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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Camp/Easter/Babies (by Amanda)

It has been such a long time since I have written and so many things have been going on. I would like to share just a little bit of what I have been up to. Three weeks ago I attended a women’s camp. I had a good time visiting with the women of the church here in Mali. Some women stayed each night there, but with the girls I decided to go just during the days. Miri and Hannah really enjoyed playing with the other young children there and, of course, charmed the women with their smiles. Each morning started with the choir singing and dancing. Eventually it led into the message. We had several different speakers and I have to say the afternoon speaker was my favorite because he gave the message in French and then it was translated (I actually understood most of it). It was a really good time for me to connect with Malian women.

Of course I am sure many of you had a wonderful Easter celebration. Likewise our church had big events. The night before Easter Sunday there was an evening service that I was able to attend. It was a celebration service with singing, dancing and a message. No celebration is complete without singing and dancing in Mali. We were not able to attend the Easter service because Thom as sick but it turned out to be a nice cool day sandwiched between very hot weather. It actually rained for the first time since last October! Later I was talking to our pastor and he said it always rains on Easter because the believers pray for it. You might think that seems a little weird but a couple of days later another missionary said that some of her neighbors were talking about the holiday and they said it always rains on Easter because the believers pray. We probably won’t see any more rain until July.

Last Sunday we had another big event. It was a baby dedication. This was not just any baby though; it was our good friends Pastor Christophe and Jeanné’s baby. Events like this are very special so for the first time I went to the market and had Miri and Hannah’s hair braided. We all dressed in our Sunday-best for the dedication. They had special chairs set up and had a meal afterwards. Important customs like inviting the mayor of the neighborhood and head council people were followed. It was very interesting to see but the most important thing that happened that day was baby Alec being brought forward to be dedicated to God.

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Reasons to be a Photographer (by Thom)

I love to take pictures. At this moment, I have about 8 gigabytes of photos on my hard drive, which represents the pictures I've taken since 2005. Whether it's pictures of my family, of friends, or of the wonders of God's creation I find a lot of enjoyment out of both the memories and the process. Over at Desiring God Ministries they've been running a series called "9 Reasons I'm A Photographer." So far, they've posted the first 3 points. I've enjoyed the series so far and wanted to share it with you, too. Enjoy!

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Easter (by Thom)

Christ est ressuscité! Il est vraiment ressuscité!
That's French for the traditional Easter greeting, "He is risen! He is risen indeed!" Easter here in Mali is much different than in the US. We don't have the cultural reminders (stores selling Easter candy) or the seasonal reminders (the idea of "Spring" doesn't exist here). And unlike Christmas, Easter is strictly a Christian holiday here.
I talked about Easter with some friends here before. They are not Christians so I was trying to understand their view on things. One friend explained to me that he believes that while Jesus was in prison the day before he was crucified he tricked the guard into coming into his cell and then escaped, leaving the guard locked in the cell. Because the guard looked so much like Jesus the other guards crucified him instead. There's more about this theory here.
Much like Christmas, the Church in Mali extends the Easter celebration beyond just Easter morning. Friday night and Saturday night our church had evening services that lasted well into the night. Unfortunately, I was sick all weekend but Amanda got to go to the Saturday evening service and reported to me that it was a wonderful time of fellowship and celebration that we know a risen Savior. This year, even though I wasn't able to go to church for Easter I celebrate a Savior , perfect in life and death, who loved each of us enough to give up His own life that we now have hope of a future together. He is risen! He is risen indeed!

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Exchanging Blessings (by Thom)

A month ago we were on our way to our field's annual prayer retreat. This year it was held at a place called Teriyabougou. That's about a five hour drive from Bamako and took us straight through Mali's second largest city, Segou. It was 19 months ago that we were in Segou for a different field retreat; back then we had only had Miriam and Hannah for one week and Hannah was very sick and very small. We weren't completely sure at the time but we were beginning to suspect she had a milk allergy. It was at the conference in Segou that we first tried Hannah on goat's milk and that was the first time she started showing signs of life. That was obviously a major turning point for us and it became a huge deal to the hotel staff, too. They sort of 'adopted' Hannah as well and every time we go through Segou now we stop and show off how well she's doing and every time the staff fawns over her and talks about how small she was and how they knew that only God was able to bring her through her health trials.
Back to one month ago, we stopped at the hotel again and were eating lunch there when the waiter came up and shared a story with me. He and his wife just had their first child, a son, a couple of months earlier. His wife is a school teacher and didn't get maternity leave so she had to make arrangements for child care. Using baby formula is rare in Mali but they decided to try that. However, the baby was allergic, just like Hannah. They weren't sure what to do but then the waiter remembered us. He said to me, "I told my wife that I have two friends who are Americans. They were given a baby girl who couldn't drink formula either and they gave her goat's milk and today she's doing fine." So they arranged to get goat's milk as well and he thanked me, "God put you in my life and that saved my son." It's funny because we feel that we were so blessed by the help the hotel staff gave us in finding the goat's milk back then and now we get to be a part of their blessing. The Lord has a neat way of doing these things.
By the way, the picture above is there because Hannah (right) is holding her stuffed goat. She loves it even if she doesn't understand the significance of it yet. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find plush goat toys in the US!

