Jonathan and Fiona Snowdon

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Prayer Letter/Ministry Update

Dear friends,
We can’t thank you enough for your prayers and support over the last few months. For those of you who have followed our tracks, you know that our year has been anything but routine and we’ve had a hard time keeping up with our communication during all our coming and going. Thanks for keeping in touch with us and praying for us anyway! We can’t believe how quickly the months have passed and now we are writing a half-year update!

Our year began with a 6 week stay in Dakar as we awaited the arrival of Emilia Joy, our third daughter. She just made her due date of January 30th, arriving at 9:50pm. Despite being a little nervous to have a baby in Africa, it was a wonderful experience and we were thankful for an excellent doctor and hospital. Emilia has brought lots of laughter and joy to our family these past few months and is growing rapidly. Following two weeks back in Saint Louis, Fiona traveled with all 3 girls to Dayton for a two month stay with Jon’s family. The main agenda was to renew her travel document which allows her to work overseas on her green card but all the girls were able to enjoy lots of time with family and friends, including a visit from Kirsty and Finn, Fiona’s sister and nephew from Sydney. God provided in amazing ways – what was estimated as months of waiting for the paperwork to be renewed, took only a few weeks. What a relief! Jon joined the family in April for a few weeks of vacation. We were blessed by this break and the opportunity to function purely in English for a few weeks!

It seems that we have not stopped since our return to Saint Louis in May, once again getting stuck into language learning and life in general. Molly and Brianna were glad to return to school although had a bit of work to do to regain their French speaking ability! They are now enjoying their long summer break and we are trying to keep their hand in French so they can start well in school again in September. We too have had lots of work to get back into new language routines. Fiona has started working 3 mornings a week with a new language partner, Marie and Jon has continued his 3+ sessions per week with Diop. We’ve both been blessed by our interactions with these helpers and their families and sense that we are slowly making progress. Although we’ve been in Senegal awhile now, language learning is still our main job. We can honestly say that, after doing this in 2 languages over the last 2½ years we are very tired. However, we still have a long way to go in the Wolof language in order to be able to work and minister well to those around us. Please pray for endurance and motivated hearts and minds, especially during these months of hot season.

We welcomed Fiona’s parents, Helen and Roger in May for a month long visit. It was such a blessing for us to have family with whom we could share our life here and they thoroughly enjoyed their taste of Senegalese culture and especially time with the grandkids. Unfortunately Jon came down with Malaria and a bacterial infection for a couple of weeks during their trip, resulting in his first ever IV drip being administered right in our living room!

What else do we do?
While language study takes the majority of our time, there is always something else to do and we value opportunities to spend time with people, experiencing culture and giving ministry input where we can. These last few months have seen Fiona participating more with the women through bible studies, some special events focusing on family relationships (with Fiona’s mum as guest speaker!) and evangelism, as well as attending a couple of baby naming ceremonies. Jon has been preaching again (in French), hosting Bible studies in our home, and helping with the registration of young boys in the Talibé ministry.

We are really excited about welcoming the Leadership Matters Course to Senegal in January 2010! We were both blessed by this practical training when we were in Australia and now Jon is part of a team responsible for organizing the first course in West Africa. We are thrilled by this opportunity and expect this will be a great blessing for those who attend as well as the beginning of offering excellent training to the missions community and the equipping of national leaders across the region. This kind of ministry is close to our hearts and we are looking forward to what it might mean for us personally in the future. Pray for those organizing – there are many details to bring together and most of that is happening from a distance – and those coming – for prepared hearts for a focused time of learning and fresh vision for their ministries.

Answering prayer…
We have always asked you to pray that the Lord would open up doors before us and help us build good relationships here. After months of being absent from Saint Louis, we asked the Lord to give us a “fresh start” in this area, as well as in language and our family life. We want you to know that the Lord is really answering and we can see His hand leading us into new friendships with a variety of people, both in our neighbourhood and wider community through the network of people at the girls’ school.

In June we celebrated Molly’s 6th birthday by throwing our first ever tri-lingual birthday party with her friends from school and some neighbours. At the last minute, I (Fiona) invited our pastor’s wife, Feluine, and her son to come too even though she didn’t know the other families coming. While Jon was sick in bed and I ran around after a bunch of 6 year olds, Feluine was able to sit and talk with one of our neighbours as well as another mum from school. This resulted in a wonderful connection and conversation about family and marriage relationships.

Feluine sensed a strong interest from both women and an especially open heart from the schoolmum. We are excited about this opportunity to provide connections between people who wouldn’t normally meet each other and for the open door for building relationships with these families.

While we understand that living in a developing country has its challenges and that not every problem that arises is spiritual in nature, this year our team has faced many difficulties which, added together, have stretched us beyond what we’d consider “normal life.” These experiences are opening our eyes to the unseen spiritual battle that is going on around us and that we are a part of as we serve the Lord here in Senegal. We urge you to continue diligently in prayer for the Senegalese believers, for our team and for all those the Lord is drawing to himself in this land. Thank you for standing alongside our family and team, despite the distance between us here and you there! We are grateful for each moment you stop and pray. Keep it up!

Blessings in Christ,

Jon and Fiona, Molly, Brianna and Emilia Snowdon

Serving with the C&MA in Senegal

We are fully supported by your giving to the Great Commission Fund through your local C&MA church or by sending your donation to;

The Christian and Missionary Alliance
Box 35000
Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500

To help with extra on-going ministries, mark your gifts ‘Snowdon Work specials-Senegal’.

Prayer Requests/Answers to Prayer

No information provided at this time.

Senegal

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