day African Style

Hi. I've been realising that looking for the perfect blog entry is not the thing to do. You want pictures and stories of life in Africa, not perfect stories every time. We've struggled the last couple of weeks with our car. First repairing it, then finding out it was not fixed, trying again, again finding it was not fixed. Or at least the problems multiplyed. So now looking to sell it.

We are excited about Dusty. He is coming this next week. He'll be here for 6 weeks or so. He is coming to see how God has made him for africa. We are praying that God will show him many ways that God has gifted him that work for people here in this culture.

Anyway, we're preparing his house for him. Dusty will be living with an African family, which will probably be the best part and the worst part of his stay here in Kadiolo.
Because our car isn't in good health, we hired 3 push-cart guys to do the move. It went well today, and after a little more work, Dusty's house will be ready for him.

If you are jealous of Dusty, and want to come spend a month with an african family too, write us, and come out! It would be fun to have you!

This last picture is from last Sunday. Pastor Youssouf's new baby was dedicated. The tradition here is that a baby dedication be accompanied by a food celebration. Here is Lisa brandishing a nice plate of meat & rice! Makes your mouth water, don't it? Maybe not, but it sure was tasty. And we were happy to celebrate the occasion!

Thanks for stopping by,
And thanks for praying for us.
Your prayers are so important!
Tom & Lisa