Serving In Sahel

To say that shopping here in Niger is different, would be quite an understatement. The grocery stores are similar to those you would find in North America although on a much smaller scale. The malls here come in the shape of an outdoor market. Since we had a day off of school on Tuesday, some friends and I decided to go to the Grand Marché, the largest outdoor market in the city, where you can find whatever it is you might need... like some carrots.                                           Taxis drop off their passengers to do some shopping. After eating a yummy snack, you can buy a toothbrush to brush away the sugar. I haven't tried this kind of toothbrush yet....maybe next time.

  When my neighbours, John and Nancy DeValve, mentioned that they were going to go out to visit some folks in the town Téra, where they use to live. I asked if I could tag along and see what life is like in an African village.   John and Nancy got to visit with a neighbour and the lady that use to be their house help and I got to meet some amazing women, who work so hard to provide for their families. The young girl in the top picture was cooking rice for lunch in their "kitchen". I was so humbled by the hospitality of everyone we went to visit. We given the best chairs to sit in or mats on the floor, whichever they had. The lady in the picture above had prepared lunch for us. A tasty dish of rice and meat which we dug into with our fingers....no utensils here. It was finger licking good! This young man is helping his father with his fishing line. Most of the men in surrounding villages are farmers or fishermen if they live c...

NEWS...Niamey English Worship Service occurs every Sunday, as we gather together to worship the One we serve. Each week a different missionary shares what the Lord has placed upon his heart. Different worship teams lead us in a time of praise and worship to prepare our hearts to hear from the Word. We get to meet new folks who are here in Niamey to serve for a few weeks or long term and say good bye to those who are headed back home. No matter where in the world you go, what a blessing it is to gather together and worship the one true God. I think that is especially true here in Niger, where the darkness of Islam is so strong, but light of the gospel is shining though and changing lives.

My week, and usually day, begins in a meeting with Mike, the secondary principal. We talk about the upcoming week and plan out what needs to be done. The last two weeks have been filled with working on our ACSI mid-term accreditation check. Monday through Thursday afternoons, I teach science to our grade six class. This week we successfully grew a stalactite in class. We are playing a review game to prepare for a quiz when I took the picture. Three days of the week, I have recess duty. These are some of our grade two and three students playing their version of wall ball.   On Thursday, the grade six class planned a surprise birthday party for their teacher. It was a great success! They didn't seem to mind missing science class to decorate for the party. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons, I have the privilege of working with these ladies from our high school. We are working on the set and costumes for our production of "The Lion, t...