Our family in the village

The other day a friend came over bringing her brother with her.  He was covered in these huge hives and had been scratching like crazy for two days because there wasn’t any money to go to the clinic or get any medicine.  They wondered if we could help.  His bill ended up being about $1.50.  Another friend has had an infection in her mouth for a few days but didn’t see any one about it because she doesn’t have the money to feed her four children let alone go to the doctor.  Her bill will be less than $8.00.

These are just a couple of the requests that we received in the last couple of weeks for help with medical care.  Then there are the requests for help with food, tin for roofing, payments for school…it just goes on and on.  It gives Steve and I a chance for deep discussions on how to help.  I’m not saying that by any means we have this figured out.  Basically, we’re trying to do the best we can and seeking God’s guidance.

Pray with us.  Pray that we will take each request and seek God’s answers on how best to help.  Pray that we can be generous without everyone becoming dependent on us.

But, mostly, these last few weeks I have been thinking about thankfulness.  Thankfulness that I don’t have to decide between feeding my kids and giving them medicine.  Thankfulness that I have a cement floor and furniture in my house instead of sleeping on a dirt floor.  Thankfulness that I have cupboard of food and don’t have to see my kids go hungry.  Every day is a lesson in thankfulness here in Guinea.

We seem to always attract a following - they absolutely love the camera

I feel like we’ve been in Guinea a lot longer than just three weeks.  3 weeks seems like not near enough for all the things that we’ve experienced so far.  3 weeks of over 100 degree days doesn’t seem like much – until you are in the middle of them!

We spent a few days doing some repairs to our house and thankfully were all moved in within a week.  It has been such a blessing to be in our home and have water and power.  We remember very clearly what it was like when we arrived in Guinea the first time and to have these things has definitely made the transition easier.  One of the guys helping us moving in was in awe of ready to assemble furniture like the shelves we brought back with us.

We’ve settled right back into ministry and life here in Guinea.  I guess this is why it seems like we never left…we’ve basically just gone back to life being just the way it was before we left.  Lots of projects to be done – especially in Construction for Steve.  He’s taken inventory of his shop and he’s ready to get out there and get to work!

The village seems very glad to have us back.  They gave us a few days of just coming to greet and say hello, but now many are coming because of sickness and hunger.  We’d appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we seek the best answers for each individual.  We want to be generous, but also do what is best for them in the long term.  We want to build relationships in such a way that we are not simply “the answer”, but that we are the friends who lead them to the true answer, Jesus Christ.

We have a lot going on in the next few weeks…building projects, meeting up with other missionary teams in other villages to seek how we can be a blessing to them, a youth outreach in the village, a church dedication in another village, and the constant requests for help in the village – we are trying to do more than just listen to the request.  One of us tries to get them something to eat and sits and talks for as long as the person needs to stay.   This is not easy!  Especially to our American mindsets that have an agenda for the day – and with three kids that need a consistent routine.

Pray for us!  Pray that we would work as a team to see our goals accomplished.  Pray that we would look to God to meet our needs and give us joy.

A little hotter than we're used to

We have really felt all your prayers in the past few days.  Thanks for the emails and comments on facebook that have truly encouraged our hearts.  How incredible it is to feel such support behind us.

It’s been quite the journey so far!  We made it from Detroit to DC to Senegal with no problems.  The long flight actually seemed to go by really quickly.  We were greeted in Senegal by friends and were looking forward to a day of just resting up before the next flight down to Guinea.  That’s when we learned that our flight to Guinea had been cancelled!  Talk about a little panic!  It turns out that Senegal set up their own airline and has banned all other airlines from flying throughout Africa from their airport.  Long story short – we got tickets on their new airline the next day.  It was an unexpected layover, but we enjoyed a good nights sleep in a hotel and everything worked out in the end.

We spent the last couple of days in the capital city picking up a few supplies and enjoying a pool.  Our friends, the Bryants, had come down to greet us and spend those days with us.  It was a nice chance to get used to the heat again!  It’s so hot here!!!  Quite the change from the Michigan winter we left behind.

Yesterday we traveled up to the Mission Center – a very hot, dusty six hour ride!  We are settled into the guesthouse for the time being as we make a few repairs to our house.  We are very eager to not live out of suitcases indefinitely.  Our co-workers have been very gracious with us and we’ve begun greeting friends from the village.

