Benefits to living in the tropics (by Amanda)

~cross-posted from Facebook --

Yesterday we had corn-on-the-cob. How cool is that! A young lady came to our door selling it for 100cfa an ear (which is about twenty cents). It was delicious and she will be bringing us a dozen more ears on Friday (mmm....). I actually was able to use my corn stickers for the first time in about six years, since leaving the United States.
Thom said, "You brought them here? What for"? Well now we know. :)


Oh - before I forget! Thom added some pictures from our Christmas to the website. Want to see them? Click here.

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2009. We Hardly Knew Ye (by Thom)

Year-in-review lists are just about as popular this time of year as New Year's resolution lists. This has been a big year of transition for us. We said goodbye to Mali in January, spent more time in the US during our furlough than we expected, moved to our new home in Dakar, Senegal, Miriam and Hannah became US citizens, etc. We didn't blog a lot the first half of this year but I thought I'd look back at which blog posts had the most views.

1. August – New Pictures
2. June – You Are the Light of the World
3. February - Kid Prayers
4. January - 2008 Photo Countdown
5. June - Passports!
6. December - Christmas Crafts
7. October – Health Concerns Update
8. November, December – Monday Proverbs
9. August – Setting Up In Dakar
10. September - Ten Reasons Why I’m Committed To Alliance Missions

Interestingly enough (to me, anyway) it's pretty spread out over the year.

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Monday Proverb

Proverbs have tremendous cultural value here and matching local proverbs with key scriptures is a wonderful tool to starting a conversation about the Gospel.

Wolof proverb:

Waxi mag doyula weddi.

(translation) One should not contradict the words of old men.

“Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your
father....” 1 Timothy 5:1 NIV

Reprinted in part with permission from "Wisdom of the Wolof Sages: A Collection of Proverbs translated and explained in English" by Dr. Richard Shawyer (c) 2009

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Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the McMurrays in Senegal!

Luke 2 (NIV)

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

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Christmas Singing (by Miriam & Hannah)

Our favorite Christmas song has been "Come On, Ring Those Bells". We're still working on learning the lyrics but we hope you can enjoy this:

Come on, ring those bells,
Light the Christmas tree,
Jesus is the king
Born for you and me.
Come on, ring those bells,
Every-body say,
Jesus, we remember
This your birthday.

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Monday Proverb

Proverbs have tremendous cultural value here and matching local proverbs with key scriptures is a wonderful tool to starting a conversation about the Gospel.

Wolof proverb:

Nit ku nekk àddina war na bàyyi xel nawleem.

(translation) Everyone in this world had better pay attention to his or her peer.

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20:17 NIV

In this example, the Wolof proverb and scripture are in sharp contrast. The local mindset is very much set on "keeping up with the Jonses". It seems somewhat appropriate for the Christmas season that we remind ourselves to set our minds on Christ and not the material aspects of the holiday.

Reprinted in part with permission from "Wisdom of the Wolof Sages: A Collection of Proverbs translated and explained in English" by Dr. Richard Shawyer (c) 2009

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International Nativity Scenes (by Thom)

I know some people out there are seemingly-professional nativity scene collectors. We're just amateurs at this, but we do have a few fun ones that I thought we'd show off here today. You can click on any of the pictures to see the nativity larger.

This first one is from Burkina Faso. I was there in 2004 (my first trip to Africa). It's made of bronze and we love it because the animals are so realistic, especially the skinny cows!

This was the first one in our collection. We bought it when we visited Costa Rica in 1998, when we had only been married for a few months.

These two are made of stone and we purchased them from artisans during our time in Mali (2005-2009).

I was in downtown Dakar a month ago when I saw this one and bought it for Amanda. It's our first nativity scene from Senegal and has a fun hut with it. The wood carvings are surprisingly lightweight.

This is Miriam and Hannah's entry to our collection. We bought this Fisher-Price Little People nativity set for them two years ago.

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A Christmas Interview with Hannah (age 3)

I asked Hannah some questions about Christmas today. It was a fun interview:

Thom: What's happening in 8 days?
Hannah: Christmas
T: Why do we celebrate Christmas?
H: Presents!
T: No, that's one way we celebrate, but why do we celebrate? Whose birthday is it?
H: Umm. Mommy? Daddy?
T: Try again...
H: JESUS! (she really yelled this answer)
T: That's right. When baby Jesus was born, where did his mommy put him?
H: In the hay.
T: And who was there when he was born?
H: Cow. Kitty. Lamb. (note: that's in the picture in her children's Bible)
T: Who else?
H: His mommy and daddy?
T: That's right. And then who came?
H: All the animals?
T: Did some other people come to see the baby?
H: Oh. The shepherds?
T: Good! Who told them about baby Jesus?
H: I don't know.
T: Someone up in the sky....
H: The sun?
T: It was bright, but it wasn't the sun. The ang.....
H: ANGELS!
T: Right!

