Misjon i Mali

A different Christmas-season

2011-12-12T15:25:00.004Z

This Christmas-season has been different. A few weeks ago I was sitting together with Muhammad, a fulani highly educated in Islam, in a small town in Mali. Muhammed has received the Bible as a gift, and he has read quite a lot in it. He is an intellectual and interested in religion, and he finds it interesting to compare what is written about Jesus in the Bible with what he knows from Islam. As we were sitting outside his simple house he talked about the things he found that were similar between the Christian faith and Islam. He talked about texts concerning the birth of Jesus, and how Mary is informed by the angel Gabriel that she shall become pregnant and give birth to the Messiah. After a while I asked him if he had noticed any differences between what he read in the Bible and what he knows from Islam. “Yes”, he responded quickly, “there are two differences: The first one is that in the Gospels God is called Father. In Islam God is not called Father. The second one is that Jesus is called Lord. In Islam only God is Lord.” This seemed to me to be a great starting point for further conversations. We agreed to meet again to talk more about similarities and differences between the Gospel and Islam. A few hours later two French citizens were kidnapped not very far from where Muhammad lives. During the next days the Norwegian missionaries were evacuated southwards in Mali. At the moment we don’t know when we will be able to return to our homes here. Please pray for the people of Mali in this situation of uncertainty:

- Pray for peace and reconciliation and a return to law and order in Norther Mali-
- Pray for all those who are starving in Mali this Christmas, after the crops largely failed this year.
- Pray for Muhammed and our other contacts that they must know God as their Father, and Jesus as their Lord.

Glimt frå evangeliseringsarbeidet

2011-10-18T21:35:00.007+01:00

Arbeidet med å gjeva evangeliet til fulaniar i Mali har tre ulike fasar. Den første fasen handlar om å byggja venskap og tillit og å læra meir om folk, kultur og samfunn. Eit døme på ein slik kontakt er B.:

B. er ein ung fulanigut frå ein familie der mange har høgare utdanning. Sjølve er han interessert i datamaskiner og håpar ein dag å reisa til Bamako og studera informatikk. Ein periode gjekk han av og til i ei pinsekyrkje fordi han var nysgjerrig på dei kristne, men etter at ein nabo varsla faren har han halde seg vekke frå kyrkja. No går B. mykje på besøk til misjonærane i byen sin, og synest det er veldig spanande å prata med folk som kjem frå ein annan del av verda. Han synest også det er kjekt å få fortelja om heimlandsbyen sin, den store kufesten som vert arrangert kvart år, om forfedrane sine og den store slekta si. Av og til inviterer han misjonærane heim til seg, slik at dei får drikka te og prata med foreldra og brørne hans. På den store muslimske sauefesten inviterer B. misjonærane til å feira festen saman med han og familien.

I Mali er det alltid naturleg å dra Gud og religion inn i ein samtale. Med nokon av kontaktane våre vert det etter kvart også naturleg å lesa frå Bibelen saman eller å be for utfordringar og problem dei står oppe i. Eit døme på ein slik kontakt er M.A.:

M.A. har studert i 9 år på det mest prestisjefulle religiøse universitetet i den muslimske verda. Han snakkar flytande arabisk og engelsk, i tillegg til fulani. Heime i det enkle jordhuset hans ligg moderne arabiske tidsskrift synleg framme. Han har besøkt både Sinai-fjellet der Moses fekk dei 10 bod, og Mekka og Medina. Etter 9 års religiøse studier fekk M.A. nok, spesielt i møte med rasisme i den arabiske verda. Etter at faren døyde flytta han attende til heimbyen sin i Mali, der han prøver å finna arbeid. Her har han blitt kjent med ein kristen fulani, som igjen har introdusert han for ein misjonær som har tatt seg bryet med å læra språket hans. M.A. ønskjer å forstå meir av kva dei kristne trur på, og spurte difor misjonæren om han kunne få ein Bibel på engelsk. Hausten 2011 fekk han til sin store glede ei hebraisk – engelsk utgåve av Det Gamle Testamentet, og ei gresk – engelsk utgåve av Det Nye Testamentet. Han har også fått fleire skrifter frå Bibelen på fulani.

Den tredje fasen i å gjeva evangeliet vidare, er å gjeva ei meir systematisk bibelundervisning til dei som ønskjer det. Eit døme på dette er M.:

M. er gift med han som både er landsbysjef og imam i landsbyen der ho bur. Via kjentsfolk traff ho ein misjonær, og ho ville gjerne høyra historiar frå Bibelen. Historia frå Edens hage, når alt var godt og det ikkje fantes sjukdom og død og slit og tørr jord, gjorde sterkt inntrykk på M.. Det var som om M. aldri kunne få nok av bibelhistoriane. Ho syntes alltid undervisninga misjonæren hadde førebudd var for kort. Våren 2011 fekk ho undervisning om dåpen, og var fast bestemt på at ho også ville verta døypt i Jesu namn. Misjonæren sa at dei først måtte snakka med ektemannen hennar, for å høyra om han aksepterte at kona vart døypt. Dei forklarte både kona og ektemannen at dåp blant anna tyder at M. går på Jesus sin veg og ikkje på Muhammed sin veg. Ektemannen respekterte kona sitt ønskje om dåp. Påsken 2011 vart difor ein stor fest i kyrkjelyden, der M. vart døypt med ektemannen til stade under gudstenesta.

I løpet av mine 3 år i ein liten fulanikyrkjelyd har me hatt 12 dåp: 3 vaksne og 9 born frå 0 – 12 år. Me klarar ikkje å følgja opp alle som ønskjer bibelundervisning. Takk for all støtte og forbønn til dette viktige arbeidet med å gjeva evangeliet vidare til fulaniar i Mali!

Borte bra men heima best

2010-10-26T13:42:00.004+01:00

Denne veka var eg på eit offentleg kontor her i Douentza, for å spørja om me kan få leiga ein skule til fulanileiren me skal arrangera i nyttårshelga. Mannen eg skulle snakka med var ute, så eg vart sittande å venta inne på sekretæren sitt kontor.

Den eine av dei to andre som var der hadde høyrt om Noreg. Han visste at det er langt mot nord, og meinte å vita at hovudstaden i Noreg er Helsinki. Han visste at av og til er det ikkje sol i heile tatt i Noreg, og at det er veldig kaldt der. Eg fortalte at samanlikna med Mali er det kaldt, og at varmetida i Noreg er kaldare enn kuldetida i Mali. Dei to menna diskuterte forundra korleis det går an å leva på ein slik stad. ”Korleis i all verda bygger de hus der?” ”Av tre, seier du?” ”Er ikkje det kaldt?” Så fortalte den eine av dei at han ein gang hadde besøkt Frankrike. Då han reiste frå Mali var det 45 grader. I Frankrike var det 0 grader. ”Det var så kaldt!”, sa han, ”eg fraus heilt inn i magen!” Den andre rista på hovudet og meinte at han aldri ville overlevd i eit slikt klima. Dei to konkluderte med at dei er heldige som lever i Douentza. Her er det ikkje ufyseleg kaldt som i Noreg. Her er det ikkje berre ørken og tørt slik som det er i Nord-Mali. Samstundes er det ikkje fullt av trær som tek bort all utsikten og gjer at du føler deg innesperra, slik som det er i Sør-Mali. Her i Douentza er det akkurat passe. Borte bra, men heima best, med andre ord.

Det er kjekt å møta folk som er glade i heimplassen sin, og nøgde med den staden dei bur. Samstundes har desse to fast jobb og inntekt. Blant dei som ikkje er så heldige er det mange som reiser ut av Mali for å prøva å tena pengar. Ein god del ønskjer seg til Europa, men arbeidsutvandrarane frå Douentza reiser stort sett til Ekvatorial Guinea i Sentral-Afrika. Kva dei jobbar med der har eg ikkje klart å finna ut, men på dei nye husa som vert bygd i Douentza er det tydeleg at det er ein del som tener gode pengar der.

Guds kjærleik

2010-01-01T16:42:00.005Z

NMS spurte meg om å skriva eit glimt frå julefeiringa i Mali til heimesidene deira. Under finn de det eg sendte, etterfølgd av nokre bilete frå julefeiringa i Douentza og Fulanistemnet i Bamako.

I romjula arrangerte MELM sitt årlege storstemne i Bamako. Temaet var ”Guds kjærleik”, og over 110 deltakarar kom. Her er nokre glimt frå møter med tre personar som gjorde inntrykk på meg:

Bura har vore koranelev i 13 år. I praksis vil det seia at foreldra sendte han bort då han var liten, for at han skulle gå i lære hjå ein koranlærar. For å få nok mat og pengar til å overleva måtte han tigga. Om kvelden pugga han koranen, og han kan i dag mykje av den utantil. I eit par år har Bura komen fast på gudstenester i MELM. I år var han for første gang med på Fulanistemnet vårt. Undervisninga om Guds kjærleik og dramatiseringa av historia om den bortkomne sonen gjorde sterkt inntrykk på han.

Adama er evangelist og leiar for eit kristent fellesskap av fulaniar. Før var han aktiv som leiar i ein annan kyrkjelyd. Etter kvart opplevde han at måten den kristne trua vart utrykt i denne kyrkjelyden virka avskrekkande på fulaniar som var interessert i å følgja Jesus. Han konkluderte med at dersom ein skal nå fulaniane med evangeliet, må den kristne trua bli utrykt i andre former enn det som elles er vanleg. No organiserer han bibelstudier og gudstenester der han tar omsyn til fulaniane sin kultur. Det tyder blant anna at dei ikkje nyttar tromme eller dansar eller er veldig emosjonelle i utrykksformene.

Siise er flink med musikk. Han og kona har opplevd mykje sjukdom, vanskar og usikkerhet. Den siste månaden har han vore ein god del sjuk. I løpet av stemnet gjorde undervisninga om Guds kjærleik og nåde i Jesus Kristus sterkt inntrykk på han. Resultatet vart ein vakker, ny song, som takkar Gud for hans store kjærleik til oss.

Menna i kyrkjelyden har nettopp slakta to geiter til julemåltidet. Etter gudstenesta og måltidet slo både menna og damene i kyrkjelyden til med kvart sitt innøvde dramastykke. I tillegg framførte borna bibelversa dei har pugga i løpet av haustens sundagsskule. Dei fekk også leika ein variant av den gode, gamle stolleiken. I sum gjorde det at julefeiringa vart opplevd både som ein fest og ei verdig markering av Jesu fødsel.

Forkynnar og liturg er klare til julegudsteneste. Med stort og smått og svart og kvitt og alt i mellom var me ca 70 personar til stades.

Borna øver på dramastykket om den bortkomne sonen, som dei med stort hell framførte for dei vaksne deltakarane på stemnet.

Nokre av menna tar ein pust i bakken mellom dei lange undervisningsøktene på fulanistemnet. Øktene varar ofte 2,5 – 3 timar i strekk.

Dramatic Sunday School

2009-11-24T19:32:00.006Z

At the moment there are around 20 children and youth who come regularly to Church in Douentza. Some of them are from Christian families, others not. To take well care of these children and youth is one of the most important things we can do. Therefore, last week two of my colleagues organized a workshop for Sunday school teachers from Douentza, Konza and Sevare. The goal for the workshop was to give the Sunday School teachers some examples and ideas concerning how to teach children. We talked about how children like to see, to touch and to taste, and that we have to be careful not to use words only as we teach them. My colleague Katie also had a session about using drama in the Sunday School. Here are some pictures from the workshop:

Stina is teaching. Newly baptised Rahila is sleeping.

Jibby turns Moussa into a statue of the older brother in the story of the prodigal son.

The prodigal son finally returns home.

I don't want to boast. At least not too much. But I was given quite a bit of credit for my role as one of the pigs in the story of the prodigal son. (At least I hope that is why they kept giving me that role...)

Youth work

2009-10-19T16:53:00.010+01:00

Over the years, the work of the missionaries in MELM have developed. A difference today compared with 20 years ago is that there now exist two-three small Fulani speaking congregations. As missionaries we agree that one of the most important things we can do to build a Fulani-speaking church is to give priority to the children and youth in our congregations. For some years we have had a Sunday school that functions very well. Some of the children have now become teenagers, and it is difficult to have them in the same group as the small children. This semester we have therefore started two new things here in Douentza: We have divided the Sunday school into one group for the smaller children and one for the older children. In addition to that we have started a program for teaching the teenagers every second Saturday. Planning and following up this program for the teenagers is my main work-task this semester (in addition to continuing learning Fulani). We have now had our first two meetings, and have been encouraged to find that all three teenagers we hoped would be interested showed up. None of them come from Christian families. I taught the first Saturday. The other Saturdays members in our Church and some of my colleagues will do the teaching.

