Ever heard of Franglais?
Apparently it’s an actual word that means a blend of french and english.
Français + Anglais = Franglais (pronounced f-“WRONG”-lay)… in other words it’s not fully french or english and it just sounds Wrong!
Well this is where Justin and I find ourselves in our language learning journey.
Our communication is improving, and thankfully we can understand a lot of what we hear. However getting the words out ourselves is harder. It’s crazy how hard your brain has to work to piece words and phrases together in a new language – especially when some things just don’t translate word for word. The cool thing is that the more mistakes we make in speaking, the more we learn. We may sound like a couple of 2 year olds, but that’s ok for now. We didn’t move to Africa for the purpose of learning french after all, we came to train and encourage the national church to be missionaries to their own people.

Switching gears now, I just want to encourage anyone and everyone reading to continue aiding developing countries in through whatever ministry/non-profit you feel passionate. I cannot vouch for every ministry, but it has been so cool to see some big name ministries on the ground here in West Africa.

For example one of our good friends here is a point man for Samaritan’s Purse OCC shoeboxes. Below is a photo of some of these shoebox gifts in our own truck as we transfer them to a different location. And a photo of our son next to some additional boxes. We have not had the pleasure yet of seeing kids open them, but it’s still cool to see them in our area awaiting distribution.

We also recently passed a World Vision truck on the road which was cool to see in person! They don’t work in our city but in several surrounding cities. World Vision works to empower children, families and communities to tackle poverty and injustice.

We have also had the pleasure of meeting Bible translators who work hard to translate the Bible into indigenous languages, so that everyone will one day have access to God’s word in their heart language.

Furthermore we have heard first hand of the great humanitarian work of many Christian charities as well as secular NGOs (non government organization like the Peace Corps etc.) throughout West Africa. They are actively addressing many important issues such as; clean water projects, orphan care, education, and malaria prevention, as well as bringing an end to; child abuse, female circumcision, and child marriage etc.
Like I said before whatever ministry you feel passionate about, there is a need! All you have to do is ask yourself, “How can I make a difference?”

I wanted to include a map to help you visualize developing countries worldwide since  poverty and humanitarian need is not isolated to Africa. This is not a conclusive map, but statistics as recent as 2015 show that 46% of the world’s population lives on less than $5.50 per day. So whatever area of aid you feel a connection to, please continue to give and pray!
You can make a difference!!

– Rachel