Where Has The Time Gone? (by Thom)

In January 2005 we left the US, moving to France to begin 6 months of French language study. After that we moved on to Bamako, Mali where we've lived since. Now, we know we're going to be moving again - this time to Dakar, Senegal - after our furlough next year. Each week goes by and I'm consistently surprised at how fast this year is passing by. We're only 129 days away from 2009! Anyway, noting that 2009 was catching up fast on us I needed to buy our plane tickets home. We're pleased to announce that we have a definite schedule for our return time in the US!
We will be packing up and flying out of Bamako on January 14th, 2009 and arriving in Detroit on the afternoon of the 15th. We spend roughly 3 1/2 months in the US then before returning to Africa, which will be a direct flight back to our new home in Dakar, Senegal on April 28th. During our last furlough we made ourselves available to speak at as many churches and small groups as possible. However, we realized that we weren't able to find time for the rest and recovery we needed and this time we're going to limit ourselves more. If you're interested in having us come and share what the Lord's doing in Mali (or Senegal or even in our lives) please feel free to drop us an email. Our email information can be found on this page on the right-hand side. We're going to accept the requests on a first-come/first-serve basis and limit ourselves to no more than 50% of our weekends home so we apologize in advance if we're not able to fit your request in. Still, don't let this discourage you from asking!

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Final Olympic Update (by Thom)

Now that the Olympics have passed I can take a look back and see how Mali and Senegal did. I mentioned before that the Malian woman's basketball team went winless at the Beijing games, although that wasn't surprising. The swimmers also failed to advance from their opening rounds. Mali also sent one man and one woman to compete in Track and Field (400 meter hurdles and 200 meter race, respectively) but they both failed to advance. Mali's last hope was Daba Modibo Keita in Taekwondo. Keita was the 2007 world champion in his weight class and advanced past his first round opponant in the Olympics but in the quarterfinals to a Nigerian who went on to win the Bronze medal.
Senegal sent 11 different atheletes to compete in 5 different events. However, the only to advance beyond their first match was Mamadou Keita in Fencing. Like the Malian Keita, Mamadou's opponant went on to win a Bronze medal.
Small, less-affluant countries don't have the luxury of lavish training centers and 200-member athlete delegations like many Western countries. To the Malian and Senegalese Olympians - Congratulations, you've given your countries reason to be proud! Best of luck in the 2012 London Olympiad!

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Mali Olympic Update

I promised to post an update on how Mali and Senegal are faring at the 2008 Olympic games. Mali had the privilege of sending the only woman's basketball team from all of Africa. After a close loss in their first game against New Zealand things quickly went downhill. They have since gone 0-4, all being blowout losses, including a 97-41 drubbing by Team USA. This really is, however, one of those cases where a team should feel happy just to be there. The team even advancing past the African tournement was a surpise and hopefully they are laying the foundations for more interest in women's athletics in Mali.
Mali also sent a pair of swimmers, Mohamed Coulibaly and Mariam Pauline Keita, who didn't advance past their first matches. Mali's last chance for their first ever Olympic medal now rests with Daba Modibo Keita who competes in Taekwondo. His competitions start on Saturday the 23rd.
I'll try to post an update on Senegal soon.

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Our Adoptive Homes at the Games (by Thom)

Ni Hao Ma! ("Hello" in Chinese) You might of heard but there's some sort of gathering of athletes going on in the Far East right now. We're not bombarded with the media storm here regarding the Olympics but we do hear about them. In fact, one thing we've heard a lot about lately is the success of the woman's basketball team from Mali.
Last year the Malian woman's team beat (in a major upset) Senegal to be the only team from Africa to head to the Beijing games. So far they haven't won a game (losing to New Zealand and the Czech Republic) but their participation at the Olympics is a victory in and of itself. Mali only has one basketball gym in the whole country and woman's athletics isn't a high priority here. Mali is also represented at the Games by Daba Keita, a Taekwondo competitor. This will be Mali's 11th time to sent athletes to the Olympics but they've yet to win a medal.
On the other hand, the country where we're moving next year (Senegal) has had some success at the Games. In 1988, at the Seoul Games Amadou Dia Ba took home the Silver for his performance in the 400 meter hurdles. This year Senegal has sent athletes to compete in Canoeing, Fencing, Judo, Taekwondo, and Wrestling.
One thing I've noticed between here and the US is that the African countries don't send athletes in every category like the major players (the US, Russia, China, etc) do. By sending only a handful of athletes it may be harder to win the events but it does become easier to cheer on your fellow countrymen. We'll try and keep you posted on how Mali and Senegal fair in these 2008 Olympic Games.

