Ziguinchor April 19

Hello Everyone,

Caleb and I have arrived in Ziguinchor and all is well. We had a smooth flight over and a good ride down. It was very interesting to see the land of Senegal as we drove down. We say villages with homes made of straw and mud, Fulanti people moving across Africa with their cows, and many of the trees of Africa. It looked very different than the Casamance area of Ziguinchor.

It is much dryer and hotter this time than back in Dec./Nov. It gets near 100 degrees during the day. The mornings and evenings have a cool breeze. The land is more open now and there is not much growing in the fields. They are waiting for the rains.

We went out to the villages yesterday and saw many of our friends. They were excited to see us and eager to hear more Bible stories. They were very thankful when I shared that our church had been praying for them. They have had poor crops this year and food has about doubled in price over the last couple of months. Many are struggling to find enough to eat.

The cashews are being harvested now. They are working in the cashew fields during the day, so we will be going to the villages during the evenings. We ate "cashew apples" and fresh cashew yesterday. The cashew apple is the fruit of the cashew and tastes a lot like grapes. It is very good and sweet. We have many bags of cashews. Everywhere we go they give us bags. I will try to bring them home for the church.

We go to Simeons' house tonight. He wants to arrange a time for the village to come and hear the Bible stories. Many are asking him about us and why to we visit him. He told them that God has sent us to him, and he is glad to share us with them. Pray for God to work in the hearts of the Mankanya that come to hear the Bible stories.

We will go to church tomorrow and then visit in the villages. Pray to the new Mankanya believers that they embrace the Church Planting Movement model we will begin to share with them. God is working and it's exciting for our church to be here and be a part of what He is doing.

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