August 2005
Vol. 5, No. 3
Hello Everyone,
We’re in Iowa. We arrived on August 17 and have spent the
last week doing a variety of things, including resting. Mostly
we’ve been doing family activities in Iowa, including shopping
for clothes and all the things we’ll need for our five-month
stay in the United States. We had our first prenatal check-up
for Aïchatou. We have already visited our first church (Prairie
Ridge in Ankeny, which has sent ten volunteers to Niger in the
past three years). Also, we took my grandmother to a doctor’s
appointment at the University of Iowa Cardiac Clinic (about 100
miles away) as we were the only family members available to do
so. Quite a varied week!
Our transit time between Niamey, Niger, and Oskaloosa, Iowa,
was about 29 hours. Most people dread the idea of hauling a 16
month-old girl for a trip like that, but Marie-Florence handled
it like a real pro. She slept for most of the first six-hour flight
between Niamey and Paris (we left at midnight). At the Paris airport
she found some other small passengers to play with and was extremely
well-behaved during our long Paris-Cincinnati flight, which is
more than we can say for the little three-year-old girl next to
us, who tried to take most of Marie’s toys. Somehow between
Cincinnati and Des Moines our little girl tolerated staying on
Mom’s lap for that 100 minute flight on a small, cramped
plane.
Our only real travel frustration was going through Immigration
and Customs in Cincinnati. First of all, we were directed into
the wrong line, where we had to wait longer than was really necessary.
Second, we asked if Aïchatou’s three-month visa could
be extended to six months so that we could avoid the renewal hassles
in November and that meant being sent to a different office (and
another delay). Third, after nine hours of being cooped-up, Marie
was ready to run. She squirmed her way to the floor and then kept
us busy chasing after her while we tried to stand in line and/or
talk to Immigration officials and open bags for Customs agents.
Needless to say, we missed our connecting flight to Des Moines
with all these troubles. We were put on stand-by for the last
flight of the day to Des Moines and were fortunate enough to get
two of the last three seats available on a fully-booked plane.
My parents picked us up and Marie was forced into a car seat (not
necessary or readily available in Niger!). She was lulled to sleep
by grandma singing and we finally arrived exhausted to my family’s
farm.
So, it is good to be back. Very good, indeed. Getting a break
from life and responsibilities in Niger is very much needed. We
had moved out of our house in Niamey and put all of our things
in storage and were totally exhausted. We’re looking forward
to the time to rest, to recharge, and to renew our friendships
and contacts with many of you. As you know, this will be an important
period of family time as we will stay the whole five months with
my folks, and we anticipate welcoming a new child into our lives.
In addition, we hope to re-equip ourselves for our future ministry
and life in Niger. Your prayers and encouragement are both requested
and appreciated.
I need to backtrack a bit and return to Niger and the period
between our last newsletter and now. Not long after I wrote on
July 19, the “world” discovered the famine in Niger.
I suddenly found my email inbox filled with several letters from
various church people asking about the famine. We learned too
that some denominational resources were being sent to international
relief organizations working in Niger. For those in our partner
church in Niger and myself, we were surprised to learn that some
of these organizations are supported by American Christians, however
in Niger these organizations are neither staffed by nor do they
support the efforts of Nigerien Christians. Now in a time of famine,
organizations provide relief and assistance regardless of religion,
ethnic origin, etc. That’s clear. The Christian community
in Niger, though, would also like to have a ministry of aid and
assistance in time of disaster. They also have key insights into
how to handle relief operations. To work alongside Christian partners
from the United States and Canada in carrying out these ministries
would be a blessing and a way to strengthen the local church’s
capacities. However, that’s not how things are working at
the moment, and it’s quite frustrating, with the sole exception
of “new-to-the-scene” fundamentalist and Pentecostal
churches that have approached Nigerien Christians (even our partner,
the EERN) for advice. Please pray with us that this current crisis
will result for those in Church World Service (a network of mainline
Protestant churches) and related denominational ministries to
“rediscover” the Christian church in Niger and coordinate
their future activities with Nigerien Christians.
That’s about all for now. We hope to see as many of you
as possible. My Sundays until January are almost fully booked,
however Aïchatou and Marie-Florence will not be able to travel
to all of our speaking engagements.
Prayers and praise
- Give thanks for our successful packing, leaving our house
in Niamey, and traveling to Niger. This was a much less stressful
time than we have experienced in the past. We tried to pace
ourselves better, but we know we also avoided many “last-minute”
crises, too.
- Pray for the relief efforts for the famine in Niger. Pray
that relief and development efforts will last beyond the immediate
crisis and will addresss the endemic, structural problems that
leave so many Nigeriens (especially children) vulnerable to
hunger and sickness.
- Pray for the Reverend Derrick Jones, who will be our new Reformed
Church in America Mission Supervisor for Africa. He will start
October 1 and he replaces Debbie Braaksma, who returns to mission
work in Africa.
- Pray for the last two months of Aïchatou’s pregnancy.
Pray for a healthy baby and a healthy mama. Give praise that
Marie has become much more socially interactive and seems to
be fascinated with the other babies she sees.
- Pray for the EERN (our partner church) during our absence
and that things will advance normally. Pray for Pastor Sani
who is now in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to prepare for his responsibilities
in managing the Words of Hope recording studio in Niger.
In Christ,
Tom, Aïchatou, and Marie-Florence
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
316
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