Enjoying Guinea

Friday was the last day of surgeries and the hospital is only open for one more week.  The reality that our time here in Guinea is nearly over is hitting all of us.  It is a bittersweet feeling as we have loved our time here but we are so excited for some down-time and a trip to visit family and friends in Colorado in just a few weeks!

Here are some really great ways we have kept ourselves busy enjoying Guinea and ship life in the last few weeks.


Homecoming

This was the first ever attempt at a homecoming type celebration for our 3 seniors in the Academy on board the ship.  We got to be a part of making this event really fun.  Since American Football is not really played here we had an ultimate Frisbee match between the Academy and the Crew. John and I both got to play for the crew team.

Adalynn helped cheer!

Everyone got really in to it, though most of the crowd was routing for the Academy

We played on a construction site.  (I have battle wounds to prove it)

We even put on a dance for them!

Mosque Tour

John and I had the amazing opportunity to get to tour the grand Mosque here in Conakry.  It is the 4th largest Mosque in Africa!  It was donated by the Saudi Arabian government in 1984 after some Guinean's helped plant trees for shade in Saudi.  Our staff development manager formed a relationship with some men at the mosque and was able to organize these tours as a way for us to gain a broader understanding of the Muslim faith.  It is not a normal practice to get such an intimate look into their worship.  We were also allowed to take pictures, something that is rarely permitted.

Women were required to have their heads covered as soon as we entered the gates.

Outside the mosque there is a memorial to great heroes in Guinea's history.  This tomb has a corrected deceased date as the original was written incorrectly. . .oops.

A bag of water left for the spirits of the dead.

Inside the beautiful Mosque. The red carpets are the prayer rugs. The brown boxes are to hold shoes.

The details were extremely beautiful.

The place is filled during the call to prayer 5 times a day.  We asked them if God ever spoke back to them during these prayer times and they were surprised by the question.  It is all very much a reverence to Allah and not a reciprocal time of prayer.  Steve, our staff development manager, had an amazing opportunity to build relationships with many of the men at the mosque through these tours and was able to also share with them what it means to follow Jesus.  The grand Imam and the man who led our tour were also able to tour our ship and learn a little about what we do and believe. Steve was also able to pray with and for these men on several occasions and the men at the mosque prayed for Mercy Ships as part of their daily prayer.  We can never know where exactly their hearts are towards the God we know and serve but overall it was a beautiful picture of  sharing Jesus' love through relationship.

Batik Making Factory

I got to take a tour of a Batik (fabric) making factory and make my own dyed cloth.  It was really amazing to see the entire process.

First we chose from hundreds of stamps.

Then we stamped hot wax onto our fabric.

 

 

Here's my white fabric with wax stamps.

This wonderful lady picked off all the dripped wax bits.

We then chose a color and dyed the fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

The waxed parts stay white!  (mine is the brown one)

 We are thankful that we can be a part of such wonderful experiences!  Only 2 weeks left in Guinea before we set sail for the Canary Islands. . .and then to Colorado to see many of you very soon. :)