Six-Month research trip March through August 2000
 

Monday, March 6, 2000
All 12 of us and all our luggage made it to Bissau safe and sound.    We are enjoying the hospitality of Dr. Brandão Gomes Co, Pastor Bobo Gomes Co and Pastor Jose Paulo (Ze Paulo) Semedo.

Pastor Ze Paulo is the Pastor of Central Church and President of the National Council of Evangelical Churches of Guinea Bissau.  He is the one who invited me to come and live with him and his family.  I am staying at their house with him, his wife Itla, their two sons; Akitin Mahyela (2 years old) and N'Djiluni Tilo (8 months old), and N'djira, Ze Paulo's teenage cousin.  Two more of the team members, Karen Garvin and Brenda, are here too.  Ze Paulo will be making arrangements for me to visit all around the country.

It is carnival time in town.  This is a Mardi Gras type festival that lasts for four days at least.

Today we had a meeting with the National Council of Evangelical Churches.  We expressed greetings from our various Churches and exchanged information.

Things I learned:

• There are 60 medical doctors being trained in Cuba
• There are 130 Evangelical Churches in Guinea Bissau; 35 of them have full time pastors.
• There are 10 pastors in support positions.  The remaining Churches have at least two Elders.
• There are an additional 30 Church plantings, that do not yet have two elders, at least one of which has 80 members.
• The Mandinka and Fula are two of 23 tribes in Guinea Bissau.  They are both unreached people groups (less than 10% Christian).  They are Muslim.

Afasãine is a Mandinka man who is a Christian.  His wife had been very ill and Jesus healed her.  When he saw this, he came to believe in Jesus.  (This is the short version of the story).  You can access more information and see pictures of us here by accessing Lead Ministry's web site at www.leadministries.org.

We are having a wonderful time.

Tuesday March 7, 2000
This morning several of us went to the WEC mission.   They have been here about 60 years.  They are the ones who started the Evangelical Churches here.  I got to see missionaries I had met when I was here before.  One of them spent 35 years translating the Bible into Kriol.  I bought one of these Bibles at the Bible Book Store adjacent to Central Church this evening.  It is
very good quality.  It will help me to learn the Kriol language, communicate with the people, and I can preach from it.

This afternoon we went to a picnic the young people were having.  It was fun.

Ze Paulo, our host, took us ladies to see property that Central Church is purchasing for: a Mission house where Missionaries can live, also a Church, the central office, and an Evangelical school, with a gymnasium, and volley ball court.  He also took us to see the sports stadium and sea port where the fishing boats come in.

More than 100 people were saved tonight as a result of the Young People's Christian Ministry from Central Church's presentations at the Carnival.  Praise the Lord!

Wednesday, March 8, 2000
This morning we went to the clinic in Biombo.  This is the town that Dr. Brandão and Pastor Bobo are from.  We met the head nurse, the only one in the clinic who has had formal training.  The others have had on-the-job training and are very competent.  Some of them have been working there for 10 years or more.  The head nurse and two of the staff told us of their needs and we discussed ideas.  This clinic serves 20,000 people.

Dr. Brandão took me to see his mother and the home where he grew up.  It is a traditional Papel house.  It has round buildings connected with walls which also have rooms in them.  There is a central courtyard in the middle.  I took some pictures of  Dr. Brandão and his family and neighbors.  What a treat!

Today is the National day of Women.  When we got home, the women of the Church had a pot-luck meal at Central Church, and we had a wonderful time eating, singing, dancing, and worshipping.  A message was brought by one of the women, based on Proverbs 31.

I made contact with people I need to talk with and we set up meetings.  What a wonderful day!

Thursday, March 9, 2000
We had a thorough tour of the Simon Mendes hospital today, led by Ansehm Dias, an administrator.  The hospital is just a block from Pastor Ze Paulo's home and Church.  We were able to meet the staff in each building, which will make it easy for us to visit and pray for the people.

We were told of the needs and Dr. Julian Lis asked lots of questions and took copious notes.  He is attending John Hopkins University with Dr. Brandão Co.

There are still buildings that need war damage repair.  Renovations had been started on the pediatric building before the war but were never finished.  It is still in need of renovation.  There are some repairs that can be done by us.

When I told Mr. Dias about the vinyl I brought to make cushions for wherever they need them most, he was very grateful.  I will meet with him regarding this after the rest of the team leaves a week from Sunday.

We had a chance to pray for a few patients today too.  One wants printed information about Jesus.  We plan to return tomorrow to pray for patients.

Friday, March 10, 2000
We returned to the hospital today and prayed outside the pediatric ward.  When I asked a mother if I could pray for her child, she explained to the other mothers that I was from the Central Church and wanted to pray for the children.  All the mothers were happy to let me.

We went to see the new medical library.  Dr. Brandão did the planning for this library.  It was gratifying for him to see the progress.  Brenda, one of the team members and I want to make curtains for the office where there will be office equipment.  There is presently cardboard in the windows so people cannot see the equipment and be tempted to steal it.

We went to lunch at a nice restaurant where I ate gazelle meat.  It tasted like mild venison and was very tender and good.

We went to the immigration office to get our pictures taken and the paperwork done.  We were each given a five year residency status.  Now we can come and go freely for five years.  This came about because of the
mix-up in the visas.  God has ways that are so very different from ours.

I opened a bank account with Ze Paulo's help and the help of the Church treasurer who works at the bank.

As you can see, we have very busy days.  Tomorrow afternoon I hope to go to Sitek to send this on e-mail and receive e-mails.  We have not been able to send and receive from Ze Paulo's house for some unknown reason.

Love,
Martha Shephard
marthaeij@yahoo.com