Tip of the Week-- January 15, 2015

Our "cold" season here is a time of sheer delight for Western expatriates.  Our "chilly" night time temps reach down into the 60's regularly, with the occasional dip into the "icy" 50's.  This permits sleeping under all the blankets, morning time shivering (especially when you ride the motorcycle),  prolonged wearing of sweatshirts and jackets, and comparisons to snow days.  Day time temps rise to the 80s and 90s, which is the only reason we don't go for full-out comparisons to Siberia. 

Now this may be hard to understand for those of you currently living in the Ice Age that is North America right now.  You are probably wondering why we aren't more of a tourist destination/retirement community.  Well, the State Department's strong warnings about the terrorism and Ebola risks aside, there is a dirty, very dirty, secret about our cold season.

Just as no one really wants to know what exactly they put into that sausage that makes it taste so good, most of us go on ignoring one of the key ingredients for our cooler temps.  You see, these months are marked by wind currents that come out of the north-northeast (i.e. the Sahara desert), and they bring with them enormous amounts of dust. (Which, as an aside, apparently makes it all the way to the Amazon River basin and is an essential source of minerals and nutrients for the rainforest.  Glad we could contribute!)

On any given day the sky can gray out with the dust coming in, blocking out the sun.  Driving around on the motorcycle can be a suffocating experience, and your clothes will never be the same.  Colds, runny noses, and respiratory  problems abound. 

But we needn't be totally pessimistic about this dust problem.  As always, I'm ready to offer some TIPS for seeing the positive sides of your dust problem:

1. Play detective.  Your front porch will almost always be covered in so much dust that foot prints show up.  Memorize the tread design of everyone who enters regularly.  If an unfamiliar tread pattern shows up, you know you've had a visitor.

2. No need for post-it notes.  Even with regular dusting, your desk, table, and coffee table surfaces will have enough dust that you can jot down anything you need.

3. Nothing is worse than using a Kleenex and feeling like you've only really used a quarter of it.  Save it and be economic, or pitch it and be sanitary?  This dilemma is completely resolved with the dusty.  What you blow out will be so dirty, you'll feel completely satisfied that the Kleenex has served its purpose.

4.  If your nose-blowing experience is satisfying, your showering experience will be completely gratifying.  There is nothing quite like seeing extremely dirty water run off your feet to make you feel like your shower was worth it.

5.  After a run or motorcycle run, you'll notice that your eyes are outlined with dirt, and you can pat yourself on the back for being "hard-core" as if you had just finished a Tough Mudder.

Prayer Requests

1.  Pray for a friend of mine, "B", who recently decided to follow the Lord.  Pray that he would be encouraged in his faith.  Also, he has a practical need-- his family hasn't been able to fully fund his school.  Pray that the Lord would provide.

2. Another friend, "D", has asked me to tell him more about the Lord.  He is worried about reactions from his family, so we are meeting confidentially.  Pray that those meetings would go well.

3.  Issa (a friend and new-ish believer) has been accepted to a YWAM school in Senegal.  He will leave at the end of this month.  Pray for his trip and that he would really grow in his faith through this schooling.

4.  The hospital outreach committee has planned to go to a couple villages in the next couple months.  This year, instead of seeing lines and lines of people for consultation and treatment, we have decided to base our events on public health teaching.  Pray that the details of these events would come together well.  Also, the dates we set initially have come into conflict with other events.  Pray that we'd find good dates for these outreaches.

5.  Next week, we will be going to the prison.  Pray that the video we show and the message that is shared will impact lives.