In Wolof, when someone says thank you, the typical response is: “Ñokabok”. Translated, it means, “We are together.” It’s a deeply rooted spirit of community. In contrast to our western exaltation of the individual, in Africa it is the community that reigns. The Senegalese people are always, literally, together, and always ready to lend a hand – family, friends, or strangers. It’s a beautiful and essential part of the Senegalese culture but it also begs the question: how to live out a mission of compassion meant for the lonely here, in the land of “being together?” 

One of the beautiful parts of moving is slowly discovering our “first friends” in the new neighborhood. Mari is one of them. Nine years old with a huge personality, she has quickly become a staple of our daily life. She lives just several houses away with her parents and her two brothers. She is full of questions and sass, and has quickly settled into an unofficial role of “chief of the new neighbors”, keeping track of all our comings and goings and frequently checking in to make sure she’s up to date on our plans. 

She came one day to tell us that the following day was her birthday. So we invited her for lunch and secretly prepared a birthday cake. As we turned off the lights and started to sing, I had never seen her so still and meek. Her eyes grew wide and she shyly glanced around at us. All this for me? For me it’s a beautiful moment of our mission, when I can see written out on a child’s face the wonder of being seen and cherished, just because. Here in Senegal, it’s especially touching, in a place where the spirit of “ñokabok” often results in getting lost in the group, absorbed into a general togetherness that can obscure the individual. Each of us has the desire and the need to be loved individually and uniquely, not as simply part of the whole. Christ died for all humanity, but more accurately he died for each of us, individually. It’s becoming clearer as time goes on to what extent that is exactly our mission here. To see and love each person entrusted to us, individually – Penda, Violette, Alphonse, Awa, Bamari, Clarisse, Kiki, Paul…. I must beg to have the love of God poured into my heart in order to love like Him!