We {heart} Mali: Part 1

Okay, I am going to give my best shot at explaining the incredible awesomeness of God and our family's love for the Malian people.  Our family's history of spending summers at Beulah Beach go clear back to when my dad was a boy.  My grandmother would take my dad and herself each summer to Bible Camp.  My dad would have to sit on the hard wooden benches (which we still sit on today) and listen to the Bible teachers and missionaries.  He specifically has a memory of listening to the stories by a particular missionary family, the McKinney's, who were missionaries to the Dogon people, in Mali, West Africa.  The Dogon people have been featured several times in National Geographic because they are Mask Dancers.  Some of the masks are close to 5 feet tall I would guess and some of the dancers also dance on stilts.  (Feel free to click on links to learn more about the Dogon people.)

My parents have always made summers at Beulah Beach a priority for our family.  As soon as we knew the camp schedule in February we were signed up and making plans.  Bible Missionary Conference was another must.  Sometimes depending on when camp was I would be there for 3 weeks straight...and you would never catch me complaining about it.  Being there each summer I was very exposed to many missionary stories and became friends with many missionary kids.  So I have a deep love for missionary, mission work, and people called to ministry.  In fact, all of us do!

Well, just because we couldn't ever get enough of Beulah my parents decided to purchase a piece of property that was for sale.  It is very common around the lake to find "garages" that have been remodeled into a "cabin."  This property had a two room 'garage style cabin.'  We didn't care.  We LOVED it!  The first year we owned the property in 1994 I remember hanging out with friends in this little two room abode.  The following year my parents contracted for cement to be poured.  My brother proudly initiated the property by engraving '1995' in the freshly poured concrete.  The following year we began to build.  This was an entire "family style hands on deck" experience.  My uncle was a builder and master wordworker.  He dedicated multiple weeks of his summer vacation, since he was the Industrial Arts teacher at our high school, to help us build this cabin.  There are way too many humorous stories that could be told about our experiences in building this cabin.  I had started dating Scott so we were thankful for extra labor!  HA!! 

Anyhow, one day as we were working we noticed our neighbor across the street digging in the dirt, creating an absolute muddy mess.  I am talking he was muddy from the top of his head to the tips of his toes and he could pretty much care less.  My dad finally went over and struck up a conversation with him.  Turns out that his name was Jim McKinney, a son to the McKinney missionaries my dad had loved listening to all those years ago as a young boy.  They chatted the breeze and soon a friendship and God's providential plan continued to be laid forth.  Over the course of our two year building project, my dad had several other conversations with Mr. McKinney.  It turned out that once his children had started school he and his wife had decided to leave the Malian mission field so the children could attend American schools.  However, I have heard it said that once you visit Africa your heart stays in Africa...so Mr. McKinney started a quasi-style business where he would take people on trips to see Africa.  It wasn't so much a mission trip but more of a sightseeing trip.  He began to ask my dad if he would like to go.  The way I have heard the story go is that my dad in turn asked my uncle if he would want to go.  My uncle said, "I'll go if you go."  They got another gentleman in our small community who also decided to go and so they began making plans with Mr. McKinney.  I was in college and falling madly in love with Scott during all this so I was a little removed from the hub-bub and excitement and have been learning more about it now.  HA!  The first trip to Mali was in January of 1999.  I know that my dad came back with part of his heart still in Africa. 

I will have to stop the story for now and will pick it up from there another day. 

Kosovo

Yesterday my mom invited us to have lunch with her, my dad, and the missionary who is staying with them during their church's missions conference.  Of course I said YES!!  There are soooo many wonderful benefits to homeschooling!  This morning before we left we looked up where Kosovo is on the map online because it wasn't on our school map.  We also read information about the country and then each of the girls prepared a list of questions they wanted to ask the missionary.  Missionaries have always had a very special place in my heart.  Growing up in the Christian & Missionary Alliance church, I have always been very aware of and had the privilege of meeting missionaries all my life.  Some of my favorite times were befriending MK's during the summers at Beulah and keeping in contact with them over the years.  Missionaries are like celebrities to me...heroes of the faith!  I took at least two missions courses in college and one of my favorite professors was a missionary.  Anywho, the missionary today, Jeff S., was so wonderful with the girls.  He has two girls of his own and both pretty much feel like Kosovo is their home.  They are home on furlough this year and specifically asked for us to pray they adjust to American schools.  Please say a prayer for them (Madison & Ryley) as they are both having some culture shock in the schools.  Here is what we learned today:

Kosovo declared itself an independent nation, although it isn't recognized by the United Nations as truly it's own country, in 2008.  It is primarily a Muslim country but the Muslims are nominally Muslim.  This means that much like many Americans would say they are Christian, they aren't.  There has in most recent years been pressure from the Arab Muslims to become more radical.  The flag has 6 stars which represent 6 different people groups within the country; Serbs, Albanians, gypsies, and 3 others I can't remember.  Christians make up 0.1% of the religious community.  Kosovo is about the size of Connecticut and has a population of 2,000,000 people.  The country is very poor although the Albanians are very willing to work, there is simply no work for them.  For being a primarily Muslim nation it is surprising to learn it is a European Parliament government and they have a woman President who is only 35 years old.  The family structure is relatively strong as 'western' ideas and morals (or should I say im-morals) haven't infiltrated their social systems.  There are so many children and lack of facilities that school-aged children attend school in 3.5 hour shifts beginning at 7:00 am and ending at 9:00 pm.  While in school for 3.5 hours they are in a very plain classroom with at least 30 other students.  They will have the same teacher from grades 1-5.  Teachers make roughly $190 a week.  Prices for goods and supplies are similar to America; however, it is very expensive to live.  Teachers only teach 1 shift per day and are allowed a 30 minute break and a 15 minute break at which point the students are completely unsupervised.  His children attend the Kosovar Public School for 3.5 hours but are also homeschooled by an American teacher when they are home.  Students must take slippers to wear at school and all of their supplies each day as they do not have their own space (i.e. locker, cubby, desk) at school since there will be another shift of students coming in after them.  The most common food is called Barouke' (sp???) which is basically sausage and cheese rolled in phyllo dough.  Sounds amazingly yummy doesn't it?  He said his children love it but he is thankful his wife is able to cook American!  He was 33 years old when they arrived in Kosovo, the girls only being 3 and 3 months old.  The language was very difficult to learn and while there is a team of 10 missionaries/international workers assisting them with the ministry in their town, he is the only male who can speak the language, leaving him to be the only one who can preach and teach.  Their platform to reach the community is a bookstore, internet/computer cafe & coffee shop where they offer English courses, computer courses, and other offerings as needed.  We were able to watch two videos featuring his daughters and you could tell they love their life.  He said they do not fear persecution at this point and feel it is completely safe for the children to freely play and enjoy their friends outside.

The whole afternoon was such a blessing!  I am really excited about next year and what we will be doing for our curriculum, My Father's World Exploring Countries & Cultures.  In this curriculum we will focus on geography, while also learning about missionaries spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  If you feel led, please pray for any missionaries you know personally and if you don't know any, please pray for all missionaries currently serving in the field.  I have missionary friends serving in Mali, China, South America, France, and Kazakhstan.  They need our prayer offerings for boldness and protection.  While praying, be sure to pray for yourself...that you would be a witness, full of boldness.