The Year 2011

A year ago, on January 1^st, 2011, we wondered what the year would hold for us never dreaming that we would end up in Niamey, Niger, West Africa. 

Being that it is now December 31, 2011 we are looking back over our year and we find that it has been one of the richest years in our lives, yet a hard one too. Hard in the fact that many of our friends have found it to be a very challenging year; hard to be feeling the effects of growing older; and hard in that we would find ourselves so far away from family and friends.

So as we reflect back on 2011, we do so with truly mixed emotions, yet grateful for a year that deepened our relationship with God, family, friends, and each other.

2011 started when we returned from a family ski vacation. We had had a wonderful family time – a rich time of relationship and activity. We were feeling very blessed. So that was a very good way to begin 2011.

We had lots of snow and we stayed in Minnesota for most of it. But toward the end of February we packed our van and headed south for several weeks of van camping in State Parks – mostly in Florida. 

That was a great time for us as a couple. We used that time to plan for the year ahead. Actually we talked about it in one of our first blogs – 2012 would be the year of 50 years of marriage. How did we want to mark that special date? So an email comes about a mission opportunity in Niamey (we think from God) and here we are – some of it in 2011 and some in 2012, but for us, this is the celebration of our 50 years of marriage.

The summer of 2011 found us preparing for this “adventure”. Preparing is a rich experience in and of itself; there is always something very exciting when we are planning for something.

Our family wasn’t especially thrilled with our decision to be so far away and to be gone for so long. But good came out of that. We think the summer time at the cabin was very special in that we used that time to celebrate being a family. We used it as a time to express our appreciation for each other.

Our Cousin Camp – which we had decided upon on our van trip, before we knew we were coming to Niger – was on Egypt and King Tut. We wanted to take advantage of the King Tut exhibit – and we did and the kids really got into it. It was a good time for us with our grandchildren.

Time with friends in Bayfield was especially nice and relaxing. Memories and shared experiences with friends are so valuable and we have been so blessed to have so many of them. We marvel at the ease in which old friendships can be renewed so quickly. 

And then September arrived and we packed up and moved across the world for 6 months, just the two of us on the trip, along with well wishes from our family and friends. We feel good about this decision because we think, for reasons we don’t understand, this is where God wants us. He has made our life far more exciting than we could ever do on our own. We feel very blessed and grateful. 

So as 2012 begins we are wondering what God has in store for us. We pray that we can stay alert to His calling. That we stay tuned into God so that we will not be afraid if that calling takes us to places we would rather not go.

Our wish for you 2012 is that you would be filled with God surprises that enrich your life and bring you closer to Him. 

The Niger Open

We were invited to join two families who were headed north of the city yesterday toward Mali.  The red zone is somewhere up there and we were not far from it.  The reason for going was to see the Niger River from a bluff or plateau.  Also, the families wanted to use the flat land to teach their kids to drive.   It was nice to get beyond Niamey and felt safe being a group.  The kids had fun practicing their driving and easy on parents - no traffic or people or much of anything!!

The fertile banks of the Niger River as seen from the bluff.

Busy river traffic.  Notice the lush verdant river foliage

The barren land of the plateau.

Not far from the bluff was the Golf Club Rio Bravo, home of the Niger Open.
Thought you might enjoy the pictures.

Rio Bravo, home of the Niger Open and the only golf course in Niger.
Membership here gives you reciprocity at courses throughout the world.
Membership cost $750/year, no waiting list.

Driving Range

Practice green

1st Tee Sign

1st Tee

Fairway.  They give you a rug to put your ball on for the next shot.

Bunker and sand trap

The 1st hole green

 Sally and I are going to try to get in 18 holes next week.

Enjoy Braemar

‘Twas the day after Christmas

‘Twas the day after Christmas

‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the barn,

All the creatures were stirring, though they feared no harm.

The cows were all lowing, as they stood there just dazed

While the donkeys stood around just simply amazed.

We had stopped at the inn for a night of needed rest,

For we had traveled far, far from the west.

To pay our taxes, to do what was right

Though most of it went to make Herod’s might.

