The GO Team to Senegal from Northland International University experienced one adventure after another during their six-week mission trip, which began on May 24, 2010. Each day provided unique occasions for the team to focus on meeting people and developing relationships with them. Whether with a friend at a university, a student in English class, or the neighborhood kids, all of these were opportunities to display the kind of love that defines a Christian’s life—the Savior’s love. God worked to bring people across their paths, allowing many conversations where the team was able to name Jesus Christ and talk about Him for a few minutes. From watching a basketball game in a gym to drawing a crowd of children around the novelty of a camera, circumstances to make friends in Senegal continually abounded.
On several occasions the Northland team visited the University Gaston-Berger, which is north of St. Louis. This college, one of the largest in the region, is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. The campus is huge and—like everything in Senegal—very sandy. The group listened to a few class lectures and wandered around campus in order to meet people. Since the Senegalese people were extremely open and even searching, conversations often led to sharing the differences between Christianity and Islam. The team was continually able to follow up with contacts made.
Sunday services were a good time to fellowship with other believers and to gather around the Word. While the work in St. Louis was established over thirty years ago, the extremely poor culture has often led to people just looking for a handout, posing a difficult problem. If money is available, it is easy to gather a crowd; however, when the ministry is built simply around the Gospel, it can be a very difficult place. The current missionaries are committed to a ministry built on the Word of God. The morning service was completely in Wolof, and during one evening service Mr. Cushman preached from Mark 5 through a French interpreter. The cookout at the missionary’s home afterward was infringed upon by the incessant chanting of the nearby mosques, serving as a constant reminder of the difficult task the missionaries have undertaken. It is a very difficult culture with many layers of resistance to the Gospel, and only the Holy Spirit can penetrate into the hearts of the people in Senegal.
In addition to the team members learning some Wolof themselves, they were able to teach ESL classes each evening in the church building (after cleaning and conquering the two-inch cockroaches). The team experienced a good turnout for the English classes with many excited, appreciative students at various levels attending. The lessons turned into opportunities to share the Gospel because every night the team would spend time talking to the students after class since they all desired to improve their conversational skills. The topics ranged from emotions to religion and everything in between.
Visiting a pre-school and kindergarten located around the corner from the missionary’s house offered a fun day for the team. The team also distributed toothbrushes, tooth paste, and dental floss that had been given to the missionaries. Proving that many hands make lighter work, the missionaries were likewise encouraged and blessed by the team painting the inside of the church building over a period of three days.
On a more relaxing day, the team explored where the Senegalese river met the ocean, finding all sorts of wildlife along the way—giant jelly fish, big crabs, little (really fast) crabs, baby sharks, seashell butterflies, and other things. The view of the ocean was breathtaking if they ignored the piles of trash, empty bottles, spare nets, and other garbage that littered the beach. Also included in the landscape, goats, cats, cows, and pigs randomly roamed the streets. (How the locals managed to keep track of their animals remains a mystery!)
Though the team plans to continue interacting and communicating with their new friends beyond this trip, they were burdened to make this trip meaningful for the ministry in Senegal long term by bearing fruit into eternity. The team members will enjoy eating things besides rice and fish (Ceebu jen), but they hope to never forget that they must strive to make their lives, each day, meaningful for eternity. The team developed a sense of urgency and importance to everything done. The following quote, taken from the team’s final blog post, summarizes this trip: “Whether teaching English, sharing the Gospel, playing Skip-Bo, or eating Ceebu jen, it can all be important because it can be meaningful for eternity.”