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New Pictures (by Thom)

3 posts in one day!
This morning I added a number of new pictures to our website in the "Our Photos" section. I've already shown you a couple of them here and here but there are many more. Here's a family picture we had taken yesterday:

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A Look Back (by Thom)

As mentioned earlier, today is Miri and Hannah's 2nd birthday. Since they were adopted we didn't get to meet them until they were 21 days old but from the very get-go, I've been busy taking pictures. Here's what they looked like back at 25 days old:

Let's jump ahead six months, and see the changes:

Now at one year old:

And finally, a look at the girls today:

Praise the Lord, for the wonderful things He has done in their lives! Praise Him for He knows them by name! Praise Him for all the perfect plans He has in their futures!

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Birthday (by Thom)

Today, July 10th, is the 2nd birthday of Miriam and Hannah. Two? Already? It hardly seems possible!
We're having a birthday Bar-B-Q at a swimming pool on Saturday in their honor and looking forward to that. Amanda's also planning on giving out cookies and drinks to our neighborhood kids today in a bit of outreach. All in all, it's a very exciting day and week! I'll be posting more later, but here is a picture I took yesterday of the girls. As you can see, they are each other's best friends (most of the time).

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Odds and Ends (by Thom)

Since we shared the news about our upcoming big move, we've been pretty busy. The C&MA's fiscal year runs from July 1st to June 30th, so I've been plenty busy closing the books for, not one, but two fields. Now that I've taken on the Senegal field's bookkeeping I'm learning all sorts of new things - including how shortsighted my organizational systems were! I've had to rethink how I store things in my office and on my computer. I think I'm getting the hand of it, though.
Speaking of my computer, that's been a major source of grief lately. The laptop I use for mission work died on me in mid-June. I thought I had been doing daily backups but when I went to retrieve all my data with another computer I found it had all been corrupted. My first instinct was to throw the computer against the wall (I resisted) and my second was to cry (I didn't resist). I was able to work something out where I got a little device from the US to come with a work team which allowed my to remove the hard drive from the laptop and pull all the data I needed. Praise the Lord this all worked out. I was able to finish the year's bookkeeping with my personal computer, which I'll have to do for the foreseeable future until I can get the mission computer fixed.
We haven't talked much about this here but this past year has been a challenging one for Amanda and I. Our first two years in Mali we were just one of six or seven C&MA families in Bamako but this past year it has only been us and a single Dutch missionary. We've been quite lonely but that's changing now. We welcomed back a couple from their furlough just last week and next week we have another new family arriving here. We're very excited about these changes and it will be nice to have team meetings again! Later on this fall we're expecting one more family to be moving to Bamako (from Senegal, oddly enough). I'm personally rejoicing about that arrival as the missionary will be taking over quite a few of the things I do that aren't really in my job description.
I just checked the calendar and we have only 195 days left in Mali. After our 3 months in the US we'll be moving to Dakar on May 1st, 2009. Tonight we're planning on sharing the news with some of our very good Malian friends. We know this news will be hard on them, so we're praying that we know how to share it gently and express how much we're going to miss them.
I'd like to share some of the back story about us moving to Dakar, Senegal, but I think that's a whole post to itself. Check back soon for that!

Edit:
How could I have forgotten these two things?!?
1. Miri and Hannah (Mo-mo and Na-na) celebrate their 2nd birthday next week on Thursday, July 10th!
2. The rainy season started a week or two ago here in Mali. This was about a month earlier than last year and was/is very welcome. The rain has really broken the heat and we've actually needed a sheet at night for the first time since January. Praise the Lord for giving the long, soaking rains that the farmers here in Mali need. We'll continue to pray that is is sustained and the crops will be more than sufficient for the year.