When out of my window I saw something bright

 It was caused by a star that broke through the night.

I got up to see this wonderful thing

And I swear I could hear the angels sing.

Down in the stable where the animals are kept

I saw such a sight I almost wept

For there in the manger a baby was born

Yes down there, where the sheep are shorn

This was a special baby, this I could see

A special baby for you and for me.

A special baby for this wondrous event

That would give the world a whole new bent

For God came into the world today

To give us a gift that would show a new way

Wonder of wonders, He came, He came.

Calling this baby with many a name.

Anointed, beloved, worthy, and king

Names that just make your heart want to sing

Creator, counselor, and God is with us,

Emmanuel, messiah, and the name, Jesus.

Savior, redeemer, Lord God most high

Our Passover, our prince, are names he goes by.

For God came into the world today

To give us a gift that would show a new way.

The star was still shining with the sky all a glow

As we stood in awe, those of us here down below

Was this real?  Could it truly be?

That God would give such a gift to you and to me?

Could a baby, so tiny and small and such

Could just a baby mean very much

Yet as I went down to see him up close

I wanted it to be real, I wanted that most

He was not very fancy this I can tell

And the stable had more than a really bad smell

The clothes he was wrapped in were dirty and old

Yet this was the messiah of whom Isaiah had told

Then shepherds came from their fields far away

To see this baby, to see where he lay

For they told stories about angels in the sky

Angels that had messages from our God up high

This baby that was born on Christmas night

Would bring peace and justice and make things right.

A new kingdom he would usher in,

A kingdom where everyone would be free from sin.

So be not afraid, do not have fear,

The new world of God is already here.

Glory to God in the highest the angels shouted.

Peace on Earth among men they also touted

Hawa

Hawa:  The Gift of Relationship

I have talked before about Hawa, the woman who cooks and cleans and washes our clothes for us.  She is originally from Benin, but has lived a lot of her adult life in Niger.  She is widowed and the mother of 7 children.  After her husband died she returned with her children to Benin but was unable to find work.  So she left 5 of her children in Benin and returned to Niamey with her 2 year old twins and a young girl who lives with her and helps her with the twins.  Having worked here before, she had contacts and was able to find several part time jobs.

She moved back to her old “concession” (neighborhood) but to a much smaller living space.  She and the twins and young girl live in a small one-room mud home made with the red sand mixed with water.  This becomes a problem during the rainy season as the structure leaks and begins to disintegrate. 

She has a sandy area outside the one door into her enclosed living space.  The sand is not typical beach sand; it is a very fine dusty sand.  She cooks in the sandy area, bathes her children in the sandy area, washes her clothes and hangs them on straw walls to dry – in the sandy area.  Really her way of living is like primitive camping – all the time.  No indoor plumbing – actually no plumbing.  Any water she uses is brought to her in containers that she purchases from the water boy – a young boy pulling a cart with large plastic containers. 

I had the privilege of going to her home on Friday.  I wanted to give her something for Christmas so had asked what would be appropriate and was told to give 25 Kilos (55 lbs) of rice.  My friend Mary took me in her truck (the choice vehicle of every ONG here) to purchase the rice and then we delivered it and Hawa to her home.

The young girl was bathing the twins – one at a time in a plastic tub in the sandy area - as we arrived.  It was a perfect photo opportunity but I had forgotten to bring my camera.

I, of course, was given the only chair – some advantages to being old and then Hawa borrowed a chair from a neighbor for Mary.  Hawa sat on a woven mat on the ground.  It was such an honor to be there.  Being white, we were quite the interest of the area.

I think there would never be a quiet moment where she lives. She is literally right next to the next family and she is also on a main walking route.  There are more children than you can imagine, people constantly walking by, music playing, making it anything but quiet and peaceful – but there is a real feeling of community. 

For example there was a water hole across the path from Hawa’s.  Every now and then someone would empty her bath, dish, or laundry water into the hole.  The hole is man-made because the family across from Hawa is making bricks to do some building on their site and asked the community for water.  Hence all disposable water is being dumped in this water hole - the community is working together.

