Joey Update Vol. 22

The phone rang, but there was only an automated French voice. It told me the
person I was trying to reach was out of coverage area. Where can he be, I
wondered. Finally, in the night I got through. After the standard greetings
and "afe's" I get around to asking him where he's been all day. "I was
working in the field," he replied. The field. The very place I should be, I
thought. "Can I go with you tomorrow?" I ask.

"Tomorrow" turned out to be a few days after that. Work in the field
is still contingent on the weather (when it rains horizontally, there is
little work to be done in the field) but finally the weather cleared and
finally I got hold of my friend again. "Tomorrow," he said. "I am going to
my field tomorrow." So, I went with to his house at the early hour he'd set.
We drank coffee and ate some gateaux for breakfast, packed some provisions
for the field (I think people eat better in the field than they do in their
house) and set out with the donkey.

We get to his field and finally get down to- drinking more coffee
and bariya, a soupy grain drink mixed with sugar and spice. After this, he
hands me a jarai, the tilling tool of choice, and we get to his field with
his children. There were laughs at first as I was getting the hang of
tilling my first field ever, but soon I could pick out the plants that we
were working to save and those slated for uprooting. In this learning
process, I killed my fair share of good plants and it caused me to till
cautiously, asking his children who were beside me, "Is this plant a good
plant?" "No, it's a weed; kill it."

I worked only an hour or so, not enough even to callous my hands,
but it is hard work indeed. We drank more coffee and set out again for home.
I was offered the donkey to ride on the way back and though I deferred at
first, I was compelled to ride and so I did. Many people were surprised at
seeing a white person, wearing nasara clothes (they're better for field work
than the long local dress) and a turban to keep the sun off, working in the
fields and riding back to town on a donkey.

This was my first field work experience and I went in order to build
up the relationship with this man and his family. I think I made a good
impression- after all he called me "Bub tileh" - father of farming- though
maybe he was quick with his praise. Later that same week, I went out to
another field belonging to someone else and worked longer though again not
to calluses. It was here that I did my first field test.

We were taking one of the long necessary breaks from working under
the hot African sun, and during the downtime, I took out my recorder and
played a story for the man I went with. I asked him what he thought of it
and some more questions related to it. I was glad at his answers and his
willingness to hear it. I am also glad at the portability of the story. But
even though it is portable and takes only a few minutes to hear, it is
sometimes difficult to discuss the story. This particular time was not, but
it is a frequent obstacle me and my teammate have seen in sharing some of
the stories.

For this, I have a few Requests you can be making for me and the
team here. But first, the Hamdu's:

Hamdu's:
-My first time out in the field and the impression I made on those I went
with (dead, good plants notwithstanding)
-Further stories crafted and begun on their process to completion
-I'm learning again to praise Him for the small things and be thankful in
the little things. Small steps forward, are still steps.

Du'as:
-Lift up the story crafter need, as it is constant and becoming a greater
need daily as we want the stories to branch out
-Lift up a change in schedule for our team here- it involves us leaving the
town earlier and traveling to the capital. After staying there for a while,
we will hopefully return to the town where we have built our main
relationships and done our main work. Please lift up this time of
rescheduling for our team and that the time in the capital would be used to
good effect.
-Lift up the various stresses of change*, that it would work for us and not
against us.
-Finally, lift up the next few weeks that we would be working diligently to
complete the many tasks on the stories in time for our next training in Nov.


In our Study of the Book, we are looking at Ecc., that often
perplexing book, mixed as it is with "vanity" and true wisdom. I feel the
same can be said of our work here, it is mixed with blessing and stresses.
Yet through this, I am learning that old, old lesson again: That Je5us meets
us in our trials and gets to know us better under our afflictions. And I am
learning (again) to trust Him in the midst of change. Trust Him with me!

-Youssef

*If I should count the many transformations of this work since the time I
first heard of it, I would run out of fingers and toes! Through all the
changes (coming, leaving, coming back again, etc.) I believe strongly that
this work is of Him and He will use our work, complete or incomplete, for
His glory.