Otherwise, with two kids under
two years who need constant attention, it is next to impossible
to get the smallest things done. Aïchatou has been trying
to study for her April exams (they were moved back from a March
date) and is glad to have the extra hands in the home.
My office communication situation has improved dramatically since
I last wrote. The former state phone company is now owned by the
Chinese, and they have introduced a CDMA-standard phone system
(the same cell phone standards that are used in the United States)
to Niamey and Maradi (with other towns being added). With this
system, it is possible to get an unlimited-use Internet subscription
for an initial $80 deposit, plus a monthly fee. So, this is nice
to simply send out an email without wondering if the land-lines
would cut-off before you message actually went through—and
knowing that you were paying each time by the minute to resend
the same email.
My ministry work has been varied. Our partner church, the EERN,
is working at reorganizing itself to place all of its non-evangelism
functions (development, health, education, and media production)
into one entity called CADR-AIKI. They named Dr. Chako Cherif
as the coordinator, and so I’ve been involved in some of
the activities related to getting the new unit established. This
has involved me doing some document translation from French to
English for our English-language foreign partners. I find translation
work to be painful, but necessary. I’ve tried using some
of the free translation Web sites that are available, but they
are never quite adequate for the job at hand. This unit is also
where the EERN’s new PC(USA) education missionary, Kara
VanderKamp, has been placed. Despite being here only two months,
she has already immersed herself in some of the education activities,
such as the Tibiri student sponsorship program. She’s helped
the church produce some much-needed reports on that activity.
I find it nice to have an American colleague to work with on a
regular basis.
We’ve hosted two important visitors in March. First, Lee
De Young of Words of Hope was in Niger for three weeks to get
the recording studio operational in Maradi. He brought over much
of the equipment, including three computers, but he still needed
to source many items locally, which is always a challenge. My
assistant Usman, Pastor Sani, and I helped him do just that. He
ended up going to Kano, Nigeria, to look for things like air conditioners,
Persian rugs, and computer monitors, since they are both cheaper
and closer there than in Niamey. Lee left us on March 21, having
achieved his goal. There’s still a lot to do at the studio
before daily programming is being produced by the Nigerien Church,
but it is well on its way. The hope is that they can be on the
air by September 2006.
Our second visitor was Georg Cail, the director for the SIM-TEC
Francophone (French-speaking) computer school projects. The EERN
has a nascent computer school in Maradi, and his visit will hopefully
help the school advance.
Now I’m off to a one-week Presbyterian Church retreat for
their central and West African missionaries in Kenya. Aïchatou
and the kids were invited, but because of her exams we decided
that they should stay. The last time we had a meeting, it was
in Kenya in 2004. We went through Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and almost
got caught up in civil unrest (France bombed their airport six
hours after we left). That plane connection still exists, but
I refused to take it. As a result, my flight is from Niamey to
Casablanca to Dubai to Nairobi. It’s a little like trying
to go from Houston to Miami via Los Angeles and New York City.
I’ll leave Niamey at 4:24 a.m. Friday and get to Nairobi
at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday! Ah, the joys of travel in Africa.
Prayers and praises
- We’ve had an amazing number of things get lost, broken
or become unusable (eyeglasses, flat tire, tools, car batteries,
student cards, etc) in the past month. Not only this been inconvenient,
but it has also been very hard on our cash-on-hand, as we’ve
needed immediate replacements. Please pray for protection against
these types of losses.
- Give praise for the progress with the Words of Hope studio
and the SIM-TEC/EICSI computer school. Pray that the new CADR-AIKI
department will prove to be an effective way to conduct development
ministries by the Church in Niger.
- Pray for safe travel for Tom as he flies to Kenya for the
PC(USA) retreat. Pray that Aïchatou, the new mother’s
helper, and the girls will be able to manage well while he is
gone.
- Pray for Aïchatou’s clinical exams in early April.
Tom’s ability to continue with his Ph.D. dissertation
should soon be decided by the assistant graduate school dean
at Michigan State. Pray for God’s will on this topic.
- Pray for guidance in raising our children. Pray for the skin
allergy and eczema that Laurey has recently developed in the
folds of her skin .
- Pray for all of us in Niger as the hot and hungry seasons
come (see this
article from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs). Today’s temperature was 113 F in Niamey.
In Christ,
Tom, Aïchatou, Marie-Florence and Laurey
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 314 |
