Reconnaissance

Gratitude

We have just had Thanksgiving – a time when we focus on being thankful.  I love Thanksgiving for that reason.  It is good to give thanks!  I know that but it seems God wants me to know more. 

God has a way of helping me learn what he wants me to learn and this Thanksgiving it seems he wanted me to grow in my understanding and practice of giving thanks – of gratitude. 

Elgin and I are doing Jesus Calling as our morning devotional.  From September through October the author seemed to be on one theme - be in relationship with God – in continual relationship – not just devotion time or church time – but all day long – in communion with God – enjoying his constant relationship.   

In November the message has been on gratitude, thanks – in all things thanks and at all times – as a way to be in continual relationship with God.

Henri Nouwen, talks about the need for God to really work in our lives He needs to be in all of it – the light and the dark, the good and the bad.  He says until we can see God in all that is happening in our lives we are not really seeing God.

Then a friend from home sent me a blog by Ann Voskamp she really likes – www.aholyexperience.com.  A few days later, a friend here asked me if I read Ann Voskamp’s blog.  And then another friend told me about a really good book she has read by, you guessed it, Ann Voskamp.  Each of them expressed that her writing speaks Jesus to them. 

Okay, I’m a little slow but after three times and all the gratitude messages from Jesus Calling I finally found the blog and downloaded her book on my Ipad.  Of course, they both are about – gratitude!! 

I would have to say, I got good advice. 

So what I am learning is that God works in me and through me as I express my gratitude to him for ALL that is happening in my life.  For me right now that means having a root canal done by a French-speaking dentist in Niamey, Niger.  This was not on my list of things to do while we are here!

Having had breast cancer twice I can attest that what seems like the worst thing isn’t always so and that God is at work and does use what is happening in our lives to bring us into closer relationship with him.  I still would have trouble saying “thank you” for breast cancer or root canals in Niamey, but I can say I know God is involved and at work and for that I am grateful.  I can focus on that reality and honestly tell God that I am grateful.

I am learning that I can learn to be grateful – I can practice being grateful – learn and practice – learn and practice.  By continually thanking God for what I see, hear, and experience each moment I find myself in constant communion with God – prayer without ceasing – gratitude prayers!

Ann, (we are on a first name basis now,) says when you are grateful and actively expressing gratitude to God, it is hard to worry and complain at the same time.  She says that by continually thanking God you will see God work because gratitude is the language of God.  It is the language we were created to use.

So not wanting the Thanksgiving spirit to leave us after just a few days, I offer you Jesus Calling and Ann Voskamp as well as 1Thessalonians 5:16-18 and many other words of scripture as evidence that God does desire our expressions of gratitude to Him.

Right now I am grateful to God for all of you who are supporting us with your prayers and encouraging us with emails. 

Duex Mondes

Two Worlds

Yesterday, Thanksgiving Day, Sally and I had a chance to experience two Niamey expat worlds.  One was the embassy world and the other was the NGO/missionary world. 

World #1.  We went to Thanksgiving Dinner for Americans at the home of a lady who was with the American Embassy.  It was a potluck; so free food, free drinks, paper plate, all very nice.  Her home was lovely… and big… pool, gazebo, two living rooms, grassy back yard, etc.  Out of the 60 or so Americans there I only recognized three that I had seen before so this was a different group.  The embassy people live quite well, are very polished, and exude confidence.  We were told, they are assigned here for two-three years and then move on and are not encouraged to “become local.”

I talked with a lady from the World Bank who works on Poverty Economics.  Seems that a global view of poverty wasn’t working very well so they are trying to find out what poverty is like at a household level.  They do research in villages at each house to find out what education the people have, how many animals they have, what they eat, etc.  Then they analyze the data to see what can be done to improve their condition.  It’s all very business like.

There was a lady who worked with the Peace Corp in Niger for 7 years and now is back working at the Embassy.  She loves Niger.

The Ambassador was there.  A rather young looking black woman with great social skills.  I didn’t learn where she was from or her schooling but she represented the US quite well.

I met a young man, just out of college, who, according to him, was running the embassy.  He used the analogy, the Ambassador was like the mayor, and he was the city manager.  He seemed quite young and inexperienced to have such a position.

