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Hi,
it has been almost two months since our last update, so we probably have too much to report in this not-so-short update. 
* We are currently staying at a Guest House in M. We arrived here on Wednesday, the day before the coup d’état which has brought a change of government to Niger. Though there was a short battle in N the rest of the country has been peaceful. Apart from a curfew Thursday night till Friday morning, and the replacement of all government ministers and regional governors with their general secretaries, very little has changed in the daily experience of life out here. However, we thought it might be wise to stay a few extra days in Maradi before heading home to gé.
Please pray for the families of the 10 soldiers killed during the coup, for continued peace and stability in Niger, and that the new government would continue to keep the doors to this country open to the gospel.
* While we were in N we were thankful to recruit a young woman from Be who is willing to move out to gé with us to help us full time with the house work and as a nanny. This will provide us with great help so that we can focus on homeschooling the children in the mornings and studying Arabic in the afternoons. We communicate with her in French, which is also good for continued French practice. We are very thankful for her good work ethic, the initiative she shows and her gentle and quiet spirit. We have enjoyed having her travel with us. The kids have adopted her into the family really well too. E thinks of her as a second mother. Her name is Mamatu, which E interpreted to mean Mama #2. When we were getting ready to leave N, Mamatu got into the car while V was out. E cried, “Not that mum, I want Mama One to come with us.”
We are thankful that God has provided such a perfect match for our family, who is willing to come to such a remote area, so far from her own family and country. She will be boarding with one of the church families from gé who have some French, so we are praying that that arrangement will work really well for her and them.
* While we were in N, our computer lost the ability to connect to the internet, either by wireless or cable. After a month without internet we were able to reinstall the operating system (Vista) which resolved the problem. The wireless stopped working the week before we left France, so we were thankful that the internet connectivity did not fail until we were in N, where we were able to get good technical ***istance.
* Just after getting our computer back (almost as good as new), V suffered a ‘slipped disk’ in her lower back, which consigned her to bed for a week with intense pain. We were thankful again that we were in N when this happened. The Director of the Department of Physiotherapy came to our home for two free consultations, and even gave us the Timms machine (with some spare equipment) the afternoon before flying out of the country. Over the past year we had seen many times that though God does not prevent us from having problems, He always provides generously in our problems. This was another example of this for us. We were so glad the pain began while we were in N and during the very short window when expert help was available to us. It was also wonderful for us that Mamatu began working for us the next day. It took two weeks before V’s back pain had subsided sufficiently for us to travel again. Her back is now back to normal again J
Other highlights included:
X had opportunity to attend the Kinder (Prep) class for a month, and to make good friendships with the other 11 children in the class, particularly with T, who was living next door to us for the month. The class have promised to pray for him as he lives and studies in a town without other children to play with.
It was also a blessing for V and I to spend some ‘Marriage Enrichment’ time together. We appreciated reading and discussing our way through ‘Intimate Allies’ (by Longman and Allender). It was a valuable time for us to prepare for the unique pressures that ministry in an isolated location will bring to us. Pray that we will face these pressures well as intimate allies, and that our marriage will be all that God intends it to be.
We were also thankful for the opportunity to see some medical specialists while in N who are not available to us in gé.
On Wednesday, we plan to head back to gé, where we must get started on the kids Distance Education program. Pray for wisdom and patience for us as we start teaching E (Grade 1) and X (Prep). Pray that they will also enjoy their school work and that E will learn to concentrate for longer. Pray that their supervising teachers in will also be flexible with their special needs and circumstances.
We will also start our own language studies in the coming weeks. Pray that we would have wisdom to choose the right language helpers in the coming fortnight. We want to develop fluency in their mother-tongue dialect, so please pray that we will choose tutors who will avoid the temptation to teach us the ‘common’ or ‘standardised’ dialect instead.
Thank you for taking the time to read to the end of this not-so-short update (it could have been a lot longer!). We do value your partnership with us in prayer very much, and hope that you will be encouraged by the way God is answering your prayers, even when you are not sure what to pray.
May God bless you also in the work and relationships he has given to you. |
