Mama Lucy

Everyone knows Mama Lucy. Consensus is that she is 107 years old, but that fact is likely impossible to verify. It is, however, obvious that she is very, very old. One thing that is verifiable is that she and her late husband are the ones who founded our part of Diouloulou many years ago.

Anytime that we walked to the market we would pass right in front of her house. The path literally goes right in front of her door. She was easy to spot because she always sat in the same place in front of her house and she never wore a shirt. And "never" is not an exaggeration. (I will also "never" forget the first time that Ezra had to stop and greet the topless 107 year old Mama Lucy!)

We always spoke to her when we passed by, though our conversations were always short since she speaks only Diola and our Diola only goes so far at this point. We would greet her, ask about her family, exchange the normal pleasantries that are part of greetings here in southern Senegal, and then we would tell her that we would see her soon and we were on our way. Seeing Mama Lucy on a daily basis was just part of the routine of village life.

But when we returned back to the village two weeks ago something was amiss: Mama Lucy wasn't in front of her house. And she is always in front of her house. Yesterday we stopped by her house with a Diola friend and he went in and inquired about her and everyone said that she was doing fine.

This afternoon we stopped back by her house and she was sitting out front in her usual position. We stopped, shook hands, and exchanged greetings in Diola and our family was thankful to see Mama Lucy back in her normal place. I asked one of her daughters about her health and she said that she was doing well.

As we walked away I was thankful that we were growing closer to their family and I also began to think of more things that we could do to deepen our relationship with them.

That was about three hours ago. I just returned from walking one of our friends partway home when someone came to tell me that Mama Lucy had just died. Tomorrow many, many people from Diouloulou and the surrounding villages will descend upon Mama Lucy's house and she will be buried by the afternoon.

Pray for the Diola people, for Diouloulou, and for the family of Mama Lucy. And pray for the Gospel to take root here among a people who live in the shadow of death.