They all seemed to like their embassy jobs and look forward to their next assignment.

World #2.  Then we went to the extended SIL family Thanksgiving dinner.  It was held in the SIL conference room and it too was a potluck but we had to pay for the room and some of the food.  There were 33 of us.  I knew everyone there.  We were the only “short-termers,” all the others had been in Niger or West Africa for many years, in the bush, or were children. 

I ate with a Frenchman and a Norwegian man, both of whom were in their fifties, spent their adulthood in Niger, had spent time in the bush, (one in tents with a nomadic tribe for several months) and were translators. 

Our discussion also focused on the poverty of Niger.  These men knew people who had died of starvation.  They lived in villages where people died from lack of medical care.  They lived with women who looked like they were 60 years old but were only thirty because life was so hard.  30-40% of the children in the village would die from various causes. 

These men don’t have a job; they have a mission.  They both feel called to bring the Bible to people.  They do it by translating it, putting it into writing, and then getting it to the people through audiotapes, video bible stories, and face-to-face communications.  The written part is not the most important tool.

The thing that amazes me is that the two worlds don’t mix.  They don’t mix socially very much and they don’t share much information.  On the one hand you have a group of people with the resources to do things to help the people of Niger.  They have tried all kinds of things to help; all with good intentions and appropriate expectations, (something any one of us would say is a good thing) yet not much sticks.

Then you have the missionaries who are “on the ground,” for the long haul, with few resources at all, knowing what works and doesn’t work.

Here are two groups of caring people who have different perspectives and could help the other but they don’t talk.  They are in two different worlds.  How sad.

Happy Thanksgiving

Talk about caught between two emotions.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we wish we were home.  This is a special family day for us and we so much enjoy our kids, grandkids and grand dogs.  I guess we wouldn’t have Thanksgiving with Michele and Lance and family since they are in Colorado but we could be with their dog Biscuit, Molly, and Mike and Dani’s family.  We really miss them all.

My oldest brother’s wife had her car run over her leg breaking it in several places along with other injuries.  We’d love to be there with her and my brother.  Then there is my other brother who is going through stuff that just plain hurts.

We wish we could be home for our friends too.  I know there would be some great times this week or weekend.  There are those we would love to be with who are going through some really hard times.  We would love to be by their side at this time since they’ve been by ours so often.

Sally has a really bad tooth ache so we would love to be home to be in the good hands of Dr. Steele.  We go to a French dentist tomorrow and I think with a little well-founded fear.

While we would love to be home at this time of year we are not home, in fact, we are half way around the world in a place that gets awfully hot and dusty, speaks other languages than ours, and is so different from home that I am in sometimes in awe.    

Yet, God is good, so while we would love to be home now we are so glad to be here too.  We are having just wonderful experiences, adventures, and relationships.  God has provided well for us.

Last weekend we went to the only Stadium in Niger to watch a high school field day or track meet.  We knew so many of the kids.  Then Sally and I had a dinner date and I drove home in the dark not hitting anyone or anything.

The past few weeks I have been driving Florentine and her two kids home after work most nights.  She lives about two miles away and they usually walk.  How you could walk along the roads we take without getting just filthy I don’t know but she does it.  Always looks colorful and great.

Starting this week I started teaching Hallidou, the guy who is supposed to be the new center manager sometime in the future, how to use a computer.  He is thrilled to be learning it and it is such fun to teach him.  It is like taking a little kid to a candy store.  He smiles all the time.  He doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak French so we keep Google Translate open, I type in English and then he types in French.  It works and I love it.

Tomorrow we go to the home of someone from the US Embassy who is having Americans over for a potluck.  We’ve never done that before.  Then we come back here and have Thanksgiving dinner with the SIL crew and friends.  Not home but still a time to give thanks.

So this Thanksgiving we give thanks to all of you, to our life here in Niamey, and to our God who has blessed us beyond our understanding.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

J'aime la Substance

I Like Stuff

One of the things about an experience like we are having is that we do lots of musing and processing – always looking for God and how He is working.  I came knowing that one of the ways God would be working would be on me!   That fact has hit home recently. 

