Christmas at the Phare

Jane and I and our family were at the Phare on Sunday with the church from Ouakam to celebrate Christmas together. We met in the conference room for a church service and then had a wonderful meal of Poulet Yassa (chicken yassa-style). It was nice for us as a congregation to get away from the usual place and routine and relax together. We also had a few visitors who joined us that day, including our daughter and boyfriend (Allison and Matt) in from the US. I include here a number of photos for your enjoyment.

The choir sang a number of songs in Wolof and French. Balla preached on the uniqueness of Jesus' birth and the prophecies about the place and about his parents. It was all in Wolof, a most encouraging thing for us who long for a truly "Senegalese" church to emerge. So many congregations worship in French instead still.

Afterwards we spent a good time just visiting together. Of course, as I wandered about with a camera, all the kids wanted to be photographed!

And, the adults as well!

We also took this quick video to remind you of the lighthouse and the ocean here!

Crazy over Snakes!

There's over reaction and then there's OVER REACTION. Last week a little, brown garden snake wandered onto the property. It was chased down and wrestled to the ground like it was a 200lb crocodile. It was a funny..FUNNY..sight to behold. Ended poorly for the snake, however.

Let's hear it for the NAVY!!!

We received an email a couple of weeks ago from the chaplain of the US NAVY saying that they would be in port for a few days and wanted to give their guys something to do. They asked if we had any projects that could benefit from brawn. Two weeks later a white van shows up carrying twelve guys ready to get in there and gitt'er done. Boulders were smashed and carted away, weeds were cut back, and barbed wire was placed all around the campus. It was a very cool, and productive day!


Checking out the weed situation.


Group photo with all the dudes (including Simon).


Busting up boulders.

Progress on the "Storefront" Out Front

We haven't talked about the dream of a building a storefront out along the main road for ages. If you remember, our desire is to create some commercial space that will generate rent income to give the conference center the kind of financial means that will allow it to be independent of UWM and outside aid.

When last you probably heard, the site looked like this photo at the left from 2003. We had a huge foundation in place and there the work had stopped.

Praise the Lord, the time of waiting has ended!

About half way through 2007, we decided that the money we had accumulated from previous gifts for development of the Phare added to the large-ish gift we had been promised within a few weeks would put us in a position to release the entrepreneur (Narcisse) to start up the worksite again. He had been impatiently waiting with us all that time. So, for the last few month he's been going at it, though at a cautious pace this time, staying within our means and not pushing beyond (much!).

Late last week he came by with his digital camera filled with photos of the current situation. I thought you'd like to see a few shots. I know that they aren't easy to see, but you might try clicking on one and looking at the larger version!

When we started up again, we changed our approach to this building. Before we were trying to accumulate enough money to do the whole building at once. Or, one floor of it, at least. Now we are trying to put the foundation, posts and ceiling in place as a first step. As you can see, we are almost done with the post and frame of the structure.

As a second step, we now want to offer to churches or even renters the possibility to finish any one of the seven units. That puts the cost in a more manageable range. The whole building is several hundred thousand dollars. To finish the walls, tile, electric and paint for one unit will be more like $15-20,000. That is still a lot of money, but it is a challenge that many groups find practical.

First, though, would you pray with us for the $20,000 that we still need to get the roof poured over the whole first floor? And then ask God to send us groups to take up the challenge of finishing a store. Seven groups like that, in fact!