Posts Tagged ‘boys’

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Praying by name

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Steve teaching the guys how to grill hamburgers one night

Titi, Daouda, Gnaissa, Oumar, Youssof, Saliou, Mamadou…I want you to know these names.  I want to ask you pray for these young men that you will most likely never meet.  We have such a burden to see these young men embrace the truths of the Gospel.  These seven young men have become so dear to our hearts.

What a journey we’ve been on with them.  In the time we’ve come to know them; one has lost his mother, two have seen their mothers suffer from AIDS, one has been in prison, one has had major surgery on his legs, and those are just the major events.  What we’re the most thankful has been those everyday moments.  The talks on our porch, the soccer matches, the endless foosball tournaments, watching them play with our boys and so many other things.  God has blessed us with these guys.

They come to our house just about everyday to earn a little spending money with whatever job I can come up with.  If there are no jobs that day, they just hang out and try to practice their growing English vocabulary on me.  But, we’ve also been setting aside Thursday nights as a time to meet with them and discuss our faith.  They come dressed in their best to enjoy dinner with us and then they sit and talk for a couple of hours with Steve.  He went through a book called “The Lamb” with them which very clearly lays out why we need a Savior.  We’ve spent time talking about the differences between their religion and ours.  It’s been wonderful to see them come out of their shells and discuss the tough issues.  Steve has shared his testimony with them and shared the Gospel as clearly as he can.

Now, comes the tough part.  Now comes the time to trust that God will do something amazing in their lives.  Praying that each of them would see how empty and hopeless their religion is and to seek after the one true God who will never abandon them.  We’re asking each of you to be praying for these special men as well!

Piling their plates full for an American bbq

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Becoming a blacksmith

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Learning the ropes of being a blacksmith

Learning the ropes of being a blacksmith

We’ve just given my mom a new reason to fear for the life of her grandchild…maybe not quite that drastic, but we’re definitely making her nervous!  Malachi is completely fascinated by all things dangerous.  To him, if there’s no element of danger to something then why bother doing it?  So, it comes as no surprise that he thinks the blacksmith in our village has the coolest job.  Burning coal, pounding out burning metal, and making it into tools and weapons…how cool is that?  Steve has taken Malachi to visit the blacksmith several times as he is always making tools for us to use around here.

Then Steve had the idea that instead of Malachi just watching the blacksmith at his shop – how about we recreate one here at our house for Malachi to use whenever he wants???  Doesn’t that sound like a completely safe idea?  So, we’ve been buying up the needed items to start his shop and we had the blacksmith make Malachi his very own set of blacksmithing tools.  He was so excited to see it all come together.  Then we had Sajo (the blacksmith) come out for the day to show Malachi how to position everything and how to get started on his own.  My boys were completely enthralled with the process.  It’s totally a boy thing as Steve says.

You start a fire and get the charcoal burning.  Then you have a fan that you turn by hand to blow air into the coals to keep it burning hot.  You put the metal into the coals until it’s flaming red.  Then pull it out and quickly start pounding into the shape you want.  After a few pounds the metal cools and back into the coals it goes.  You just keep doing this process.  My boys think it is the greatest thing that now they make their own arsenal of weapons right out back.

This definitely falls under that catagory of “only if you grow up in Africa can you do this”.  I told my mom that Children’s Services would probably be calling if we were home in the States.  As dangerous as it may be, I do love that my kids share in an important part of the culture they live in.  This is how stuff is made and I love that they are learning about it.  I love that it helps build relationships even more with the people around us.  It’s all about sharing in each others lives!

Keeping those coals nice and hot

Keeping those coals nice and hot

Getting started on his first project

Getting started on his first project

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It’s important to them…

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
Getting some action shots

Getting some action shots

Soccer is a VERY important part of life over here.  Soccer is THE sport.  I’m amazed when I see boys and young men running in 120 degree heat gearing up for a big match.  Every boy dreams of becoming a famous soccer player.  The market walls are lined with uniforms from all different countries.  When you live in a pretty remote village with no means of transporation and nothing much to do – a soccer match with a rival village team is a big deal.  Notices are written down, (and then usually brought to my house for me to make photocopies) passed around to different groups, and everyone shows up at the soccer field to watch the big game.