For those who want to know more in detail what we are teaching, the program is as follows (we have tried to make it relevant to the folk-Muslim context we are working in):

3rd October: The Bible. According to the Bible, God works in the world in two different ways: through his Word and through his Spirit. His Word and Spirit has guided and inspired prophets and apostles as they wrote the books of the Bible.

17th October: God is one and God is great: Christians believe in one God (not three gods, as some Muslims think). This God is the creator of heaven and the earth. To worship other gods or to seek contact with spirits is a serious sin.

31th October: In Jesus Christ we meet God and can see the character of God. Jesus is therefore a lot more than a prophet. As the apostle John says: “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us, and we could see his glory.”

14th November: The salvation in Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead he overcame the powers of death and darkness, and he made a sacrifice for our sins that makes it possible for us to be reconciled with God. Since our salvation rests on what Jesus has done, and not on what we can do ourselves, we can be sure of our salvation.

28th November: The Holy Spirit gives us the life of God. God is not only great, but he comes close to us by his Holy Spirit. We can not only meet God through what Jesus did in the past, but also through the Holy Spirit today.

12th December: God is our Father in Jesus Christ. When we live by grace, and not by law (law = ”saariya” in Fulani), we are no longer slaves, but sons and daughters of God. We can have a direct relationship with God, and do not have to pass through different mediators, saints or religious specialists / professionals.

13th December: The Christian life: love is the fulfillment of the law. This is in one way easier, but in another way more difficult, than following a list of do’s and don’t’s.

20th December: Teaching on Baptism and becoming part of the local Church.

25th December: Christmas service. Maybe with one or more teenagers being baptized?

Please pray for this program and for the teenagers who follow it.

Åkeren er stor og arbeidarane få

2009-10-09T13:40:00.004+01:00

Juli, august og september er regntid og då er det mange som jobbar på åkrane. Kvart år er det like spanande når regnet kjem, og om det kjem nok regn til at det vert ei god avling. Dersom regntida er god kan dei fleste leva godt den komande året. Dersom regntida er dårleg får mange problem med å få kvardagen til å gå i hop. I år byrja regnet nesten ein månad seinare enn normalt her i Douentza, men då kom det heldigvis nedbør i store mengder. Det gjer at folk flest sannsynlegvis har greitt med mat store delar av det komande året.

Tradisjonelt sett driv ikkje dei adelege / frie fulaniane med jordbruk. Det er kyr som er tingen. Men sjølv om det er kyr som er tingen har fleire og fleire måtta byrja med litt åkerbruk. Det meste av arbeidet skjer for hand, sjølv om oksar og esel og kamelar i nokon grad vert nytta til å pløya opp jorda. Utfordringa for nokre av folka i kyrkjelyden vår er at sjølv om dei har ein stor åker, så har dei ikkje ein storfamilie som kan stå saman om det tunge arbeidet. Då vert det vanskeleg å få store avlingar.

I haust har eg vore med på åkeren nokre dagar, og forstår no litt meir av den sida av livet til folk her. Eg kan til og med sjå forskjell på peanøttplantar og bønne-plantar. I alle fall på ein god dag. Når hirseplantane er små er det imidlertid lett å forveksla dei med vanleg gras. For ikkje å seia ugras. Borna syntes det er både morosamt og rart at det finst vaksne som ikkje ser forskjell på hirse og gras. Slikt er jo bornelærdom. Så dette er endå eit område der eg har vorte som eit born her i Mali. Men eg lærer no litt etter litt. Kanskje har eg komen så langt at eg no hadde klart å halda potteplantar i livet i Noreg? Det kan godt henda.

Under ser de eit bilete som vart tatt ein gang menna i kyrkjelyden jobba dugnad på kyrkjelydsåkeren.

Round and about

2009-06-10T11:59:00.027+01:00

The last couple of weeks I’ve been on two trips. Here are some pictures and comments. First I travelled to the delta north-west of Sevare, together with Kjetil Vestbøstand and a member of our Church.

Kjetil lived and worked in this area for some years. Since there are no missionaries there at the moment, he wanted to show me the area and explain the history of the work there. To get around we used a boat. Since we are now in the dry season, some places it is not enough water to use a motor. So we had to paddle our way around. Here you can see Kjetil paddling. For some reason he refused to sing O sole mio, despite many encouragements. If you take a close look, you can see our kitchen in front of Kjetil.

The last years Kjetil has been part of the team which are translating the Old Testament to Mali-fulani. This summer the plan is to publish Genesis / 1 Mosebok, and also the rest of the story of the life of Moses. Part of the purpose of our trip was therefore also that Kjetil should test the translation with some of his contacts in the delta. They use the feedback from such readings to improve the translation.

Bozos are fishing.

Fulani-shepherds bring their cows to drink.

When we returned to the village we started from, we celebrated Pentecost together with five local men. It means that there is a small Curch there, even if there are no missionaries at the moment.

Than, last week, we filled up a car and travelled to a town close to the border with Burkina Faso. The purpose of this trip was for people in our Church to visit some of the believing fulanis in the area who had attended our Bible school in February. As opposed to Douentza, this part of Mali was never part of the old Fulani Islamic state. One consequense of this is that islam is not as strong there, and people are in general are a bit more open for the Gospel. However, the missionary we visited said that his experience is that people who used to take islam seriously are also more likely to be serious about following Jesus. Another consequense of not being stronglys islamized is (unfortunately and thought-provokingly) that alcoholism is quite a big problem. (It exists also in Douentza, but in a smaller scale, and mostly hidden). The trip was both interesting and a good experience. People were happy to see each other again and to experience the fellowship of a bit bigger group. When we returned home I was exhausted because of lack of sleep, too little food and being tossed around in the car as we drove on something-called-a-road, made up of sand and rocks, filled with dumps, holes and ponds of water. But anyway, it was worth it.

Please pray for:
- The work in the delta
- The publication of Genesis / 1 Mosebok
- Good cooperation between different missions working to reach the Fulanis

Damer i Douentza

2009-05-14T12:52:00.003+01:00

Førre helg var det kvinnestemne i Douentza. Til saman var det 38 betalande deltakarar frå ulike delar av Mali. Av dei var ca 25 fulanidamer frå ulike MELM-samanhengar. Undervisninga vart gjeven av ei fulanidame frå Segou og misjonær Maryama Idris frå Niger. Dei underviste blant anna om kvinna si rolle i og utanfor familien, samt ein del praktiske ting i forhold til å oppdra born. Ca noko slikt (av naturlege årsaker var eg ikkje personleg til stades). Kvinnestemnet kom i stand etter initiativ frå nokre av kvinnene i kyrkjelyden i Douentza, og dei stod sjølve for mykje av planlegginga og leiinga av arrangementet.

Tilbakemeldingane frå deltakarane på stemnet var svært gode. Kulturelt sett gjev eigne kvinnesamlingar kvinnene muligheiter til å vera mykje meir aktive enn om det hadde vore menn til stade. Slik sett kan det synast som om stemnet trefte eit behov hjå kvinnene. Me held no på å diskutera om dette bør verta eit årleg arrangement eller ikkje. Under ser du bilete frå den avsluttande gudstenesta på sundag.

Encouraging news, elephants and a rat

2009-05-04T17:05:00.036+01:00

At our staff meeting today, we got some encouraging news. After Church service yesterday, one of the members of the congregation in Douentza asked if he could have a talk with one of my colleagues. He just wanted to inform us about three decisions the church members had made in a meeting:

This coming weekend we will organize a camp for women here in Douentza. The weekend has been initiated by some of the women in our congregation, and we expect between 20-30 Fulani women to come, from different parts of Mali. The congregation in Douentza could have chosen to let the mission carry all costs for this event. However, without being asked, they decided that they want to contribute 25 000 cfa (= approximately 200 kr / 25€). This is about half a months salary here.

He than told that the congregation also decided to start paying two members of the church 5 000 cfa (= approximately 60 kr / 8€) each month to do evangelism / outreach. For this the two men are expected to do outreach / evangelism two days a week. The money will be taken from the church offerings.

The third decision he told us about, was that the members of the congregation have now chosen a name for the future Church. Maybe since we are in the process of buying land to build a Church building, the members of the congregation feel a need to have an official stamp (stempel) which they can use when dealing with public authorities. But in order to make a stamp, they first had to decide on a name for the Church. Their suggestion is Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne au Mali (EELM), Dental Fulɓe Douentza (= the Fulani fellowship of Douentza). (Off course the other congregations must be allowed to take part in this decision, so it is not given that this will be the eventual name of the emerging Fulani speaking Church.)

For us missionaries to be informed about these kinds of decisions made by the local believers is very encouraging. The goal of MELM has always been to build an independent, missional and self supporting Church among Fulani-speakers in Mali. However, when you come as a Western mission organisation with lots of money in your pockets, this is not so easy to achieve. It can easily create some dynamics between locals and missionaries that are very difficult to handle. I know this has been one of the biggest challenges for earlier missionaries. Therefore we were very grateful today, as we experience that local believers take on responsibility both when it comes to leadership, evangelism and financial matters. Please join us in giving thanks to God for this development, and continue to pray for the work of mission among the Fulani speakers in Mali.

Than over to a very different thing: north and east of Douentza there is a flock of about 1000 elephants. At this time of the year there is not very much water, so it is easy to find them. Last weekend we went to have a look at them. Here are some pictures from our trip (taken by my neighbour Benedicte Guldbrandsen):

Some touareg-women on their way to get water:

The salt-caravans from Timbuktu continue as they have done for many centuries:

Here you can see our guard Bukari proudly showing off this nearly elephant-sized rat he killed one night, as it sneaked around the compound. It will sneak no more.

After the trip to see the elephants it felt good to get back home. As I entered the house, it felt nice and cool. When I looked to see what the temperature was inside, it showed 38 degrees Celsius. I hereby decleare the warm season officially opened.

Fjernsynskultur

2009-04-19T14:15:00.017+01:00

I Noreg er me vant til å tenkja at samfunn utviklar seg frå å vera bygd på jordbruk og dyrehald, via industrialisering og ”opplysning”, til eit service- og informasjonssamfunn. Her i Mali vert alle desse tinga akkurat no blanda saman utan å følgja ei bestemt rekkefølgje. I ein kontekst der folk for 15 år sidan ikkje hadde elektrisitet har mange no både fjernsyn og mobiltelefon. Eg bur i ein by der eg må reisa 170 km for å kjøpa ein pakke smør, men berre 1 km for å kjøpa parabolantenne, fjernsyn eller DVD-spelar. Folk som bur i stråhytter i bushen rundt Douentza kan no sjå brasiliansk såpeopera. Alt du treng er eit gammalt bilbatteri og eit lite reisefjernsyn. Når eg står på taket og ser ned i hagen til naboane mine, sitt gjerne 15 – 20 personar samla rundt lyset frå eit fjernsyn.

Framleis er radio det klart viktigaste massemediet i Mali, men bruken av fjernsyn veks enormt. Eg trur ikkje det er tvil om at det kjem til å påverka kulturane her. Spørsmålet er korleis. Eit tips er at deler av befolkninga vil verta påverka i meir ”vestleg” retning, medan andre vil føla seg truga av det dei ser som promotering av vestleg umoralsk livsstil. (Som i ein muslimsk kontekst diverre lett kan verta identifisert med ”kristen livsstil”). Ei av kollegaane mine kom heim ein kveld og fann som vanleg vaktmannen med heile sin familie (10 born), samt ein del born frå nabolaget, sittande rundt fjernsynet ute på gardsplassen. På skjermen dansa ei topplaus dame rundt ei jernstong. Sidan så mange små born satt og såg på, klarte ikkje kollegaen min å gå forbi utan å seia noko. Ho sa til vaktmannen: ”Ser de verkeleg på dette?! Det er berre heidningar som ser på slike program!” Vaktmannen såg overraska opp på ho. ”Hæ? Det er jo de kvite som lagar desse programma jo!” ”Det er folk som ikkje har nokon Gud som lagar slike program”, sa kollegaen min. ”Gode muslimar ser ikkje på slikt!” Argumentasjonen fungerte, og programmet vart slått av. Dei siste åra har den brasilianske såpeoperaen ”Marima” (trur eg) vorte enormt populær her. Eg kan lova at den ikkje står særleg tilbake for Hotell Cæsar når det gjeld drama, intrigar, konspirasjonar og tvilsam moral. Muhammed, sjåfør i MELM, hevder at han kjenner ei kvinne som tok sin død pga sjokket då ein av karakterane i ”Marima” døyde. Ein rimeleg dramatisk serie med andre ord, i alle fall dersom du lever deg inn i handlinga. Sjølve lar ikkje Muhammed familien sin få lov til å sjå på serien, for han meiner den har ei dårleg påverkning. Samstundes vert sjølvsagt fjernsynet også nytta til å informera og opplysa folk på ulike måtar. Uansett, med fjernsynet sitt gradvise intog i den maliske befolkningen, så vert også folk her dradd inn den globaliserte kulturen. Det skal verta spanande å sjå kva resultatet vert, både på godt og på vondt.