Mary said “everyone” saw the rice being carried to Hawa’s place and she will be expected to share what she has.  Makes me wonder how long it will last.

I think Hawa is very smart.  She speaks her native Benin tongue, Zarma, Hausa, and French and understands a little English.  Yet she can’t read in any language.  She does the baking and cooking all by heart – this includes banana bread, peanut butter cookies and pie crust.

I had this idea of trying to teach her to read in French.  Get it?  I am teaching her French.  She seems thrilled to be doing this so stay tuned.  Actually the idea is that I can come up with words for her to learn but she can help me with pronunciation.  So we are helping each other.  I think maybe this is the way relationships are supposed to be.  And maybe this is why I am here!! 

So my goal for the last two months we are here is to help her feel confident enough to continue and maybe find someone who would help her – after all this is a literacy center!!  I hope to take advantage of that as well as make sure she has some good employment when we leave.  She is a treasure and a gift to me.  

Thank you God for our angel Hawa and the gift of a relationship with her.  

More Thoughts on Christmas and Christmas Time

I wrote a blog a couple of days ago about the difference between Christmas and Christmas Time.  How they are both wonderful things but really quite different.  Since I wrote this blog God has not let me stop thinking about it.  I get the feeling He has more for me to learn and remember.  There are three things I would like to share with you about this topic, one is an excerpt from someone else's blog, one is a short quote from the Pope, and another is the gist of an Old Life talk that I gave many, many years ago.  

THE BLOG EXCERPT:  

What is Christmas? It is the celebration of the Incarnation, God’s becoming flesh — human — and entering into history in the form of a vulnerable baby born to a poor, teenage mother in a dirty animal stall. Simply amazing. That Mary was homeless at the time, a member of a people oppressed by the imperial power of an occupied country whose local political leader, Herod, was so threatened by the baby’s birth that he killed countless children in a vain attempt to destroy the Christ child, all adds compelling historical and political context to the Advent season.

The theological claim that sets Christianity apart from any other faith tradition is the Incarnation. God has come into the world to save us. God became like us to bring us back to God and show us what it means to be truly human.

That is the meaning of the Incarnation. That is the reason for the season.

In Jesus Christ, God hits the streets.

It is theologically and spiritually significant that the Incarnation came to our poorest streets. That Jesus was born poor, later announces his mission at Nazareth as “bringing good news to the poor,” and finally tells us that how we treat “the least of these” is his measure of how we treat him and how he will judge us as the Son of God, radically defines the social context and meaning of the Incarnation of God in Christ. And it clearly reveals the real meaning of Christmas.

The other explicit message of the Incarnation is that Jesus the Christ’s arrival will mean “peace on earth, good will toward men.” He is “the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.” Jesus later calls on his disciples to turn the other cheek, practice humility, walk the extra mile, put away their swords, love their neighbors — and even their enemies — and says that in his kingdom, it is the peacemakers who will be called the children of God. Christ will end our warring ways, bringing reconciliation to God and to one another.

A QUOTE FROM THE POPE:

In his homily, Pope Benedict lamented that Christmas has become an increasingly commercial celebration that obscures the simplicity of the message of Christ's birth.

"Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light," he said

AN OLD, OLD LIFE TALK

Someone made a terrible mistake when they created two national holidays;  Thanksgiving and Christmas.  They got the words all mixed up.  I propose we make some small changes to our two holidays.

First off, and most important, we need a time to give thanks for the coming of Christ.  Scholars are not real sure when that exact date really was so let's not get hung up about time and take the late November days to do what should be done first and that is to thank God for bringing Christ into our world.  For simplicity's sake, we could take the Thanks from Thanksgiving and the Christ from Christmas and call this the "Thanks Christ" holiday season.  Our slogan could be, "Don't put Christ back into Christmas, put him into Thanksgiving."

That leaves the idea of "giving" left over from Thanksgiving and the idea of "mas" left over from Christmas.  Actually, I've learned that in the Hausa language of Niger "mas" means "must" so if we combine the two we get a perfect name for the December holiday time, the "Must Give" season.  Now does that ring true or what?  By separating the two holidays we put the emphasis on one idea at a time instead of trying to do all things all together.  

