Today was another full day here in Conakry and yep, it’s still warm. Although it’s warm there is one thing that’s surprised me about the atmosphere here, it’s always cloudy. Maybe it’s some type of cloud cover but there’s a constant haze over the city. We think it might be smog but we’re not sure.
Anyway, the day started off with a very early wake up. 6:30 in the morning we were up because our team was on breakfast duty. The nice thing about Dan’s temperament is that he is really detail oriented so he had the menu set, all our team had to do was cook it. Our team is large enough that we’re split into two groups, one and two and we alternate cooking and cleaning up.
So we made eggs and toast and a fruit salad. It was all good and the coffee wasn’t half bad either. There isn’t electricity available everyday so making coffee in a coffeemaker is hilarious. Instead of filling the back of the coffeemaker like most people would, you boil water and pour it into the spot with the coffee and filter. Then you wait for it to drip through and do it all again until you have a full pot of coffee.
We ate breakfast and then we sat with one of the team members here whose identity will remain somewhat anonymous because she’s asked that we do so. We’ll give her the initial C for now. C told us a little bit about some of the projects she’s involved in and asked us to pray for her and some of the difficulties she is facing as a result of some government interference. We prayed for her and then we went off to see Familia FM. In the heart of the city there is a 4 story building that is used to house the radio station. It is supported by the C&MA which is really cool but is also funded by advertising on the station as well.
Part of their mandate is to provide programming on how to thrive and survive in modern culture. There are programs on raising children, family conflict, family life, how to use the telephone (because they don’t have any etiquette about it, they just start talking assuming you know who is calling), etc. Programs that are trying to help inspire and move the Guinean peoples forward.
On site there is also a rescue centre for abandoned children. I met a boy named Nathaniel today whose mother gave birth to him in a bush and then abandoned him. Some people heard some rustling in the bush and found him in a plastic bag with his umbilical cord and placenta still attached. They brought him to the police and the police brought him to the rescue centre. Within 24 hours of being born Nathaniel ended up in the care of loving people who are doing their part to make sure he has a chance at life.
As I sat in the room, he’s now almost 6 months old, holding him, I couldn’t get over the miracle that his life represented. It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear his story but so encouraging to know that he did not end up like so many unwanted children do here, starved to death, put in a plastic bag, abandoned on someone’s doorstep or forced to become the household slave of the family that takes them in.
We think slavery is gone in Africa but bondage is still very much alive and well and acceptable in modern Guinean culture.
We toured the radio station and prayed with the team there and then headed out for Chawarma. Notice how in Guinea they spell it with a ‘C’? Yeah, I thought it was weird too. But, it was very good. They put chicken, french fries, pickles, garlic sauce and tomatoes in their Chawarma and boy are they delightful. And dirt cheap too. I ordered 3 (they were small and I brought one home) and I think it only cost me like 60,000fG (that’s like $12 Canadian).
So, all the places we’ve been to eat so far have been owned by the Lebanese. It’s funny a bit but the Lebanese have really moved into Guinea and own a lot of the major businesses. The supermarket we went to and two restaurants so far are owned by the Lebanese.
After lunch we met with the leaders of the national Guinean C&MA church here on the compound. It was emotional for me. Hearing the stories of the projects they are doing and just how committed they are to the cause of Christ and the spread of his story was overwhelming. Their understanding of their calling and the projects they are in the middle of, wow. I got a little dust in my eye at one point that I needed to wipe away.
We had this incredible time of prayer and the Guinean executive team did something I haven’t seen since I was a kid, when we asked to pray for them, they got in a circle, on their knees and cried out in prayer with us for their country and for their church. Agh! More dust!
I think one of the things I am really trying to figure out is the uneven burden we place on our international workers. We see a church in north america grow to ten thousand and we expect them to have 100 staff, we train them and resource them and admire them and invest in them but our international workers here in Guinea represent and work with a church of eighty thousand with only a handful of staff!
Some of our workers speak regularly to groups of three thousand or more. The goal of the Guinean church is to have a building that can seat five thousand people in Conakry because that’s how big their church is!
God is moving here in Africa and when I think of my work in North America, I’m not sure what I think anymore. Our international workers sometimes get treated like second class workers with 80,000 people and yet I think I’m all that because I work with 100. How is that possible?
Our IW’s should be teaching us about church planting and cross-cultural ministries and re-igniting in us a passion to reach those far from Christ. The missional church isn’t new, the concept of being missional wherever we are, shouldn’t be new either. I am quickly earning an incredible amount of respect for the workers out here.
At the radio station alone our IW has over 50 staff. 50 staff! Have we gotten them on executive leadership training programs? Are we investing in their long term ability to manage and lead an organization this big? Well, they get $450 a year to spend on skill development. That’s it?!! We have got to do better.
We have got to rally around our workers more, we’ve got to do something to guarantee funding for them, to remind them of the value and importance of lifelong learning and to make sure that we are resourcing them with the best stuff and not the worst.
That’s what one of the Guinean executive said to me today. It’s great that we want to give them stuff but how can they do things with excellence if all they get is our secondhand junk?
It reminds me of the old ‘youth group couch’ mentality. They’re just going to destroy it so don’t give them anything good. We can’t treat students like that and we can’t treat our workers and the work like that. They want to give their best and we need to help them do it as best they can.
So that’s my rant for today. We are heading into the interior tomorrow and I will be out of service for something like 2 days. I’ll try and blog if I can but I will at least journal and update asap.
Today was another full day here in Conakry and yep, it’s still warm. Although it’s warm there is one thing that’s surprised me about the atmosphere here, it’s always cloudy. Maybe it’s some type of cloud cover but there’s a constant haze over the city. We think it might be smog but we’re not sure.