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McSenegal? (by Thom)

Other possible titles for this blog post: "Bookkeeping is fun", "We're Moving" and "Hey, are you ever going to tell us what your big news is?"
The big reveal time is here! We're going to be leaving Mali, but staying in Africa. For right now we'll just lay out the facts and we'll share more about what has led up to this later. Since arriving in Africa I've been the bookkeeper for the Mali field of the C&MA. After spending the week before last in Dakar, Senegal in training I'm now also the bookkeeper for the Senegal field and I'll be taking over the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bookkeeping in July. For now I'm doing all this bookkeeping from the Mali office in Bamako but starting next year I'll be working as part of the Africa Regional Office in Dakar. We were scheduled to return to the US February 15-June 1, 2009 as our regular furlough but with the move happening we'll be pushing everything up a month. That means we'll be stateside Jan 15-May 1, 2009, leaving from Bamako and returning directly to Dakar. Honestly, I don't think we could be more excited about this. We don't mean to criticize Bamako or Mali in any way but Dakar is a much more modern city and we're excited about the opportunities we'll be able to provide our girls that will be there, especially a great boarding school (where they won't have to board!).
On the downside, we won't be able to move our Jeep to Senegal because of their vehicle importation laws. That means we'll need to raise funds again to purchase a car. We'll share more about that shortly. Please be praying for us in this time of transition as well as for the missionary team here, in Senegal, and for our vehicle fund. Thanks!
Oh, in case you're wondering: McSenegal doesn't have that "snappiness" that McMali has, so I don't think the name is going anywhere. Besides, our daughters will be little McMalians no matter where we live!

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From the Mouth of Hannah (by Thom)

Last night we were at the dinner table. Hannah was being unusually quiet and Amanda and I both looked over at her to see what was going on. She seemed lost in thought, like she was unraveling the mysteries of the universe by twirling her fork in her hand.
Suddenly, she looked up, scanned the table and pointed at me. "Dada", she declared confidently. Then her finger moved to Amanda, "Mama". Next she pointed to Miriam and said "Mo-mo". Finally, she jabbed herself with her finger and said, "Na-na". After making the rounds she nodded her head up and down twice and smiled big, as if she had taught us all something we needed to know.
It was a beautiful thing and she actually did teach us something. We had never considered nicknaming Miri "Mo-mo". We're trying to decide if it should stick.

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Praising Him Through the Storms (by Amanda)

I have been going each week to the Centre Rahab hoping to learn and maybe help a little with Carina’s work with Prostitutes and the disenfranchised people in Bamako, but I am beginning to believe that the blessings I am receiving from them far outweighs anything I have given in return. Let me just give a brief description of what Centre Rahab does. It was started by Carina Saarloos, a Dutch missionary here, as an outreach which counsels prostitutes and widows. It is a training center for the women to learn a trade. The most important thing that the Center does is give them a clear understanding of who Christ is and then continues to teach and mentor them so they can grow in their walk with God.

Each Friday morning the women who work there are required to go to a Bible study. Recently Carina has asked that one woman a week would give her testimony to the group and so far two women have spoken and they have been wonderful. I am going to share with you Louise’s testimony as best as I can translate it. Louise is in her mid 30’s and has lived a lifetime of sorrows. She started her story with getting married at age 19. Her and her husband had three children which either died soon after birth or were born stillborn. Then her husband died. Soon after this she became a Christian. A few years later she remarried and had another baby which, praise the Lord, lived. I do not know the exact time line but her second husband got sick and because they had no money and no food to eat he died. She was left with just her son. In the village they called her a sorcerer because all the things in her hands had died. It continued to get worse: her son, who was four at the time, got sick and also died. Since she had no one left she went to her parents but they would not accept her and called her a crazy lady. So Louise came to Bamako to live with her little sister. She was put in contact with a missionary at the Magnambougou church and eventually was guided to talk with Carina who began counseling her and brought her into the Rahab work program. So she stood at the front of the room and praised God because He had spared her life and brought her to a place were she could work and provide for herself.

Her story brought me to tears; with everything that happened she still came out praising God. Don’t get me wrong - she did go through times of discouragement and depression but by the grace of God she still managed to come out praising Christ. I share this story for three reasons: One - it touched me deeply. Two - because I hope it will touch you deeply, and three - because I want you to pray. Pray for these women who have been through so many trials. Pray that God will heal them and that He will give them the desires of their hearts. Pray for this ministry that it will be able to grow and become an outreach to more women and pray for Carina as she organizes the ministry.

