Serving In Sahel

For our last visit to the Remar orphanage of the school year, we brought the kids to our campus where we had all kinds of treats in store for them. From some tasty snacks of mango, watermelon, cookies and popcorn,     to playing on the playground, throwing water balloons at one another,   and cooling off in the sprinklers,   then was time to pass out treat bags and say our good byes. Benjo wanted me to get a photo of his new shorts. They all said it was the best day of their life and they were blessed to have come, but the truth is we were the blessed ones. Blessed by arms reaching out to hug you when they arrived. Blessed by shrieks of laughter and huge smiles on their faces. Blessed by hearts of gratitude for caring about them. Blessed by thankfulness for the simplest of gifts. Blessed....

It seems that the end of every school year is always a busy time. This semester I joined forces with the secondary principal and another teacher to help the secondary drama class prepare for their presentation of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". There were a few hiccups along the way, but the students did a great job on Friday and Saturday night.   I must admit that there were a few times when I wondered what in the world I had gotten myself into....but in the end, it all came together and I truly enjoyed the privilege of working with our secondary students.  

For some... Mother's day is a day of great rejoicing and family gatherings, for others it is a day of sadness and loneliness. Mother's Day has been a difficult day for me for the past nine years, I'm not a mom and my Mom is not here to celebrate with. There are many lessons I have learned during my time here in Niger, I'll share more later, but one is the lesson about family. In West Africa, family is important. They live together, (often in the same house), cook together, share together and survive together. They talk and laugh together. Life is precious because in a moment it can be gone. I am so thankful for the godly example I had to follow from my Mom. She loved to laugh and I loved to hear that laugh. She was kind and caring and generous, always wanting to help those in need. She always wanted to be a teacher, so I when I went home for a weekend visit, I would take some Spelling tests for her to grade. She so enjoyed that. Thoughts of her homemade bread still

Shopping is a foreign country is always an interesting experience. In Niger, we hear "Anasara" called out as we walk by. If calling that doesn't get our attention, they bring their wares up to us hoping that if we see the mangoes, zucchini. tomatoes, or souvenirs....we will want to buy them. In Turkey, we heard "Hey Lady, I have a deal for you" as the shopkeepers tried to entice us into their store. There was tasty Turkish Delight to sample and spices to smell. After an afternoon of walking and shopping, it was nice to sit for a bit by a fountain and enjoy the sunshine. It was wonderful to hear from missionaries serving in Turkey that the church is growing there. The good news is being spread and lives are changing.