Sunday Night

It's hard to believe this ia our last night in Mali. The trip has gone by so fast...especially the retreat time with the precious women of Mali. We have been forever changed by the stories and faith of these women of God.

Today started with preparation for communion and quickly typing more music slides (thanks, Lori!). The women love to sing praises and so we decided to add more songs to our set today. Cori shared a message on David, the team shared our "blessings" from Scripture, and Jen led worship and communion time with word and song. It was a very meaningful time for these women, many of whom have not had the chance to participate in a communion service for months if not years. The time ended all too quickly with lunch at the hotel. In the short time we have had here, we have quickly grown to love and appreciate these sisters in Christ. We exchanged email addresses with some of the ladies and plan on connecting through Facebook as well, for those that have it. One of the women shared this weekend that a missionary's life is full of goodbyes. We understand that a little better now as we have shared our own goodbyes with them.

Please pray for these women of faith who serve Jesus here in Mali without fanfare, and often in isolated, desolate places.

After the retreat, Elaine took us back to the guesthouse to rest until the worship service. She told us about a store just down the street that sold ice cream and diet coke (called coke light here), so several of us went. We enjoyed sharing our experiences of the weekend and then the Clarks picked us up to take us to the English speaking worship service and then out to dinner. Nicki was not feeling well today and has spent most of the day in the room resting. Jen is still having mouth pain, and from speaking to the husband of one of the missionaries who is a doctor, he thinks she is having side effects from the malaria medication. Elaine brought her some different malaria med that we hope will alleviate her side effects.

Tomorrow we spend the day with the Clarks sightseeing and just enjoying being together. We plan to do early check in of our luggage so boarding will be smoother. Please pray there is no disruption in our flight as we have heard that Air France is having an "industrial strike". Not sure how that will impact us.

We are so blessed to have this opportunity to be here...we pray that our lives will be forever changed by our time here.

Love to All,

Nicki (for the team)

Saturday night

Wow, what an emotional, spiritually rich day. Today started around 7:30 am getting everything ready for the day. The logistics of sound/tech stuff has gone very smoothly. Today was a full agenda with plenty of worship singing, sharing by Lori, Kim , and Cori, (They did an amazing job!) and having the women spend time connecting by sharing their experiences on the field. The women were first divided up by the length of time they have been overseas, then they shared their most valuable spiritual lesson and their most valuable practical lesson they have learned. We each split up and listened to them share. It was a very humbling experience for me and I'm sure for all the other team members as well. What a treasure these women are! There was also time for open sharing from the women and again it was amazing to hear their testimonies. I think the thing that has been most impactful for us is just sitting and listening to their stories...stories of incredible faith in the Lord and a willingness to say yes to whatever the Lord has called them to.

Tomorrow we wrap up so please pray that our last bit of time is meeting their needs and encouraging their faith. Thanks for your prayers too for stamina, good health, and rest.

May His Glory Be Revealed,

Nicki (for the team)

Friday night

Hi all, this is my second time typing this since I guess I clicked on the wrong thing the first time...it's all in French here so hey, I'm at a disadvantage. So here goes again. We had an adventure this am just on the drive in to the city. I have a new appreciation for Ca freeways and yes, Ca traffic! Motos (motorcycles), people, green machines and cars heading every direction at once! No traffic laws here. Thank the Lord for safe arrival. PTL also for the fact that the planned march on the capital (related to Qadaffi and Libya) was cancelled - it would have made travel into the hotel difiicult for the ladies. Retreat started great today. AV system is working perfectly (thanks Mike!). Worship and singing has been rich...they sing loud and with passion. Cori delivered a moving message from the Lord. The women are so friendly and welcoming to us. Laura has done an amazing job with snacks...the women just love getting all these foods they cannot get here. Please pray that the team will be sensitive to the Lord's leading tomorrow and that the women will be refreshed and encouraged in their faith. I'm heading to bed now...will post more tomorrow.
Love to All,

Nicki (for the team)

Here Today, Gone "To-Mali"

As we prepare to leave tomorrow, we are so overwhelmed and grateful for all those who have reached out to let us know you are praying for us. We depart tomorrow at 1:05 pm with our carry ons and 13 checked bags in tow! We look forward to experiencing all that the Lord has planned. May His glory be revealed in Mali and in us!