Write your congressman and see if we can't correct this mistake.  If not, maybe you can make the change in your own heart 'cause that's where it counts most anyway.

Our Christmas Card

Our Christmas card is a little dusty this year,

From the Manhards

The Glow of Christmas

The Glow of Christmas

Our kids have been sending us pictures that remind us that Christmas time in Minnesota is upon you.  There may not be much snow but there is still the Christmas glow.  We can picture the lighted houses, the trees in the windows, sitting around the fire or the table with friends and relatives, and the good cheer that abounds during the pre-Christmas time.  And we can’t forget the season of giving. Presents under the tree, Santa and his sleigh, and the anticipation of watching the grandkids open their gifts.  We know there are the Black Fridays and busy days that make you question it all but let’s face it, Christmas time in Minnesota is the best.

To not be there for all of this warmth and love is hard for us.  It is a favorite time of year.  Why of all times did we pick Christmas time to be gone from Minnesota?  As we have asked a thousand times before what are we doing here, and why are we here now?  God, what are you up to?

There is no “glow” in Niger.  No snow, no lighted houses, no trees in the windows, no fires, few friends, no relatives, good cheer but I can’t say it abounds.  No Santa, not much in the way of gifts, and what really hurts, no grandkids to watch.  God, you’ve taken all the trappings of Christmas away.

But then God says: “What Christmas do you want to remember?  The Christmas of last year or the Christmas of 2000 years ago.  Look what I’ve given you!!!!”

“When I came to earth there were no lights on houses, trees inside, and gifts galore.  When I became flesh. There was no glow, no parties, no candle light dinners.   I’ve brought you to a desert with sand, heat, and dust, and goats, and sheep, and donkeys, and camels to look at.  I’ve given you shepherds, and beggars, and poor people all around you.  These are the things of my birth.”

“Do you want to remember “Christmas Time?”  Or do you want to remember “Christmas?”  Don’t confuse the two.  Christmas Time is a wonderful time indeed but it is not Christmas, it is just Christmas Time.  I want to give you the gift of seeing Christmas, without the Christmas Time.  I want you to see Christmas like it was; a lot less Currier & Ives and a lot more Niger.”

“I’ve brought you here so that you would see, for the first time, that I am not just a Minnesota God.  I am a world God, a God for all people and all places.   I’ve brought you here so that you would have a picture of me that is more than just American, more than just Minnesota, and more than just a glow.  Christmas is all around you.”

So while we miss Christmas Time, we are grateful that, this year, God is nudging us a little closer to Christmas.  Thank you God.

Merry Christmas,

Sally and Elgin

The Week That Was

I’m sure far too many of you remember the British TV show called, That Was The Week That Was.  It took an irreverent look at the news of the week.  Well here’s TWTWTW from Sally and Elgin in Niger. 

Our week was a tad different here than it would have been if we were in Edina, MN.  For starters, it was warmer here, and no snow.  Now I have been accused of whining about the Niger heat but the “cool” season we are in now is not that bad.  It still gets into the lower 90’s during the day but it got down to 69 last night.  The lower morning temps plus a morning wind makes our prayer time on the hill sweat free.  So I’ve quit complaining about the heat.  Now the Yahoo headline for Niamey today is “Widespread Dust.”  I can’t remember a weather headline like that for Edina.  So I will whine about the dust in the air.

Last Sunday, Sally and I visited the CURE Hospital.  They had a team in from the US that was doing operations on cleft pallets and clubfeet.  Sally and I just sat in the waiting room and played with the kids.  One little boy had normal back teeth but the front teeth grew vertical rather than horizontal all exposed up to his nose.  Sally brought a bottle for blowing bubbles and I swear this little boy and the other kids that gathered were no different than other kids.  Yet here they were waiting to be evaluated for what must be a series of operations.  We have wonderful grandchildren but I had thoughts about bringing one of these kids home.