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Definately Spam (by Thom)

Not a day goes by where I don't get at least 30 emails offering me the opportunity to help someone move their ex-king's multi-billion dollar fortune for a 10% commission or discount medicines or the joyous news that I've won several international lotteries that I never even entered! You wouldn't believe how many people want to sell me cheap software or give me a loan to start my own business. Oh, and I don't know how Rolex stays in business selling for full price when I can get their watches for pennies on the dollar.
Honestly, I don't even look at the spam folder in my email. I used to check to make sure things weren't accidentally ending up there but I've never found a problem with it. However, today the son of a Malian friend came to me. He was excited because he had "won" $300 in an international lotto. However, the lotto asked for a bank account to transfer the funds and he didn't have one. He wanted to use the mission's account if that was possible. I took one look at his email and my heart sunk. I felt really bad for my friend's son. You have to understand that $300 here is a lot more than in the US. The average annual income in Mali is about $300, so that represents more like $30,000 in America.
After explaining what happened I thought it might be interesting to search Google for devotional thoughts on spam. Here's where I landed. I was struck by this thought from the author:

As you go about your daily life, be on guard for the "spam" ideas that Satan throws your way. He'll try to talk you in to all kinds of things. That's why the bible is telling us to be on the look out for them. Satan's spam thoughts come in many different forms, they come in the form of friends, the radio, the TV, and the internet. Pretty much, if you can imagine it then he will try it. The devil is pretty successful in bombarding us with this kind of stuff. But God has given us the Holy Spirit. He acts like our spam software, our virus software and our registry cleaning software all in one. He can help us recognize when something is spam and when something is real. Today ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and to show you when the devil delivers some spam ideas at you. You will be surprised how much He will point out. Once He points it out though, you have the option of either listening or not, the call is always yours.

Amen.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) (NIV)

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Audit Time (by Thom)

Tomorrow kicks off my annual review of fiscal accountability. In simpler terms, I'm being audited. Each year the field's bookkeeping is reviewed to make sure that everything is being recorded properly, that we're in compliance with governmental and organizational policies, and so that we are transparent in the Mission's financial dealings. The word audit inspires all sorts of horrific images but I actually look forward to this time. I know I'm not intentionally doing anything outside the boundaries and I want to make sure that I'm doing my best job for the mission. The idea of auditing got me thinking this afternoon about spiritual audits. A Google search came up with a nice selection of results. I was particularly interested in one from Christianity Today and thought I'd share the link and part of author Fred Smith's conclusion:

The most important element in my spiritual audit is my motive for wanting one. Am I working for progress or for pride? Too often, some of each. My life is a mixed bag.
...
An audit is more than a statement of condition. It is also an indication of my spiritual potential.

Finally, think about these words from Paul to Timothy (have I mentioned before that the letters to Timothy are probably my favorite books of the Bible?):
“Keep a close watch on all you do and think. Stay true to what is right and God will bless you and use you to help others” (1 Timothy 4:16, LB).

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Remember us?

A lot has been happening lately: we spent a several days away at a retreat in very rural Mali for our annual prayer conference, we have been entertaining a number of visitors on their way through Mali, and we're still playing catch-up after our December vacation. Mostly, though, we're finding ourselves very busy with day-to-day life right now. I guess twin nineteen month old girls will do that....
Still, we want to keep you all updated on what's going on in our lives and right now we'll do that with a few pictures. There are many, many more pictures available by clicking here so be sure to check them out.
Before you head over to look at the pictures, though, I'd like to briefly mention that we have been praying and talking about our future roles in ministry here in Africa. We don't have anything specific to share right now but please remember us in prayer over the next few weeks. We're excited for what the future may hold and look forward to sharing as soon as we can!
While we're praying for the future, we're thinking of the past right now, too. It was 4 years ago this week that Thom made his first trip to Africa - heading to Burkina Faso to help build a radio station in Tougan. That station went on the air last fall and had a dedication ceremony just 2 weeks ago. Wow, a lot has happened in 4 years! If you'd like to read more about how we came to serve as missionaries in Mali you can read that here.

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