a little break

Although we've only been here less than 3 months and hardly needed a break, we were invited to attend the prayer conference of the Senegal field and gladly accepted! Of course, having a sister & brother-in-law & 2 nieces there was an extra pull. The setting for the conference was a "tropical paradise" right on the ocean. Wild monkeys would often visit us at mealtime and once swooped down on our table and grabbed a banana right off someone's plate. Another time, a monkey got up on the dessert table and filled both fists with crepes. While sitting at the pool, one came up beside me and starting digging in a woman's bag, looking to see if there was anything he wanted in there. In the dining area, there were numerous bats hanging down from the netting area but they never bothered us. Each couple or family was housed in a little individual "hut". It was truly a restful time of spiritual refreshment & physical renewal, except that we ate way too much food with three buffets served everyday!! The time with our family in Dakar was also fun; never can have too much of that! My nieces enjoyed helping Uncle Darrell with his French lessons. There were often loud outbursts of laughter when his tongue refused to make the right sounds:) Life in West Africa is certainly more primitive than the Africa we live in. I realize that our life is a lot easier in many ways. It was good to get home and I hope to soon get into a rhythm of life here which we definitely don't have yet. Now Darrell has had to leave for 17 days to be with his very ill mother so I guess that rhythm won't get going anytime soon. We press on, seeing what God has for us each day and walking faithfully in what he calls us to do.