Monday we were getting ready for the Yard Sale.  This is a big deal.  Over the years the departing missionaries have left behind furniture and other items that they either didn’t want or expected to claim at a later date.  Actually for many of them it is not stuff that was left “over the years” it is stuff that has been left for years and years.  Much of it is stored in closets and storage containers that are not dust proof, some has even been left outside.  You wouldn’t find any of this in a yard sale at home.  There are non-working refrigerators, ovens, washers, water heaters, old computer monitors, linen, junk, and more junk.  No one wants to get rid of anything because replacing it is so difficult.  Yet it accumulates.  We raided every hiding place on the center for things and now have the world’s largest yard sale.  Who will buy it, I don’t know?  None of it would sell in Edina.

Then on Thursday I talked with Mahamad.  Mahamad is from a village in northern Mali.  Got an education, became a Christian, and now is a Bible translator for his people group.  He wants them to have the Bible, not just in a book, but also on tape, in movies, and face to face.  To do this he needs to do what we used to do in Young Life, “earn the right to be heard.”  Due to drought and dried up wells he learned that people in his home area had to walk 30 kilometers every day to get water, they were spending all day getting water, getting water was their whole life.  So he got a guy who worked here at the center in the past to raise some money for him and built a well.  Talk about changing someone’s life.  He now wants to dig wells, by hand, with resources from Niger or Mali.  It’s his goal in life. 

The road he traveled on all day to get there.

The water carriers get their first local drink.  More Pictures to come.

On a side note…  My daughter, Michele, posted a video that says that it would take $20 billion to solve the worlds water problems.  We spend $450 billion a year on Christmas in the US.  Go figure.

Friday, Sally and I baby sat for the Wrights.  The Wright family is kind of like a combined Holderness/Scheuerman family, all ages, all blond, all full of energy and intelligence, and all engaged in some project or other.  This Friday the parents were going to a school Xmas party so we watched 13 kids from ages 3 to 16.  A ten-year old girl was having a bunch of girls over for a sleep over.  We watched a Narnia movie and the two 3 and 4 year old girls sat on my lap and asked questions.  Between my poor hearing, the movie dialog being in ancient English, and the slight speech impediment of these two girls I couldn’t understand a thing.  For a while I tried to answer their questions but then fell back to alternating between two grunts, Un huh and I don’t know.  We were lucky to be there.  Made me miss my own grandkids though.

Saturday Sally and I joined the Niamey Crash Diet; you don’t actually join it, it joins you.  It is a very effective weight loss program. There are side effects however.  Head aches, stomach cramps, extreme boredom watching the four walls of the salle de bain, and a total lack of energy to such a degree you don’t even go out into the “widespread dust” storm.  Sally is better but I am up typing this blog because I can’t sleep.

We rallied Saturday night to go to the SIL Christmas Party.  28 of us, half Wrights, gathered in one of the conference rooms for games, food, songs, and presents.  It was a very nice evening.  We sang the Twelve Days of Christmas, Niger style.  We don’t have all the words but some of them were…

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

One Black Bag on a Mango Tree

Two beggers begging

Three honking taxis

Four donkeys beaten

Five prayer calls

Six slurping solas

Seven spitting camels

Ten biting mosquitos

Get the idea?

OK, get into teams

What would we do without Minute to Win It?

Well that was the week that was.  Can’t wait for the next and it already is the next one since our Internet went out for a couple of days.  It is now Wednesday and we are both over our Diet Plan.

Have a great week.

For a wake up call go to:    [Advent Conspiracy] Enter the Story 2011.  

Qui suis-je?

Who am I?

I feel like I am living one of those reality TV shows where you change places with another and live their life for a while.  This “experience” is not a trip, not a vacation, but a “choice” to live a different life for a while.   I say choice because we did choose to come here but we believe we were choosing to follow God on a path he was laying out for us. 

We came here because we felt God’s call to do this.  It was unclear from any communication we had before we came what we would actually be doing and now that we are here I would say, it is still unclear what God is planning.

We decided at the beginning that we would just go with the flow – try to bloom where we are planted – that we are called to be faithful, not successful – that we would be OK with not understanding.

