back in the US of A

Greetings-
We arrived back in the US a little over a week ago. We had in our opinion a very successful trip.
We can't thank those who prayed for us during this time enough. We felt covered in prayer many times as we faced a number of challenges.
We are still processing our time in Senegal. We were able to spend 7 days and 6 nights in the village and to tell the truth we could have stayed longer. It was some of the hardest good byes we have ever made. We strengthened existing relationships, made new ones and did a whole lot of listening.
When we arrived in the village, they had a HUGE party arranged. They had village chiefs and elders from surrounding villages sitting under a large tarp just set up for this event. And to go further the woman of the village had special outfits made and presented Dawn my wife with one. They also had a number of young girls in special outfits and presented my daughters with the same. Then they presented me with a special out fit. It was pretty cool.
They were all given a chance to speak and we celebrated the fact that this village now has running water for over a year now and the neighboring village as well. The chief was there from that village too. We were so humbled by this afternoon. We could really feel their heartfelt thanks.
The second my wife and children got out of the truck they were mobbed by children awaiting there appearance. It was so neat...it felt like we were home!
The party went on with a big meal...and dancing into the cool Senegal night..in fact it went on till midnight. We were fairly exhausted by this point.
The next day we able to witness eight people get baptized in a local church...what a great day. We met some new friends and of course a large meal followed.
On Sunday we took the horse cart to church and had a wonderful time.
The rest of the week we did life with the village. We witnessed the first rain of the year (also the first time i have ever seen it rain in Senegal) and got to plant some peanuts in the field the following day.
We met with the elders/lead men of the village and listened to their challenges in the village. Likewise with the woman. it was interesting to learn on how each group rated their biggest challenges. For example, the men listed latrines as a pretty big issue. This village has 18 compounds with only one compound having a latrine in it. The woman however didn't even list it. We were shocked!
We just listened and hope in the future to help them discover how to meet their needs on their own. That's our prayer.And then we have the spiritual needs...