Last week was mostly spent in the northern city (Korhogo) which is the other city where journeyers are living and that I frequent to help with different things.  The new Journeyers spent the week living with an Ivoirian family (Soro Zana); a of the host families of a previous journeyer.  Us that have been here longer came together throughout the week to visit families, pastors, and to familiarize the new journeyers with the city and the people.  While in Korhogo I stayed with an old friend Coulibally Bakary and his family.  As an important member in our program he used to live in Bouake with us on campus, but after his wife got a job in Korhogo he moved up north to continue the work from there.  It was again like moving into an Ivoirian family for the first time; having to accept the spectacular yet sometimes over-the-top hospitality.  My thoughts as the young girl at the house washed out the shower stall before I could use it: “yes I know there are dirt foot prints in the shower stall: I made them two minutes ago testing to see if the shower head worked.  They would have washed down the drain as soon as I began bathing.  You wouldn’t ever have seen them had you let me carry the bucket of water to the bathroom.”

Monday we returned to Bouake and Wednesday morning we got in the Land Cruiser again headed south to Abidjan.  Alyssa, with whom I returned to Cote d’Ivoire, flew back to the United States on Wednesday evening.  She has a passion for opening the eyes of the American church to the lives Christ asked us to live and a desire to live a life that many in this world would call foolish.  Please keep my little sister (Alyssa) in your prayers.  We picked up our program’s national coordinator in Abidjan and on Thursday finally came to rest in Bouake again after way too much traveling.  All of the driving in Abidjan was my first, and although I have been there before, it was by no lack of miracle that we navigated the roads safely and without losing our way.   To give you an idea, so far this month I have driven over 2,000km.

I do not have much for wisdom to close this blog on.  We are going through Romans as a group and Paul has me on a rollercoaster.  I put my faith in: “in the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  My heart feels like: “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.”  I am reminded of the hope in: “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry Abba Father.” Then the sovereignty of God comes into view: “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ’Why did you make me like this?’” So, I feel a little scatter-brained reaching for truths that are beyond me.  That said I am excited to be looking closer at this book.