chapter: Senegal - part 2

Sunday, Jan. 10 was the beginning of an amazing time. As a team, we decided to stay in one of the villages where we would serve over night. That morning after breakfast and a devotional we headed out of town for a 2 hour ride. Destination: Diohne (roughly pronounced Joe-heen).
There is a running joke/commentary from Westerners who live or visit almost all of the African countries. We called it Senegal Time. Essentially, there is no such thing as "late" because the important thing is that you arrived and the relationships you have while trying to arrive is more important than getting to a place on a schedule. Anyway, so we arrived at this church plant in Diohne on Senegal time. But no matter, the congregation was waiting for us by doing other things. We worshipped with them for a couple hours - they sang, we sang, we all danced, sermon message translated.
This type of worship is such a treat for me. Praise sung out to our God in whatever language; me not understanding the words, but knowing the heart, the content.
After the service and everyone greeted each other (I'm pretty sure I met everyone there), they all disbanded for siesta. Businesses and schools take siesta because typically it's just too hot outside during early afternoon. Several from our team sat under this huge tree and chatted and chilled and worked on our Seree (local language) phrases. Slowly people started reappearing again. Kids came out to play. We pulled out the futbols; we had card games going; we even pulled our sleeping mats together and taught some girls how to tumble. There was this one little girl that had her aunt's Bible in Seree. She would flip through it, point, and I would do my best to read it. Her aunt then sat next to me opened up to the end of Matthew and she would read a few words and I would follow her lead. Then I read the same passage in my English Bible.
Late afternoon, Robin (one of the team members) and I decided to go for a walk. We met up with Jerome who lived in a nearby community. (Diohne is a large village made up of several smaller communities.) Through his little bit of English plus charades, he told us about the history of the village. His family, a long time ago, actually started Diohne, and his dad is the oldest man living there. As we walked we kept bumping into his cousins or uncles or 3rd cousins twice removed (family trees get complicated). He told us how they make and store their millet (a staple food like grain). He invited us into his home and other people's homes. Each family group (all of the extended family) has wall around their homes with the individual families within the wall. When you marry, you essentially build your room(s) in your parent's backyard. That way family sticks together and everybody is there to assist.
After 9pm that night, there started a dance. The row of drummers on djembes came up with their own rhythms while a few people in a ring around the center would pop out, move their to the beat crazy fast for a few seconds, then sit back down in the ring of people. I managed to hide in the darkness while others of my team where pulled in to dance. But twas the time for our naming ritual. We were all pulled into the center and one by one our namesakes (people from the village selected us to give us their name) danced with us individually. So her name is now my name. My Seree name is Ndew Seine.
After that long day, 6 of us slept in a tent, 2 in the church, and the men somewhere else. The stars were brilliant that night.
Thus ends day 3. Day 4: clinic in Diohne.