Ei positiv side ved at fjernsynet har komen til byen er i alle fall at språkhjelparen min har parabol. Eg har difor invitert meg sjølve på besøk dit eit par gangar når det tilfeldigvis er kamp i Champions League. (Kan det definerast som jobb, mon tru?) Diverre får han ikkje inn Fotballekstra på TV2 endå. Det kan virka som om Brann hadde trengt litt ekstra støtte for tida. Men kven veit kva framtida vil bringa i desse globaliseringstider.

Takk og pris

2009-04-10T12:42:00.014+01:00

Ein av dei tinga som har gjort inntrykk på meg i møte med fulaniane i kyrkja vår er i kor stor grad bønene deira er prega av takksemd. Det gjev ein måte å sjå livet på som eg ønskjer å læra noko av. I det som følgjer under kan du lesa om nokon av dei tinga me har å takka for i arbeidet vårt her i Mali, samt nokre av utfordringane me treng forbøn for.

Bibelskule

I februar i år arrangerte me for tredje gang ein 4 veker lang bibelskule her i Douentza, med nærare 20 deltakarar. Over halvparten av dei som deltok kom frå andre stadar i Mali enn der me i MELM jobbar. Til vanleg har desse fulaniane få muligheiter til å ha fellesskap med andre kristne på sitt eige språk og til å få opplæring i trua på morsmålet sitt. Bibelskulen vår har slik ein funksjon utover MELM sitt geografiske arbeidsområde. Det var også oppmuntrande å sjå korleis fleire av dei ”gamle” kristne fulaniane underviste i tema som dåp, nattverd og forholdet mellom kristen tru og kultur. Over ser de M.I. undervisa om dåpen.

Grunnar til takk:
- Årets bibelskule: alle som deltok, godt fellesskap, god undervisning.

Ting å be for:
- At det som vart undervist må verta rotfesta i kvar enkelt av deltakarane.
- Om Guds leiing når det gjeld korleis me skal vidareutvikla bibelskulen.

Kyrkjelyd og dåp
Palmesundag var me samla nesten 50 personar til gudsteneste her i Douentza. Når ein trekk frå alle misjonærar og andre besøkjande, består kyrkjelyden av 10 – 15 vaksne og mellom 10 – 20 born. Eg trur det gjer den vesle kyrkjelyden vår til den største fulanitalande kyrkjelyden i heile Mali (og kanskje inkludert ein del av nabolanda). Sjølv om eg framleis slit med å forstå språket er det alltid oppmuntrande å vera på gudstenestene og oppleva at dette er fulaniane si gudsteneste, ikkje misjonærane si. Det er i stor grad lokale fulaniar som leier liturgien, forbøna, lovsangen og som preiker. Det vert med andre ord ikkje messefall sjølv om presten ikkje er der.

Elles vert påskedag ein ekstra stor dag for oss i år. I tillegg til å feira Jesu oppstode frå dei døde, skal tre personar døypast. Alle tre har vore aktive i kyrkja over nokre år, og har no spurt om å få verta døypt. Under ser du dei som var til gudsteneste på langfredag.

Takk for:
- Kvar enkelt medlem i kyrkjelyden i Douentza, og fellesskapet som finst her.
- For dei to vaksne damene og guten på 10 år som skal døypast i påsken.

Be for:
- Fellesskapet og einskapen i kyrkjelyden.
- Dei tre som vert døypt. At Gud må signa dei, bevara dei i trua og hjelpa dei å veksa i trua.

Translating the Old Testament

2009-03-28T11:31:00.014Z

One of the most important parts of MELM's work is translating the Bible into the local Fulani-dialect. People like Torunn Lunde and Anne Lise Matre were important contributors in translating the New Testament. This was finished in 2005, and it has been a great blessing for the small community of Fulani believers. Now the long and slow work of translating the Old Testament has begun. In this process MELM work together with people from SIL / Wycliffe. Up until now our MELM-representative in this work has been Kjetil Vestbøstad. He has now returned to Bergen and will finish his contribution this spring. This man will take over for him:

Matthew Monger is American. He is married to Maria from Bergen, and they have two small children. In 2010 they will come to Mali. Matthew will join the translation work and Maria will work as an evangelist. So far the translators have finished the book of Ruth, and Genesis / 1 Mosebok is to be published before summer this year. This means that most of the Old Testament remains to be translated. In other words, Matthew might have work for many years to come. Fortunately he is a person who loves languages. I met him for the first time a few weeks ago, when we travelled together to a conference about language learning. We were roommates, and I can inform you that he is one of those guys who read Hebrew on the bed.

Matthew speaks Norwegian fluently. His most important helper in learning Norwegian was his wife, and so he speaks with a Bergen-dialect and has also picked up some slightly feminine expressions like “det synest eg bare var sjempekoselig !”. Apart from obvious abilities when it comes to learning and understanding languages, I was glad to discover that Matthew is also a very likable guy who I look forward to work with in Mali. Together with our other roommates we had a very good time during the language course. I only discovered one potential problem in our future cooperation: Matthew keeps insisting that golf is a sport (using pseudo-scientific arguments like “research actually shows that playing golf improves your health…”). It is hard for him to see that in reality golf is more like a walk in the park.

Anyway, I think we shall be able to work together in spite of such differences. Please pray for Matthew, Maria and their family as they prepare to move first to France for language studies and than to Mali.

Gud nåde oss

2009-02-25T16:36:00.000Z

For å be til Gud må ein vera rein. Difor er det viktig å vaska hender og føter og skylla munnen godt før ein bed, slik han har sagt. For å be til Gud må ein nytta språket han har openberra seg på. Difor må bønene framseiast på arabisk anten ein forstår det eller ikkje. For å be til Gud må ein nytta dei orda og rørslene Gud har sagt ein skal nytta. For å be til Gud må ein knela i riktig retning. Og så vidare.

Etter nokre månader i Mali forstår eg betre kva som ligg i ordet nåde, og i at Jesus har satt oss fri frå lova sine krav. Ordet islam tyder ”underkastelse”, og ordet muslim tyder ”ein som underkastar seg”. Vegen til Gud / Allah går gjennom å følgja reglane som han har sett på ulike område i livet. Mykje på same måte som det gjorde for jødar flest på Jesu tid. I Det nye testamentet er denne vegen til Gud berre ein teoretisk muligheit, for ingen av oss maktar å vera fullt ut gode (sjølv om enkelte kan vera svært gode til å følgja reglar).

I Galatarbrevet tek Paulus eit kraftig oppgjer med lærarar som prøvde å gjeninnføra lova i den kristne kyrkja. Han gjev beskjed om at galatarane må velja: anten å prøva å nå fram til Gud gjennom å prestera godt nok sjølve, eller ved å ta imot nåden i Jesus Kristus. Anten stolar du på deg sjølve, eller du stolar på det Jesus gjorde for deg. Valet vårt avgjer kva type relasjon me får til Gud. ”Då tida var fullkomen, sende Gud sin eigen Son, fødd av ei kvinne, fødd under lova. Han skulle kjøpa fri dei som var under lova, så vi kunne få retten til å vera Guds born. Og sidan de er born, har Gud sendt sin Sons Ande inn i hjarta våre, og Anden ropar: «Abba, Far!» Difor er du ikkje lenger slave, men son. Og er du son, då er du òg arving, innsett av Gud.” (Gal 4,4-7).

For mange i Noreg trur eg problemstillinga med anten å leva ”under lova” eller ”av nåde” er ganske fjern. For Gud sin jobb (dersom han finst) er jo å elska oss. Kva elles har me bruk for han til? Me er i ferd med å skapa Gud i vårt eige bilete, og då er det ein del ting som ikkje kjem med. Men her i Mali er skilnaden mellom lov og nåde ei høgst relevant problemstilling. Eg forstår betre kor djupt det stikk når Mamudu seier at følgjande bibelvers var det viktigaste for han i prosessen frå å vera muslim til å følgja Jesus: ”Kom til meg, alle de som slit og har tungt å bera; eg vil gje dykk kvile! Ta mitt åk på dykk og lær av meg, for eg er mild og mjuk i hjartet; så skal de finna kvile for sjela. For mitt åk er godt, og mi bør er lett.» (Matteus 11, vers 28-30)

Gud nåde både deg og meg.

Krig, fred og kjærleik

2009-02-17T19:58:00.000Z

I helga var eg på tur til Timbuktu. Eg reiste saman med kollega og ven frå då eg jobba på Hald, Stein Hinderaker. Han skulle henta MELM sine norske styremedlemmar som kom med fly til Timbuktu.

Her ser de Stein saman med Habib. På 90-talet var dei kollegaer i Kirkens Nødhjelp. På 70- og 80-talet var Nord-Mali hard ramma av tørke. Folk som før hadde levd i velstand mista alt dei eigde. Strukturane i lokalsamfunn vart rive opp når ressursane forsvann og mange vart flyktningar. Sosiale spenningar utvikla seg til opprør og borgarkrig, med påfølgjande syklusar med hemn og mothemn. Habib jobba i området sør for Niger-elva med å hjelpa folk å koma i gang igjen med dyrehold etter tørken. Stein køyrde blant anna trailerar med forsyningar inn i det veglause området.

Den første natta budde me heima hjå Habib og familien, som er tuaregar. Dei bur ca 70 km inn i ”marka” frå Douentza. Habib snakkar varmt om fridomen og freden nomadelivet gjev. Den gjer det blant anna verd å overleva nesten berre på mjølk tre månader i året. Andre delar av året har dei mat i overflod. Slik er årssyklusen for ein del av menneska her.

Tidlegare var det fleire innsjøar i området mellom Douentza og Timbuktu. På grensa til Sahara-ørkenen kunne folk hausta inn avlingar opp til 3 gangar om året. Dyrehald og fiske gav mogeligheiter til eit variert kosthald. Etter tørken forsvann innsjøane. Dei fleste har framleis ikkje komen tilbake, men etter fleire år med bra regn har naturen likevel byrja å ta seg opp att. Enkelte stadar finn ein til og med nok vatn til at ein med litt velvilje kan definera det som innsjø. På biletet ser de Stein få oppfylt draumen om ein gang å sjå vatnet venda tilbake i nokre av dei gamle innsjøane.

Me stoppa i Bambara-Maude for å sjå nærare på byen Stein tidlegare budde i. Her viste det seg at ein gammal ven av han hadde vorte ordførar (det er han i kvit kjortel). Ordføraren tok seg straks fri, og inviterte oss heim til krutsterk te, godt kjøtt, meir te, middag, meir te, brus, før me avrunda med nokre rundar te. Uvanleg store dosar koffein, med andre ord. Men det gjorde det lettare å gå laus på både verdsproblem og ein del maliske problem, samt å forstå ulike tema innan islam, kyrkjehistorie og anna.

Det var spesielt å vera vitne til gjensynet mellom gamle venar, og å oppleva atmosfæren og respekten dei imellom. Det kan virka som at å stå saman gjennom krig, tørke og å grava laus trailerar frå sanden i 40 varme grader gjer noko med relasjonen mellom folk. På veg attende til bilen kommenterte eg atmosfæren med at det virka som dei var svært gode vener. Svaret frå Habib kom kontant og umiddelbart: ”C’est pas l’amitié. C’est l’amour.” – ”Det er ikkje venskap. Det er kjærleik”. Eg har ein følelse av at når det gjeld relasjonar kan me nordmenn læra noko av folk i Mali. Fleire gangar i løpet av helga høyrte eg folk seia at det aller viktigaste som finst er relasjonane til andre menneske. Det har prioritet over alt anna, inkludert ein travel ordførarkvardag.

For meg personleg var utbyttet av turen ei ny forståing for regionen eg bur i og kva enkelte her har gått gjennom dei siste tiåra. Elles var det svært kjekt å sjå Stein i sitt rettaste element: ute i fri luft og ute blant menneske. Dersom eg kan læra å behandla folk like respektfullt og venleg som han, og dersom eg kan integrera trua mi i sosiale samanhengar på ein like naturleg måte, så skal det vera mogeleg å jobba som misjonær her. Vær elles gjerne med å be om framleis fred og stabilitet i Mali.

Stein og Habib mimrar framfor Stein sitt gamle hus i Bambara-Maude.

To delta or not to delta

2009-02-02T13:05:00.000Z

A week ago I came back after a 3 day visit in the delta of the Niger-river, with one of the members of the Church in Sevare. Here are some pictures and comments based on the trip.

