After 18 years living here in the rural town of Kaffrine and ministering in the surrounding villages, we are preparing to make a big change. With our SIM leadership team’s approval, we are planning to move to the capital city of Dakar when we return from our upcoming home assignment.

Why?

Our boys’ educational/social needs and related support is one of the major factors in this decision, but we also both feel strongly led by the Lord that it is time for us to make this move from a ministry perspective as well. We are excited about what God is doing in Kaffrine right now through the local believers who are well established here now and we know that He will continue to build His church here after we leave just as He began His work here long before we came. It is time for us to move on.

What will you do in Dakar?

We know some parts of the answer to this question, and some parts we don’t know yet. Corey will be able to continue with his development and support of the different Wolof Bible apps as well as the online Wolof outreach that is just beginning – in other countries similar ministries have taken off and so many people have responded that the teams couldn’t keep up. Obviously, a response like that is what we are hoping for! Corey is also committed to typesetting the complete Wolof Bible and helping get it printed and distributed once the full Bible translation is done.

Katie did her student teaching at Dakar Academy, the Christian school our girls have attended, back in 1997 before we were married and she has had a life-long love of teaching so she is hoping to be able to teach at the school.

We will also seek to get involved in a local Senegalese church and see how we can partner with other believers to share the Good News with Wolof people in Dakar. Although there are many Christian ministries and churches in Dakar, many use primarily French rather than Wolof. We hope to not only continue ministering in Wolof but encouraging others to do the same. 

What will be different?

Dakar is a crowded city of 3 million people situated on a peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic ocean on three sides. Because of the ocean, Dakar is cooler than the rest of Senegal for much of the year. Daily life will be very different for us there in many ways. Instead of driving on dirt roads out to farming villages, we will be fighting traffic jams and dealing with frequent police stops. We will have a much larger Christian community which will include other English speakers! We will be able to buy cheese, ground beef, broccoli, cinnamon and many other things we couldn’t get in Kaffrine. There are restaurants, big grocery stores, movie theatres, and beaches. Our kids will be able to attend a great Christian school in English. And we will have teammates close by who we already know and love!

What will be the same?

We will still be part of the SIM Senegal team and we will still be working toward the same mission statement: Our SIM Senegal team’s vision is to glorify God in Senegal by:

• crossing barriers to proclaim Christ, living out the Gospel among those who live and die without Him,
• expressing Christ’s love and compassion through holistic ministry,
• discipling people into biblically healthy churches through diverse ministries,
• and working together with churches to fulfill God’s mission across cultures locally and globally.

Our SIM team’s strategic focus is the Wolof-speaking community. The Wolof culture and language dominates in Dakar, even though there are also people from all around Africa and the world. We will continue to prayerfully ask the Lord how He wants to use us to help meet our neighbors’ physical and spiritual needs.

How are you feeling about this move?

To be honest, right now Corey and I are feeling pretty elated about being released from all the things that are hard for us about living here in Kaffrine. We both have peace that the Lord is leading us on to something new. We are still in the process of sifting through our emotions about these past 18 years. 

Our boys are super excited, both about going to the US on furlough and about going to Dakar Academy after that.

Our girls have mixed emotions – after all, Kaffrine is where they have grown up.

There are certainly people and things about life in Kaffrine that each member of our family will miss. But overall, we can look back with thanksgiving and forward with hope. We know that it is only by God’s sustaining grace that we have been able to minister here for all these years. And we know that He will continue to sustain us as He leads us into the next chapter. We do appreciate your prayers for us during all this change!

Country mouse heading to the city