Senegal, religion, etc.

Now we are in Senegal and are being taken care of very well by Bishop and Doris Ba. We met them a few years ago at the New Wilmington Mission Conference and have had the chance to spend time with them several times because of their connections with the Dawsons. As a result, they have put us up in their bedroom, which is quite nice relatively speaking, and part of their apartment in the 4 story building that belongs to their ministry. Despite the fact that we are sweating a lot and there is no running water, we are having a good experience here because the people are open, friendly, and have lots of show us. The Ba's head DONE ministries, which is based here in Dakar, Senegal, but sends pastors all over West Africa to plant churches. Senegal is 95% Muslim, but the Islam practiced here is fairly different from the Middle Eastern type. Here their is a lot of syncretism with traditional African practices, and the leaders of some of the Islamic sects are worshiped by their followers- some of whom devote their lives to begging on the street for money for these Marabout's (some of whom are women that inherited the position). This makes Senegal a little hostile to church planting, but not as much as some Middle Eastern countries, because most people are open to learning about Jesus and how his life is interpreted differently by Christians than the Islamic tradition.

DONE (Discipling Our Nations Effectively) is going through a transition right now, because they are running out of foreign funding for their seminary. So we just attended their graduation ceremony where they gave all their students a certificate for what work they've completed (whether they are graduation or not), since they will not have classes next year. The Graduation ceremony was interesting because they made a huge deal of all the graduates, and most of them danced up and down the aisle when they're name was called with members of their family following behind them. Next year, DONE will be bring lecturers around to each country for short courses that will allow the pastors to stay in their local contexts and apply what they're learning to their ministries immediately. This is partly in response to research they learned of recently that shows that the more theological training a pastor has, the less likely they are to go and plant a church. Like many things, once you educate someone and expose them to large cities and other countries, it is easier for that person to loose their focus and their connection to their roots. I think this is an interesting example of how the traditional western structures of theological training are being scraped for things that are more practical for the context.