When Sally and I went to Chile with our six friends for two months in camper vans we ended our last trip email with Henri Nouwen’s word, “Gracias.” We felt that it summed up the way we felt having had all of the wonderful experiences of the trip. We were simply, “thankful.”
The way we felt then is much the same as the way we feel now and we haven’t even taken our trip yet. And since we are into French and not Spanish it seems fitting to use Merci and not Gracias. Also, since the genesis and impetus of this trip seems to come so directly from God, our French phase for this blog is, “Merci, mon Dieu.” “Thank you, God.”
We are truly thankful to be going to Niger in less than a week.
In one of our emails, Barb, my contact in Niger, asked, “Will you be sharing about your trip before you leave? Make sure you come with a good group at home who will support you in prayer. Aside from the security issues, this is just a difficult place to work.”
We have been so blessed by “a good group at home.” Our church community has “prayed” us on. We have received notes and well wishes from so many friends. We have had gatherings where we could really spend quality time with people we love and will miss. And throughout the summer we have had opportunities to receive the love and support of our children and grand children. Yes we are blessed to have “a good group at home” who will be praying for us.
We have been so blessed to be on stimulus overload. Our thoughts and prayers for the last four months have had Niger on either the front or back burner for pretty much 24/7. It has given us new vitality. OK - it has made for some waking up in the middle of the night too, but the excitement has felt good.
We also feel blessed to be able to experience and learn new things, like:
• We already know more about Niger than we did last March.
· We know no one in Niger. We will meet all new people, people with different experiences and ideas.
· We have no idea what living in a Muslim community will be like.
· We have no idea what it will be like to be in the minority for six months.
· One thing we read is that Niger is the most underdeveloped country in the world. Another was that Niger is the 9th poorest country in the world. We have never come close to experiencing how the rest of the world lives. How rich that will be!
· Despite our best attempts, we do not know the language.
Finally, we feel so thankful to have God in our lives. What a privilege it is to feel that He is leading us.
We are conflicted however, by the fact that while we are feeling so blessed there are many we know and love who are struggling with health, relationship or other of life’s issues. We know we can only care and pray when really we would like to “cure” the difficulties they face. Maybe we will feel that way in Niger too. Seeing the needs there may feel totally overwhelming. Our hope is knowing that while God walks with us, He walks with others too – here and everywhere. We are dependent on God to help us. Where would we be without Him?
So – Merci, mon Dieu
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