Galenshegu and Gua

Fulani family I met today

I went out with the team from North Carolina today to the villages of Galenshegu and Gua. The team split up and I went with the nurses and staff that went to Gua. There we ministered to the villagers for about 4 hours. We had an assembly line where the people would see a nurse, then come to my station where I shared the gospel with them. Then they went to a make-shift dispensary we set up and received the drugs our nurses prescribed; mainly vitamins, iron tablets, malaria meds, antibiotics, cough syrups, etc… We also had children’s ministry going on where the kids played games and sang and were told the story of Jesus’ love, along with receiving dum dum suckers, a book, stickers, etc.... The group over in Galenshegu mainly did sanitation training and Aids counseling. They also passed out soap and sanitation products, did evangelism counseling, and children’s ministry going on.

It was hot as blazes today, but I must say it felt really good to minister to the whole person today. It also was a lot of fun ministering with a team again. I have mostly been flying solo this trip so it was great to hang out with this team, which has really accepted me as one of their own. I especially enjoyed hearing the interesting stories of the other places some of them have ministered such as Uganda. It was also great to be with some first-timers who got their first big taste of being in a village for most of the day. No one ever forgets their first time in a village; there is nothing like it.

Fulani teenager at Gua today

The icing on the cake for me personally today was my first experience of being around Fulani people. Fulanis are very exotic-looking people, and I find them very beautiful. They are mainly herdsmen who live out in the country away from other tribes and villages, mostly keeping to themselves. The main difference I noticed between the Fulani and other Africans is the way they dress and adorn themselves. All the men today had on strange-looking hats and the women had beaded hair and a variety of colorful scarves, beads, and cowrie shells adorning their bodies and clothing. Many of them were also tattooed and wore beautiful jewelry.

The Fulani are mostly Muslims; in fact the majority of those I shared with today were Muslim, but they were all very gracious and all listened patiently, many of them thanking me profusely even though they had to wait hours in the heat to be seen. I was grateful for the team I served with today, grateful God allowed me to meet many new friends today and grateful I got to share the Good News of Jesus Christ face to face with some people I know God loves so much. I wish you could have been with me. You would have loved it!