The fulanis live in two very different areas within Mali. During the rainy season, when the delta turns into a huge lake, they keep the cattle in the grassy plains outside of the delta. During the dry season many move with the cattle into the delta, where they find grass and water. To get into the delta this time of the year we had to use motorbikes, since it is still too much water to go by car. The fact that for a big part of the year it is hard to access the delta with car is one of the reasons why this is an area which is almost without modern schools and doctors (and churches). Most development organizations need to show quick results and therefore choose to work in other areas. This area is the poorest in Mali, with a huge child mortality rate. I’ve heard from different people that between 50-75% of all children in this area die before the age of 5 (but I can’t verify this statistics).

Cows is the most important thing in the lives of many fulanis. The owner of some of these cows owns around 1000 cattle. Off course he knows each of them by name, as any shepherd with self-respect does. Each cow costs around 100 000 cfa. This means that he has a total fortune of between 1 – 1,5 million Norwegian kroners. Still he lives in a straw hut and wears torn clothes and his children don’t go to school. So how do you measure richness? What makes you happy? What is worth living for? For many fulanis an important part of the answer is not a nice house, but cows. Being a shepherd is traditionally seen as the lifestyle of free people, whereas agriculture is the work of slaves. In many ways it is good to love your traditional culture, but as Mali is becoming a modern state the fulanis risk being marginalized if they don’t start sending more of their children to school. Can they do that without loosing their culture? This might be the biggest dilemma the fulanis as a group are facing at the moment.

At the same time many fulanis lost their cows during the draught in the beginning of the 1980s, and today make a living being a shepherd for other peoples cows. We spent one of the nights at the place of a man like this. He now makes a living being shepherd for the cows of a dogon village (people who the fulanis used to see as infidels and "slave-material"). His annual salary is food, housing and probably around 900 Norwegian kroner pr year. Seeing it from a Norwegian perspective his living standard and the living standard of the 1000-cow man is nevertheless almost the same, but psychologically I guess there is a big difference between them.

A shepherd crosses the marked place in a dogon village with his typical shepherd-stick.

At first the women did not want to be taken pictures of, whereas the men didn’t agree...

But after putting on their nicest clothes and bodylotion(!), the women came and asked to be photographed anyway.

These children of the delta are covered with the typical white dust, which is different from the red sand in other areas. This white dust and mud makes the villages in the delta look very different from other villages. Whereas the houses in Douentza are made from red or brownish mud, the villages in the delta are more whitish or grey. It almost feels like two different countries. You can see the child on the right wearing an amulet around his neck which is supposed to protect him against sickness, evil spirits, etc. It probably contains a verse from the Coran. From what people have told me, these things can be quite expensive. Many children here (and also adults) wear such amulets. I guess it is seen as a way of protecting those you love, when the world is a dangerous place.

This dogon village has built its mosque with mud from the delta, whereas the surrounding houses are built with the local red mud. The reason for this is that the mud from the delta lasts longer. The red mud needs to be put on again after the rainy season every year or every second year. The white mud from the delta can last as long as five years. But it is supposedly more difficult to work with. (I learn all kinds of interesting things here. Please contact me if you want more information about different types of mud.)

I learned many things from this trip to the delta. Most of the fulanis we visited come from the Douentza-area, where I live. Now I know more about how they spend a big part of the year. But I also see that we in MELM have a big challenge in following up the work in the delta. Originally the idea was that MELM should work both around Douentza and inside the delta, so that we could follow up people all through the year. For different reasons this isn’t happening very much at the moment. I guess it is one of the particular challenges when you work with nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples. So maybe one of the questions we in MELM need to clarify in our strategy is how to work inside the Delta.

“Nice sleeping with you!”

2009-01-12T22:57:00.000Z

It is common knowledge that if you want to be a real missionary, you need to have a good story of making a mistake with the language. I’m proud to inform you that I’m in the club. A few days ago a man I had never seen before came to my house. He was travelling through Douentza, and from one of my colleagues he had heard that there is a pastor here. This man is a Fulani who is a secret believer. He has believed in Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life for many years, but has not confessed his faith publicly. As he put it: a Fulani does not fear death, but he fears being shamed. Implied: if he confesses Christ publicly he will bring shame over himself and his family, a destiny worse than death.

Anyway, even though I suspect that he was really supposed to see the other pastor in MELM here (pastor Idris from Nigeria), he had ended up at my house and we ended up spending the day together. He was a reflected and intelligent man, who also has lived for some years in France, so we had many things to talk about. In the afternoon, he joined me and some Norwegian students for dinner. I started becoming very tired after speaking French for so many hours. As he was leaving after dinner, I wanted to say that it had been very nice to talk to him. I have heard people use an expression for this many times, and had told myself that I must remember this phrase. Well, here was a good occasion. So I told my visitor with my most friendly smile: “C’etait tres bien coucher avec vous.” Translation: “It was really nice sleeping with you.” According to my dictionary, the right word is “causer” – to talk together. Now I know. And yes: “sleeping together” does have the same double meaning in French as in Norwegian and English. Wonder how it is in Fulani?

To the people in the room (including me) this was a funny moment. But the story is off course also serious. Please think of this man as you pray. It must be hard to feel that you have to hide what you believe.

Fulaniar på norgesturne

2009-01-08T11:35:00.000Z

På familieleiren me arrangerte i nyttårshelga dukka det opp nokre norske musikarar, med Terje Baugerød i spissen. Den siste kvelden på leiren haldt dei ein improvisert konsert beståande av norske religiøse folketonar. Det er ikkje akkurat den type musikk som toppar hitlistene i Noreg, men her i Mali skal eg seia det vart liv, rai rai. Folk klappa og dansa og gav stor respons til det vesle bandet beståande av trommis, bassist, keybord og fløyte / song. (Dessverre var batteriet på fotoapparatet mitt tomt).

Musikarane sitt besøk er startskotet på eit prosjekt med å visa fram fulanimusikk i Noreg, etter initiativ frå Magne Mjærum i NMS-Oslo. Til sommaren reiser desse musikarane på turne i Noreg, saman med Daniel Dama og ein del av dei andre afrikanske kollegaane mine. Daniel Dama er ein fulani frå Benin, som er musikar og pastor. Til dagleg jobbar han som misjonær for MELM her i Mali, i hovudstaden Bamako. Ein del av jobben hans er å vera med å skapa musikk i den nye fulanikyrkja. Tradisjonelt sett har ikkje fulaniane nytta musikk i utøvinga av religion. Så når dei kristne no byrjar å laga musikk til bruk i gudstenestene, inneber det at ein på sett og vis bryt ny mark. Målet er å skapa kristne songar med utgangspunkt i fulaniane sin musikkstil, og ikkje berre importera engelske / vestlege songar. Den foreløpige turnelista ser slik ut (endringer kan skje):

10.6 Follo....Ski/Langhus
11.6 Grenland
12.6 Arendal
13.6 Farsund
14.6 Tau og Jæren
16.6 Fredrikstad
17.6 Bergen
18.6 Førde
20.6 Konserthuset i Oslo
21.6 Konsert i Lørenskog
23.6 Stenbekk, Sarpsborg ,konsert på St.Hansstevvenet

Dersom du vil oppleva litt ekte fulanikultur og noko av det som skjer her i Mali, har du altså sjansen til sommaren. Fulaniane sin musikk er ein del av den særeigne Vest Afrikanske musikktradisjonen som framleis er svært livskraftig, og t.d. utgjer noko av bluesmusikken sin røter. Merk elles at Magne Mjærum satsar høgt, og blant anna har bestilt Oslo konserthus…

Allahu Akbar

2008-12-26T16:05:00.000Z

”Allahu Akbar” er arabisk og tyder ”Gud er stor”. Nesten kvar natt vaknar eg ved dei muslimske bønetidene av at moskeen sine høgtalarar ropar ut bodskapen: Allahu Akbar – Gud er stor. Når ein ligg ute og kikkar opp på den klare afrikanske stjernehimmelen og ser den kvite melkevegen, og veit at bortanfor den finst det framleis eit uendeleg tal av galaksar, så er det ikkje så vanskeleg å vera einig i det våre muslimske vener her i Mali seier. Gud må vera uendeleg stor.

Slik vert også julebodskapen spesielt tydeleg for meg: det fantastiske i at Gud har komen oss nær. Han er ikkje lenger berre ein stor og fjern og opphøgd Gud som me må underkasta oss. For i stallen i Betlehem kom han oss nær. Jesus Kristus viser oss korleis Gud er. I han møtes kjærleik og heilagdom, godleik og sanning, storleik og nærleik. Sann Gud og eit verkeleg menneske.

No er denne gode nyheita i ferd med å verta kjent også blant fulaniar her i Mali. I Sevare var me mellom 50-60 stykke samla på julegudsteneste for å feira at Jesus vart fødd. I nyttårshelga kjem rundt 100 fulaniar saman til ein familieleir der me skal få læra meir om den store Gud som har komen nær.

Læresveinen Filip sleit som mange andre av læresveinane lenge med å begripa mykje av det Jesus sa og gjorde. I eit forsøk på å få klarleik i ting spurte han ein gang Jesus: «Herre, lat oss få sjå Faderen, så har vi nok.» Jesus svara han: «No har eg vore så lang ei tid saman med dykk, og du kjenner meg ikkje, Filip?” (frå Johannesevangeliet kapittel 14)

Visible prayer

2008-12-04T09:51:00.000Z

One of my colleagues told me about an experience he had during the biggest muslim feast in Mali. It takes place in December, when everybody sacrifices a sheep in memory of Abraham (who sacrificed a sheep instead of his son). During this festival there is a lot of Muslim prayer, with all the rituals that comes with it: cleansing oneself with water, kneeling towards the east, pronouncing fixed prayers in Arabic (which most people don’t understand). During this festival my colleague was asked why he didn’t pray. He tried to explain that he did pray often, but that he prayed quietly, without all the external rituals. The people responded to his explanation by laughing. My colleague said that their laughter was spontaneous and not a way of mocking him. They simply found the idea of praying silently, without any kind of external ritual incomprehensible and funny. This understanding of prayer as performing a fixed ritual revealed by God, has lead many Muslims here to talk about Christians as the people who don’t pray. Because they can’t see any visible rituals or signs that they associate with prayer.

Meeting this attitude of superiority when it comes to prayer has been a bit annoying to my colleague, since he does pray quite often. Than one time he read the Bible he got an idea. He read that God asked Joshua to build an alter made out of 12 stones. My colleague thought that this is a good idea to do also here in Mali, as a way of giving a visible sign that also Christians are praying. He have therefore started building alters made out of 12 stones next to the roads to the villages he visits. Each time he visits the village, he stops by the altar to pray. He hopes that as people start to ask what on earth these piles of stone are, they will discover that also those who follow Jesus are people of prayer.

This issue of prayer is an example of how the mission here has to consider the context in order not to be misunderstood. My impression is that to the vast majority of Muslims here, religion is something you do more than a set of dogmas you believe in. Therefore, if Allah has told you for example to hold your arms in a particular position when you pray, it is likely that he wont consider your prayer if you hold your arms in the wrong position. The most common question Christians here meet is not “what do you believe?” but “how do you pray?”

Over a period of 20 years the missionaries have tried to do respond to this in two different ways. First, they have taught about Christian prayer. That God does not require us to perform a special ritual for him to listen to us, but that when we are in Jesus Christ he considers us as his children. We can therefore come to him in the same way as children come to the parents. Prayer has more to do with our attitude and heart than with external rituals. On the other hand, the missionaries have also seen the need to help people to pray by giving them external “tools” for “how to pray”. Jesus taught his disciples a fixed prayer. Here in Mali former missionaries have introduced liturgical prayers. In the Christian tradition you find that from the very beginning Christians have prayed fixed prayers, knelt while praying, lifted their hands, etc. For followers of Christ from a Muslim background this makes it easier to start a Christian prayer life. For some time now, we haven't used these prayers very much. Maybe it is time to start introducing it again?

Getting married

2008-11-17T19:46:00.000Z

The coming Saturday will be a special day in the history of the Fulani Church here in Mali. For the first time we will celebrate a wedding between two Christians. The issue of finding a spouse has been quite a challenge for those who have decided to follow Christ. But the marriage this coming Saturday might be a small sign that we are moving into a different phase in our work. There are now a few Christian families where the children have been raised in the faith. In our small Church there are also a group of lay-women and men, together with some missionaries, who faithfully have organized Sunday-school for the children every Sunday for many years. As a result we now have a group of children and young people who are committed believers, and who know the Bible very well. Some of them are now becoming old enough to get married, and they have the possibility of finding a Christian spouse. Needless to say, this is very important for the future of the Church among Fulani-speakers here in Mali.