I am a nest featherer!  I love to create a space for us – for our lives but also a welcoming place for others.  And to do that, I use “stuff.”  I like to “create” spaces – I like things to match.  I like themes.  So when in Africa, go African is my motto.  A whole new theme.  A whole new place to shop. Hey, I’m into it!

I believe God knows all this about me.  Take our place here in Niamey – when we arrived we found a small but freshly painted apartment with newly recovered furniture, new curtains and bedspread.  It looked clean and nice and welcoming – if a little sterile – but the kind of place I knew I could make warm, welcoming and cute.  God had definitely provided.

So I set out to make it even “cuter.”

One of my first purchases was a craft very typical of Niamey – the batik.  This one caught my eye as it had colors that would go in our new home.  The batik depicts three scenes very typical of life in Niamey.   For me it makes our place “warmer” – more home like.  I came home very happy with my purchase.

We also went to the giraffe park the first week here and since then I had my eye out for a giraffe as a reminder of that.  At the Musee I found a wood carver who carved one for me out of mahogany.  I really like it.   It looks very cute on the desk just like I thought it would.

Another craft that is big here is making things out of sheep, goat or cow hides.  I have purchased leather picture frames for the 3 family pictures I brought along.  I have all these items nicely displayed – again, very homey!

Okay, so what does this have to do with where I am seeing God at work on me?  I believe God is speaking to me reminding me of somethings I do know - that things are just things and things are not what life is all about.  I know we shouldn’t store up stuff for ourselves and I know we cannot take it with us.  However, I still like stuff!!  But the truth is I think God is saying – you don’t need more stuff.  (I think Elgin wishes I would listen to God.)

He is speaking to me through the missionary families here.   They are totally not into stuff and not into shopping!  I stick out like a sore thumb!  I think they find stuff unnecessary and a distraction – only something to clear of red dust and pack up and store for furlough moves.  They don’t seem to need stuff and they don’t seem to want stuff.

I am in awe of their choices in this regard.  I think God is trying to teach me to put much less thought and effort into stuff – but I am a slow learner! 

Another thing that is causing me to question my “need” for cute things in my life is the whole shopping process here.  I usually love to go “looking for cute things” and planning and thinking about what I want to purchase and for whom.  But shopping here is not really fun.  I don’t like being hassled and here they are all over you – “buy from me” – leisurely looking is impossible.  And then I have no idea what is the fair or right price of anything and I do not have the French vocabulary to figure all that out which means I have to take a non-shopping, not into stuff, missionary shopping with me.  Takes some of the fun out of it.  Frankly I’m finding it – well -  not as necessary as I once thought – which maybe is precisely what God wants!!

However, in spite of all of this, I do still look and buy and enjoy “stuff”.  God must want me to have my hearing checked.

I know I will come home with trinkets to share and trinkets as memories of our time here.  But I also know God is not finished with me yet.  Stay tuned!

Dois-je parler français? Oui!

Do I speak French?  You betcha.

I don’t know how many people told me before we left the states that once we got in Niger speaking French would come quickly.  I am happy to report my French has improved greatly after just 2 months. 

You see, I learned the secret of speaking French in Niamey.  I didn’t learn it by spending more time on Rosetta Stone.  I learned it by focusing on one key phrase.  This is not possible in France, only in Niger.  The phrase I learned is “Ca va.”  You won’t find this phrase in any French Phrase book, you won’t learn it on Rosetta Stone, and it won’t be taught in most French classes, but in Niamey, it speaks volumes.  After hearing about it’s wonderful powers I am sure you will want to try it out on your friends at home.

“Ca va” is one of those magical words that means so much.  When I greet people in the morning I no longer say “Bonjour,” as I was taught, now I say “Ca va.”  After you say “Ca va,” the other person will say “Ca va” to you.  If you let someone get the jump on you and they say it first, you have to come back with another “Ca va.”  I learned this the hard way; I thought “Ca va” meant, “How’s it going.”  So I would answer, using my best French pronunciation, “Tres Bien.”  I found out that response is really in bad taste.  “Ca va” has much more value than “How’s it going.” 