In some ways, it seems like we never left.  Which is a good thing I guess.  We feel like the transitions are going well and we’re just trying to ease into things slowly.

Looking forward to getting back

We are eager to get back to Guinea and plunge back into our lives there.  So much has happened while we’ve been gone and we don’t want to miss out on anymore!  It’s a bittersweet time for our family.  On one hand we are ready to be back with Guinean friends and be a part of their daily lives, but to do that means to say goodbye to everyone here in the States.  Our hearts it seems are always planted in both places.  This time in the States has been a treat with all the comforts of home, but our prayer is that we’ll be able to let go of it all with content hearts knowing that what God has asked us to do is far more rewarding than what life here has to offer.  We pray that we’ll look back with special memories and look ahead to the great things that God wants to do in Guinea.  God’s desires are always so much better than what the world has to offer! We just have to remind ourselves of this when the days are filled with blistering heat and the never ending needs of those around us. We will very much need your prayers in the days, months and years ahead – that we would keep our eyes fixed on Him and His desires for us.

• Please be praying for the transitions our family will face in the weeks ahead. Be praying especially for the boys as they say goodbye to everyone and try to adjust to life back in Guinea.

• Please be praying that we would be loving and give to each other an extra amount of grace as spouses and as parents

• Please be praying that God would continue to teach us, change us and show us how He wants us to spend our every moment

• Please be praying for our last one-time expenses of $2800.00 – for our shipping, passports, and visa entry applications

• Please be praying for the $300.00 we still need every month in financial support

• Prayer for our last few weeks… February 3rd – 10th: Driving to Florida and speaking with one of our churches there.

February 18th – 20th: Missions Conference with our sending church in Ohio.  February 23rd and 27th – last Wednesday and Sunday with our sending church in Jackson.

So glad to be together again!

Our first weekend home was a whirlwind of activity, but it was great to feel so loved and missed!  We were picked up at the airport by my brother, Matt, and parents who were driving our new minivan!  How awesome to hug our family and see the vehicle we’ve been blessed with.  We spent the afternoon relaxing, catching up on things and very importantly – I had my hair done!  We had a family dinner with more family that night.  We spent Saturday picking up things we needed at the store and had a great welcome home party that night.  So good to see friends after two years!  It was a bit overwhelming to step into our huge church after such a long absence.  It couldn’t get much more different from our church in Guinea and it was really wonderful to be surrounded so many other believers all worshipping together.  It actually brought tears to my eyes.  Our boys loved every minute of church and asked afterwards if we could go church everyday!

That first weekend home, we were able to meet with the Doerksen’s and Dueck’s who served in Guinea with us.  Pete, Lesley and kids were just passing through Jackson and the Dueck’s have moved there to be on staff at the Bible School.  It was so great to see each other again and catch up on how things are going with everyone.  There is something very special about being with people who totally understand your experiences and can relate to the adjustments and challenges of missionary life!

Cretsinger, Dueck and Doerksen kids hanging out together

Lesley, Sue and I - so good see these friends again!

Malachi has been thrilled to be back with Uncle Matt!

The Cretsinger and Bryant kids at the hotel

God has blessed us with some wonderful friends – and sadly we had to leave some of them behind in Guinea!  Our boys were pretty upset to be leaving behind the friends who had occupied their days over the past two years.  The life of a missionary kid is one of constant changes and we continue to pray for the boys adjustment.

Before we left Guinea, we spent a few days in the capital shopping for treasures to take home and making memories with the Bryant family.  Our kids loved being in the pool, we had great snacks and dined out at yummy restaurants.  It was a nice relaxing time and we’re thankful for their friendship in our lives.

Please be praying for the Bryants as they continue on in their village and face the next year alone in their church planting ministry.  They definitely need your prayers for strength and grace in the days ahead.

