Today we left Bamako for the last time. While I was downstairs waiting for John to bring the last of our suitcases down the 9 flights of stairs I watched these young boys playing in front of our apartment building. They’d made a long piece of rope from some old fabric scraps and tied it in a circle. It became their bus and they were going on a trip. It was so fun to watch their joy and excitement with this simple invention.
I sat next to this young girl who had a full headpan of goods to sell. She was hot and tired and needed to sit for a moment. I will really miss our neighbors and friends here. They have given me so much to be grateful for and so many smiles.
It’s hard to believe this day as finally come. Our last Sunday here with our friends and loved ones. Wow. Today was Fast Sunday and we had a wonderful testimony meeting full of love and kind words. Oh, we will miss these friends. We are grateful for the hope of being reunited someday.
After the testimony, during the second hour, Beatrice was confirmed a member of the Church, then we had 9 children blessed. It was wonderful! When a child is blessed, their name is entered into the records of the church. Some of these children are brand new members. Some are babies born to our member mothers. Some just never had a chance to be blessed before. Now they are loved, blessed and accounted for.
Valerie, Biggo, Michael and baby Jamie:
Nourou, Kariadiatou and baby K
Emmanuel and Sylvanie with Promesse, Lidvine, Uriel and Olivier:
Felix and Florence with Beatrice and Koffi:
Chiaka and Oumar:
Sekou and Dina with Amani:
Angel mothers and beautiful babies:
Here’s today’s whole group!
After church, John shared the clothes he’ll be leaving behind.
We took cookies and treats for the kids.
Fr Mbaya and Pres Sekou taking care of Branch buisiness:
Our dear friends. Oh, how we will miss them!
These are some of our Branch leaders:
Back row left to right: Elder Lewis, Mbaya, Biggo, Sekou. Front row: Sis Lewis, Mike, Valerie with James, Dina with Amani
Biggo, Mbaya, Sekou
A parting shot as we leave. We left a note on the bulletin board for our friends, hoping they will remember us with love, as we have loved them.
As we left the church this evening, I noticed these little boys pounding leaves on the stone, just like their mothers do with a mortar and pestle. They were fixing and eating their own bit of food.
Today after Beatrice’s baptism, our 3 church signs were installed. It was a huge accomplishment we’ve been working on for about a year! The signs look great now. Now we will be known to the world here.
The sign maker printed out these stencils on a computer, then cut away the letters to mark where to paint on the signs. Each letter was hand painted.
Touching up a few things.
Today a big plow came by the church, smoothing out the road.
Prepping for the sign placement:
Pres Sekou, Ibrahima and Biggo helped clean up the area around the signs.
This is the 3rd sign was placed, out on the main road pointing to the church.
At the end of the day, everyone was so happy. It’s like we now are real. People will find us and we will be known to them!
We spent the morning at the church cleaning with the Elders and preparing for Beatrice’s baptism. It’s been so fun to be able to help clean each week. It always reminds us of all the things that go on behind the scenes in the building of the Kingdom of God on earth. It doesn’t just happen.
Happy Elder Dzato!
And Elder Kouassi.
And John.
This church compound has been our refuge these last 2 years.
We met with Pres Sekou to review the baptismal program and a list of other things happening this week.
This morning we took 3,000 N-95 masks to our friends at the INSP, a gift from LDS Charities. This project has been in the works for months. We are grateful these good masks are going to a place where they are really needed.
They will be used by the lab technicians and public health workers at the INSP who work with COVID testing. They wanted to start using them immediately!
Here is where people are tested for COVID:
Including us! This will be our last of dozens of COVID tests taken here, preparing us for our departure on Monday.
This evening we got to go visit Ely Moumkoro, one of our Bamako members. He lives on a far side of town. When he and his wife, Christina were baptized in 2018, we were there, at the chicken farm. He and 2 other couples used to live by each other and travel to church together. The other couples have moved, and now transport is a challenge. Christina is in the village right now and Ely is an engineering student. We were so happy to meet him and his brother-in-law, and update his church records.
After that, John and I went to dinner with Pres Sekou and Dina and Amani at Los Turkos, the new restaurant our neighbor opened. It was our farewell gift to these dear dear friends. Oh, we will miss them so much.
Sekou and Dina presented us with a Beautiful remembrance of our time with them in Bamako. It says, “Forever in our Hearts.”
We woke in a rain storm this morning, washing our world here clean. It was glorious. Our neighbors at the mosque didn’t put up the big white overflow tent this morning because everything was wet. Gratefully by mid-day when everyone was called to prayer, things had dried out a bit. Here’s a last look at the day of prayer in our neighborhood without the tent.
It’s 12:45 and people are coming into the mosque. Some choose to stay outside on the prayer mats.
By 1:00, the the area was filled and the service began. The Imam preaches in Bambara for about 20-30 minutes on Fridays. Then the prayer routines are followed. Those are in Arabic.
Below us on the street, men also gather in the shade under the trees to pray.
Here are a few video clips of this day of prayer.
When the prayers end, vendors and women and children begging for alms come to hope for a kindness. Friday afternoons here are more festive than the rest of the week. Many businesses close for the rest of the day, many workers get to go home a bit early.
We will miss the daily reminders to pray and turn our thoughts to our God, Allah, Heavenly Father. We are all his children.
This afternoon we traveled to visit Beatrice for her baptismal interview. She will be baptized this Saturday. Their home is about a 40 min drive from the church. We went with the Elders because they knew the way.
Waiting for a taxi.
The area where they live is out by the airport, on the way to Senu.
We had a wonderful visit with Florence and Beatrice, who is now ready to be baptized.
Beatrice is a wonderful big sister to baby Koffi.
Beautiful mother and daughter!
The family compound:
The airplanes from the nearby airport fly right over their home. In just a few days, one of those flights will be taking us away from here. Sigh.
Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission 