It all started out with a ring of the telephone..... Our house was full of company - as it often is - and I picked up the phone in the living room to avoid the noise of conversation in the other room. The voice was Bob Fetherlin and his question was "Are you sitting down?" My answer: no, but I could be. Then he told me to put Milt on the line as well which I did.
He put his question to us - Would you be willing to go to Mali to serve with the Alliance for a year? Wow! What a surprise! We were already retired, trying to get used to living in the United States, enjoying our sons and their families near us, and this question took us by surprise. Bob went on to explain that the Field Director was due for home assignment and there was no one to replace him - so since we knew Mali and language and the church and some of the mission personnel - would we be willing to go back on allowance and go to Mali to serve for a year as Field Director?? We asked him to give us some time to talk to each other and then we would get back to him.
It did not take us long to talk it over and get back to Bob with a positive response! Then it was as if our world turned upside down - or was it really right side up??! Our hearts are missionary hearts and we loved our life for more than forty years in Africa; there was nothing to keep us in Toccoa that year and thus we said "yes" to this unexpected assignment! Little did we knew what the year held for us. But isn't that always true in our lives - God only gives us grace and direction for the day and the present and asks us to leave the future to Him, so that is what we did!
We have to admit we were excited - back to the continent we loved, back to using our French and Jula again, back to a useful life, back to living the missionary life instead of just telling about it on tour. And so we prepared - our hearts, our house, our baggage - and soon we were off for our year in Mali. The Roeddings arrived in Toccoa and visited with us a couple of days before we left Toccoa, giving us a rundown on the work in Bamako and Mali. Gordon had done what he could to prepare notes for us on people and field situations which we needed to know when we got there and that was helpful. Little did we know when we left the Atlanta airport, - where we were sent off by Mark and Katy and three grandchildren and John and Jennie - what lay in store for us.
A long trip back - long flights, long layover in Europe and finally the descent into Bamako, Mali. The blast of heat as we stepped out of the plane into the night was the first thing we noticed........and then the friendly African smiles, the long walk across the tarmac, identifying our trunks and having them checked by the douane, and finally hugs from our colleagues who had come to meet us and welcome us to Mali!
The Roeddings had left all of their home set up with their household goods and so it was easy to arrive at the mission compound and settle in there. The Mali mission office compound was one of those buzzingly busy walled compounds like the one we used to live in in Bobo, so we felt quite at home. The Barnwells were there to welcome us and take us out to the beautiful hotel for lunch the next day. Randy could answer any questions Dad had to get started. Our house was on the ground floor and the office complex was up one flight of outside stairs. The office worker, Job, was a wonderful help and remains a friend through email until now.
Cheryl Roedding had trained a cook who could put together a great meal at a moment's notice - she had even made up a large Bambara cookbook for him so he could make desserts, meals, anything. But alas, he had a large family living in Sikasso and needed to get back to living at home with them and so we had to look for house help. We had wall to wall people to feed and it was my job to feed them. It was not easy to find the right help - the first man I liked but he was an alcoholic we found out after a few weeks. He did not turn up when I was expecting a big crowd and when Dad went to his yard to see what was wrong, he found him drunk. House help was a challenge during our whole year in Mali, but we did find someone who could at least clean and fix vegetables. How I often longed for Yusufu! But since I love to cook, we made a go of it. I wish I had kept a list of all the people we fed that year! A good way to get to know your missionaries - around the table!
The Barnwells stayed around long enough to acquaint us with the town and help us know where to shop, etc. We were amazed at the great grocery stores in Mali where you could buy just about anything - for a price! The restaurants were also nice and we learned to like a couple of them - Lebanese and Asian in particular! Bamako is not an easy town to find your way around as it is spread out on two sides of the Niger River, with two large bridges connecting the city population. It is a town like most African citites, full of slums and palaces, hotels and markets, and unbelievable traffic! So it took a while to find our way around.
The second week we were in Bamako, Dad was asked to go and address a big international youth conference out near the University and I went with him, just the two of us in the car. We got out there OK, but then in the dark at night we had a hard time finding our way home. We pulled into a filling station to ask directions and realized we had no idea really where to tell anyone we lived!! We just sat there and laughed. Finally we explained a little of where we thought we needed to go, and the gas station attendants, with great laughter, directed us in the right direction - and we finally made it home! By the middle of that year, we could get around Bamako just fine - plus the rest of Mali. It was a memorable year..................(to be cont'd)
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