Steve and Casey Cretsinger Experiencing Tribal Missions in Guinea, W. Africa 
How do you say thank you to your entire neighborhood for allowing you to be a part of them? The answer is enormous amounts of rice and fish sauce – stand back and see how fast it gets eaten!
There have been some great days that left us feeling fulfilled and some extremely difficult days that have left us feeling discouraged, but through it all God has been teaching us. After ten months, our time of orientation has come to an end!
In fitting with Guinean culture, we had a third party ask our host family for their permission “to let us out” of the orientation program. We were thankful that they gave their blessing! We gave gifts to express our gratitude for their help in teaching us about how to fit in here.
A few days later, we helped prepare a feast of rice and fish sauce (yes, with everything still attached) to say thank you to neighborhood for allowing us to be a part of them. We gave a small gift of clothing to the children as well to thank them for their friendship with our boys.
It was quite a feast! I was sure that there would be way too much food, but soon all was gone! There were separate bowls of rice and sauce for the women, men and children – believe me, the food went fast.
This week we’re packing up our belongings and moving to the mission center where we will begin transitioning into our new ministries. There is a lot for us to take over for the coming year and we’re excited to see how God uses our family in this new situation.
We are sure that we will be back quite often to visit with our host family – you can’t live this close and not be pretty attached. Please be praying that our relationship and witness to them stays strong in spite of the move.
Tags: host family