Micah with Elijah and Corbin at the Riviera pool

Malachi and Micah with their friends, Elijah and Corbin Bryant

We’re getting into that wonderful time of the year where we sit soaked in sweat and have no desire to move more than six inches from a fan.  Yes, hot season is here.  The afternoon temperatures are reaching over 105 degrees and my motivation to keep cooking homemade meals for my family is pretty much non-existant.  We drink water all day and still feel thirsty.  We look forward to any day that we can get a little cooled off in the water.
Once a month we try to go to the beach for the day.  If you read our other posts, you know how much our boys love going to the beach.  It’s about a two hour drive, but totally worth the day of relaxation.  If we’re not going to the beach, we can drive about an hour and visit a great pool.  The pool is getting to be our favorite spot – we don’t even get out of the water for hours.  Unfortunately, even several applications of sunscreen is no match for the African sun, and so we still end up red at the end of the day (some of us more than others).  But, it’s a great chance to have a day where we don’t feel so disgustingly sweaty.  We’ve also found a great spot at the river about a five minute drive from our house.  It can be tricky to find a time when the ladies aren’t bathing or washing their clothes, but usually we’re okay.  Our boys love pretending they are being swept downstream in the rapids.  These have all been great ways for us to get a brief break from the heat.  It can really be overwhelming at times and can make you want to pack your bags for cooler weather.  So, a break every once in a while can be the encouragement we need to endure all the days of sweat and grime!

We'll do anything to keep cool

Okay, right now my neighbor is cooking up some MONKEY in the back of our houses! I came outside and Steve said you should go over and see what she’s cooking – there is just this pile of brown bones covered in flies and she’s pulling apart the meat – she seemed surprised that I’ve never seen anyone cooking a monkey before! I told her we only see our monkeys at the zoo.

We are continuing to get adjusted to things – especially the heat. Some nights I just lay there awake forever thinking about how hot I am. I worry about the boys getting anymore mosquito bites – I’m not sure how many more our bodies can handle – so I’m up making sure that they are covered to keep the bugs away. Last night we had fans all night long and it was absolutely wonderful.

We went to the market yesterday with out host and she took me to the stand where her family sells material and we’ve been measured to have some African clothes made for us. We’ll have to send a picture after it’s made and we can model our new styles for you! It was a very hot trip for the boys. It’s quite a walk when it’s so hot outside and you have to be careful that you aren’t run over by the cars and motorcycles. It takes a couple of hours it seems to just get a couple of things so it’s tough on the boys. I don’t think that we’ll make them go very often. They would much rather be playing soccer all day with the kids on our front porch. The minute that the boys step outside in the morning, the kids start coming. Usually we have at least seven on the porch at all times. It can be a bit frustrating being a referee all day, but Micah and Malachi are doing awesome with their French, so that’s good. Ephraim is having a harder time adjusting to sharing his toys – most of the kids have at the most one toy at home, so when he brings out his toolbox they attack him for a toy and he FLIPS out. We’re working on it.

We still haven’t heard anything about our crates, but we’re hoping maybe this week sometime it will come in. We’re also looking forward to getting some of the furniture that we ordered from the carpenter – especially the three beds for the boys, because sharing a bed all together is getting a little old! Without reliable power it’s hard for the carpenters to work, so it’s going slow.

Malachi just asked me if they have a Los Tres Amigos (one of our favorite places to eat) here and I had to sadly tell him no. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to just have food prepared for us instead of looking at these random ingredients that are here trying to figure out what in the world to make for my family to eat. Once this month of “quarantine” (as I like to refer to this time where we can’t go to the mission center or see other missionaries) is over we’ll be able to get meat and food that I know what to do with. For now, we’re eating a lot of bread.

15 hours of flying, 5 hours of driving, 5 hours of waiting in airports – and we’re here in Guinea! We did the give boys a little “help” with sleeping and it definitely worked with Micah – I don’t think he remembered the last 6 hours of the trip! Ephraim did surprisingly well on the long journey and we only had a few spilled drinks and moments of thinking “what are we doing?”! Malachi did great as long Mommy stayed right next to him the whole time.

I’ll admit that the heat is a bit overwhelming right now, so we’d appreciate your prayers as we begin to adjust to being hot and sweaty all the time! There are a few fans for during the night, so that was blessing. Micah was awake in the night crying a lot for home, but seems to have forgotten about this morning, so I’m thankful for that. There isn’t power during the day, so right now it’s just HOT.

We’re spending today and tomorrow here in the capital city learning where important places are and doing a bit of shopping for things that we need until our crates arrive. Please be praying for those crates too! We’d really like to see them in the next couple of weeks.

Tuesday morning we’ll head up to see our new house and start getting settled in. The battery on our computer is almost dead and we don’t have a way to charge it at the moment, so this will be the last email until then.

2nd email

Dear Friends,

We’ve made it through our first two days in Guinea – which may not seem like a lot, but we feel like we’ve faced plenty of challenges already!

