Steve and Casey Cretsinger Experiencing Tribal Missions in Guinea, W. Africa 
Malachi making sure the snake is really dead
Malachi is always ready at a moments notice to go on a hunting expedition. You wouldn’t believe some of the creative “traps” that he has come up with. Just give the boy some string and tape and you will soon have a masterpiece. Honestly, we’ve never seen anybody so in love with tape (he even asks for it in packages!) He has come up with bird traps, lizard traps and snake traps. Never mind that he hasn’t caught much yet – he just keeps on trying. I frequently say that this a boys paradise – especially if that boy is like Malachi. He saw that Steve had a spear made by a guy in the village for snakes and as soon as he saw it he wanted his own. He gets excited every time he hears someone yell the word SNAKE. He comes running with some weapon to defeat the dreaded snake. Steve and I have tried to instill some sort of fear in him over the dangers of snakes, but so far we haven’t been very successful. The other night he was putting his bike away in the shed when he spotted a black cobra slithering on the side of the house. He was thrilled to start screaming for Steve and quickly grabbed his spear. Thankfully he stayed a safe distance back as Steve shot the snake – which is good because Steve says it was spitting venom at him. Oh, the joys of living in Africa. I guess it’s time to start preparing him for going back to the states where the only snakes he’ll see will probably be at the zoo and he won’t be allowed to spear them!
