A letter to my sister

Hey Sister,
 Guess what today is...Monday Sister Lunch! If you were here we'd probably be eating attieke and fish (it's kind of like couscous) and boiled peanuts. I hope your week has been good. I think you're in New York City right now which is super cool!! I'm writing this from a town called Beoumi. It's like a 7 hour drive from Abengourou.

I was in the pharmacy a lot last week. The people who work there are really nice to me even though I know almost no French. I basically put pills in little bags and tie them up (sounds easy [and it is] but it seriously took me like four weird-looking bags before I got the hang of it). The first couple of afternoons, we spent at the maternity, cleaning off the walls and painting them. We saw the chicken farm and went to the market a couple times (probably will be one of my favorite things...I love how busy it is). I love how all the women wear pagnes, and how it's perfectly acceptable to greet people you don't know on the street with "Bonjour, ca va?", and how dancing in church is encouraged, and I'm learning to love fish because there's a lot of that here (although I haven't quite gotten there yet :)). I like it here a lot.

I remember us talking about the cost of following Christ and how it's not cheap. Remember when I was in middle school and screamed when I saw bugs? when I could barely eat because I was sick every day? when I was painfully shy? I remember being warned, doubted, challenged. People told me I couldn't be a missionary because I was too afraid of germs (and they were right. It was a fear I had to repent of and seek God's help because it was keeping me from living the way he wanted me to. But that's a story for another day...). They told me language barriers were difficult, and they were right. They told me it may be frustrating and would require unlimited patience in a seemingly fruitless field (I'm just an intern but I imagine they were right once again).

But you know what they didn't tell me (before I came)? They didn't tell me what it would feel like to lose my sense of identity--when what I've done and who I know and how I'm perceived by people who know me are stripped away--and I'm just Kelsey (actually that's not even totally true...I'm "la blanche" mostly :)). They didn't tell me it would be a daily fight with Pride. They didn't tell me what it would feel like to be embarrassed at being the one that's different. But they also didn't tell me that my heart could be so overwhelmed with joy over the way the Church is connected at the deepest, most important level - through Christ. Yep, they didn't tell me that either.

I love it here. I wish you could be here to experience it all with me but you're doing cool things (or so I hope ;)) in St. Louis with some pretty lucky Gateway youth group girls. Keep me in the loop! I'll be for sure checkin' out daisyslunchbox.blogspot.com to hear what you're learning.

xoxo

Sister

(P.S. It's 10:20 am on Monday so it's about the time I'd be getting a text from you :))