Our first meal in Guinea was brought to us by our host family – it was really great of them to go to all the effort, but it wasn’t quite the “kid friendly” meal that we were hoping for! It was typical rice and sauce made with fish – fish heads, gills, bones and all! The boys took one look at what was put on their plates and then looked at us with pleading eyes to get rid of it – Ephraim wasn’t quite so polite – he just said “this smells bad”. It’s a little hard to explain in French without being impolite that our kids aren’t real big fans of fish heads.

It’s been a very hot couple of days for us. The only time that there are fans is when there is town power – just a few hours out of the day. Last night there were no fans and the dogs outside were barking like crazy and all of us were awake and I think I hit my first moment of thinking “okay, it’s time for a good cry.” Just then Steve came into the room with a cold rag and put it on my forehead – that’s love, huh? It’s amazing what a difference a fan makes in this heat! We can’t wait for our crates and to get them going!

Please keep praying for the boys. They’ve had a couple of rough nights crying to go home and asking for Gramma’s house. Last night as they were crying, we tried reminding them why we’re here. We said that we need to tell the people about Jesus. Micah said “Can we just do it real quick in the morning and get back on the airplane?” – if only it was that simple!

Today was a day of shopping around the town – looking for a few things that we won’t be able to find where we’ll be living. It was a very long day for all of us!!! There are no traffic lights or stop signs and seemingly no rules for the road except to just honk at people to get out of your way! It was hot, dirty and we were exhausted when we got back. It takes so long to get anywhere and since you have to barter for every price there is no just running in to grab something. You have no idea how much I was missing Target today! We went to the marche’ today – I’m not sure how to even describe it. It’s just shack after shack of vendors but there is no real paths and it goes in circles on the inside, so it’s just suffocating. The people come running at us to sell us everything imaginable because they think we have tons of money. Two seconds after going outside you are surrounding by people all yelling prices at you and trying to get you to take things. The kids totally didn’t understand – men just kept putting toys in their hands and they thought they were being given gifts – what an exhausting experience!!!

Okay, have you had a good chuckle at any of our stories? It’s a little more funny as I write this email, but not much!

Tomorrow we are heading up to our new home – a fun five hour drive with no fast food or rest stops. We are excited to see our new house though. It will be nice to unpack our totes and start to feel a little settled. We’ve been assured that our hosts will have lots of African food waiting for us! It may seem like a silly thing but I am really struggling with not having a fridge or a freezer. It’s really hard to think about what to make for meals that our kids will eat without anything you’d use from a fridge. Please be praying that I won’t get too frustrated with how things are.

3rd email

Hello Everyone,

It’s been a week today since we’ve been gone, but there are times when it feels so much longer. We’re covered with bug bites and rashes, but we’re still alive. I’ve decided to keep our emails pretty real and let you know exactly how we’re feeling and what we’re facing.

We arrived at our house on Tuesday and I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was still a bit of a shocker. I just keep telling myself “okay, we’re camping for a few years”. It’s been a big adjustment to say the least. We don’t have power except for a couple of hours at night when Steve fires up a generator that is here so that we can have lights to take a shower and enjoy a fan for a little bit. Everything is just so different. No matter how hard I try I can’t seem to keep the dirt and bugs from invading every space. The showers are just standing in a little indent in the floor while water covers the entire bathroom. Did I mention that the water is cold and that for hours from time to time during the day it just shuts off completely?

The boys are having a hard time too and we’d appreciate your continued prayers for them. We are still all sharing a bed at night because they are terrified of being even a few feet from us. It’s making for some very long nights! Ephraim is starting to go a little crazy penned into our house with the big wall around it. There isn’t really anywhere for him to run around and be free – so his destructiveness is on the rise.

We can get baguette style bread easily here, so we’ve been eating a lot of bread. We don’t have a way to keep meat cold so we haven’t had any yet, and we’ll probably wait until our crates arrive from the states and we can get our power system set up and our freezer going. You have no idea how much we are looking forward to seeing those crates! We are so excited to think of having enough power to have fans during the days.

Yesterday was Micah’s birthday and we took a taxi – giving a whole new meaning to the word taxi! – to a place about an hour away that has restaurant. Micah really wanted pizza and french fries for his birthday, so we went there and enjoyed a nice lunch to celebrate.

Everyday we learn something new about life here and we’re trying to take it in stride. Outings are hot and very hard with the boys and so we’re learning what works and what doesn’t for our family. I wish I could have you all join us in this for a day, so that you could really understand what things are like!