After a short 50 minute flight and wading through the murky waters of West African customs I was greeted by Pastor Samuel and his two brothers whom we also know very well. I had no agenda, I simply wanted to spend some time with them.

We had a great time together visiting people in the neighbourhood, praying for the sick from the congregation, and checking out some of the church’s new outreach programs. Pastor Samuel’s wife Charlotte has opened up a small shop where she teaches women who have no skills how to sew, cut hair etc. This will help them learn how to support themselves but more importantly she will have opportunities to share the Word of God with them. During the Sunday service I shared with them what God is doing in our lives and was greatly encouraged by their perspective on what I had to say.

Another important part of the trip was to meet Samuel and Charlottes daughter, Maël. They adopted Maël when she was only a few weeks old. Adoption is a courageous act in West Africa. Those who can’t have children naturally are often looked down upon, adoption doesn’t change people’s view. Nevertheless, Samuel and Charlotte felt God leading them in this area and they went ahead in faith. She has been warmly received by the church family who definitely spoil her!

Another interesting part of the trip was staying in our old home. After we left, the church took it over and has been using it along with our power backup system as a studio where they create Christian videos that are shown on the only public TV channel! It’s a real blessing, even two and a half years later, to see how God is still using our time there.

We again thank you for your prayers and support for this trip! It was an important and impacting trip for us and also for our Guinean brothers and sisters in Conakry.

This past week was officially my last week working at the NTM office in Dakar. I had a lot of projects to finish and with all the busyness I failed to mention on our blog that I’m taking a trip down to Conakry, Guinea! As most of you know, we started our African journey with a move to Conakry, which was interrupted by severe political unrest that the Lord used to redirect us to Senegal. During our time in Conakry we became very close friends with our host, Samuel Kondano. We have kept in close contact during the years since but until now we have never had the chance to see him and his family. After we felt the Lord leading us way from Seegal a few months ago due to health problems we knew that at least I needed to get down to Conakry to visit Pastor Samuel. We prayed about this trip and God has provided the means to make it a reality. So here I am, sitting in the airport waiting for my flight. It won’t be easy saying goodbye for a second time to our dear friend Samuel and his family but it will be an encouraging time for myself and also for him and our other Guinean friends. Many of our friends and family back in North America have come to know Pastor Samuel through us and this will be a great way to continue this relationship and partnership. I believe that it’s a huge blessing for our North American churches to get to know brothers and sisters in Christ from different parts of the world.

Pray for me as I travel that the trip will be a blessing to those I meet with and above all glorifying to our Lord. Pray also for Deb and the boys as they await my return.

Thank so much for your prayers, encouragement and support that God has used to get me down to Conakry.

Thank you for all the love, prayer and support that we have received during our time in West Africa as Debra has struggled with various health problems.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

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We have been keeping busy. The kids are on school break for both a Catholic holiday and a Muslim holiday. So they have a week and a half off of school. Normally this would be awesome. I had so many wonderful plans of great things to do with the kids. But my health has NOT allowed it. I have been very sick, sore body, migraines and all sorts of stuff like that. So its been a struggle to look after them during the break and look after myself.

Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures of the things we have been able to do. Like going to the park and making crafts. Norm is getting off work early so that he can take us swimming. He knows how hard it has been for me to cancel all the plans I had for the break, so today we are going swimming. I hope! I have been in a lot of pain today and really fighting a migraine. But hopefully a little sun, sunglasses, pool and laughter will help me feel better. Even if its not physically feeling better it will be good medicine to the soul!

Thanks for your prayers and friendship. We look forward to updating you all more in the near future.

We really miss the turning of the seasons back at home… feeling that cool fall air, sipping on hot tea or peppermint mochas, hot soup on the stove, fall leaves.

But we are learning to enjoy our new seasons. We have rainy season and dry season. We live in Sub Saharan Africa so we get some very interesting weather and we certainly get a lot of dust and wind storms, and some pretty spectacular rain storms.

Here are some cool pictures that show the difference between rainy season and dry season.

Our grape vine: rainy season

Our grape vine: dry season

A view from the lighthouse: rainy season

A view from the lighthouse: dry season

Another view from the lighthouse: rainy season

Another view from the lighthouse: dry season

Some other random shots:

Bushes by our front door have to be trimmed on a regular basis during rainy season… so that we can get in!

Our neighbors back balcony has grape vines growing as a shade but the wind/rain storms knocked a lot of them down. Its starting to look a bit like a jungle over there!

A beautiful view of the ocean by the clinic Norm stayed in when he had his kidney stones. I can only imagine how beautiful it is right now at the end of rainy season. This was just about a month before rainy season started.

October is probably our hottest month of the year. High temps, high humidity. But its the most beautiful month of the year. So if you are willing to brave the weather… you HAVE to see the beauty of Dakar in October! Come on over and visit us next October.

My time in California was quick, but I had a great time with family. Despite the kidney stone business it really was a relaxing time with not a lot of pressing responsibilities. We of course went geocaching a few times, it is something we really enjoying doing with Charlie, Debra’s dad. We fit in a lot of fun day trips to places like the beach and just spent time together at the house.

The Lord really took care of the kidney stones, despite the short time frame we were able to get a doctor appointment and have the procedure. Most doctors I spoke to at the beginning had wait times in to August and September but the last one on our list was able to squeeze me in.

It’s hard to leave my family, especially on fathers day, but it is beyond comforting knowing that God is in control, guiding our lives and is the one taking care of my family, whether I am with them or not. We have seen God lovingly and carefully laying out the details of this trip and we are excited to see what He does with it.

Like I said, I will miss my family but I am also looking forward to seeing friends in Senegal and getting back into the work that God has blessed me with. So, to our friends in Senegal, a bientôt!

Thanks goes to Debra Lynn and my coworker Bill for taking such great care of me. Bill and his wife Debby also spent a lot of time helping us when I was in the hospital last week. Above all, we are thankful for the Lord’s protection.

Well, let’s see if we can have a calm week before we head to California. See you soon!

• June 3: We all fly from Dakar to California for Debra’s sister’s wedding.
• June 18: Christy and Erik’s wedding.
• June 19: Norm leaves California to return to Dakar.
• July 9: Debra and the boys fly from California to Canada for Norm’s brother’s wedding.
• July 14: Norm joins Debra and the boys in Canada.
• July 23: Ken and Jannah’s wedding.
• July 24: Norm returns to Dakar from Canada.
• July 25: Debra and the boys return to California from Canada.
• August 29: Debra and the boys leave California for Dakar.
• August 30: We are all back together!

Here we are geocaching on our sixth anniversary:

More pictures from this years anniversary:

Thanks for the incredible date Debra Lynn, I love you!