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Holiday Creep (by Thom)

No, not that kind of 'creep'. I took Hannah to the grocery store this week to pick something up and as we walked down one of the aisles, I noticed that our little store here already had devoted three shelves, each about four feet wide, to Valentine's Day candy! I don't know what to say about this, except that I'd expect this from a large retailer in America - not from a tiny grocery store in Dakar, Senegal!

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Belated Monday Proverb

Proverbs have tremendous cultural value here and matching local proverbs with key scriptures is a wonderful tool to starting a conversation about the Gospel.

Fulfulde proverb:

Munyal deefan hayre.

(translation) Patience can cook a stone.

Patience is also one of the key virtues in the Bible. God Himself is the God of patience (Romans 2:4 and 15:5; 2 Peter 3:9). In Ecclesiastes it is written that "patience is better than pride" (Ecclesiastes 7:8b). In the New Testament it is interesting to notice that patience is not only one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22), but also a virtue that every Christian must pursue (2 Peter 1:6). Believers are invited to imitate those who will "inherit what has been promised" through faith and patience (Hebrews 6:12). Patience is one of the values that a man or woman of God must pursue rather than the love of money (1 Timothy 6:11).

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McMurray Update / Merry Christmas Edition

Merry Christmas! Tonight we sent out our latest family update. If you're not on our mailing list you can download the letter right here (pdf):

McMurray Update / Christmas Edition

If you would like to receive our update letters (and emails with urgent prayer requests) and you're not on our list you can join by clicking this link and entering your name and email in the form.

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McMurray Christmas Trees - A Retrospective (by Thom)

I was thinking last night about our Christmas tree. This year is the first since we've been in Africa that we have had a traditional Christmas tree.
Our first year, in 2005, we were new in Mali and never thought to include a tree in our shipment to the field. That year I went out and bought a palm tree for Amanda and we decorated it with paper ornaments I printed out on the computer. We bought some overpriced lights locally and that was our first African Christmas tree. It wasn't a lot to look at, but it was fun for us and gave us an interesting story to share.
2006 was Miriam and Hannah's first Christmas and we decided to decorate a cactus that year. It worked well for the first couple of weeks after Thanksgiving, but we soon realized that the cactus needed a lot more sunlight than our living room provided. Thankfully, one of our friends gave us an old decoration of theirs. It was just a small tree, about 20 inches tall, but it was a tree, nonetheless. We were excited to have it and undecorated the cactus and replaced it with the small tree.
In 2007 we were blessed to be able to spend the month of December in the US with our families so we never got to put up decorations. In 2008 we had to move out of our rented house in Bamako, Mali in mid-December since we were being relocated to Dakar, Senegal. Again, no decorations went up.
That brings us to 2009 and the first time we've had a Christmas tree that we could decorate here in Africa. It's a very cool fiber-optic tree that was given to us during our furlough time this year and we all love watching the colors on the fibers rotate. It's still not a huge tree, but Miriam and Hannah certainly love it.
We've really found Christmas overseas to be an odd mixture of great-clarity and homesickness. It's a lot less commercial here and we've always seen a much clearer portrait of why we celebrate Jesus' birth but at the same time we miss those traditions and family times. This year has been quite a bit different, though. We've still had a clear focus on 'the reason for the season' but now that Miri and Hannah are starting to understand and interact more we are forming our own Christmas traditions. It's been a very fun time so far, and we still have 16 days left!

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Christmas Crafts (by Thom)

Amanda mentioned last week that she's been working with Miriam and Hannah on Christmas crafts. It's been fun to come home each day and see what project they've done that day. So far, they've make countdown links (they really, really look forward to pulling off a link each day!), snowflakes, and the projects you see below. What really impresses me is that they've done these almost 100% by themselves. In the snowmen, Amanda cut out the hats and punched the dots that are (supposed to be) buttons and snowflakes. The girls did the rest of the cutting and drawing and designing. On the Mary & Jesus project, Amanda cut the stars and the faces - the rest was up to the girls. Likewise on the stockings, Amanda's only involvement was hole punching- the lacing, gluing and decorating was all up the Miri and Hannah. It's hard to believe they're not even 3 1/2 years old yet! (and yes, I know I'm biased)

Hannah's Snowman

Miriam's Snowman

Hannah's Mary & Jesus

Miri's Mary & Jesus

Hannah & Miriam's stockings

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Monday Proverb

Proverbs have tremendous cultural value here and matching local proverbs with key scriptures is a wonderful tool to starting a conversation about the Gospel.

Wolof proverb:

Nit ku nekk, juddoom a ko mag.

(translation) For every human being there is a superior birth.

“Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28 NIV

Every person is born with something higher than himself, ie. a destiny in life. Noted author David Maranz explains that this proverb means that there is more to a birth or to a person than the physical facts. That is, that crucially important, inherited, spiritual factors greatly affect and even determine all that an infant will become in life.