But how do you celebrate marriage when it is for the very first time? What kind of liturgy do you use? This is something some of my colleagues have had to work out. I was participating on the meeting where their proposal was discussed, struggling to understand the marriage wows in French. It was more complicated than “Je t’aime, ma chère”. My colleagues had done a very good job. The only change we made was to reduce the words which shall be pronounced by the bride and the groom, to a simple “yes”. We figured that Fulanis will be just as nervous as anybody else when they get married, so it’s better to leave most of the talking to the pastor. The liturgy was than translated into Fulfulde (= the Fulani language), and now we are all ready to go. Please pray that the couple will get through their “yes”, and that God will bless their marriage and their future family.

A stranger must be a guest

2008-10-10T20:28:00.000+01:00

This year my job is to learn as much as I can about Fulani language and culture, in order to be able to communicate the Gospel as understandable as possible. The studying is mostly done in this office.

Here is a quote from one of the first chapters of the book I’m using for language studies, written by Sonja Fagerberg-Diallo. It will give you both a glimpse into what my job consist of this year, and also a glimpse into the Fulani culture and some of the issues that the Church and Misson here work with.

Sonja Fagerberg-Diallo writes:

The concept of kodo – njaatigi is a very basic one in Fulani culture. There is no precise English / French translation for these words. They are rooted in a culture where individuals do not exist as such, and where everyone identifies himself as a member of a certain family, clan, village. In its most basic sense, kodo means “stranger”. Someone who does not belong to the village or lineage. An outsider. But it must also therefore mean “guest”, because anyone who is a stranger in a village must automatically be the guest of somebody else.

…A new-comer should always be the kodo of someone in the village, who then become his njaatigi or “host”. Throughout his stay, he will be known as “so-and-so’s guest”. And when people ask him “who he is” the answer is that he is the kodo of such-and-such a njaatigi. He thereby acquires a place or a role within the entire village. He is no longer an individual, but part of the social unit with a link to the community. And establishing these “lines of relationships” is similar to asking and answering the questions “where do you work?” or “where did you go to school?” in an American context. The answers to these kinds of questions enable people, in their respective cultures, to “situate” someone who is unknown. (You will find that people rarely ask you about your work, but they will try very hard to figure out who you are related to, since no one can imagine an existence alone in a village setting. Village life is communal, and by being someone’s kodo, you enter into that community.)

So far Sonja Fagerberg-Diallo. In Norway loneliness is a big problem. Perhaps we are too much individualistic in the West, and too little here in Mali? Anyway, here are three practical applications I can relate to this cultural lesson:

1. Traditionally, when two people get married here, it is more of a union and an agreement between two families than between two individuals. When some of us were in a wedding a few weekends ago, the Malian pastors stressed very much that in a Christian understanding of marriage, a new unity is formed. A new family is made. The primary loyalty of the spouses is now to be towards each other, and the greater family needs to allow for this to happen.

2. In a society where community, in form of family, clan and village, is extremely important, it becomes a lot more difficult to make individual choices. This applies also to religion. Changing religion is therefore probably a lot bigger step than it would be in the West. In worst case it can leave you as socially "dead", a terrible situation in a community centered culture. What can the Church and mission be and do in such a situation? If you have some good proposals I want to know...

3. I’ve gotten a contact-family here in Douentza. They are very nice and a very respected family, who will teach me more about the culture and also about the language. Please pray for all the best for this extended family, and for my relationship with them.

Glimt frå ein annan verden

2008-09-18T16:21:00.001+01:00

Det er mykje som er nytt og annleis her i Mali. Her følgjer nokre bilete med kommentarar. I sum håper eg at dei gjev eit lite glimt inn i ein annleis og facinerande verden.

Den som har gode auge ser her ein fulanilandsby. Svært mange fulaniar lever i denne type landsbyar. Stråhyttene er praktiske for dei av fulaniane som delar av året flytter med kyrne. I tørketida (desember til ca mai) er mange av menna borte frå landsbyen. Då har dei tatt kyrne med seg inn i Niger-deltaet for å finna vatn og beite.

Dette er ein dogonlandsby. Dogonane er tradisjonelt jordbrukarar, fastbuande og byggjer husa sine i stein. Landsbyane deira er som oftast plassert litt oppi fjellsidene og på stadar der ingen skulle tru at nokon kunne bu. Det er ein av grunnane til at dogonland i dag er Mali sin kanskje fremste turistattraksjon. Dogonane vart stort sett jaga opp i fjella på 1800-talet av fulaniar som dreiv heilag krig for islam, og som oppretta eit teokrati i Masina (= namnet på Niger-deltaet). Dei som ikkje kom seg unna fulaniane vart tatt til slavar. Det gjer at fulanisamfunnet i dag består av ulike grupper, eller kastar. Dei "adelege” er dei opprinnlege fulaniane som tok slavar og herska over andre. Dei driv den dag i dag mykje med kyr. Sjølvbiletet som ”adeleg” og fri er framleis sterkt, men mange av dei har ikkje gått på skule, og er i dag i praksis fattige og marginaliserte.

I fjella er det skrint med jord, så dogonane gravla sine døde i sprekker i fjellsida, som dei murte att. Dess høgare opp du vart gravlagd, dess høgare status. Ein kunne også "forfremjast" oppover i fjellsida i åra etter at ein døyde. Ein vart jo lettare å bæra etter kvart...

Desse bileta er frå ein landsby i Niger-deltaet, eit av verdas største innlands-delta. I regntida er over 30 000 kvadratkilometer oversvømt. Dette området er rikt på vatn, og er på mange måtar livsnerva i heile denne delen av landet. Her kan kyr finna vatn i tørketida, bozo-folket kan fiska, og jordbrukarar kan dyrka ris på grensa til Sahara-ørkenen. No i regntida ligg mange landsbyar på øyer rundt omkring i deltaet, og kan berre nåast med båt. Fiskarfolket, bozo’ane, er som fulaniane nomadar. Dei flytter etter vannstanden og kvar dei finn fisk. Både kvegfolk, jordbrukarar og fiskarar lever i gjensidig avhengighet av kvarandre, regulert av gammal sedvanerett. I denne byen bur fulaniar og bozo’ar saman, kvar med sine språk og kulturar. Dei samarbeida om å byggja den flotte moskeen som de ser på det nederste biletet.

Eg håpar dette gav eit lite glimt inn i eit spanande land med mange ulike folk og kulturar. Som de forstår er det mykje å læra og mykje nytt å setja seg inn. Dersom nokon skulle lura, kan eg opplysa om at den fine, grøne turbanen min ikkje vert brukt for å sjå kul ut (ok då, litt for det også). Men i tillegg har den ein veldig praktisk funksjon: det er viktig å beskytta hovudet mot den sterke sola, utan vert ein utmatta på kort tid. I tillegg beskyttar den mot å pusta inn for mykje støv, som det delar av året er svært mykje av.

Ei ku i kyrkja (A cow in church)

2008-09-16T15:55:00.000+01:00

Sist sundag var eg til gudsteneste i fulanikyrkja i Sevare. Så langt har ikkje kyrkjelyden her eit eige kyrkjebygg. Difor feirar dei enn så lenge gudsteneste heima hjå ein av medlemmane. Dei som kjem til gudsteneste sitt på matter under eit skråtak på ein avskjerma del av gårdsplassen. For å koma inn dit må ein passera både geiter og kyr. Her leier fulaniane sjølve gudstenesta. Ein har liturgien, ein annan preiker, ein tredje leier forbøna. Det er med andre ord fulaniane si gudsteneste, ikkje misjonærane si. Midt under gudstenesta vart me avbroten av at ei ku kom spaserande inn på gudstenestestaden. Kua vart roleg leia ut att, men ho rakk å setja i gang nokre tankar hjå meg.

Kua konkretiserte eit nøkkelord i MELM sitt arbeid blant fulaniane så langt: kontekstualisering. Tanken har vore at fulaniane skal få det kristne evangeliet presentert i ein kulturell form som vert opplevd så lite framand som mogeleg. Målet med det er at fulaniane skal få kunna ta stilling til bodskapen om Jesus Kristus utan samstundes å måtta ta stilling til ein kulturell pakke som følast framand. Dei som avviser evangeliet skal få gjera det pga det som Paulus kallar for ”krossen sin dårskap”, og ikkje pga ytre former. Det har gjort at me t.d. tek av oss skoa før me går inn i kyrkja, at me sitt på matter på golvet og at kvinner og menn sitt på ulike plassar under gudstenesta. Når ein les Bibelen med ”kontekstuelle” auge, oppdagar ein også at det finst mange parallellar mellom bibelhistoriene og fulanikulturen. Abraham, Moses og David jobba t.d. alle som gjetarar. Også dei bad sannsynlegvis til Gud medan dei var omgjevne av kyr og geiter. Slik sett passa kua på ein måte inn i gudstenesta, og dei muslimske fulaniane som på sundag var på besøk hjå den kristne familien fekk sjå at det er mogeleg både å vera ein del av fulanikulturen og å følgja Iisa (Jesus).

Samstundes endrar samfunn og kulturar seg. I Noreg har Pizza Grandiosa overteke for sild og poteter. Fulanisamfunnet endrar seg også. Ikkje alle fulaniar er nomadar, gjetarar og bur i stråhytter. Ein god del har flytta til byar eller tettstadar. Nokre studerer og tek høgare utdanning, køyrer fine bilar og bur i store hus. Mange av desse vil oppleva det rart å feira gudsteneste sitjande på matter, med kyr som vandrar ut og inn. Ein del av dei kristne fulaniane som bur i byen seier at det er viktig også for dei å ha eit kyrkjebygg, ein plass å visa fram for sine muslimske naboar og vener, ein bygning å vera stolt av. Dei har difor på eiget initiativ gått i gang med å samla inn pengar til å kjøpa tomt for å byggja eit kyrkjebygg. Kanskje seier det noko om at det er viktig for kyrkja og misjonen her i Mali å ha ein differensiert strategi for arbeidet. Me må jobba på ein annan måte blant fulaniar som studerer på universitetet, samanlikna med dei som er nomadar og gjetarar. Eg tippar dette er ei av utfordringane me kjem til å jobba med ein del i åra framover.

(Biletet ovanfor viser utsikta frå stovevindauga mitt)

Welcome to Douentza!

2008-08-26T20:25:00.000+01:00

I've now been one week in Mali. I've been very well welcomed both by the other missionaries, and also by the small Church in Douentza. Most of the time so far have been spent on practical issues like getting a visa, unpacking and settling in. Today I started on the language studies, and tomorrow I'm planning to go with my colleague Idris as he visits a fulani village outside of Douentza.

Here are some pictures from Douentza and the surroundings.
This is my house. Quite nice, isn't it?

The wiev from the roof shows typical Douentza-style houses. I live in the new part of town. All together it's about 6-7000 people in the town, and around 20-30000 people in the muncipality /kommune.

This is the kitchen. The pot on the right side is where I filter the water so that it is safe to drink. The first door on the left leads into the living room, and the second door on the left is the door to the office.

We are now in the rainy season. This year the rain has been good, and that is very important for everybody here. Because of this the landscape is now green, and as you can see, very beautiful. During the dry season everything is brownish. Supposedly, during that time of the year, it can be so dusty that it is difficult to see the big mountains 10 km away.

I have some problems with internet at the moment, so I will write more later. I already have many stories I could tell, about how the people in the Church have received mee (very nice), off road driving (so far also very nice), and the scorpion that tried to enter my house this morning (not so nice, but I bet he regrets it now). But those of you who pray can give thanks that everything has gone fine so far.

Prayer requests

2008-08-15T12:42:00.000+01:00

As I go to Mali onthe 18th of August, I want to share some prayer requests with you. To me, prayer is not possible to understand in terms of abstract logic. What helps me is that the Bible tells us that the truth is not a set of ideas, but a person. That is why Jesus says that "I am the way, the truth and the life". He does not say "this is the way, the truth and the life", like any other prophet or philosopher you can think of.

In the Christian faith the truth is personal. In this perspective prayer starts to make sense, as a logic of relationships. We read in the Bible that Jesus himself sometimes withdrew from people in order to pray. He also told his disciples to pray, and gave great promises linked to prayer. One of the things he taught his disciples was to ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Mt 7,7). This does off course not mean that we can manipulate God as if we were magicians and he has to obey us. But at least Jesus encourages us to pray, and he gives great promises as to the results of prayer.

Therefore I have the courage to share some personal prayer requests with you at this time:

- Please pray that God will lead me as to whom I shall invest time and energy in. In the coming year I will make a lot of contacts. Some of them might open dors for future work. Please pray for guidance and wisdom in this.

- Please pray that I will learn the fulani language and culture well. This will be fundamental for me if I shall be able to contribute in the mission work among the fulanis. I'm going to need patience and endurance. Please also pray for my physical, mental and spiritual health in this process, since that will influence my ability to study and interact with people.

