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As we pulled onto the rough and bumpy dirt roads of Canchungo after our long drive from the airport, we were greeted by adults staring at us, seemingly confused, and children smiling, waving and pointing at us, calling out, “Branco! Branco!” (sounds like Bronco, which would be cool, but actually just means “white” in Portuguese) along the roads to where we’d be staying. Shortly after we got settled into our rooms we were off to our first Creole lesson at the WAVS school where our teacher, a young man who is friends with Chris and Holly Collins, started our lesson with a short devotional. The simple act of initiating that simple devotion before our language lesson was a perfect start to our time in Guinea.
Each day we dove deeper into our relationships with the staff, our involvement with the school and learning the culture. Throughout our time in Canchungo we assisted in English classes at the school, participated in mechanics and welding classes, played soccer with the youth and got to share most of our meals with staff members from the WAVS school. Over a short amount of time we learned to embrace vulnerability as we spent a lot of time without interpreters, exploring the local market street, talking with students at the school, and spending time with faculty and their families in their homes. It was in those times of vulnerability that we learned more and had some of the best experiences. Whether it was struggling to communicate my lack of significant other back home to the welding teacher and somehow that leading into singing worship songs around the dinner table with his family, or sitting with the assistant school director laughing and joking and eventually ending up talking about how wonderful God has been in His provision and guiding and directing the lives of His people, each time required some level of vulnerability to be embraced.
It was also very apparent that Christ was a large part of the lives of the staff there. Without being told to, the faculty start each class with a short devotional, so no matter what, Christ is present in each class session and put as the priority. Their hearts to serve and live out their faith exactly where God has placed them was refreshing and admirable to say the least. They’ve recognized the call Christ has for them and have wholeheartedly devoted their lives to it. In turn, the impact the school is having in Canchungo is evident through hearing how many people know about it, seeing the classes full of eager students, and hearing the way people talk about how it has provided new opportunities to benefit people from all over Guinea-Bissau. Hearing the stories of staff and students’ lives, how they ended up with WAVS, and why they choose to do what they do was a very refreshing, energizing and refocusing experience.
It’s clear that WAVS is also growing, and its potential for greater impact is being recognized. WAVS is well known in the town of Canchungo and well spoken of there, but the picture is much larger than just that small town. Soon enough they will be growing, as there will be a second campus being built in the capital city on the same grounds as a private university. Getting to visit the place God has provided this ministry to grow and continue to impact Guinea-Bissau was amazing, as was visiting a network of other strong ministries and organizations nearby, not only to see what else God has been doing in the country, but to see an example of the strong potential WAVS has, and to know that WAVS has them behind them in this journey for encouragement and guidance.
Spending two weeks with this ministry and the people here has been an absolutely incredible experience. Sadly, I cannot cover every significant moment in this short blog post, and I am not capable of being nearly as poetic enough in my writing to fully capture the beauty, frustration, joy, awkwardness, happiness, confusion and love that we saw and experienced while there, and how all of that plays a role in how we saw and felt Christ’s love being shared there. WAVS is an amazing ministry, and the work they are doing to share the love of Christ in Guinea-Bissau by coming alongside the beautiful people there with vocational training is absolutely amazing. It was so honoring to get to experience it firsthand.