Operation Christmas Child Comes to Town....or Village

When we lived back in the states our family always took part in filling up shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. It was great fun to fill shoes boxes with small treats knowing that these boxes would be taken all over the world and given to children by a local church in an effort to spread the Gospel and link a family with a local Bible believing church. And we always talked about what it would be like to be on the other end of the boxes and to be able to give them to the children. Well, this Saturday we will get to find out!

This coming Saturday the church here in Diouloulou will have the opportunity to distribute some of the boxes to the children who take part in the children's ministry here. We leave early Saturday morning to drive to Bignona to pick up the boxes and bring them back to Diouloulou, get set up, and then in the afternoon we will have a special time with the children and their parents. Before the boxes are given out the Gospel will be shared and we are praying that God would work in the lives of the children and the parents who are going to take part. Please be in prayer for the church here and especially for the parents and children, all of which come from Muslim or Animist families. And check back on our blog in a few days as we post some pictures of the fun!

Good Friends, Good Times

Hosanna and Thea cracking open the cashews they had just roasted with their friends. 

Thea and her good friend Harriet after roasting cashews.

Ezra and his best friend Yaya (aka "The Monkey Hunter")
as they roast cashews that they had collected.

Ezra and Yaya in the very top of a mango tree
looking for ripe mangos.

To add a little perspective, here is Ezra and Yaya in the top of the same tree.

Matt and Ibrahima (aka "The Mirror" because he mimics Matt's every move and expression) doing what they do best.

Ez and his pals.

Hosanna and Harriet roasting cashews.

Alpha, Ezra, and Yaya hanging out in the mango tree.

A Weekend with the Handi-Sport Team

Happy 12th Birthday Ezra!

Early in our marriage Gayle and I battled with infertility. We tried for over three-and-a-half years to become pregnant before being told by one of the country's leading infertility specialists that the chances of us having children on our own were nearly nonexistent.

God used this long event in our lives as very new Christians to teach us about what it meant to treasure Jesus over and above everything. Even over wonderful things like children.

Ez making "attaya" at Abdoulaye's

But God, in His infinite grace, did indeed bless us with a child. And I can remember how we, our family and our church family and friends rejoiced to find out that after all of this time Gayle was finally pregnant. 

When the big day for Ezra to be born finally arrived there was great excitement. Over 25 people were at the hospital as Gayle went into labor. The child that the doctors had said was nearly impossible, that we had all been praying for for years, was getting ready to make his arrival. It was a time of great anticipation and joy.

But Ezra's arrival did not go exactly the way that we had planned it. When he arrived there were some unanswered questions about our little boy that the doctors had to look into. And less than 12 hours after Ezra's birth Gayle and I sat alone in the hospital room as Ezra was carted off to have some x-rays done of his skull and to see a neurosurgeon. Our half-day-old little boy was taken away to see what his future, and ours, would hold. This was not the picture that we had imagined for over four years.

Me with my "main man" after a long
day in Dakar

 

As Gayle and I sat in that hospital room we were exhausted, confused, and more than a little bit overwhelmed. And it was in that moment that the Lord laid a verse of Scripture on my heart that we had memorized together years earlier. It was Psalm 20:7 which reads, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God." And there in that hospital room in our time of need we were reminded of our great God. We were reminded of His sovereignty and His love and His care. We were assured that He was there and that no matter what this looked like or how this turned out that He was in control and that He was always good. He reminded us that He is a trustworthy God and when you cannot trace His hand you must learn to trust His heart.

Tomorrow Ezra turns twelve years old. And Ezra is in perfect health. As I type this my eyes are filled with tears at the abundant blessing he has been to his father. We named him Ezra because of what was said about Ezra the scribe in Ezra 7:10: "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel." By God's grace we are getting a front row seat to see God make him into that kind of young man.

Our times of trusting God for Ezra are far from over. I am sure that there are many more bumps and bruises, both physically and emotionally, that we will endure as we move into the future. And when they come I pray that we, along with Ezra, will be able to say, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God." Happy birthday Ez! Thank you for blessing your father each day for the last twelve years.

The Latest on the Girls

Dear Partners in the Gospel,

First of all our family wants to thank you for praying for the girls and for us. Knowing that you are praying for us drives us to a bolder confidence in the sovereign goodness of our Lord. Also, your notes of encouragement reminded our family how grateful we are to be a part of a team that cares about the spread of the Gospel and cares for the spreaders of that Gospel.

After meeting with our doctor to review the girls test results he confirmed that both girls have a bacterial infection (with the reports also showing that Thea was "sicker" than Hosanna, but with less symptoms). He prescribed them both some medications, which they began taking today, and assured us that after a week of taking the medications they would begin to feel much better.

We praise the Lord that we not only were able to find out what was going on with the girls health, but also that it was not something very severe. We also praise the Lord for the many lessons that He taught (and is teaching!) us about how to trust Him more and more each day.

Thank you again for praying for us and for being there for us as we are serving in Senegal. We will keep you updated on the girls and on the mighty things that God is doing in southern Senegal.

Rejoicing in Grace,

The Boyd Family

Psalm 147:5

Update and Prayer Requests

Dear Partners in the Gospel,

We wanted to give you a quick update on us and also pass along some prayer requests. We are currently in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, having arrived here last Friday. We came here for two reasons: for the girls to see a doctor and for us to work toward getting our Senegalese residency cards. Let us give you a few details on both.

For over a month Hosanna has been having off-and-on fevers with little or no other symptoms. She will get a fever, it will last for several hours, and then it will go away. Then, about three days later, the fever will return. We were monitoring this, had given her a test for malaria (which was negative) and were in communication with an American doctor for advice. About a week-and-a-half ago, however, the level of the fevers increased and they began to arrive each day. It was at that point that we decided to come to Dakar to see a doctor.

In addition to this, Thea discovered a swollen "gland" in her cheek about a month ago and we wanted to get it checked out while we were in Dakar.

By God's grace we were able to see our doctor Friday afternoon and he ordered blood tests and other lab work for both the girls. All the lab work was completed by Saturday and now we await the results and another meeting with our doctor. Right now both girls are doing great and enjoying a few days of "downtime" in the city.

While here in Dakar we also met with the officials to complete the process for receiving our residency cards which will allow us to stay in the country. To make an incredibly long story shorter, we were unable to complete the process in Ziguinchor in southern Senegal because the man who is in charge of the process is away on vacation. However, the wait for our second appointment here in Dakar would be over a month. With all that being said, we have chosen to try and complete the process once again in the south when we return.

So here are some specific ways that you can pray for us during this time:

*For wisdom for our family and our doctor (Dr. Boukoulou)

*For us to continue to walk by faith and in grace as we wait

*For our travel back to the Casamance once we are finished in Dakar as we are planning to drive down through The Gambia

*That we would be able to complete the process for our residency cards soon after arriving back down south

Our family wants to sincerely thank you for being those that we can turn to when we need prayer. There is great comfort in knowing that you all do and will continually take our family and our needs before our gracious Lord and that you, along with us, will trust in His sovereign goodness for His people. You have no idea what an important part of our team you are as you pray.

We will update you as we receive some answers and pass along to you how God has moved in response to the prayers of His people.

Resting in Grace,

The Boyd Family

Romans 15:20

Without Words Wednesday

 

Hosanna waits for her bucket to fill
so she can flush the toilet

 

Ez makes tea at Abdoulaye's house one afternoon

Gayle's birthday lunch

All the gang came over to wish
Gayle a happy birthday

The kids wait as their mother dispenses their
weekly dose of medicine on "Malaria Monday"