- Please pray that God will give me love for the fulani people and for my colleagues in this work. When we change cultures it is easy to focus on differences and things we don't like. So please pray that I will truly love the people I meet.

Thank you very much to all of you who are praying! I will continue to share new things to pray for as time goes. We are partners in mission, and it will be interesting to see what the future holds.

Nr. 822 870

2008-08-15T11:51:00.000+01:00

My favourite musical is Les Miserables. The main caracter is Jean Valjean (picture). He starts out as a prisoner, and is called only by his prisoner-number: 24601 (if I remember correctly). Well, I am proud to inform you that I now have my own official number too. I am project number 822 870 in the Norwegian Missionary Society. If somebody could make a melody to this beautiful number which, we note, is a lot bigger than Jean Valjeans', that would be great. However, you can still call me Frode.

Anyway, with or without a melody, the number has a purpose. It is not my salary in dollars, but it has to do with money. Some people have offered me money, because they want to support the missionwork in Mali. I am very grateful for that. Based on such experiences the Norwegian Missionary Society have broken down their work into a lot of projects, so that people can support their specific project. And so this is how I have become number 822 870.

In the coming months and years I will write more about the mission work among the fulanis in Mali. You are welcome to become a part of this work. One of the ways you can do this is to support number 822 870. (Check www.nms.no to find out how). Jesus advised people to invest their money in things with eternal significances. We are privileged to be part of the movement that Jesus himself started 2000 years ago!

Facts about Mali

2008-08-06T19:55:00.000+01:00

In about one week I will move to Mali to work as a missionary. Personally I belong to the category of people who find facts and statistics very interesting. If you too belong to this category of people, you might enjoy the following information about my new home country:

Name: Mali means "Hippopotamus". The name is taken from an empire which existed in Western Africa in the 13th and 14th century.
Size: 1 240 000 square kilometers (approximately 4 times the size of Norway and half the size of Texas). 60% of the area is desert or semi-desert.
Population: Approximately 12.3 million people.
Highest mountain: Hombori Tondo, 1,155 m.
Median age: 15.8 years. (Norway: 39 years)
Infant mortality rate: approximately 10%. (Norway: 0,36%)
Life expectancy: approximately 50 years.
Fertility rate: approximately 7.3 children pr woman (This is the highest in the world. Norway has 1.78 children pr woman)
HIV/AIDS-rate: approximately 2% of the population
Ethnic groups: There are around 30 ethnic groups. The fulanis make up about 17% of the population.
Religions: 90% muslim, 9% traditional religions, 1% Christians (among the fulanis it is closer to 1 / 1000 Christians)
Capital: Bamako, with approximately 2 million inhabitants.
Independance: Mali gained independance from France 22 September 1960
Political system: Mali is a republic, with one of the best-functioning democracies in Africa.
President: Amadou Toure
Main products for export: cotton and gold.
Economic growth: in the period 1996-2007 the average annual growth was 5%. However, Mali is still ranked among the 10-15 porest countries in the world.
Employment: 80% of the work force work with agriculture.
Inflation rate: 2,5%
Oil consumption: 5,600 bbl/day (Norway: 228,400 bbl/day...)
Biggest export partners: China 17%, Thailand and Taiwan 9%,
Biggest import partners: France and Senegal 13%
Economic aid every year: Approximately 700 mllion dollars
External debt: In 2002 it was 2.8 billion dollars
Internet users: 70 000
Number of airports: 8 with paved runways, 21 with unpaved runways
Environment issues: deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, poaching, lack of available clean water.
Literacy rate: Approximately 46% of the population above the age 15 can read and write.

(Most of these facts were found in the CIA World Factbook)

Helpdesk

2008-07-15T21:27:00.000+01:00

Last week I attended a camp with former and present Mali-missionaries (at Furutangen in Ryfylket). It was a good experience to meet some of my colleagues, who also will be living in the same town as me (Douentza).

Being with a lot of people who have lived and worked in Mali has again made me realise that the next years will be full of learning. I will have to learn not only the language, but also cultural codes and how to get around in society. Mostly I look forward to this. I also expect that at times I will look a bit strange to the people for whom this is the normal way of life. Cultural codes and ways of doing things that for them are obvious might be new and unknown for me. From time to time I might come across a bit as the guy in this video:

However, one of the things I was happy to hear at the Mali-camp was that the fulanis in general are very hospitable and understanding with strangers. I pray that I will have a sense of humour about things, and also that I will find a good helpdesk:-)

Ayatollah Khomeini, the great missionary

2008-07-02T16:28:00.000+01:00

"The greatest missionary in the muslim world in the 20th century was Ayatollah Khomeini". This was said by of the teachers on the islam-course I attended in Oslo these last couple of weeks. The first week we learned about different aspects of islam (theology, history, shia-islam, sunni-islam, sufism, folk islam, etc). The last week we focused on issues related to mission among muslims.

In Norway, as in the rest of the West today, there are particularly two groups of muslims where many are open to learn more about the Christian faith. These are migrants from Iran and Afghanistan. What can be the reason for that? Many places the muslim world struggle with authoritarian and corrupt regimes. This gives islamists the possibility to proclaim that islam is the solution to all problems: "if we just return to a pure islam, everything will be fine." However, muslims coming from Iran and Afghanistan have tried this solution. They have lived in countries where the shari'a-law reigned, and they experienced how this became another kind of dictatorship, no better than the ones they replaced. Over the last few decades probably some hundred thousands Iranians in the West have left islam and become Christians. It was with this in mind that our teacher called Ayatollah Khomeini a great missionary. Without him it is doubtful that so many of his people would be open to consider the truth of the Gospel.

During the time in Oslo I met former muslims from both Iran and Afghanistan, as they were gathering for Biblestudies. Even though we didn't spend a lot of time with them, it was inspiring to meet them. However, one Iranian also told me how hard it was to find a Norwegian church to fit into. This is a great challenge for Churches in Norway. How can we meet and include those from other religious and cultural backgrounds?

Farvel til Stavanger (for denne gang)

2008-06-13T18:04:00.000+01:00

Etter 7-8 veker er tida i Stavanger over. Det har vore eit kjekt gjensyn med byen eg studerte og jobba i til saman i 9 år. Den første delen av opphaldet nytta eg til å lesa meg inn på ulike emne knytt til arbeidet i Mali. Dei siste 4-5 vekene deltok eg på eit kurs i bistandsarbeid på Misjonshøgskulen. Kurset var spanande, med mange dyktige forelesarar. Tematikken omfatta t.d. diakonien sin plass i misjonsarbeidet, leiarskap i tverrkulturelle settingar, og tema knytt til økonomi, prosjektarbeid, tverrkulturell kommunikasjon, osv.

Bistandskurset vart likevel noko amputert for min del, og det var denne idylliske sykkelstien på Ullandhaug som stod for amputasjonen. Sykkelstien enda i ein fortauskant (som kommunen no har fiksa), og eg enda med haka først i asfalten. Etter å ha få sett ein ambulanse og eit akkuttmottak frå innsida for første gang, låg eg først to netter under eit ljosrør på gangen på sjukehuset. Etter det havna eg på rom med blant anna to hyggelege bønder frå Jæren. Dei snakka breiare ein breitt, men eg forstod ein del. Blant anna lærte eg at "å mokkja" tyder "å mjølka". Eg lærte også at det er betre fortjeneste på grisehald enn på kyr, og fekk tilbod om å lesa blader om grisehald. Den eine av bøndene, han som på brukken fot hadde klart å koma seg unna den ilsinte oksen sin, vurderte seriøst å legga om til reint grisehald. Sjukehusopphaldet var med andre ord ei ganske hyggeleg oppleving, bortsett frå det knekte handleddet. Sjukepleiarar trur eg må vera verdas snillaste folk. Eg fekk nesten dårleg samvit når dei kom med mat på senga, og eg bestilte "kaffi, med h-melk og litt sukker, takk".

Uansett: helsa er på veg attende til normalt. Den knekte handa kan no nyttast til litt småplukk, den knekte tanna vart i dag fiksa av tannlegen (som også fann ein del ting som eg ikkje hadde spurt etter), og såret på haka har grodd. Så no ser eg fram til resten av sommaren. Det vert først to veker på islam-kurs i Oslo. Seinare vert det pakking, Mali-treff i Rogaland og Generalforsamling for NMS i Bergen.

Blogging-break

2008-05-30T14:43:00.000+01:00

Last sunday I had an accident on my bike. The most serious result was a broken left-hand. As a conscequence I'm even less of a handy man than before (broken hand - handy man, did you get it?). Typing is too slow right now, so I'll take a break for some time.

17 mai

2008-05-22T14:27:00.000+01:00

The 17th of May is the Norwegian National day, celebrating that in 1814 Norway got a constitution after 4-500 years in a forced union with Denmark. This was the first step of national independance. The day is celebrated in big ways all over the country. The celebration is organised mostly for the children, with childrens parades, flags, songs and fun games. (There is no military prescence).

This year I had a very good celebration at Leknes, where my sister live. It was especially nice to feel some of the excitement of the children. Normally the children are allowed to eat as much ice cream as they want this day. My 6 year old niece had set herself an optimistic goal of eating 10 ice creams during the day. She tried hard but didn't succeed:-)

A different way of seeing the world

2008-05-13T14:45:00.001+01:00

Last week I visited Odd and Anne Lise Matre, who were missionaries in Mali for 12 years. It was very interesting to discuss different issues with them, and listen to their reflections. Of all the people who were involved in translating the New Testament to fulani, Anne Lise was propably the most central person. She is therefore quite an expert on the fulani language. She told me some interesting stories about trying to find good fulani-words for different theological expressions. One idea in the Bible that is very strange for many fulanis, is that we as Christians are called to be Gods co-workers. Anne Lise said that for the fulanis this idea was strange, almost to the level of being blasphemous, because God is sovereign. If we do anything for God it is as his servants, not as his co-workers.

Anne Lise could also tell me some fascinating things about the fulani language. Most languages divide nouns into different groups. (English is an exception.) For example in French, all nouns belong either to the category "maculine" or "feminine". In Norwegian all nouns belong either to the category "masculine", "feminine" or "neutral". Anne Lise could inform me that the fulani language have 23 groups like this! (She also told me not to worry, because they use mostly nouns from eight of the groups...) The categories are also different from what I am used to. For example one does not categorise according to gender. Man and woman therefore belongs to the same group. However, one does partly categorise according to age. Children therefore often belong to a different group from adults.

Knowing these things is both interesting and a bit scary. The interesting part is that each language classifies reality in its own way. So by learning a new language one will also learn a different way of seeing the world. The scary part is off course that I'm supposed to learn a language with 23 groups of nouns...

Journey to Rome

2008-05-09T11:27:00.000+01:00

At the moment I am reading a commentary by my favourite theologian, N.T.Wright, on the book of Acts. N.T.Wright is currently a bishop in the Anglican Church in Northern England, and has formerly been teaching at universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard. Acts shows how the Gospel goes from being a local Jerusalem-phenomenon, to ending up in Rome. Rome was the capital of the world, and where Cæsar was ruling as Lord over the biggest empire on earth. This is how the journey from Palestine to Rome started:

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen from the court of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. As they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the holy spirit said, 'Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' So they fasted and prayed; and then they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
So off they went, sent out by the holy spirit, and arrived at Seleucia. From there they set sail to Cyprus, and when they arrived in Salamis they announced God's word in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their assistant. They went through the whole of the island, all the way to Paphos. There they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He called Barnabas and Saul and asked to hear the word of God. The magician Elymas (that is the translation of his name) was opposing them, and doing his best to turn the governor away from the faith. But Saul, also named Paul, looked intently at him, filled with the holy spirit.
'You are full of trickery and every kind of villany!' he said. You're a son of the devil! You're an enemy of everything that's upright! When are you going to stop twisting the parths that God has made straight? Now see here: the Lord's hand will be upon you, and you will be blind for a while; you won't even be able to see the sun!'
At once mist and darkness fell on him, and he went about looking for seomeone to lead him by the hand. When the governor saw what had happened, he believed, since he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. (Acts 13, 1-12)

Here are some quotes from the commentary of N.T.Wright:

" Many Christians in the Western world today simply can't bear to think of confrontation (except, of course, with 'those wicked fundamentalists'!). There really isn't such a thing as serious wickedness, so they think, or if there is it's confined to a small number of truly evil people, while everyone else just gets on and should be accepted and affirmed as they stand. Christian mission then consists of helping people to do a little but better where they already are, rather than the radical transformation of life that, as we have seen, was happening all around the place in the early chapters of Acts. And so, when we come to this great turning point in Luke's story...we would much prefer the story to be one of gentle persuasion rather than confrontation. We would have liked better if Paul had gone about telling people the simple message of Jesus and finding that many people were happy to accept it and live by it.
But life is seldom that straghtforward...It's a murky world out there, and though the choice of compromice is always available...there is in fact no real choice. What's the point in trying to swim with one foot on the bottom of the pool? You're either up for the real thing or you might as well pack it all in. And Saul and Barnabas were up for the real thing."

