July 2004

Vol 4. No. 2

Hello Everyone,

We’re back in Niger after spending most of June in the United States. It was so nice to have escaped the hottest period of Niger and to have spent it with our American family and friends. But it was time to get back and return to our lives in Niger. We had a lot to return to.

Within a week of arriving, we moved to a different house in Niamey. Our past home had been sublet from a missionary couple who were going to be on home assignment in the United States for a year. They were scheduled to come back in July (they decided in June to not return after all), but we had made arrangements in May to rent another house so that we would be out by the time they came. We found one just one block from where we were living, so moving wasn’t too difficult. Our other house had only two bedrooms, but our current house has three—each with its own bath (although there is no common bathroom). A little peculiarity of our house—at least to Westerners—is that it has an external kitchen. External kitchens are very common here in Niger since 98 percent of the cooking is done with firewood—even in the cities! The government has just launched a big campaign to encourage the use of newly discovered Nigerien coal in an effort to reduce the deforestation of the country. We use gas to cook, but it is relatively expensive.

Aïchatou returned to her rotations on July 8 and is now completing nephrology (kidney system) in internal medicine. She is able to work only mornings while her cousin watches Marie-Florence. Marie recently tried solid foods and seems to accept her infant formula-rice porridge mixture in the morning, but knows that when her mother is home she will be breast-fed. She is growing well and is spending less time sleeping and more time watching the world.

I have spent the last three weeks assisting with two separate groups of visitors that have come to Niger. The first group consisted of three men from Chicago and Grand Rapids, who brought $10,000 worth of used computers and related equipment that will be used in setting up a church-run computer training school in Maradi. Normally, this activity wouldn’t be in my purview (they were not part of the Reformed Church of America or a PC(USA) group, but with another ministry helping the EERN), yet my presence was needed for logistical and hosting duties, particularly because of the short time they were here and the importance of the project. It was pretty interesting, especially in discussing how we might bring high-speed satellite Internet to the school. That would be a wonderful development (which I could hook into) and these three techies thought that it would be feasible in the near future to do this.

Our other visitor was Lee De Young of Words of Hope (an RCA-affiliated radio ministry). Words of Hope helps in the production of Christian radio programming in local languages. They prefer to use recording studios in the countries where the languages are spoken, but sometimes this isn’t possible if the country is closed to Christian ministry. They are focusing on working in Muslim countries and have recently decided they would like to work where the Reformed Church in America has a missionary presence. Interestingly, the first mention of brining Words of Hope to Niger came in 2003 when their president and I were both staying overnight at a church member’s home in Sioux Center, Iowa. These two factors put Niger at the top of the list. Lee came out to better understand the situation and the need for Christian radio ministry in Niger. He left fairly optimistic that they could help in creating Hausa and perhaps Fulani radio programs in conjunction with our Nigerien church partner, the EERN. Again, my duties don’t necessarily involve radio ministry, but I’m here to help the church increase its capacity to do ministry, whenever my involvement can be helpful.

I hope to get back to my regular work during August. I need to finish writing a project for a goat herd at the Dogon Gao Bible School and work out the details for launching micro-credit at there. Also, I will help the national church study how to re-launch its community development ministry. There’s always a lot to do!

Prayer and praise

• Thank God for our restful vacation and for our safe travel between the United States and Niger. Give thanks also that we returned without any problems meeting us in Niger. Give thanks that Marie-Florence traveled so well.
• Pray for Aïchatou’s work and studies. She has identified a thesis topic and will be doing research in Niamey in addition to motherhood and her rotations.
• Pray for plans on the EERN’s computer school and the possibility of a radio ministry with Words of Hope. Pray that God will call the right Christian Nigeriens to lead these efforts.
• Pray for the rains in Niger, as the rainy season lasts from June to September. The rains in Niamey have been great, but east of Maradi, they have been sparse and spotty.
• Give praise that the final funds for our house at the Bible school have arrived and I’ll soon be able to stay there when I visit for a week each month.

In Christ,

Tom, Aïchatou, and Marie-Florence

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