It’s just a gravel field at the edge of the village, just homemade goals, but you’d think they are celebrities.  If it’s going to be a big match then they rent speakers and microphone so there can be announcers yelling loudly through the whole thing.  Our village just had a week long soccer match with different grades playing each afternoon.  The boys who spend their afternoons at our house were playing one afternoon, so Steve went with the boys to cheer them on.  He took a ton of pictures and then when they came over for Bible Study he played them as a slideshow.  They loved it.

It may seem like a trival thing, but we want to be involved even in the soccer games.  Whatever is important to them needs to become important to us.  We need to show our neighbors that we care about the things they care about.  It’s the only way that we can become a part of the community.  Praying for these moments of outreach…

Such serious determination

Such serious determination

Presenting the team

Presenting the team

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Village happenings…

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Thursday, November 17th, 2011
The twins with their mom

The twins with their mom

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything…not for a lack of things to write about, but a lack of time to get it written.  These are some seriously hot days we’re in the midst of and I am plain exhausted by the time I put the boys to bed.  My brain has turned to a pile of mush after a day of homeschooling, visiting in the village, cooking, laundry and I’m find myself thinking “tomorrow I’ll get something posted”.

Just a little update on a few things…

The little twin babies that we are feeding in the village are doing so well.  They are getting little double chins and I’m so happy see it!  Their mom is so proud of how well they are doing and she is so excited to take them back to her home village to show her family.  She has learned how to prepare their bottles and she has learned how to make the special food for herself as well.  So, she is going to go back to her village for a week to see her other children and see if she can handle things all on her own.  We’re going to weigh the babies before she goes and when she comes back to see if they did okay.

We actually have another baby that we are feeding now too.  The mother had no milk as well and the baby was sick and starving.  With medicine he is getting healthy and both he and his mom are eating much better.  We have hired a women in the village to oversee the feeding and care for these women and babies during the days.  She is thankful for the extra funds for her family and it is a great comfort for me to know that they are all being well fed these days.

The rainy season has come to an end and I’m hoping that the huge amount of malaria illnesses will decline too.  So many people have been struggling with illnesses.  We have a lot of operations this month – it seemed we had an outbreak of appendixes rupturing there for a week or so…very odd.  But, these medical visits and hospital runs continue to give us opportunities to show love to the people of our community and gives a chance to gain their trust.

The people in the village are busy finishing up bringing in their crops.  They are hoping to sell it for a good price and enjoy one month of actually having money to buy things…then they go back to struggling again.  Everyone that borrowed rice or peanut seed from us at the beginning on the planting season is bringing us back double what they took.  We are going to have someone show us the best way to store the seed for the coming year and then next year – those who participated won’t need to borrow any funds from anyone for their fields.

I have another post that I want to write about the Bible teaching that Steve is involved in, but it will have to wait until the next post.  There is a lot going on these days…your partnership is vital to what we’re doing here!

Starting to fuss, but look at that double chin...yeah, she's growing.

Starting to fuss, but look at that double chin...yeah, she's growing.

I know he's dressed in pink, but it really is a boy

I know he's dressed in pink, but it really is a boy

This is Mamoussou - she is taking care of the moms and babies at her house

This is Mamoussou - she is taking care of the moms and babies at her house

This is my namesake, she is growing SO big. I don't think Guineans are used to seeing babies get so chubby!

This is my namesake, she is growing SO big. I don't think Guineans are used to seeing babies get so chubby!

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Grilling out

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
New experiences

New experiences

Yeah, I’m not sure why we feel the need to create a fire and roast hot dogs when it’s SO unbelievably hot.  Maybe because we’re from Michigan and this is just what you do in the Fall.  Maybe because I’m really sick of cooking and this was a super easy meal for a group of boys.  Whatever the reason, we created a little sensation with this “meat on a stick” thing.  As is usually the case, our family really can’t do anything just as a family.  This is good in the sense that we have lots of opportunities for building friendships and bad in the sense that it drives us a little crazy – but that’s a whole other post :)

Anyways, we made our little fire and soon we had very curious boys wondering what we were going to do with this fire.  Yes, they are used to their moms cooking over a fire, but it’s rice and sauce in pots – and there were no pots to be found.  They wondered why Monsieur Steve would be collecting small sticks and sharpening the ends – are we going hunting???  But, then I pulled out the packs of hotdogs and showed them how to put them on the stick.  This whole process of roasting the hot dogs was honestly quite hilarious.  They didn’t like the idea of patiently waiting for the whole hot dog to be ready, so they would heat it up a minute – take a bite and put it back in the fire for another minute.  I have never seen packs of hot dogs be eaten so fast.

