Posts Tagged ‘learning french’

Thankfulness

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Sunday, March 27th, 2011
Our family in the village

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.

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Encouragement

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Ephraim and I

Ephraim and I

One of my biggest struggles with being overseas is the lack of support and resources for Ephraim.  Before we left for Guinea, we were just starting to work with specialists.  These specialists were helping with speech therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral and educational issues.  It was such a help to me and I felt so much encouragement.  Then we left for Guinea and I had to leave that support system behind.  There were days when I thought that we would have to come home because there was just no one who understood what we were going through.  It was a lonely place to be and I am so thankful that I had friends back here in the states to write and encourage me.  I don’t know what I would done without them.  I feel like a huge weight was lifted off of me when we returned home and we were once again able to meet with these specialists.  Their words of encouragement and their advice have meant so much to me.  It’s so great to hear them say how much progress they see in Ephraim.  It’s been such a blessing to hear their practical tips for how to react in different situations, to hear them tell me what a terrific little boy we have, to see them know exactly how to interact with him, and to have them tell me that we are doing a good job as parents.  This encouragement is truly a gift and I am soaking it all up over the next few months.

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Sharing about Guinea

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

Us with family on a trip to Ohio to speak at one of our sending churches

Us with family on a trip to Ohio to speak at one of our sending churches

I feel sometimes like I could talk about Guinea forever…just starting asking me questions and it just pours out in waves.  No one has asked me to stop talking yet, so as long as the questions keep coming – I just keep sharing.  That’s one of the main reasons that we are home for these few months.  It’s a privilege to be able to meet with the team of supporters who have so faithfully stood behind us over the last two years and share what they have helped make happen.  We’ve had some really great talks and I want our supporters to know how much we appreciate the sacrifices that they make to be a part of what we’re doing.  And it’s not just meeting with the team we already have – it’s meeting new people and sharing how they can play a part too.  We’ve had a lot of opportunities to share with small groups and individuals who don’t know who we are.  We’ve been able to give them a glimpse of our lives in Guinea and why we need this team behind us.  I am amazed at all the questions that people ask – really great questions that show me that God is working in the hearts of people here to reach beyond just the world around them.  We’ve been able to share a lot in the last three months and we continue to pray for more opportunities in the coming months.


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Technology can be a gift

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

IMG_5725I had the opportunity to do something pretty cool the other day.  My brother is a history teacher in South Carolina and he asked if we’d be interested in skyping with his classes one day to share them with about life here in Guinea.  He had been teaching them about ancient Africa and leading up to colonization and wanted them to hear some perspectives on how things have or have not changed since then.  I’m thankful that Steve was supportive of me spending so much time on the computer that day because it ended up being a few hours.  I enjoyed the chance to share about our daily life here and hear their reactions to how kids their age are living.  They weren’t impressed with what’s on the daily menu for people here and they were amazed to hear that men can have more than one wife.  I’m glad that they were so interested and thought of so many great questions to ask.  I’m glad for the chance to introduce them to life so far away from their own and a chance to share why we are here.

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How is our faith different?

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Thursday, March 4th, 2010
We call her "Mama"

We call her "Mama"

(Just a note here to let you know that we are not allowed to use specific religious terms on our website here, so I stick with general terms)

Guineans just recently celebrated one of their religious holidays.  It’s one where they prepare food and go with their entire families to spend the night at their place of worship.  It’s a night filled with singing and praying to their god.  I was talking with a friend about the importance of these events and it led into a discussion on the difference between their religion and our faith.  Here’s a recollection of the conversation…

Mama said, “if you have a problem in your life then you give some of your food and money to the (religious leader) and he will pray to (their god) on your behalf”

“Why can’t you pray to your god on your own behalf”

“Because he knows how to make god happy with his prayers”

“What happens if you don’t to (their place of worship)?”

“god would be very angry at us.  If you are very sick – almost dying – then you don’t have to go.  But if you can go then you need to be there.”

“It’s different when you have Jesus as your savior.  You can talk to him any time you want and you don’t need someone else to talk to Him for you.  He doesn’t need you to follow a bunch of rules – he wants you to have a relationship with him – that’s more important than following a bunch of rules”

“yeah, your god is very different than the African’s god”

“Yes, most of the people here don’t believe in Jesus, but there are still a lot of Africans who have left your religion and have decided to become Christians.”

“So, are Jesus and God the same person?”

This is a tricky question for my not fluent French!  It’s hard enough trying to explain the trinity in English, but when French is not my first language or her first language – it’s far more difficult!
(more…)

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Gaining new words

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Saturday, February 20th, 2010
Abram teaching the boys how to pronounce the French alphabet

Abram teaching the boys how to pronounce the French alphabet

Even though they think their days are filled to the brim with school, drum practices and chores – we decided that they would benefit from French lessons a couple of days a week.  We aren’t looking for French scholars or anything, but just to give the boys more confidence when they want to talk to friends and others.
We asked one of the teenagers who lives in our village if he would be interested in tutoring the boys a couple of afternoons a week.  We were a little unsure if he would be up to the job.  Responsibility is a bit of a new concept for most of the young people here.  It took a couple of times for him to get the hang of showing up on time, but we’ve been impressed with how seriously he is taking this part time job.  He has a lesson plan ready to go – whether our boys are excited about it or not!  Micah is doing really well and working hard to impress his teacher.  Malachi, on the other hand, is not so excited about this French class thing – something he reminds me of each day.
But, we’re making progress and that’s enough to keep it going.  I love coming out on the porch and watching them working on the easel and practicing their pronunciation.  I love seeing our boys try new things and broaden their world a little bit more.

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Keep reading to get a good summary of the past couple weeks!

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Thursday, December 13th, 2007

Surviving the cold! We made it through another semester! We’ve been kind of wandering around the house after we put the kids to bed the last couple of nights because we aren’t sure what to do without homework to be done.
We put in a few weeks of solid studying and reviewing and trying to get our brains to remember all the rules we’ve learned. It has been an intense semester learning so many rules of the language and trying to keep with everything while still trying to be good parents, giving the boys all the attention that they need. Some days it was very challenging, but we are thankful to see our progress. (more…)

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How do you spend your mornings?

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Friday, May 18th, 2007

Learning over coffee!
We are now in the Conversation semester and learning so much everyday. We start the day with sharing our devotions with the group in French. This is challenging and extremely frustrating too. There are so many things that I want to say that I just don’t have the ability to yet. There are so many tenses to verbs and sentence structures that it keeps my head swimming. (more…)

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Our Newsletter online

Posted by Steve and Casey Cretsinger on Sunday, February 25th, 2007

News from the Cretsingers

Just less than an hour from the Vermont line, our new home in Sherbrooke, Quebec is a world away from what we are used to.
Learning French is a daily humbling experience and we are in great need of your prayers that we would continue to grow in our understanding and fluency of this complicated language. (more…)

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