WE HOPE WE'RE ASKED

The African Boabab (tree of life)

Relationships—spending time with family and friends, helping each other, joking, talking and more talking—these are top priorities for the Wolof people, especially in our sister village of Diagle (Jog-a-lay), Senegal. So when we visit (this is Mountain View’s eleventh trip in seven years), our Senegalese brothers and sisters surely wonder why we're there, why we come so far to be with them, why we nurture friendships and desire to build new ones, why we pray with them and help where we can.

“We hope they ask us,” says Mountain View Pastor John Mason (this is his sixth trip to Senegal), “because we’re looking for opportunities to give the answer. We do these things because Jesus would do them.”

In a country that is 94% Muslim and 5% Christian, such a statement has even greater impact when it and other messages of God’s hope are shared and modeled by someone who is Wolof and part of the local community. Two years ago we found such a person, and along with our ministry partners Adventure of Faith in Port Orchard, Washington, and  EEBT - Evangelical Baptist Church of Thies (Chess), Senegal, we hired AF (missionary’s initials) to be an ongoing resource for village residents and schools.

One of the goal’s for SENEGAL15 is to join with our ministry partners (EEBT, Adventure of Faith) and our Wolof missionary to review the past two years, renew the contract, and discover ways to make this collaboration even stronger and more efficient.

Another focus of the trip is to spend time in Diagle reconnecting with village families, renewing friendships and making new acquaintances. “We finally have a more flexible schedule to do this,” says Team Member Kris Mason (this is Kris’s sixth trip to Senegal). “We’ll walk from compound to compound praying and visiting with our Wolof friends—no rushing!”

Visiting the Bethesda School (Christian, private) in Kaffrine is also a priority. Students will just be returning from holiday break, but our Team is hopeful they’ll be able to spend time with the children. Twenty-six students at Bethesda are sponsored by members of Mountain View. Bethesda staff will update our Team on a number of building and enhancement projects underway at the school.

Looking for opportunities to see God at work is foremost for the trip: God in dark places where no miracle is small, God moving within Team members, God revealing Himself to the Wolof people. “When you first make the trip to Senegal, almost everything has a Wow! factor. So many things are unlike our Western culture and surroundings,” says John. He explains that he hopes, even as veteran members, everyone on our Team will still look for Wow! “May we see God’s hand if our plans change unexpectedly, when there are difficulties, and in the chance encounter.”