Anyway, the day started off with a very early wake up. 6:30 in the morning we were up because our team was on breakfast duty. The nice thing about Dan’s temperament is that he is really detail oriented so he had the menu set, all our team had to do was cook it. Our team is large enough that we’re split into two groups, one and two and we alternate cooking and cleaning up.
So we made eggs and toast and a fruit salad. It was all good and the coffee wasn’t half bad either. There isn’t electricity available everyday so making coffee in a coffeemaker is hilarious. Instead of filling the back of the coffeemaker like most people would, you boil water and pour it into the spot with the coffee and filter. Then you wait for it to drip through and do it all again until you have a full pot of coffee.
We ate breakfast and then we sat with one of the team members here whose identity will remain somewhat anonymous because she’s asked that we do so. We’ll give her the initial C for now. C told us a little bit about some of the projects she’s involved in and asked us to pray for her and some of the difficulties she is facing as a result of some government interference. We prayed for her and then we went off to see Familia FM. In the heart of the city there is a 4 story building that is used to house the radio station. It is supported by the C&MA which is really cool but is also funded by advertising on the station as well.
Part of their mandate is to provide programming on how to thrive and survive in modern culture. There are programs on raising children, family conflict, family life, how to use the telephone (because they don’t have any etiquette about it, they just start talking assuming you know who is calling), etc. Programs that are trying to help inspire and move the Guinean peoples forward.
On site there is also a rescue centre for abandoned children. I met a boy named Nathaniel today whose mother gave birth to him in a bush and then abandoned him. Some people heard some rustling in the bush and found him in a plastic bag with his umbilical cord and placenta still attached. They brought him to the police and the police brought him to the rescue centre. Within 24 hours of being born Nathaniel ended up in the care of loving people who are doing their part to make sure he has a chance at life.
As I sat in the room, he’s now almost 6 months old, holding him, I couldn’t get over the miracle that his life represented. It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear his story but so encouraging to know that he did not end up like so many unwanted children do here, starved to death, put in a plastic bag, abandoned on someone’s doorstep or forced to become the household slave of the family that takes them in. We think slavery is gone in Africa but bondage is still very much alive and well and acceptable in modern Guinean culture.
We toured the radio station and prayed with the team there and then headed out for Chawarma. Notice how in Guinea they spell it with a ‘C’? Yeah, I thought it was weird too. But, it was very good. They put chicken, french fries, pickles, garlic sauce and tomatoes in their Chawarma and boy are they delightful. And dirt cheap too. I ordered 3 (they were small and I brought one home) and I think it only cost me like 60,000fG (that’s like $12 Canadian).
So, all the places we’ve been to eat so far have been owned by the Lebanese. It’s funny a bit but the Lebanese have really moved into Guinea and own a lot of the major businesses. The supermarket we went to and two restaurants so far are owned by the Lebanese.
After lunch we met with the leaders of the national Guinean C&MA church here on the compound. It was emotional for me. Hearing the stories of the projects they are doing and just how committed they are to the cause of Christ and the spread of his story was overwhelming. Their understanding of their calling and the projects they are in the middle of, wow. I got a little dust in my eye at one point that I needed to wipe away.
We had this incredible time of prayer and the Guinean executive team did something I haven’t seen since I was a kid, when we asked to pray for them, they got in a circle, on their knees and cried out in prayer with us for their country and for their church. Agh! More dust!
I think one of the things I am really trying to figure out is the uneven burden we place on our international workers. We see a church in north america grow to ten thousand and we expect them to have 100 staff, we train them and resource them and admire them and invest in them but our international workers here in Guinea represent and work with a church of eighty thousand with only a handful of staff!
Some of our workers speak regularly to groups of three thousand or more. The goal of the Guinean church is to have a building that can seat five thousand people in Conakry because that’s how big their church is!
God is moving here in Africa and when I think of my work in North America, I’m not sure what I think anymore. Our international workers sometimes get treated like second class workers with 80,000 people and yet I think I’m all that because I work with 100. How is that possible?
Our IW’s should be teaching us about church planting and cross-cultural ministries and re-igniting in us a passion to reach those far from Christ. The missional church isn’t new, the concept of being missional wherever we are, shouldn’t be new either. I am quickly earning an incredible amount of respect for the workers out here.
At the radio station alone our IW has over 50 staff. 50 staff! Have we gotten them on executive leadership training programs? Are we investing in their long term ability to manage and lead an organization this big? Well, they get $450 a year to spend on skill development. That’s it?!! We have got to do better.
We have got to rally around our workers more, we’ve got to do something to guarantee funding for them, to remind them of the value and importance of lifelong learning and to make sure that we are resourcing them with the best stuff and not the worst.
That’s what one of the Guinean executive said to me today. It’s great that we want to give them stuff but how can they do things with excellence if all they get is our secondhand junk?
It reminds me of the old ‘youth group couch’ mentality. They’re just going to destroy it so don’t give them anything good. We can’t treat students like that and we can’t treat our workers and the work like that. They want to give their best and we need to help them do it as best they can.
So that’s my rant for today. We are heading into the interior tomorrow and I will be out of service for something like 2 days. I’ll try and blog if I can but I will at least journal and update asap.
2 Comments
24 March 10 at 8:53am
1
Insightful post James. And you're right. Those IW's need to start teaching us North Americans how to do church (and that radio station sounds nifty too!).
25 March 10 at 8:50pm
2
Thank you for sharing your heart today and letting God challenge you! It is exciting for me to read about someone from our N.A. churches getting a vision for leadership training on our mission fields! This is definitely a real need that requires lots of prayer and involvement from our N.A. churches. I trust that God will continue to bless you as you experience His plan for the people of Guinea!