My mission trip to Mali, West Africa

Taking my friends from Still Waters with me to Mali, West Africa

I leave in a few days on my short-term mission trip to Mali, West Africa with Francophone Ministries for Christ based out of Port Huron, MI.  A difference-maker for me in this trip has been the support of the folks in my church, Our Savior Lutheran in Lansing, MI.

I know that I'm in for some long flights and a pretty substantial time change, not to mention a change of culture. 

From my Sunday School class, to the prayers in the services to tonight's get-together of the Still Waters Prayer Service I have gotten plenty of people asking questions, showing their interest, providing financial support and praying for me.

Tonight, during the prayer and praise time, I was really touched by the prayers of the group.  I really felt like I was standing before the throne of God.  It was an upper.  It really felt good.  I feel like I'll be ready.

Tags: Mali, short-term missions, Our Savior Lutheran, Francophone Ministries for Christ, prayer,

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Reading material for the plane and for time in Mali

To get to Mali and back, I'll be spending at least 24 hours on an airplane.  I expect some good conversation, some sleeping and a whole lot of praying.  To fill in the gaps on the plane, I'm thinking of three books:

1. The Open Bible--I will take a Bible; this is a must; this is food for my soul and it's just as important as food as I put in my mouth.  It's a conduit to God and a roadmap to the only true hope.  The version I'm thinking of taking the NASB version.
2. Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel.  It's a new book by two of America's top bloggers.  They write about the potential that this channel of communication has for business and others.  The applications for blogs to churches and other religious organizations is incredible.
3. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Joe Trippi; this was a Christmas gift from my son Justin. It's a story about how Howard Dean's people used the web and blogs to develop a powerful social network and movement that propelled Dean during the presidential primaries.  Again the application to the church is incredible.

I may change my selections between now and the time I leave.  I will not be able to check personal bags because they will be filled with ministry supplies and medicines. 

Technorati Tags: Mali, short+term+mission+trips, Bible, Naked+Conversations, Robert+Scoble, Shel+Israel, business+blogs

Carrying my passport during the mission trip

I will check with the trip leaders about the issue of carrying my passport during the mission trip to Mali.  I haven't traveled overseas in awhile, but I know that proof of nationality is critical and probably more so in our changed global environment.

At www.beltoutlet.com, I found various items I could buy to help me carry my passport and other documents at all times. 

Anybody have experience using these and any advice about carrying my passport at all times.

I will talk to Franklin Spotts, the Francophone Ministries executive director, who will also be on the trip.

Technorati Tags: mali, francophoneministries, short-termmission, passport, franklinspotts

Ten things to avoid on a short-term mission trip

Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, OK has a great list of ten things to avoid on a short-term mission trip.  Here's are five things to avoid:

• Keeping narrowly focused on "spiritual" activities--Don't focus on just the lofty stuff and be sure to not avoid menial work like data entry, loading trucks or working on building.
• Eliminating personal prayer and Bible study.
• Refusing to deviate from detailed personal goals and schedules.
• Pointing out mistakes made by missionaries.
• Pointing out faults of your team members.

The whole list is helpful for my upcoming short-term mission trip to Mali with Francophone Ministries based in Port Huron, MI.

Technorati Tags: Mali, FrancophoneMinistries, short-termmissions, SouthernNazareneUniversity, BethanyOK, PortHuronMI

Mali's free, but still has big, basic needs, according to insurance man

When a medical mission from Iowa went to Mali, the DesMoines Register sent a reporter and photographer to report the trip.  They did a story with an interview of an insurance man in Bamako, the capital city.

He talked about how democracy now exists in the country, but severe problems still haunt the people.  Hunger and lack of medical care top the list, he said.

Technorati Tags: Mali, FrancophoneMinistries, DesMoinesRegister

Looking for digital camera recommendations

I want to take plenty of digital photographs while I am on my short-term mission trip to Mali and I want to put them up on my Flickr account while I'm there.

I'm looking for recommendations and personal experiences with taking and using a digital camera in Africa. 

Presently, I have a couple year-old Canon PowerShot A40.  It's been pretty reliable and productive for a lot of different needs and situations here at home.  But, I know, it has its limitations.  But, so does my budget for this trip.  I'm looking for input on:

• Cameras that I should considering purchasing before I go.  I want something that's easy to operate both inside and outside and that's reliable for various weather and travel conditions.
• Storage cards for the camera; how big of a card should I get, which brand should I get and should I get more than one.
• Advice for traveling with and using a camera in a different culture, in this case Mali.
  

Technorati Tags: digitalcameras, Mali, CanonPowerShot, FrancophoneMinistries

Getting immunizations for Mali trip

Right after Christmas I went to our county health department to start getting my immunizations for my stay in Mali with Francophone Ministries for Christ based in Port Huron, MI.  The one shot required by government regulations is for yellow fever.

As part of my appointment with the Ingham County Health Department, I was given some substantial information about health conditions in sub-Saharan Africa and where I was traveling.  During an 30-minute appointment, a Registered Nurse carefully reviewed all the shots I needed and then gave me handouts of each one.

At the top of the list was Yellow Fever.  It can cause fever and flu-like illness, jaundice, liver, kidney, respirator and other organ system failure and the vomiting of blood and death.

The immunization for Yellow Fever cost me $90.  I had five other immunizations.

Technorati Tags: Mali, FrancophoneMinistries, Short-termmissiontrip, PortHuron, Yellowfever, immunizations

I'm getting ready to spend almost three weeks in Mali

This is the start of my running account of my getting ready to go on a short-term mission trip to the West African country of Mali.  I've gotten most of my shots which I will talk about in a separate post.

As part of getting ready, I've started to check Mali news stories through Google's newslink.  That's where I found this story in the online Westport Now about a couple who took a similar trip to the country. It's written from first-person and outlines some of the conditions I will be facing when I get there.

Technorati Tags: Mali, WestAfrica, ThirdWorld, Africanmissions, WestportNow