You can say “Ca va” for just about anything and people think you know French.  I ordered a baguette by saying “Ca va.”  When a taxi driver cuts in front of you, yelling a good “Ca va” is very gratifying.  If someone asks you if you want sugar with your Nescafe a pleasant “Ca va” response can mean “yes, thank you” or “no, thank you.”

I have to say, it is a good thing “Ca va” came around because my French without it hasn’t improved one “du,” and it is no wonder.  I used to think struggling with the language was due to my basic stupidity but I might have been wrong.  I looked up the words, “are driving” on Goggle Translate.  Mind you I didn’t need to look it up because on Rosetta it was “sont conduit” or something close to that.  On Google there are five choices for “are driving,” conduisent, sont l’origine, sont le moteur, conduisez, and of course poussent.  That means you have to learn 5 different ways to say the same thing.  That means you have to learn 5 different languages.

Actually, it doesn’t make any difference in Niamey.  They don’t use any of these options; they have their own way of saying “are driving.”  They just say “ca va.

Le Ciel Orange

The Orange Sky

Sally and I went out for our walk this morning and there was this beautiful sunrise that took up almost the whole sky.  The sky filled the color spectrum from deep red to coral.  It was really spectacular.  We did our "thank you God" thing and felt really privileged to see such a sight. 

While we may have been privileged to see such a sight it wasn’t all of the suns doing.  We are in the start of the “windy” season.  That is where the wind blows down from Europe, picks up tons of dust from the Sahara Desert, and blows it on us.  We were seeing sun filtered dust.  We are told that when it gets bad, you can’t even see the sun during the day.

Not all of the dust stays in the air.  I’ve had a cough and I am sure that if someone cared to look my lungs would be the color of a tangerine or one of the rotting pumpkins.  Sally showed me the sponge she uses to wipe the table and it was orange.  She says it is orange every day.  There is a coating of fine orange dust on everything. 

I was asked to do an inventory of the tools in 9x10 tool room.  The tool room is off a back corner of the garage.  It is like a room in a room.  There was a little room at the bottom of the door but other than that it was sealed off.  It was not a neat tool room.  Some things hadn't been used in years.  OK?  Got the picture.  The dust, orange dust, was thick, at least a quarter inch thick.  How it got there I don’t know but it got there.  I was in there for a couple of hours sorting, arranging, and taking inventory.  I was almost done when the director came by and said I needed a mask.  Duh. 

Outside. orange dust is not a problem because the ground is a sandy orange too.  It adds color to shoes, clothes, hair, and skin.  I brought several pairs of white socks to walk in and they are now orange, despite many washings.  When you drive a big worry is getting stuck in the orange sand.  The farther you get away from the rainy season the dryer and looser the soil.

I am so proud of myself.  I have stopped whining about the heat.  (Did I mention it is hot here?)  Maybe I need something else to whine about, like dust.

Journée de Prière - Fête ou de Chapelure

Day of Prayer – Feast or Crumbs

Prayer is not foreign to me; I am comfortable with prayer and find myself praying aloud and to myself in many situations and many times throughout a day.  But I have to admit I was not looking forward to a whole day of prayer.  Note: This is not a day to pray, it is a whole day of prayer.  I am now an advocate for “a day of prayer.”

The Wycliffe people have a longstanding tradition of making November 11^th a day of prayer.  This tradition, I am told, began many years ago when the Wycliffe people were trying to start bible translation in Mexico.  They were stopped at the border and instead of giving up, they prayed for things to change right then and there.  God worked.  Thus, the day of prayer was started.

Some people here decided to make the day a bigger deal this year by inviting all of the churches in the area to join them in the morning.  Then in the afternoon, all of the SIL people would pray together for other SIL/Wycliffe people around the world.  We started at 9:00 and ended at 5:00 with a two-hour break in between.  We have to have our nap as you know.

