August Newsletter

One year has passed since we moved to The Gambia, and this month was full of rain, both in terms of blessings and precipitation. As the rain began, we checked for leaks, and the best way to do that was by crawling into our attic crawlspace. We are glad that all we found were lizards and spiderwebs. As the rain increased, water began to pool between our home and the mission office. Though Luke enjoyed playing in it, Patrick recognizes the dangers of pooled water and the need to find a solution.

As the rainy season continued, we were delighted to receive a team from Life Point Church in California, which included our previous teammate, Heidi Johnson. They were helping hands as we take steps toward closing the medical clinic in December. Our ward had become more of a storage facility, with 40 years' worth of outdated equipment and paperwork. There was much work to be done in a short time. They were able to purge and restore space in the clinic area, encouraged many of the local believers and they got a real taste of village life

Here in the city, even though it was pouring down rain, we all attended a local church in which Heidi had become involved when she served here. They were delighted to have our group, and we happily worshipped inside, yet still had to use our umbrella as the roof leaked profusely.

On the last day of their trip, the rain was relentless, and The Gambia saw the worst flooding since 1998. We had to put sandbags in front of our driveway so the water would stop flowing in from the street. We even had to put sandbags on our front porch as the water levels continued to rise. Thankfully, the rain stopped, flights were still running on schedule, and we were able to get them to the airport, and they returned to the USA safely. Unfortunately, back at the guesthouse, due to all the flooding, our water supply became contaminated, but thankfully we were only out of drinking water for a short time.

We also squeezed in a little fun this month as our children became involved in a dance and gymnastics camp. They made some great connections and friendships, and Alyssa even shared the Gospel with one of the instructors. Pray for those connections to develop.