Africa: Part Three

Next stop: Buchanan! Sunday afternoon we left for Buchanan. The drive was brutal with the last few hours being painfully slow through extremely bumpy roads, darkness, and heavy rain. God must have had his hands around our vans because we arrived safely - no vehicle breakdowns which are very common, no flat tires, everyone was safe. The hotel was a huge improvement from Ganta. It was the first time we slept in air-conditioning since we arrived, and we all slept SO well there. The food was great, too. I was happy to have a roommate, too. Rosezatta, one of the students from ABC who traveled and sang with us quickly became a good friend. We have a lot in common. Obviously, the music was a great bridge between our different cultures. But we also both have three children, similar ages, wear the same size shoes (okay only the women will appreciate this one), and loved learning about each other's daily life. She owns a catering company and is working on her education degree from ABC. Here's a picture of the two of us:

Since we traveled to Buchanan a day early, we had Monday free and decided to go to the beach. It was gorgeous and reminded me of Hawaii - the views were breathtaking. It was great to enjoy the beauty of God's creation and spend time getting to know our new friends from ABC. Here are a few pictures of the beach:

On Tuesday we went over to set up for the concert and were amazed to find 260 pastors at the leadership conference. Many of them and others returned for the concert that night. It was definitely the liveliest crowd and so encouraging that they were smiling, dancing, and singing along the whole time as we played for them. We definitely gave it all we had that night, and people again responded to the invitation to commit their lives to Jesus. The most meaningful part about being in Buchanan for me was not only the new friendships that were born but also a conversation between Colby, me, and two of the ABC students, Miracle and Andronicus. They came to us after breakfast on Tuesday and talked all about their passion for music and worship. Two things grabbed my heart - 1) They don't have CD players or mp3 players so that they can listen to music. They have to resort to the radio or limited time on the internet in the library at ABC. This is definitely something that Colby and I want to change. 2) They are desperate to learn how to write music. They just came out and asked us if we could help them, not even knowing that writing music is what I do. It was a God moment! They are talented singers and very creative, but they lack the knowledge of chord theory and just don't know where to start in writing songs. So, I'm praying and asking God how I can help. I'll keep you posted on what I find out.