The theme of the morning was Philippians 2:9-11: … “that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…”  The morning included great music and singing, led by a very professional group made up of three local college kids, a skit that showed how missionaries need to speak the language of a people before they can really communicate the God who loves them (SIL came to be because a missionary in Guatemala was asked by a Cakchiquel Chief, “if your God is so great, why can’t He speak my language?”), an explanation of SIL’s work in translation, video talks by several Wycliffe people, and of course, prayer.  But what was most special to us was when individuals stood up and read Rev 5:9 in their own language.  There were 45 people there and 15 different languages spoken.  Here we are in a country that is 98% Muslim and in this small group there were 15 different language groups professing Christ as Lord.  Jesus is alive; He is here, in Niger.

Sally played a big part in making the center and conference room welcoming.  She made a cross with the Philippians verse and “Jesus Christ is Lord,” in each of the languages on it – and on languages that were not present but are in our world.   She displayed the verse in a large frame and the local languages being worked on by SIL translator teams in smaller frames.  They had never done that before and people seemed to really respond to it.

Translation Team

In the afternoon 16 of us met in another room that had five stations.  Each station contained individual prayer requests from Wycliffe/SIL groups in a particular part of the world.  We would rotate from station to station in groups of four and turn each prayer request into a prayer so that there were 16 prayers at each station by each group.  You would pick up a short prayer request, say from Indonesia asking God for protection from the unrest there, and turn it into a specific prayer.  The cumulative effect was very impactful.  People from all over the world are thanking God for what he is doing in their area or asking God to guide them in the work they are doing.

One request I had was a prayer of thanksgiving from Rufus.  Rufus told a bible story to his nephew and his nephew asked if he would tell the story to some of his friends.  When Rufus showed up to tell the story there were 69 people there to hear it, most of those now go to his church.  Another theme centered on travel restrictions.  These are bible translators and they can’t translate if they can’t get to the people and hear their language.  But they were giving thanks because it was forcing them to involve locals in their work. 

As noted before and reinforced by this day, God does indeed speak in many languages and our understanding of the need to help people be able to worship God in the language closest to their heart is much more real to us now.   It really hit home when the President Emeritus of Wycliffe gave a very emotional video talk and I quote”

Feast or Crumbs

“I can’t go before God and honestly ask Him, Lord, you’ve given me the whole Bible and I have multiple versions.  I’ve got more versions than  I know what to do with.  But what about that poor guy out there?  He’s one of a little group of 300.  He’s got nothing.  What should I pray for him?  Give him some crumbs?  I can’t pray that.  It chokes in my throat.  I can only ask that God give him the same as He’s given me.  How can I ask for any less than what God’s given me for every other man?  I am not better than they.

I hope that no one will be able to say in heaven ‘they stopped before they came to my language.’”

God indeed has blessed us in many ways.  How can we not want any less for all people, everywhere? 

Vous ne voulez pas être un mouton.

You don’t want to be a sheep.

Regardless of Matthew 25:33 where the sheep get to be on the right hand and the goats on the left, you don’t want to be a sheep in Niamey today.  To be more specific, you don’t want to be a male sheep or ram. 

Today is Tabaski.  Tabaski is a major holiday where the Muslims celebrate Abraham”s decision to sacrifice a sheep rather than Ishmael.  (Note: They believe Abraham was going to sacrifice Ishmael while we think it was Isaac.)

To celebrate Tabaski almost every family will kill (or buy) a ram, roast it over an open fire along the street, and then give the meat to their neighbors, friends, and the poor. (We are hoping to be given some but I’m not sure which category we fit in.)  We have seen truckloads of sheep in the city and one guy had a dead one on his motorbike.  Try that on these roads.  To roast the ram, they gut it, build a big fire, and then place anywhere from 1-8 rams in teepee style over the fire. 

My friend Steve sent me an email about a man he is working with that wanted to borrow money for a ram.  It would take him until June 2012 to pay it back.  Seems the man has no money and his family is on the edge of starvation but by Gosh, he was going to have a ram.  After much talk and advice the man still wanted the ram.  Tabaski tradition is just that important.  In fact, sacrificing a ram at Tabaski is one of the steps to salvation, comparable to going to Mecca.