"One obvious lesson from all this is that when a new work of God is going ahead, you can expect opposition, difficulty, problems and confrontation. That is normal. How God will help you through (and how long he will take about it!) is another matter. That he will, if we continue in prayer, faith and trust, is given."

"One thing was certain, Paul was serious about getting the message out to the wider world. When you even change your name (from the hebrew 'Saul' to the greek 'Paul') you show that you really mean business, even if it will lead you into confrontation."

So far N.T.Wright. According to tradition, Paul and 11 out of the other 12 apostles, were killed for their confession of Jesus as the worlds true Lord. Acts shows how their faith spread around the Roman empire, and ended up in Rome itself. Cæsar wasn't happy about it, but as N.T.Wright said, they meant business. How about us? Are we afraid of Cæsar? Or do we too mean business?

Back to the future

2008-05-06T11:32:00.001+01:00

After almost 8 months in France, I'm now back in Norway. I have returned to Stavanger, the city where I studyed for 6,5 years, and worked for 2,5 years. It's a dejavu-feeling to be back here, to prepare for the future once again. I spend the days at The School of Mission and Theology, where I once was a student. All of the people I was studying with are gone, but it's been nice to meet some of the professors again.

At the moment I am reading about the history of the work among the Fulanis, strategy documents, evaluations, and also litterature about Fulani culture, history and society. An example of what I've been reading is a Ph.D. thesis written by a Dane named Mogens Mogensen. He has analysed the missionwork done by local churches and mission organisations among the Fulanis in Northern Nigeria. His analysis ends with some suggestions for future missionwork among the Fulanis. The thesis is both thourough and practical and very interesting. It was especially touching to read the interviews he had made with Fulanis who decided to follow Jesus, in spite of risking severe consequences.

Apart from reading, I also have the opportunity to discuss with and ask questions to people with a lot of knowledge and experience. This afternoon Odd and Anne Lise Matre have invited me to their home. I first met them in Mali in 1996. They worked there for many years with Bible translation and evangelism. Odd has also written a couple of books about his experiences. Meetings like this is an important part of my preparations. Therefore, even though in one way I would have liked to stay at Les Cedres to learn more French, I know that what I'm doing now is also very important for the work.

Another good thing about being in Norway, is off course that I have been able to visit my favourite coffee-shop again, Det Lille Kaffekompaniet in Bergen. If you ever visit Bergen, I highly recommend it. They make the best coffee I've ever tasted. It is very close to the entrance to Fløyen. (It's on the left side on the picture below).

Things I won't be doing in Mali

2008-05-06T09:45:00.000+01:00

This is definitely one of the things I won't be doing in Mali. Not in Norway either, for that sake. Never.

(Please excuse the language.)

Most of the time I was actually studying...

2008-04-23T10:00:00.000+01:00

After 7,5 months, I'm now finished with my time in France. That does for sure not mean that I am close to fluent in French. But I do hope that I have reached a basic level of French, so that I can continue learning. Even though I haven't written so much about it in this blogg, I spent most of the time in France studying the language, in a setting like this:

In and out of class we were working on a broad range of language-issues such as:
- Grammar, grammar and grammar. For example: how to conjugate verbs correctly in all forms and shapes, which preposition to use when, different pronons and how to use them, adjectifs and adverbs and how they work. And what on earth is a subjonctif?
- Vocabulary. It doesn't help very much to understand grammar if you don't know any words.
- Oral comprehension. It doesn't help to know the grammar and have a vocabulary if you don't understand how people prononce them.
- Prononciation. After having watched French people go blank a few times as they tried to figure out what this foreigner was attempting to say, I understood how necessary it is to practice also how to prononce things. Here is a picture of Frank in the soundlab, where we practiced prononciation:

This year has made me see how much work it takes to learn a new language. Somebody told me that it is normal to use 7-11 years to become fluent. For me that confirms that I need to be patient and have a long-time perspective over the work in Mali.

Familiebesøk

2008-04-11T11:53:00.000+01:00

Forrige helg var eg vertskap for ein jentetur til Paris. Dei reisande var mor Kari, søster May Britt og niese Amalie. Dei budde på skulen min, og fekk sjå litt av korleis livet mitt her ned er. På fredagen hadde Amalie, i sterk konkurranse med julaftan, kanskje den beste dagen i sitt liv så langt, då dei var på tur til Disneyland. Laurdagen gjekk med til turistaktivitetar i Paris. Først på lista stod Eifeltårnet. Etter ein del kald køståing kom me oss til tops i tårnet. Etter det tok me ein kjapp tur innom triumfbuen, midt i verdas største rundkøyring. Ettermiddagen vart nytta til shopping. For tre av oss fire var shoppinga ei skikkeleg energisprøyte. For den fjerde av oss var det meir som kryptonitt.

Det var veldig kjekt å få besøk, og få visa fram litt av Frankrike og livet mitt her. Bortsett frå turistaktivitetane fekk dei også oppleva ein fantastisk flott by med mykje historie, eit land der god mat er ein sentral del av kulturen, og til og med ekte hundeskit på fortaua. C'est la France!

A Swedish fraud?

2008-03-24T18:28:00.001Z

One of the things I like at Les Cedres is that there are very many nice and interesting people here. I thought I'd introduce you to some of them them briefly. I'll start by my regular jogging-partner.

Jim Shoberg is in my class. He comes from Chicago, is married with Debby and they have four children. Jim claims to be of Swedish ancectry, just a few generations back. However, since he is a nice guy and quite smart, I have my doubts about this. Jim worked many years as a missionary in Ecuador in South America. From this time comes one of his standard phrases: "when I used to live in the jungle...". He speaks spanish, a native american language, and is now learning French. Sometimes he also makes a hopeless attempt to prononce some Swedish phrases. He is leading a team of missionaries in France, and they are, in partnership with a French organisation, going to plant a church in the South Western part of Paris. Me and Jim go jogging together once every week, and we also meet once a week to pray together. I appreciate his friendship a lot.

Resurrection

2008-03-23T19:13:00.000Z

Today I was in church in Noisy le Sec. The church was completely full, and it was an atmosphere of celebration. The music was loud and fast, and people were dancing in the aile. (Personnally I tapped my foot quite a bit).

The resurrection of Jesus is really a great reason for celebration, because it is the only thing that can give us hope and new life. Jesus shows us what love is, he shows us what courage is, he shows us who God is and what a true human is like. As a consequence of what he did for us during easter, the world is no longer the same place. Paul outlines the consequenses like this in 1 Cor 15 (norwegian version follows):

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sjå, eg seier dykk ein løyndom: Vi skal ikkje alle sovna inn, men vi skal alle bli omskapte, i hast, i ein augneblink, når den siste basunen lyder. For basunen skal lyda, og dei døde skal stå opp uforgjengelege, og vi skal bli omskapte. For dette forgjengelege må bli kledd i uforgjengelegdom, og dette dødelege kledd i udødelegdom. Men når dette forgjengelege er ikledd uforgjengelegdom, og dette dødelege er ikledd udødelegdom, då blir det ordet oppfylt som står skrive:
Døden er slukt og sigeren vunnen.
Død, kvar er din brodd?
Død, kvar er din siger?
Brodden i døden er synda, og krafta i synda er lova. Men Gud vere takk som gjev oss siger ved vår Herre Jesus Kristus! Difor, mine kjære sysken, ver støe og urikkelege. Ta stadig rik del i Herrens gjerning!

This is indeed Good News in a world where evil is real in and around us, and where all of us, sooner or later, will face suffering and death. Through what Jesus did for us on the cross, evil and death was overcome. Death is still there, but it has been beaten. One day it will loose its sting completely. God have started to put his creation right. We have a hope through the grave and out on the other side. That's truly worth celebrating and tapping one's foot carefully to!

Castle-jumping in the Loire Valley

2008-03-23T18:01:00.000Z

Friday and Saturday I and the two other Norwegians here went to the Loire valley, which is about one hour by car South West of Paris. There one find what must be one of the highest density of castles in the world. For some centuries, it was fashion for roalty and aristocracy in France to build a nice castle in the country side, where one could relax from ordinary life. The cabin of Kjell Inge Røkke looks pale in comaprison. Before going there, we asked some friends who have been visiting a lot of castles, and they gave us their top-three-must-see castles in the Loire-valley. Below you can see pictures and a short presentation of each of the three.

Cambord

This castle was built by a French king with the name Francois I during the first part of the 16th century. It took 30 years and 1800 labourers. Francois I spent in total between 1-2 months here during this period, before he died. I guess that can be called expensive fun. The castle is beautiful, with a huge private park around it, where it is still possible to go hunting. Some people also believe that the stairs at the centre of the castle was designed by Leonardo da Vinci. He was living in the Loire Valley at this time. Voila, son escalier:

Chenonceau

The Chenonceau castle is the most visited in France, after Versailles in Paris. The history is a bit special. The main part of it was built by a rich man in the beginning of the 16th century. Later it was taken over by king Henry II. He put his mistress in this castle. She did not just sit around waiting for the visits of the king. She designed a beautiful garden and built a bridge linking the castle to the other side of the river. Than, unfortunately for her, the king died. His real wife took over the castle and threw out the mistress, who had to go and live in another castle. The wife then designed a new garden, not to be outdone by the woman her husband had betrayed her with. She also took the bridge and built two floors on it, so that the castle was expanded to what it looks like today. Below you see the garden which was designed by the mistress.

Amboise

The last castle we visited is situated on a clifftop, overlooking the village of Amboise and the river Loire. Leonardo da Vinci lived the last years of his life in this area, and he is buried in the church in the castle. To show his gratefullness to the French king, he let him inherit threee of the paintings he had maid. One of them was the Mona Lisa, which today is the most famous paintning in the world. Quite a good deal for the king, in other words.

Conclusion and a suggestion
I guess the conclusion of this trip is that France has an incredible rich history and cultural heritage. There are so many things to see and to learn about. Somehow one feels closer linked to times gone by, because there are so many visible signs of them around. In our modern ways of thinking where we asume that all things always develope towards a higher level, I think we are often in danger of underestimating earlier generations.

After having visited the Loire Valley I also, hereby, wish to send a suggestion to Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy, president of the Republic of France: could it be possible to find a new name for the Loire "Valley"? It is one of the flattes areas I have visited. Even if one tried, it would be har to construct something more different from a valley. So I want to suggest a new name. Maybe something like the "Loire plains." Just an idea.

An encouraging experience

2008-03-16T12:49:00.000Z

Today I had an encouraging experience. As I was sitting in church, listening to different people speaking about this and that, I realised that I understood most of what was going on. And it was all in French. I even understood the man who was leading the service, who I used to find quite incomprehensible, because he speaks very fast. As a language student it is easy to focus on how much I still lack before I will be fluent in French. Speaking is still difficult. But today I managed to lift my eyes and see that progress is being made. This gives me the courage to continue, and to work on improving also my speaking abilities. Thank you to all of you who have been praying!

Eg elskar deg på nynorsk

2008-03-11T11:31:00.000Z

På Montmartre finst det eit "kjærleiksvegg" der setningen "eg elskar deg" er skrive på ei rekke ulike språk. Me var der ein gjeng på laurdag, og blant mange andre verdsspråk kunne me lesa "eg elskar deg" på nynorsk. Eg vart litt glad inni meg. Me finst.

Reflections on Psalm 8

2008-03-06T16:43:00.000Z

Last Tuesday, Psalm 8 was the text for our lunch-meditation here at Les Cedres. After the meditation, I have reflected a lot on many different aspects of the psalm. I want to share some of these reflections with you.

The topic of psalm 8 is: what is a human being? It is interesting that this vision of what a true human is, starts and ends with this verse:

"O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

I started reflecting on why a psalm about humans is enclosed by this verse, which speaks about worshiping God. As I reflected, I connected it with two trends that sociologist see in Norwegian (and I guess many other) societies. The first of these trends is that more and more people loose faith in any kind of "meta-story" that gives meaning and purpose, and hence commitment, to life. We don't believe so much in these "meta-stories" any more. The second trend is a loss of community. Maybe the biggest problem for many people in our society is loneliness.

