On the day before we were scheduled
to leave, Aïchatou came to me and announced that she realized
she had no photo I.D. to board the airplane. We made some phone
calls, but the only acceptable identification for airports is
that which was issued by a government agency. Reluctantly, we
concluded that she would have to stay home. So, while the temperature
for Aichatou in Iowa was 15 F, I was enjoying those of 70 F! Life
isn’t fair (and Aïchatou was really ready for that
trip!).
As part of my Tampa trip, I traveled to Louisville, Kentucky
and met with our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partners regarding
humanitarian and relief work in Niger. They are interested in
helping the Nigerien church develop the capacities to respond
to the next famine or crisis in Niger and to have the ability
to carry out more development activities. To make progress in
this area, they are probably going to invite some Nigeriens to
come to the United States and convene a small group of church
relief and development agencies to map out what this support will
look like. This week the Nigerien Church sent me an email announcing
that they would use a Reformed Church World Services (RCWS) grant
to recruit a director for these development activities. They chose
Dr. Chako Cherif, a former Minister of Infrastructure and an elder
in the church. So, this is wonderful news!
We’ve received other good news for Niger in the past month.
I believe close to $30,000 total was raised for Nigerien student
scholarships, with one church coming up with 15,000 dollars for
its Thanksgiving offering. Another church gave over 4,000 dollars
that same week. These funds are incredible and are more than what
the existing school at Tibiri can likely handle. Therefore, they
could help us open from one to three kindergartens at sites where
the Nigerien Church had hoped to open primary schools in the near
future. It is a bit premature to say this with certainty, as Church
leaders will have the final decision. I’ve attached three
news articles that give some current info on Niger’s
situation after the famine.
I’m starting to feel a bit spoiled, as the gifts for my
laptop came in and I was able to buy a Panasonic Semi-Toughbook
51. I chose this model because of their excellent reputation for
durability. It doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles,
but it is faster and has more memory than my current Toshiba.
I now feel equipped to return to my work in Niger with the tools
I need. We may even have enough extra to purchase a portable computer
projector. I’m almost finished ordering the necessary software
and accessories and will make that determination in the next few
weeks.
The only area where we don’t have a lot of good news is
the progress of my Ph.D. proposal. It has been a struggle to stay
sharp and write on this with everything going on. I’m hoping
that now that air travel is over, if Laurey gets adjusted I may
be able to find some more quiet time to work on it.
Prayers and praises
- Give praise for the health of our family. We’ve so
far escaped any colds or flu, particularly among the children.
- Pray for Tom’s dad, who just had knee replacement surgery
and is now recovering. Pray that he’ll regain the full
use of his knee and that there will be no complications from
the surgery or any problems that might delay his using the knee.
- Give praise for the wonderful generosity that churches and
individuals have shown toward our work and ministry in Niger.
Pray that the Nigerien Church will use these resources for the
glory of God.
- Pray for our preparations to depart to Niger on January 12.
Pray that we’ll quickly find appropriate housing in Niger
when we return (we ended our lease in August and all our belongings
are in storage.
Holiday and Christmas wishes to you all!
Tom, Aïchatou, Marie-Florence and Laurey
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 314
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