So now here we are like living this whole, new, totally different life.

 

I am still me but yet different.  I feel younger in some ways.  For one thing we are always with people who are 20+ years younger than we are. 

Even though I don’t own a car and I don’t drive and I wear mostly skirts, I am in many ways living like I would live anywhere.  I tend to daily life like grocery shopping, meals, etc.  I go to the dentist.  I build relationships with the people I am in contact with.  I tutor and I work at the Niamey American Women’s Club Christmas Bazaar.  I try to be helpful with projects here at the center like the prayer day, the Christmas Fun Night, and the garage sale that is coming up - just like I would do at home.  And I think I could be doing these same things at home.  I visit an African pastor’s wife who is also a seamstress and see the devastation that a fire did to her home and her sewing business.  I will help to raise funds for a new sewing machine for her.  I look for ways to be involved in the community at large – ways to make a difference in the world.  And so it is the same, and yet it is so different. 

I look in the mirror and while a little older and grayer, it still looks like me but I have to admit, I wonder, who are you and what are you doing here??

The surprising thing to me is that somehow I am OK with this – with the not knowing why I am here, with the routines of the daily life.

It is OK I think because I believe even though I don’t really understand it I am exactly where God wants me to be.  It’s weird really.  It is like it is my life yet; it isn’t my life at all.  

So I am trying to take each day, each hour, each minute as it comes.  I am learning to be grateful for small everyday things.  I am learning to be content where I am.   I am learning to live with inconvenience and inefficiency and a lot of red dust on everything.  I am learning to “make do” because so often what I need or want is not an option.  And I pray to take advantage of every opportunity open to me to be in relationship with the people and community here. 

But mostly I am learning that although my life might be totally different, foreign and sometimes uncomfortable, God is the same.  He is always present, faithful, working in my life.  His provision for us awes me.  I am learning that God is truly everywhere - God is here in this arid, dusty, different place.  I am learning that seeking God rather than seeking what I think or want – seeking God’s leading and provision perspective on my life, I am seeing God at work everywhere – especially in me. 

Maybe, that is why I am here.        

Un problème Niger

A Niger Problem

Sometimes when I hear about the stalemate in Congress I think what a problem it is.  There is no way out.  The economy could get hurt and people could lose money, jobs, and who knows what all.

Niger has a different problem.  Niger’s problem won’t result in just a bad economy; Niger’s problem will result in deaths.

The capital of Niger used to be in Zinder, a town about 535 miles straight east of Niamey, more in the center of the country.  As I have been told, in the early 1920’s some forward thinking people realized that Zinder was not going to be a good place, long term, to have the capital since there wasn’t much water in and around Zinder.  So in 1926, they moved the capital from Zinder to Niamey.  Niamey is by the river so all is well.  As a result, Niamey grew from 3,000 people in 1926 to a population center estimated at 1.5 million.  Niger as a country, has the 4^th highest birth rate out of 191 countries.  

While it is nice that Niger has a lot of new babies being born each year what is not so nice is that Niger has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in the world.  169 out of 191.  As my son said, “How’s it going to feel when you are in Niger knowing that you are already 28 years older than the life expectancy there.

There are lots of reasons people die here.  Poor living conditions in general, malaria, malnutrition, starvation, and poor medical care for starters.  But a highly contributing factor is simply the lack of water.  The more people you have the more water you need.  Not just cool clear water, any water.  Water for drinking, farming, and living.

I’m sure Chris Pope from World Vision or Jack Fortin, formerly from World Vision will have better facts than I but as a start here is what I have learned.

The prevailing thought is, if you don’t have water just dig a well.  There are several kinds of wells.  There are shallow wells that are 3’ or so wide and you dig it by hand if the water is not too deep then hook up a pulley system and fill buckets.  We have seen these in operation and they work quite well.  Drawback, the wells cave in, either while people are digging them or when in use.  Also, they are a common place for kids to fall into.  Another kind of well is machine drilled.  Not so big on top to endanger anyone.  All you have to do is drop a pump in the hole and “Voila” water.  Drawback is it costs a lot more, and when the pump goes bad there isn’t any money for another one.  They have lowered the cost by drilling shallow wells and this helps but often the water isn’t very good.  To go deeper costs more, a lot more.