How do these two trends relate to this verse in Psalm 8? Some years ago I heard a seminar called "Worship as a clue to meaning in life." For a time I didn't quite understand what that was supposed to mean, but I think I start to see it more clearly now. Human beings are uncurable religious. We will for sure worship something, the question is just what. Currently I'm reading a book about the Soviet Union, which shows how, after God was officially decleared dead, the new leaders assumed religious-like powers and a cult developed. God was replaced by men. In other times and cultures we will make ourselves other types of gods. It can be ourselves, it can be money, it can be power or sex or it can even be love / relationships / family. But most people will always choose an object in which they put their hope and trust. This object will again start to define our values and lifestyles. As humans we need to worship something. As I reflected on this, it started to make a lot of sence that psalm 8 encloses the human life between two verses that speaks about worship of God. Worship brings meaning and purpose to life. And the call of psalm 8 and all of the Bible is to come and worship the one true God. It is only He who is big enough to bear our dreams and desires, our sins and wounds. It is only He who is great enough to be truly worthy to be worshipped. Psalm 8 reminds us that a human life finds its rightful place when it is lived as a life of worship to the one true God.

Secondly, this verse speaks about "our Lord", not only "my Lord." As humans we are created for community, and that's why being lonely is one of the worst things anyone can experience. For me one of the most important things as a believer, has been to experience a new kind of community. It happened at The School of Mission and Theology, it happened again when I worked at Hald International Centre, and I've also experienced it in Bergen International Church and here at Les Cedres. Off course, since we are sinful people, community is also complicated and even painful at times. But it is the only place we can find true happiness. In the book "The Great Divorce", C.S. Lewis' picture of hell is a city where all kind community is broken down. Every man is an island. Every man is his own world. There is a total autonomy, and everybody is closed in on themselves. This is why, when people are brought in a bus from hell to heaven, most prefer to go back to hell. Because in heaven they find a loving kind of unity and oneness, and the only way to enter is through a laying down of oneself. For many this is scary, for it feels like dying, and they don't know that in reality it is excactly the opposite - the only way to a world which overflows with life and joy.

Psalm 8 therefore speak to me about two fundamental dimensions of how to live a full human life. It means to direct my life towards worshipping and honoring God, and to do it as part of a worshipping community.

In this I find both a calling, a blessing and a challenge. How is it for you?

(The picture above is from the Church I attend here in France)

Good samaritans in Disneyland

2008-02-26T10:40:00.000Z

A few weeks ago Simon from England came and asked for help. He has a yearpass to Disneyland East of Paris and has been there several times with his family. But when he is there with his 5-6 year old son and pregnant wife, he is forced to be Responsible Husband and Father. Translation: he hasn't been able to do any of the fun rides yet. Now he wanted to find some guys to go with, so he could change that. With his yearpass he could get us tickets for 10€. Three of us decided that it was our responsibility to help out a friend in need. Last wednesday was The Day. We singled out the rides which had warning-signs for people with heartproblems, backproblems, etc. Our favourites were the Space Mountain (rollercoster in darkness with loop and corkscrew) and the Indiana Jones - ride. Johann from South Africa summed up the day very well: sometimes it's wonderfull to be a boy again. We also saw Mickey Mouse and Pluto.

Martin Luther King jr og målsaka

2008-02-13T14:17:00.000Z

I dag var eg med på mi første filminnspeling. I kjellaren på Les Cedres er det eit baptistisk studio for musikk og fjernsyn. I samband med at det er 40 år sidan Martin Luther King vart drepen skal dei gjeva ut ein DVD. Her ønskjer dei å visa ulike folk som seier ”Eg har ein draum” på sitt språk. Eg vart sjanghaia i siste minutt for å representera Noreg. Først tenkte eg å framføra replikken på nynorsk for å slå to fluer i ein smekk. Då kunne eg både vera med i ein DVD mot rasisme og samstundes slå eit slag for målsaka over heile verda. Replikken sto heilt klart for meg då me vart vist inn i studioet: ”eg har ein draum." Det virka veldig enkelt. Men då eg sette meg på stolen, fekk ein spotlight i andletet og vart beden om å sjå inn i kameraet kom nervane for fullt. Replikken kom plutseleg på dialekt: ”eg har ein drøm." Beklagar Noregs mållag. Håpar uansett DVD’en vert bra.

Norsk kveld

2008-01-27T21:35:00.000Z

I kveld var eg på besøk hjå dei to andre norske studentane her på Les Cedres. Dei er Inge og Marie Aukan, og deira 3-månader gamle son Håkon. Inge og Marie er eit hyggeleg ektepar frå Romsdalen og Nordmøre. Av og til er det godt å slippa å tenkja på fransk eller engelsk, og å kunna snakka norsk ein heil kveld med folk som stort sett har den same referanseramma i forhold til ulike ting. Det er ikkje så mange andre her som det går an å le av Pondus saman med, for å seia det slik. Dei serverte utmerka Lasagne, og akkurat no kjennest det som om eg åt middag for heile neste veke. Inge og Marie har også ein blogg, der dei skriv litt om sine opplevingar i Frankrike. Dei er litt meir proffe enn meg på blogg, så dersom nokon har lyst til å kikka på kva dei skriv er adressa http://www.aukan.net/.

Elles var eg ein tur til Paris i går saman med Kristine og Vanessa frå USA, Kiberley frå New Zealand og Johann frå Sør Afrika. Me tok ein båttur nord og austover frå Seinen, opp til ein stad som heiter La Villette. Det var ein fin måte å sjå ein ny del av byen på. I La Villette er det eit vitenskapsmuseum som skal vera veldig bra. Me nøygde oss med ein film om korallrev inne i ein kuppel. Men det var bra det og.

Dinner at Les Cedres

2008-01-19T09:35:00.000Z

One of the things about my time in France that feels a bit strange, is that I have moved back into a dormitory. Last time I lived like this I was 19 years old. I have a room at about 10 square meters, and share bathroom and kitchen with many other people. Most of those living here are families. But we are also about 10-12 single people, or people who have left their families to come here. On Thursday we had a welcome-dinner for all who are here without a family, since some new people have arrived after Christmas. There are many nice people in this group, from France, Canada, USA, Germany, Colombia, New Zealand, Scotland, Norway and South Africa. It has to be said that the women are dominating the group. But they are very friendly towards me. Two days ago I was, for example, invited to a prayer group for women. I politely told them no thanks. Over you can see a picture from the dinner. Everybody helped prepare the meal. I was assigned with the responsibility of buying the drinks. All by myself.

Ein av dei litt rare tinga med tida her i Frankrike er å bu på internat igjen. Eg har eit rom på ca 10 kvadratmeter, og deler bad og kjøkken med ein haug med andre folk. Dei fleste av dei som bur her er familiefolk, mange har born. I tillegg er me 10-12 stykker som anten er single eller som ikkje har familien sin her. På torsdag hadde me ein slags velkomst-middag for alle som er her utan familie, sidan det har komen til nokre nye etter jul. Det er mange hyggelege folk, som kjem frå Frankrike, Canada, USA, Tyskland, Colombia, New Zealand, Skotland, Noreg og Sør Afrika. Det må seiast at det er ein klar kvinneleg dominans, men at dei er greie med meg. For eit par dagar sidan vart eg t.d. invitert til å vera med på ei bønegruppe for damer. Eg takka høfleg nei. Over ser du bilete frå middagen. Alle delte på å førebu måltidet. Eg var sjef for innkjøp av drikka. Det vart fire flasker vatn, tre flasker eplesider og to flasker brus. Trur det gjekk bra.

Kulturkveld i Massy

2008-01-16T17:16:00.000Z

I kveld skal alle "gutta" i klassen samlast til videokveld. Der er det Jason Bourne 3, samt Cola og chips som står på menyen. Det kan også henda at me vekslar nokre ord saman. Eg er spent på om Jason Bourne finn ut kven han var den gang før han vart hemmeleg agent og snikmordar og rak bevisstlaus i land ein plass i Sør Frankrike og i to filmar utan stans har vorte jaga over heile verda av CIA og andre etterrettningsorganisasjonar som av uforklarlege grunnar vil drepa han. Før det hadde han altså eit anna namn og liv, som han har gløymt. Som du forstår kan det verta ein hyggeleg kulturkveld. Eg gler meg i alle fall.

DET FASTE PUNKTET

2008-01-15T21:11:00.000Z

Tenkte eg måtte koma igang med blogginga mi, så her finn de eit utdrag frå ein e-post eg sende til Bergen Internasjonale Kyrkjelyd i haust. Den er litt lang, men du får lesa så mykje som du har tid til:

Livet består av endringar. Det er umogeleg å frysa livet, og få alt til å verta verande som det er. I løpet av månadane i Paris har eg vorte kjent med mange fine menneske. Eg har fått oppleva ein by med mykje vakkert i. Eg får smaka nye og gode matsortar. Og eg er så privilegert at eg får læra eit nytt språk. Alt dette er flotte ting, som eg er takksam for. Samstundes har eg sagt farvel til folk og ting eg er glad i i Noreg. Ting endrar seg. Eg veit at mange av venskapa eg startar her i Paris kjem til å ha avgrensa varigheit. Nokre av studentane har allereie reist til andre land for å jobba. Nye har komen til. For nokre månader sidan mista ei av lærarane på skulen vår den 18 år gamle guten sin i ei trafikkulykke. Livet endrar seg heile tida. Det gjeld ikkje berre her i Paris. Ein veks opp, ein flyttar, utdanning og jobb fører oss til ulike stadar, familiar og relasjonar endrar seg. Før eller seinare møter me alle utfordringar, vanskar og sorg. Synd men sant.

Når eg reflekterer over dette forstår eg betre kvifor Bibelen fleire stadar held fram at Gud er uforanderleg. Han er det faste punktet. Han er alltid den same. Han har lova å vera med gjennom alle endringar. Meir enn dei fleste opplevde David at livet kan vera ei berg-og-dalbane. Som ungdom jobba han som gjetar. I løynd vart han krona til konge. Seinare jobba han som musikar ved kong Saul sitt hoff, før han gjorde karriere som soldat og vart folkehelt. Kong Saul freista å drepa han pga misunning, og David vart flyktning og geriljaleiar som sov under open himmel og i huler i fjellet. Seinare vart han konge, og måtte takla krigar, opprør, misnøye, kritikk og rivalisering innan familien. Det var stort sett aldri fred å få, og ofte hadde han ikkje kontroll over omstenda. Kanskje er det difor så mange av salmane hans handlar om å venda seg til Gud med alle vanskar og problem, og å stola på han:

Herren er min styrke, deg har eg kjær. Herren er mitt berg og mi borg, min utfriar, min Gud, mitt fjell som eg flyr til, mitt skjold, mitt frelseshorn og mitt vern. (Sal 18,1-2).

Gud er det faste punkt gjennom alle endringar, til slutt også gjennom døden og ut på den andre sida. I haust skjedde det tre ting som hjelper meg å hugsa dette midt oppe i alle endringane eg opplever for tida. For det første har eg funne ein kyrkjelyd der eg trivest godt. Det er ein liten luthersk kyrkjelyd som ligg i forstaden Noisy le Sec, nord aust for Paris. Kvar laurdag og ca. annankvar tysdag reiser eg dit og deltek på møter. Presten der er flink å undervisa, og folka bryr seg om kvarandre. Etter kvart som eg byrjar å forstå litt av språket hjelper dette fellesskapet meg meg å halda fokus på Gud også under språkstudiet. Det same gjer venskapen med ein klassekamerat som heiter Jim Shoberg. Jim er amerikanar med svenske aner, men er på tross av sin svenske bakgrunn både hyggeleg og intelligent. Han og kona Debby har jobba 14 år som misjonærar i Equador, deler av tida budde dei i jungelen, langt frå næraste by. No har dei tatt med seg sine 4 born til Paris, der dei skal leia eit team av amerikanske misjonærar. Jim og eg joggar saman ca ein gang i veka. I tillegg til dette møtest me kvar onsdag for å prata og be saman. Venskapet med Jim er ein annan ting som hjelper meg til å ha Gud som det faste punktet mitt her i Paris. Elles var eg i haust også med som oppvaskhjelp på eit alpha-kurs (introduksjonskurs i kristen tru) i ei kyrkje i Massy. Etter kvart vart det også veldig spanande. I tillegg til å få smaka 3-rettars franske måltid med mykje ukjent innhald, vart eg også litt kjent med nokre av personanen som var med på kurset. Blant anna var det ein hyggeleg iranar der, som hadde kjent Ayatolla Khomeini den gangen han budde i Paris. Samt andre greie folk.

Vel, det var i alle fall eit lite innblikk i nokre sider av livet mitt her i Frankrike. Satsar på å fortelja litt meir etter kvart. Du må gjerne stikke innom bloggen ein annan gang også og sjå om det er liv i meg. Det håpar eg at det vil vera. Elles er sjølvsagt helsingar og kommentarar svært velkomne. Au revoir!