For the most part, I love sharing our lives with the people around us.  Yes, there are the moments where I just want to hide when they are calling at the door.  But, we have such an opportunity to get to know people, to show them we care, and live life with them.  That’s what we’re here for!  The next day, people were telling me all about this new food everyone wants to try…but, I’m not sure I’m up for village wide hot dog roasts quite yet!

He's just too funny

He's just too funny

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Not big fans of bees

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Sunday, September 18th, 2011
Still swollen more than a day later

Still swollen more than a day later

We’re not big fans of bees around here.  I have shared MANY times my extreme fear of them after Malachi nearly died from an allergic reaction during our first term.  It was honestly the scariest moment of my life when I truly thought I was going to lose my child.  Thankfully one of our co-workers had an epi-pen and we were able to get him breathing again.  We never suspected that he had any type of allergy to bees.

Even Ephraim, who is not allergic to bees, had a major run in with one a few weeks ago that had his eye swollen shut for three days.  Even the bees are tougher here in Africa!  I jokingly said that to someone the other day, but I really think it’s true.

A few days ago, Malachi was climbing high up in a tree when he suddenly jumped out of the tree screaming.  We didn’t have a moment to think of it then, but later realized that he could have easily broken his arms or legs.  He was grasping at his mouth and screaming his lungs out.  By the time we got to him we could already see where he’d been stung.  He started to go into shock and crying that he was going to die.  His vividly remembers the other time that he was stung, the intense hives and his inability to breathe.  We carried him into the shower trying to clean him off and calm him down.  His face was already swelling and the hives were popping out.  We gave him a major dose of Benadryl and didn’t leave his side.  We had his epi-pen ready, but we think that the Benadryl in that large of a dose so close to the time he was stung, probably kept his breathing under control.

He’s had a few days of a very swollen neck and face.  The next day he couldn’t really open his eyes and was pretty out of it.  He loved seeing the reaction on people’s face when they looked at him.  Micah and Ephraim just stared at him.

It’s one of those really hard situations.  I’m sure that many people back in the States would say that they would never bring their child to a country with no medical care in these type of situations.  We’ve had some really scary moments with malaria as well, and I remember people telling me that they could never take their kids away from doctors and hospitals – and instead take them to a country filled with disease.  I understand all those thoughts, believe me, I’ve had the same ones.  Am I crazy to bring my boys here?

But, at the end of the day, I have to ask myself if God is truly in control.  Is He the One who numbers the days of my life – and my child’s life?  Because if He is, then no bee can take Malachi until God says it’s time.  We can keep ourselves only in our “safe places” out of fear of what might happen – and still lose our children.  Or we can put them into God’s hands and follow where He leads – knowing that His plan will happen no matter where we live.

But, we’re still not big fans of bees.

Ending the post on a happy note, swollen but smiling

Ending the post on a happy note, swollen but smiling

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A twist to the school year…

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Friday, September 9th, 2011
First day of school - 5th grade, 4th grade, and 1st grade!

First day of school - 5th grade, 4th grade, and 1st grade!