My friend out in the bush, Steve, has learned about a new kind of well that can be dug by hand, is not wide at the top, and is drawn up by hand as well with material already available in Niger and very inexpensive.  This seems like the way of the future.

Only there is a problem in Niger.  A big problem.  The water table is shrinking.  The aquifers are drying up.  In many places there is enough depletion that the depth of many wells is not enough.  And for most people hand dug wells will not do at all.  There isn’t enough water above or below ground to sustain the population.  Result:  drought, a famine producing drought. 

If that weren’t bad enough there is another major problem.  Whatever the reason, the desert is moving south.  Niger is south of the desert and each year there is less rain and more desert-like conditions.  In many areas the rainy season isn’t any more and in others there just isn’t enough rain to grow crops.

I am told the good news should be that there is a huge Aquifer under the Sahara Desert in Niger; enough water to take care of everyone for a long time.  It probably won’t work getting the water out is a major problem from both an expense and technical standpoint. 

So what does Niger do?  More people, needing more water, but the water they do have is going away.  The UN anticipated this very thing in Somalia and Ethiopia.  They prepared for it and avoided a famine in Ethiopia.  But in Somalia their plans couldn’t be implemented due to the warfare.  Maybe someone with a lot of foresight can find a way to help Niger.  Pray with us for Niger.

Le Niger est encore nouveau

Niger is Still New

I am amazed that Niger is still new.  We have been here almost three months and I still find each adventure outside of our compound a new one. 

I could go to San Diego, or Seattle, or Sarasota, miles away from Minnesota and if I were there for three months I would begin to feel like just one of the other people on the street.  Here, every time I venture out I am struck by the fact that it is so…………. different here.  Some of it definitely good and some not so good.  All of it is new and exciting.

The different parts that are good are getting up at 5:30 and walking in the cool mornings, seeing the orange sky, hearing first the calls for prayer from the Mosque and then the wake-up calls from the roosters next door.  At the SIL center, Monday through Friday we have prayer time.  I really like this time of prayer every day.  Anyone that wants to come is welcome.  It puts the day in a good perspective.  Then there is the morning break.  It can last for a half hour to an hour.  Here everyone comes up to the open-sided shelter on the hill to have coffee or tea and talk.  When we had been here just a couple of weeks I said to Sally that I thought they could sure make better use of the break time.  Now I’m not so sure.  Day laborers to the Director gather to break into small groups and just chat. 

I absolutely love the afternoon siesta.  The whole place shuts down.  What a great idea.  It gives you time for a needed rest and you are fresher in the afternoon.  It is hard to stay productive in this heat without it.

I like the slower pace and the admission that some things are just not that important, right now.  It is more important that I talk to you than it is that I get something done.  It is not so much “being lazy” as it is being realistic.  You don’t have to put on a show of being busy.  Either way, it is a welcomed change from our hectic American pace.  I wouldn’t change the American Way for anything but I have to say, it could “chill out” just a little and still be ok.

The bad things aren’t necessarily bad they are just different.  In San Diego, Seattle, and Sarasota I could still find a Starbucks, a McDonalds, paved streets, sidewalks, green grass, and signs.  There might be a pothole or two and in Minnesota in the winter you have the snow to contend with.  Here, there are no potholes because there is so little pavement.  What you do have is sand.  The lack of rain eventually loosens the sand so that the roads are one big sand pit, add a little or a lot of dust to that and you’ve got a sand drift you can get stuck in.  I did.

I still laugh when I see a camel on the road or a herd of goats and some sheep that found a way to look like goats.  Or a donkey cart.  How many donkey carts are you going to see today?  There are no sidewalks.  They haven’t even thought of a sidewalk.  There are no trash barrels.  Why would you need one of those when there is ground around?  If you had one then someone would have to empty it.  How silly.  So there is trash all around.

