My mission trip to Mali, West Africa

My Mali photo albums as displayed with Apple's iLife 06

If you are interested in seeing photos of my recent short-term mission trip to Mali, check the links on the  right.  I will try to categorize them into several albums.  I'm using Apple's iLife 06 which has many features I still need to learn about.  It will probably take me a week for more to get these up. 

I will talk more about podcasts from Mali in another post.

In Mali, I was part of a band of brothers

A fringe benefit of my short-term mission trip to Mali was my relationship with my other team members, both American and Malian. 

Three U.S. team members made an indelible impression on my heart.  I knew these guys were always watching my backside, whether physical or spiritual.  I was impressed.  I knew they would be there when it counted and they were.

When we were involved in construction of the new high school classrooms, I knew I was no Tim-the toolman-Taylor type.  Add in heat that made you feel like you were in an oven turned on high.  Throw in a dust storm or two and you were talking about serious conditions.  These three guys were incredibly patient and I learned a lot.  I'm not ready to join a construction crew over here, but I saw and felt the love of Jesus modeled by them everyday.  Thank-you.  Thank-you.

They are Lauren, Mick and Paul and I will write much more about them later.  They were real living witnesses to their faith and to the love of Jesus everyday.  Again, thank-you guys and thank-you Jesus.

Tags: Mali, short-term mission trips, Francophone Ministries for Christ

Bamako, Mali door-to-door evangelism program

One person who made a strong impression on me during my short-term mission trip to Mali was Pastor Jean Pierre Dabou.  He has passion for the people in his country and he has even more passion for Jesus Christ.  I heard him described as the Apostle Paul of Mali.

I spent a lot of time with him, including time visiting pastors and churches in the bush of this West African country.  I had a lot of time to listen to him, ask questions and to watch his interaction with his countrymen. 

It's hard to capture the essence of this man in one post and I won't even try.

But, on this Sunday morning, I want to start sharing a few prayer requests for his church that he shared with me.

I would encourage and beg for Christians around the world to pray for these needs, particularly an upcoming door-to-door evangelism effort in his home neighborhood of more than 10,000 souls.  Keep in mind this is a country where more than 90 percent are Muslim and eight percent are animist with the remaining Christian.

Two Sunday's ago at his church, I met a young guy who had killed 29 people as part of a human blood sacrifices.  Being skeptical, I asked this person a lot of questions and I asked others about him.  Hey, everybody says this is common in this particular culture.  This killer of others became a Christian and he's part of the door-to-door evangelism effort.  Far-out doesn't even begin to describe my reaction.  Probably, a double-shot of praise God would be more fitting.

Here's the first of his prayer requests for the door-to-door effort:

Back from Mali and my first short-term mission trip

I got back from Mali late Thursday afternoon and my wife, Gladys, was at Capital City Airport in Lansing to greet me.  She was a vision.  Wow.  It felt great to be home.  But . . .

I've had a few days to digest what I saw and what I experienced.  There are certain things I don't want to forget.  I thought of one this morning at 4 a.m. or thereabouts as I was wide-awake on our couch with the i-Book in my lap.

My thoughts went to the Evangelical Christian Church that was meeting at that time in a classroom of Hope School in Bamako.  I was at their service exactly a week ago.  This very, very basic classroom was packed with believers and seekers in a Muslim neighborhood where there were mosques on both side of us.  The service was in French and Bambara. 

But, what really struck me is that I recognized the music from "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow."  The words took on a whole new explosive meaning for me. 

Starting to debrief about Mali in Paris stop

We toured Paris for about five hours today and were totally distracted from the very intense trip we had to Mali in West Africa.  Sitting in our hotel room just down the street from the Arch de'Triumph, here are some Mali things that come to mind:

• This year in Mali there's a real concern about the reappearance of locusts.  Hear that?  Locusts.  The Bible tells a whole bunch about how destructive they can be.

• Last Sunday, Mick, one of our team members, went with a old U.S. Army medic to the villages.  They saw leprosy.  That's another scourge mentioned in the Bible. 

• Our team of young Mali nationals who worked with us everyday.  I think about the conditions, they live and work under and about what hope for the future means for them.  They have Jesus and then they have Jesus and that's about it.

We are at our Paris hotel

We are just down the street from the Arch de Triumphe--not sure of the spelling. It's a small hotel, but very expensive. It was a great flight from Bamako. Before we left, we had a gathering of the nationals at our compound and said our goodbyes.

I really want to download a whole lot of experiences and a big bunch more pictures to my blog. I'm tired, but it feels good to get online.

I feel the experience has changed me. No doubt about it. I will share some of those thoughts to.

We are going to do some touring before we all collapse. I will be back later. I will e-mail Gladys now.