Anyway, it is supposed to be fun to drive around the neighborhood and see the fires.  The people are all supposed to be in a giving and fun loving mood.  Kind of like our Christmas only the presents aren’t for us, they are given to others.  And over here, food is more important than things so they are giving very important presents.  Since driving doesn’t put me in a giving and fun mood Sally and I went with Barb.  We were driving up and down streets looking at all of the roasting and this young man called us over and asked us to stop.  He told us all about Tabaski, welcomed pictures, and asked us to come back tomorrow at 8:00am and share the meat with his family.  

When we first got here, I thought all of the animals were goats because they looked like goats.  I didn’t think there were any sheep because the sheep here look like goats.  I’ve seen sheep before and these are the scrawniest looking sheep I’ve ever seen, hence, they look like goats.  In fact, the sheep are mixed in with the goats and the primary way to tell them apart is by their tails.  I am sure the men/kids that herd them know other differences but a goat’s tail goes up and a sheep’s tail goes down.  (If I were a sheep, I would be doing tail up exercises prior to Tabaski.)  The goats are also the more independent of the two and lead the sheep.  Together, they are two of the most beneficial animals to mankind.

Tabaski got me thinking about Matthew 25:31-46 so I looked it up.  In verses 31 & 32 the separation of sheep and goats is an analogy not of separating people like you and me it is about separating nations.  He will put the nations on his right and left, depending on whether or not they feed the hungry, give drink, clothe, etc.  So it seems we will be judged not just on our caring for the vulnerable but whether our nation cares.  

I fix it. You fix it. No, we fix it

Last week I met, Steve, a young man who was staying in the apartment next to us.  He said he would love to visit with us and asked if we would go to lunch.   So this is about our lunch with Steve.

As I said, he is young, married with three small children, and is living 11 hours east of Niamey, that’s called desert, for three months so he and his wife can learn the language there.  He is whiter than we are even though he grew up in a missionary family in Guatemala.   He has wanted to be a missionary in Africa since he was five. 

Before finally getting to Africa he had other jobs and lots of schooling.  One of his jobs was leading short-term mission trips in Guatemala. Then he went to Seattle to help organize and send people on mission trips.  From those experiences and from his schooling he has some definite beliefs about short-term missions and what is needed to really be of help.

For example, he believes that foreign aid over the years has seriously damaged the culture in Niger by diminishing the creativity of the locals.  They, in his opinion, have been taught that eventually the money for things will come (from the whites) if you just wait.

He also is not a proponent of the short-term mission experience.  He’ll admit that many people are impacted from short-term experiences but he thinks the cost is too great.  He thinks they hurt far more than they help.

He recommended a book called, When Helping Hurts, by Steve Corbett.   (Thank you Steve Jobs, I came home and had it on my computer in no time.)  I wish that I had read it before I got here.  It is making me rethink what exactly is “helping.” 

The work he does now in Niger follows a teaching from 2Kings 4:1-7.  To refresh you, this is the story about a woman going to Elisha for help to keep her sons from slavery.  Elisha starts out by asking her what do you have…

These are some of the principals from that story that guide how he applies to his ministry now include:

• Jesus is already there
• I need Jesus as much as they do.
• We are all sinners.
•  Don’t ask people/communities what they need or want and don’t assume you know what they need, rather, wait and respond to their request for help.
•  You help them identify what resources they already have.
• You work with them to use their resources to solve their problem.
• Tools:  Listening, respect, walking with them, facilitating, patience, and earning the right to be heard.  This is so different from our “fix it fast” mentality.

He works with about 5-10 groups who have come to him to work on their community issues.  Some have to do with hunger, water, farming, etc.  He is not into “relief,” he is into long-term development.

I told Steve that I am interested in getting closer to the people of Niger and would be open to helping him in any way I could.  He asked me about what skills I have.  I got an email from him today and he suggested the following:

• Create and teach a Sales and Marketing Module to people who could then go out and teach the villages how to sell their goods.
• Write a 1-2 page summary on what causes people to change their behavior.
• Help the association of national denominations better market themselves to their members
• Web research and write a summary on other topics of interest.

Who knows where all this might go but one of my interests in coming to Africa was to see God at work here – God at work with needs that are beyond me.  Looks like I am going to get a closer look.

Our lunch with Steve and the interaction principals he uses have already changed the way I am interacting with the staff here.