Reprinted with permission from "Wisdom of the Wolof Sages: A Collection of Proverbs translated and explained in English" by Dr. Richard Shawyer (c) 2009

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Getting Ready for Christmas (by Amanda)

~cross-posted from Facebook

I decided that since I do not make and decorate cookies for Christmas that I would do some crafts with the girls. Three days ago we did our first craft, making Christmas chains. The last two mornings the girls have been so excited to pull off their links, knowing that we're a day closer to Christmas! There's a picture here of them making their chains. They are so good at crafting!
Yesterday it was snowflake creation (I need safety scissors. They are getting them for Christmas. Yeah!). Today we're doing paper snowmen and decorating them with cut-out top hats, buttons, carrots, and the works. If any of you have any good crafts for three year-olds give me some ideas.

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November Car Fund Update

For the past several months we’ve been mentioning our need for funds to purchase a car in our new country of service. Our goal is $25,000. That’s not a magic number or anything, and probably won't allow us to buy a new car (vehicles are much more expensive in West Africa), but it's our goal. If we can raise more we will be able to buy a sturdier, newer vehicle.

In November we received gifts of $534 bringing our total to $15,752 or 63.0% of our goal. Here's our fund-raising thermometer:

If you would like to help with this need there are a couple of options. You can send a tax-deductible gift to:

The C&MA
Thom McMurray Vehicle Special
P. O. Box 35000
Colorado Springs, CO 80935

There's also a secure way to make your donation on-line, through the C&MA's website. If this interests you, click here.

Thanks for considering this and praying for us. We appreciate all the support we've received to-date and it's exciting to realize we're about two-thirds of the way there! We'll keep this updated and hopefully start to see this car turn more red in the months to come.

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Pictures (by Thom)

We added some new pictures to the photo portion of mcmali.com today, including several "Christmas-y" pictures. A few are posted below. The rest you can see here. Enjoy!

The girls were so happy to have the tree go up. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Hannah exclaimed.

The girls were so proud they got to 'help' set up the tree.

Miriam & Hannah love the Christmas tree!

A family pic in front of the Christmas tree. It was even tougher than it looked!

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Update on the Scouting Trip

(Note from Thom: A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a scouting trip into a West African country that may become a new field for the Alliance. Nothing is firm, but it's still exciting. I asked for and received permission from two of the members of the scout team to reprint a portion of their trip. Because things are preliminary I've redacted the name of the country in question. I print this so you can share in our excitement about new doors being opened, not because it's any specific tribe or country. You certainly can still stand with us in prayer about future involvement there. The three members of the trip were Joe and Maria Howard (Alliance workers in Mali) and Charlotte Hisle (an Alliance worker in a South American country).)

Ephesians 2:19-22 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Our time in the country of _______ proved these verses over and over. As we met and interacted with Brothers and Sisters in Christ, our unity in Jesus was portrayed as His love was poured over us by the members of the Airport Evangelical Church. What a joy to interact with others from the Family of God. Certainly our lack of the local languages hindered our communication but it could not stop the fellowship we had.

We arrived in _____ and were met at the airport by a contingent of the leadership of the local church where we would minister for the next 10 days. We were invited to participate in their first missions conference. While Maria and I were first included as cultural and prayer support, we were given 6 opportunities to share God’s word when the original 3 conference speakers were unable to attend due to problems in getting visas. So Maria and I shared the various challenges the local church has in fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission. We also were given two special seminar times the first on Muslim evangelism and the final one Sunday afternoon on Missions and the Family.

The Missions Conference started on Sunday with Charlotte speaking in the morning worship service. That afternoon was the opening ceremony for the week. We were introduced and every committee of the church was introduced to us. The conference meetings then were held nightly starting at 7:00. During the day Charlotte and the church committee had set up meetings to interview and interact with various church and mission leaders in order to get a feel for the work in the country. The goal of all of this was to see how the C. & M. A. might be involved in future ministry in _______ . What a wonderful time of hearing the history of God’s work of redemption in this primarily unreached country. Evangelical missions has been active since 1940 and the largest church denomination has just over 100 churches located throughout the country. Currently there are several different missions and para-church groups active in building Christ’s church. While the church is growing, Islam is growing even quicker so there is much to be done.

Some quick perceptions:

• Beautiful country with many resources
• Young people everywhere
• Lack of infrastructure due to political unrest over the past 30 years
• Very few personal vehicles, bikes or motorcycles, we didn’t even see donkey or horse carts in the city as we would in Bamako
• Friendly energetic people
• Vibrant believers who love Jesus and have a desire to make Him known to others

Now we are back in Bamako and will spend some time reviewing what we learned and putting it into writing so that the Alliance can make some decisions on future possible involvement. So pray for wisdom for those in leadership to know the Father’s will in this matter.

Serving joyfully,
Joe and Maria

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