My last night in Mali--some parting thoughts

I'm really hot. My eyes burn and my knee hurts as I get ready to leave Mali tomorrow. We leave tomorrow after 11:30 p.m. Then to Paris for the night.

My mind and my heart is filled with all kinds of thoughts and emotions. It's going to take awhile to let them all settle. But for now:

-The importance of support from your church family. Wow, Our Savior has been a difference-maker for me. I have felt their prayers and their support. For our mission teams and for others, I see the importance of getting behind them.

-My personal family. My e-mails from Gladys, Justin and Krista have been another important and key taste of home. Thursday and Friday, I think I will just sit there and stare at Gladys, just watch her and keep her near.

-Jesus is bigger than political boundaries. He's here in this country that still practices blood sacrifices of human and a variety of stuff that we could never relate to. I am astounded to feel his presence in these small, less than basic villages. Pastors in these places are incredible. Their work helped me appreciate the complexity of their jobs. Their source of power is their faith, their hope in Jesus.

-The sickness in this country. This morning, a young mom came to our compound with a baby that had a bad case of ringworm. The baby was on her back and she was worried sick. I was standing right next to her with our medic. The case was too advanced to do anything that would have any lasting effect. I remember the baby's smile at me when I tickled her toes.

-The smile on the faces and the friendliness of the Malians. Even the Muslims are friendly to a point. A few seemed like they might act menacing. But for the most part, it's the big toothy smile and friendly greetings.

-A young man named Omar raised in the family of a Iman. The son forsaked Islam and became a Christian. He came to our compound last night. We heard his story and gave him money. He had been beaten pretty severely and his life was in danger.

I have many more memories and the trip is not over yet. We go to the airport tomorrow.

I miss you all and I'm looking forward to coming home. Tell Gladys to keep the coffee on. I'm coming home. And, I'm looking forward to our TLC on Friday night. The supper out and then the fellowship time. I hope it's still on.

More later--WES

Some Photos of The Trip

My dad just put up some photos his trip. Check them out on his gallery.

Sincerely,
Justin Thorp

Still Waters prayer request for baby with malaria

Just had a long talk with young dad whose year and a half old daughter has bad case of malaria.  He was grief-stricken.  He's a mason on the school job.  He's a Christian with a great testimony.  I saw where he lives near a garbage dump.  Please pray for this little girl and him and their extended family.  I was touched big time.  I told him I would do this.  Save a chair for me when I get back.

It went down to 85 last night and it felt cold this a.m.

How twisted is that?  The breeze at 5:30 a.m. felt cool.  I couldn't believe it, then Pete at the mission house told me that it went down to 85 degrees.  I worked at the mission house all day varnishing desk tops for the school, more than 30 of them  We bought the plywood from a streetside vendor and did the same for the varnish.  We cut them out.  They go to the school tomorrow:

• A note about Joel Maier:  We were in a very remote village.  We spent a lot of time getting to this village to talk to a pastor and his family.  I asked how people back home could pray for him.  There's a girl in their village who died of leukemia.  Another who has some form of cancer.  I mentioned that Joel, the son of our pastor, is a cancer survivor.  I mentioned his age and the guy almost started crying.  He said that his church would pray for him.  Church is a bunch of benches.
• Everything today is covered with red dust.  I'm not sure everything I have in my lungs.  They also burn tires here at night.  Not a sweet aroma.
• I'm told we live in the rich section of town.  Hmm....you ought to see the side streets.  A Hummer would have a tough time going through these.  You ought to see the almost roads in the villages.  Got to get past the goats, find the tracks and hope you don't run out of water.
• Today, during the varnish detail, I spent the time in the walled-in courtyard with the guard/caretaker, Mousa.  We talked all day long.  And he doesnt speak English.  I'm not sure how that happened.  But, I kept praying for the Holy Spirit's help.
• First full day here we went to the bank to change some travlers checks.  Had to go to the bank mager for approval.  He had a Koran and a Bible on his desk.  He said he wanted to cover his bases.  We told him to take a serious look at John 3 and l6.  He said he would.
• I read all the comments on my blog.  I felt tears coming to my eyes.  No joke.  Felt the same way with Gladys and Justin's emails, with the webcast and the cards from our Sunday school class.
• I read Krista's email.  She and I need to compare notes big time about our trips.  Krista, thanks for the Indy prayers.  Keep them coming.  I need stamina, lots of it.
• Today on the compound wall, I had a whole line-up of lizards watching me.  There's a skinny dog here too.  Think it's a she.
• OSL kids:  Kids here get out at noon and then come back at three because of the heat.  It has been like an oven on high during that time. 
• At night, you see no city lights.  That's real strange.  Don't see any out our window or from the plane coming in.  More later.