His flock of sheep remains outside the gate when Abdou comes to the hospital for medical consultation. He has not been feeling well for a while, but because of trepidation, he has never been to the hospital before. He is a shepherd of the Fulani people and does not easily open up, not even to [&hell[...]
Archive for the ‘Church’ Category
Yeesu Rekk Concert
“You’re Bernard, the singer, aren’t you?” the employee of the gas station asks, and she continues: “Yeesu Rekk!” (only Jesus), “thank you for what you do for our country.” It is an example of the many conversations that have started since we started the “Yee[...]
The cause of illness
A virus or bacteria can make us sick. Behavior, such as smoking or poor nutrition, can also cause illness, which is why lifestyle medicine is on the rise. It is a revelation to many Senegalese physicians, health care students, and nurses that our values and underlying belief systems and cultur[...]
On death, hope and perseverance
“A little further to the left Tabitha!” Dr. Soh shouts. It is 2013, we are on the empty site that he has just bought for the construction of the hospital. We (Maria, Tabitha, Simon and Jan and Dr. Soh) are each on a corner of the empty plot so that we can see the size. […][...]
Malnutrition in the slums
Alioune* sweeps the floor of the Koranic school, the room that we use for the church’s malnutrition program in this slum area in Dakar. The beautiful coastline in the distance stands out against the sea of corrugated iron with wooden huts. The sun-drying fish attracts a huge pest of flie[...]
Music changes lives
During our stay in Holland over summer we enjoyed the music and singing in our own language, and Dutch cultural music. Music touches our hearts and the texts change our thinking. There are obvious reasons why singing has an important place in the church service. We are blessed in the Europe and the [...]
Protection and Proclamation
“…. But then I heard Mamadou call me to look for his bag, and then I knew he was still alive!” It is the rather funny ending of a dramatic experience. Two of the evangelists, that had travelled some hundred miles from up country were in a serious bus accident. The bus had to deviate […][...]
“MARANATHA”
“Maranatha”, an exclamation of hope that has been expressed since the early church. It reflects a deep-rooted desire for justice in situations of suffering and injustice. The daily confrontation with injustice makes that many people recognize this desire. It is not just by its title that[...]
Dutch Discipleship: cheap and direct
As I stand by the water and look out over the ocean and the palm trees beach I wonder whether Pastor Pape does not have some hidden Dutch blood. He always has bargains (like the location of this church retreat, literally on the beach, but cheaper than what we would pay in Dakar) and he […][...]
A musical revolution!
“This wasn’t a forum, this was a revolution!!” says a pastor at the end of the first edition of the International Forum for Christian Artists. The vision that had been penciled in our agenda for a long time but became concrete this summer when we visited the Christian Artists Semin[...]