April 2004

Vol 3. No. 11

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, April turned out to be quite different than we planned, with the arrival of Marie-Florence on April 14! She was about three weeks early and for those first few days, she appeared pretty small and weak. Six days later, she is nursing like a pro, her face is filling out and now her cries have a little more force than they did just a short time ago. We praise God for this gift and are thankful for all those who have been praying for us.

As I said in an earlier email, I was actually in Maradi, nine hours away, when the baby came. Knowing that her due date was May 2, I was sure I had time to take care of a few things there before her birth and scheduled myself a week at the Bible School and arranged for several meetings during that time. I left Aïchatou in Niamey, where she was still doing her ob/gyn rotation and was planning to leave work two weeks before the due date. In fact, she helped deliver another baby the day she gave birth because she was the only doctor available at that moment! It was on my second night away that I got the call that Aïchatou was in labor. I asked her if I should leave right away (in the night), but she thought it best to wait until morning. Just after midnight another phone call came with news of Marie-Florence’s birth. I left Maradi on Wednesday morning and arrived at the maternity clinic by 4:30 p.m. to see our new daughter, who was the tiniest thing I ever saw.

This is in addition to Aïchatou’s cousin, Auwa, whom we already had engaged to help us in the home with the baby. So, our little two-bedroom home has never been empty and with the heat of the hot season (our house has been 92 F inside during this last week) everyone certainly receives a “warm” welcome.

Our next big activity with the baby will be a naming ceremony or “biki.” In Hausa culture this takes place on the eighth day after birth and it is held at the new parents’ home. We decided before the birth that we did not want to have the traditional ceremony, but would instead present the infant to God during a church service and that is where her name would be announced. Afterwards, there would be drinks and cake served. While we aren’t exactly the first ones to do this in Niger, it is still pretty rare. Many of the younger Christians have voiced support for this change, as the traditional ceremony is very Muslim in origin and also is fairly taxing on the new parents. So, we are cognizant that we may be part of setting a new tradition for Christian parents in Niger. Infant baptism isn’t, to my knowledge, practiced by the Protestant churches in Niger. That is probably because so many of the first (and succeeding) missionaries came from Baptist backgrounds.

Just before the baby arrived, Aïchatou and I thought about planning our vacation for 2004. I had just inquired into plane tickets for us to Iowa on the day before the birth. So, two days later, it was a pretty easy decision to make the reservations to spend our vacation with the American side of our family. We’ll be in Iowa from May 25-June 24 and will not have any traveling or speaking for the mission during that time. It will be a welcome rest for us.

April 19 marked our first wedding anniversary! It is amazing to step back and consider all the changes and activities that we have experienced in just one year! I think we’re both ready to slow down a bit, since there certainly have not been many dull moments! For our next year, we’ll focus on our family and getting Aïchatou through her medical school rotations.

My work will be more office-based during the next month. There’s a lot of written things I need to catch up on, so that should keep me close to home and with the family.

Praises and prayers

• Thank God for the birth of Marie-Florence and that she is in good health. Pray that she will grow stronger and bigger each day! Thank God that Aïchatou is recovering nicely from the pregnancy and that she needed no additional medical attention during or after the delivery.
• Pray for our vacation plans, that we will be able to leave Niger for one month without care or worry and will thoroughly enjoy our time in Iowa.
• Pray that we will find a new house in Niamey to rent for a year. Our current sub-lease expires on July 1, when the missionaries whom we are renting the house from return from their leave.
• Pray for an Reformed Church in America missionary couple that will be visiting Niger in the next month as they consider their future mission calling. If it is God’s will, we would certainly appreciate their presence!
• Pray for my work in Niamey and for Aïchatou’s decision on when is the right time for her to return to her rotations.

In Christ

Tom, Aïchatou and Marie-Florence

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 44