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News Is Coming.... (by Thom)

Remember waaaayyyyy back in February when I promised some news coming about our future roles in ministry here? Well, we were hoping to find things out sooner but it just didn't happen. However, we found out some big news yesterday. We still can't share it here yet but next week we should have the go-ahead to make the announcement. "Why tease us, Thom?" you may ask; well, we'd appreciate your prayers, for one. This is going to be a significant shift for us and will involve a lot of change. Also, the change in ministry roles will affect a lot of other people too and we would ask for prayer that it be shared and received in grace. We're really excited about this upcoming item and look forward to letting you know soon!
In other McMurray news, I will be flying to Dakar, Senegal for a week next Sunday (June 8th). I'll be there to learn some new bookkeeping things. Please keep me in prayer and also Amanda and the girls as they'll be back in Bamako.

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Who Are Missionaries? Part II (by Thom)

In the last post I mentioned a bit about who our fellow C&MA missionaries in Mali are and where they live and where they're from. However, I completely forgot to mention what they do!
I did mention 10 of the 20 missionary singles or couples work at the hospital. Most of them are nurses but there are two doctors (an OB-GYN and a pediatrician) and a laboratory specialist, too.. We also have a missionary who works on the various building projects and repairs at the hospital and other mission properties in Koutiala and one other whose job it is to be the director of the hospital.
At the moment we have a couple of pastors in the country but we normally have four or more. Two are currently on furlough so that number will be increasing soon.
Of course, I'm the bookkeeper for the field but I'm currently the only office-type person here. We are expecting a new missionary to come later this year to help out with office administration. I'm definitely looking forward to that!
We had a couple recently that specialized in technical ministry. They worked on computer, electrical, and video projects such as installing solar systems at a Bible school, teaching computer classes at a juvenile prison, and making a ministry video with a focus on health care. They are now on furlough but we also have other missionaries here who work with radio ministries and in prisons. Also, we have a teammate whose primary focus is on teaching prostitutes about Jesus and training them in another trade to help them escape that life. Amanda works with her in that ministry and has seen many powerful stories about changed lives.
Of course, most missionaries find side projects to work on, too. One of our hospital missionaries has started a soccer tournament in Koutiala. Some teach English as a second language. Others spend free time at the Bible school training future pastors.
It's amazing how many different skill-sets we have here amongst the missionaries. I like to say that if you have a useful ability in the US you have a useful ability on the mission field.
One more thing: if you're interested in putting faces with names and jobs one of our teammates put together a website featuring the missionaries here. You'll find it at cmamali.org

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Who Are Missionaries? (by Thom)

I'm a numbers guy. I like statistics and breaking things down to groups and subsets. With that in mind, I thought it might be interesting to know a few statistics about C&MA missionaries in Mali.
There are 20 missionary units currently assigned to Mali. Of those, 14 are couples and the other 6 are single women, making a total of 34 missionaries in Mali. However, 6 of those couples are on furlough now leaving us with 22 missionaries currently in country.
Missionaries to Mali are a diverse group. We have Americans, a Canadian, a couple where the husband is Chilean and the wife is Costa Rican, Dutch, German, and there's also a short term worker here from Switzerland.
Many of our American missionaries are from a close proximity in the US. We have two families from the same town in Iowa and 3 families and 2 singles from Ohio.
Our work here has grown a lot in the last few years. This is mostly because of the hospital. Of the 20 missionary units 10 of them work at the hospital. That number is likely to keep growing in the next few years as I know more people will be coming soon to join the team.
The hospital opened in 2006 and changed the dynamic of our field quite a bit. Of the 20 missionary units twelve of them have been in Mali for five years or less. However, not all of them are new to Africa. We have recently received missionaries transferring to Mali from Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Niger, and Gabon. Especially Gabon. Two current families have moved here from Gabon and they won't be the last. (The mission has a well-established hospital there and the former missionaries to Gabon offer a great perspective on the new work here).
Many of the missionaries here are new, but the others have quite the tenure here. Of the 8 units that have been in Mali more than 5 years, five of them have been here at least twenty years.
Geographically in Mali we're pretty concentrated. All but 5 of the missionaries currently in Mali live in Koutiala. Two live in a small village and three of us (Amanda, myself and another lady) live in the capital city of Bamako.
It's an interesting group and one we've enjoyed being a part of. I hope this was interesting and maybe helped you feel a little closer to us here in Mali.

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More Pictures

It's been about two months since we last posted a round of photos here so this is long overdue! If you click on over to our photo galleries you will see pictures of Miri and Hannah and pictures Amanda took at the Bamako women's retreat. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Hannah's smile warms the heart.

Miri is becoming a little lady.

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