In Dogon Land

A couple weeks ago the Special O.P.S. (Oral People Strategy) team had a time of hanging out, hiking and climbing the cliffs of Dogon. We als enjoyed a time of spiritual retreat, reflecting on the last few months, or year, or more, and looking back on how God saw us through all our circumstances. Our 3 and a half years here in Africa is pretty similar to the hike; there are many ups and down, not all trails were smooth, some parts even more difficult than others, and though it was very tiring, going on this journey was all very worth it.

Me, Judy (our supervisor) and Kacy being silly by some tree

The Dogon people are very animistic. While on the hike we had to be careful about stepping or knocking over their idols or fetish. In this picture is a collection of some of the things they make or can be found in the area that they sell to tourist along the hike.

Meet the new Maninka Team : Scott, me and Kacy. Scott just arrived from the states and will be working among the Maninka in Kita. Where our former teammates Connie and Amanda previously worked.

This is the entrance of a cave. All these kids start singing as soon as they spot tourist walking up to the cave hoping to earn a few coins. The acoustics are pretty sweet.

These are blankets the Dogon people weave together and dye. It's also sold along the hike. Africans are very ingenious people - only they will have a market along a hiking trail. You don't see too many of that on the trails in America.

Sometimes we would drive a little bit up and down some cliffs to get to the point where we start hiking. During the drive with the view it seemed like it would make a good Toyota comercial.

We climbed to the very top of the cliff (a 5 hr hike up and down). It was exhausting but the view was awesome. The shadows you see in the picture is because of the clouds over us. I can picture better now what it might have been like for the descendants of Abraham as they left Egypt and God would lead them by a cloud in the day time and fire by night. It was amazing.
We closed the day by having dinner by the Niger River and watched a beautiful sunset. God is good.