This week “facebook” has been filled with everyone’s posts and photos about the first day of school. It’s hard to believe that we are finishing up our 5th week over here. It’s definitely turning out to be a different kind of year for us.
We were so lacking in teachers for our missionary kids this year that all the mothers came together and are sharing in home schooling responsibilities. So, as a mom who never imagined herself homeschooling, I’m now teaching the 4th grade. Thankfully, Malachi has enough excitement over this turn of events to cover both of us. He is thrilled to have his mom as his teacher – he just wishes that we could have school in our pajamas while still in bed. Instead, we are doing school together with his friend, Aidan, out on our front porch. For the most part I think things are going well. The constant interruptions can be hard to handle from folks in the village who have no idea why school shouldn’t be interrupted. It can make for some very long days without any “mommy time”, but we’re surviving. Who of you is ready to make the move to Guinea and take over schooling our kids?
There is one teacher available and she took on the 5th and 6th grades for the year and so Micah is still leaving the house and heading a real classroom. He would not be so excited to have his mom as his teacher! He is Mr. Social and with only me to entertain, he would be devastated. He is enjoying being a part of a class of six (I know, big numbers over here!). He is still completely obsessed with football and recites all the players and team stats for me on a continual basis. He reminds us frequently that he is missing out on the football season in America and he would make the sacrifice of going back to live with Gramma and Grampa if we wanted him to :)
Ephraim is doing first grade with our co-workers who are also teaching their daughter in the same grade. He is always ready and excited to head out the door in the morning. He is so excited to come home and show us his papers at the end of the morning. He is picking up on reading and getting better everyday. It’s hard to believe that my little boy is in First grade already!
5 weeks down – many, many more to go! I’m sure that this year will be filled challenges, changes and some really great times. We’d appreciate your prayers as we make these adjustments to our ministry and already busy schedule.

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Micah hits the double digits

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
You can tell he wasn't quite feeling himself even though he's smiling

You can tell he wasn't quite feeling himself even though he's smiling

I know it’s been over a month since Micah’s birthday, but what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t post a few pictures of his big day. It’s a pretty big milestone to reach the double digits.  There’s a rule here on the center that you have to be 10 years old to open the sports equipment shed at the playground…believe me, my boys eagerly anticipate turning 10.  It’s quite the rite of passage over here.

The day before Micah’s birthday he woke up with a high fever and complained of a terrible headache.  He spent the day laying around and sleeping.  We hoped he would feel better after a good nights sleep, but he still woke up with the high fever, stomachache and headache.  We started him on a malaria treatment just to be safe.  Not the greatest way to spend your birthday, but he had a good attitude about it.

We made the next day the one to be celebrated.  We spent the day with friends and our usual trip to the pool. (I know it may seem like we are there a lot, but it is seriously the ONLY place we have to go every few weeks)  I was so glad he made such a quick recovery and could enjoy the milestone of turning 10.

Singing Happy Birthday at the pool

Singing Happy Birthday at the pool

Opening the presents from us, Gramma and Grampa that had been sent long ago and hidden away

Opening the presents from us, Gramma and Grampa that had been sent long ago and hidden away

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Happy Birthday

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Friday, June 24th, 2011

Happy 9th Birthday

Happy 9th Birthday

  • He’s been 9 for two weeks now and he loves the fact that he’s the same as Micah for a month.  He had been looking forward to his birthday for the longest time and asked several times if we would be sure to make him a cake and give him presents.  Does he think we would forget?

We spent the day at the pool with a few extra friends to help make the day special.  We decorated the house and to his joy there were indeed a few presents.  He’s our creative and full of imagination kind of boy, so he was thrilled with a microscope, a new pocket knife and art supplies sent from Gramma and Grampa.  He was even more excited when a friend gave him a baby python snake…yes, a baby python snake.  I have given up trying to keep Malachi away from danger!

I’m thankful that even here in Guinea we can celebrate the milestones in the boys lives and I’m thankful for a Gramma in the States who keeps those packages coming!

Soccer uniforms are the clothing of choice over here

Soccer uniforms are the clothing of choice over here

Celebrating with friends

Celebrating with friends

A python snake makes a great present

A python snake makes a great present



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Random Photos

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Friday, June 3rd, 2011
I couldn't find Ephraim one day and I finally found him sitting underneath a tree reading books like a little angel

I couldn't find Ephraim one day and I finally found him sitting underneath a tree reading books like a little angel

One night as we drove home from town we stopped to take a picture of this beautiful sunset

One night as we drove home from town we stopped to take a picture of this beautiful sunset

Malachi found this chameleon and wanted to keep it as his pet. Unfortunately, it escaped after not too long. Which made any visitors to our house very happy since Guineans are VERY afraid of chameleons.

Malachi found this chameleon and wanted to keep it as his pet. Unfortunately, it escaped after not too long. Which made any visitors to our house very happy since Guineans are VERY afraid of chameleons.

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