This is a bad picture but notice the goat on top of the trash container.  

Note:  The trash container has probably been there for years.

This guy has a light load.  The big camel loads will block one of two lanes on the 

JFK Bridge across the Niger River.

The world is a road.  There are no centerlines, no curbs, no stop signs, no good drivers, and no rules.  At home I worry about other cars, here I worry about hitting people and carts and bikes.  You don’t worry about dents and scratches; you worry about killing someone or some animal.  It adds a whole new dimension to driving.

This is a main road I take everyday to take Florentine, our receptionist, and her kids home

The is outside the home of a vip at the embassy.  We had Thanksgiving here.  

It is a beautiful home.

This is a shot of the road I take everyday.  The embassy home above is on the left.  The huts are the homes of people who have come in from a village looking for work.

Another thing that is different is that there is no real closure on things.  Take a simple item like a water cooler.  Here, all water coolers leak.  I didn’t know they all did when I asked to have someone fix my leaky water cooler.  They did, and it still leaks, just like all the other water coolers on the property.  They painted the bottoms of all the water coolers with rust resistant red paint.  They did this because all the water coolers are rusting out on the bottom.  They are rusting out because they all leak. 

Then there is our hot water heater.  In the hot season, October, you don’t need hot water.  But if you want to take a morning shower in December, a little warm water would help.  So I asked for someone to look at our hot water heater.  They came and fixed it.  Only it wasn’t fixed.  Then they came back and fixed it again.  Only it wasn’t fixed.  The director then got involved and bought a new hot water heater and had it installed.  It worked for a day and then no hot water.  They came back and fixed it, still, no hot water.  Two more times it was fixed.  (Meanwhile we found that if you take a shower in the afternoon the sun has heated the pipes enough for a warm shower.)  Then after three days of we’ll do it “demain” or tomorrow, yesterday, we had hot water. 

I ramble.  Needless to say, we are still engaged in life here, stimulated by it, and thinking about every day existence much more than we would be if we were at home. 

The one thing that is missing here is the people we know and love.

Advent au Niger

 Advent in Niger

We are celebrating advent and Christmas in Niamey, Niger this year – which feels surreal to be sure.

What will advent and Christmas look like and feel like: we wonder?  Of one thing we are certain.  This will be nothing like our advent/Christmas season in Edina, Minnesota. 

Here in Niamey, Niger there are no fir trees, no Christmas lights (maybe at the American Embassy,) no snow, actually hardly any visible reminders of what at home is a very significant time of year.  In some ways it helps us not be so homesick as there is nothing here that reminds us of Christmas approaching.

We have discovered that the expats may “do” advent; like we will light advent candles and sing carols at the Niamey English Worship Service.  But we have been told that the African Nationals who are Christians don’t even know the word, advent, much less understand how we use this time to help us “wait” and “prepare” for God entering our world as a baby.  We are told the African churches here will “celebrate” God’s gift of Jesus at church but there will be no family celebrations or special foods or gift giving.     

There is much about Christmas as we know it and celebrate it that we do not have, we will not have a Currier and Ives Christmas.  So we wonder, will Christmas still happen?  Will God still enter our world asking us to make room in our hearts and lives for him?  Will we be able to hear him here  - in Africa?  If we don’t have “our” Christmas, what do we have? 

We know we will have donkeys, camels, sand, and sandals, hot sun, covered heads and flowing robes and actually more like it was in Bethlehem.  Maybe, just maybe, this is a good way for us to spend Christmas.  Different for sure, but a little closer to the real thing.

Being here is showing us that God’s coming has absolutely nothing to do with baking cookies, putting up the tree, decorating the house, hanging the stockings, shopping, wrapping, and hoping you have a special gift for each person! 

Being here is giving us a slower less frantic pace of life that, I have to say, we are enjoying.  We are finding this pace is really good for our souls.  We are experiencing Immanuel – God with us.  For that we are truly grateful.  

And we do know wherever you are celebrating advent and Christmas  you will find God’s coming to you too.  He promised.  He will come.  Happy advent.  Merry Christmas.