April 2006

Vol. 5, No. 11

Dear Friends,

The heat is on! At some time this past week, we crossed the threshold where the daily increases of heat and humidity makes life miserable in Niamey. April and May are the hottest months before the rains come, normally in early June. Our bedroom thermometer has a humidity gauge and we’ve been watching it creep up from around 30% in late March to about 45% now, and up it will go up until those first rains arrive (the “mango rains,” which last for one or two days at about the time Niger’s mangos become ripe in April). Temperatures are still between 110 and 120 F, depending on cloud cover. The difference in comfort is very noticeable. Now, when any part of the body makes contact with something else (pillow, shirt, etc), perspiration appears. I’ve recently had my first sleepless night because of heat. Many people in Niger leave their bedrooms (where the cinderblock walls keep in heat until early in the morning) and sleep outside.

These last few weeks have held some interesting contrasts for me. You may remember that I was scheduled to go to a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) retreat near Mt. Kenya at the end of March. I did go and greatly enjoyed the cool mountain air. My flights between Niamey and Nairobi were thankfully uneventful, although due to some mix-up by the PC(USA) travel agent, I overnighted in a Dubai hotel that I think only Middle Eastern oil sheikhs could afford! The sad thing was that our flight came into Dubai two hours late, and I was in the hotel for less than six hours, though I originally anticipated a ten-hour layover! On the return trip, however, I tried to sleep in Dubai’s airport rather than in a five-star hotel!

The PC(USA) spiritual retreat was for its west and central African missionaries. It was a nice mix of morning programs with afternoon recreation and sightseeing (I saw more African wildlife there than I’ve seen in Niger). Our featured speaker was Dr. Kwame Bediako from Ghana, who is an author and professor of theology at a Ghanaian religious institute. His theme was on Africa’s contributions to Christianity, and he emphasized over and over again how Africa and Africans have constantly surpassed “Western” expectations in regards to Christianity.

Bediako credits the missionary effort to put the Scriptures in local languages for much of this, thus making God’s word available in their tongue and in their cultural understanding.

In other areas, Bediako presented evidence that missionaries and their organizations often serve as “gatekeepers” to an African understanding of Christianity and may actually impede the Holy Spirit’s work in the African church. We had many great discussions and the insights gained were very useful to our work. I think as a missionary, I learned that humility is an important asset to take to our countries, as often we don’t know what is best for our African brothers and sisters. Yet at the same time, we have do have special contributions and knowledge to share with them.

Aïchatou and the girls were not able to join me in the trip to Kenya, although they were invited. At the time we had to confirm our participation, the Faculty of Medicine still hadn’t scheduled her clinical exams. Even when I returned in early April, Aïchatou still didn’t know the precise dates. With one week advance notice, the dates finally came out and her first exam (internal medicine) was held on April 14—our daughter Marie-Florence’s second birthday! The second exam, on obstetrics and gynecology, is on April 21. Aïchatou reports that the first exams seemed to go very well. She’ll get her results later.

Just a few days after I returned to Niger, I received word that my new Reformed Church in America supervisor, the Reverend Derrick Jones, would come for the RCA’s annual visit. He was here between April 11 and 18. Since this was his first trip to Niger, we needed to make a trip to the interior of the country to show him all the ministries that are happening there, so that he has a better sense of what our partner, the EERN, is doing.

Dr. Chako Cherif, the new EERN coordinator of development ministries (health, education, community development and media) accompanied us on the five-day trip, as did Ibrahim Abdou, the new permanent secretary (at the national level). While the trip itself was similar to others I’ve made, it’s always the discussions en route and at the various ministry sites that continually teach me more about Niger, Nigerien Christians, and how we should be doing ministry in Niger. One quick example must suffice: while stopping at Galmi and listening to the Tahoua regional secretary explain how local Christians are carrying out development programs, he mentioned that their intention was to first initiate a program among the church members, but once (or if) it started to work, they wanted to then share it, as their Christian witness, with their larger non-Christian neighbors. This is more profound than you might realize because funders either want the church to help everyone or to only help the Christian community. And yet, most programs and projects have problems that need to be worked out before they can be expanded, and church members often become discouraged if they are excluded from participating in a project. Start with the Christian community and then expand. Should this be our guideline for Christian community development? My gut feeling is yes.

So this has been a very thoughtful month for me about what does it mean to do “good mission.” It seems a bit premature to say this, but I sense that the Church in Niger is in the “take-off” phase. Many things seem to be coming together: the Words of Hope radio ministry coming to Niger, PC(USA) education missionary Kara VanderKamp has started, Dr. Chako was appointed to a key EERN ministry, the new EERN permanent secretary seems incredibly competent, but even more important some of us are noticing a stronger sense of purpose and mission in the EERN. It is both encouraging and humbling.

Prayers and praises

• Give praise that Aïchatou and I celebrated three years of marriage on April 19. Give thanks also for Marie-Florence’s second birthday on April 14. Laurey turns six months on May 2 and appears to be the happiest, smilingest baby that any of us have ever seen!
• Give praise for the safe travels that I have been on for my work and for the learning that has taken place. Give thanks also for the good colleagues that God has put in our midst.
• Give praise that the dean of the Graduate School at Michigan State has approved my request for an extension to complete my Ph.D. Now pray that I can get my act together and finish it!
• Pray for Aïchatou to pass all her clinical exams this spring (pray for her test on April 21) and that she can then advance on her required research project.
• Pray for the people and the Church of Niger as the hungry season before the rains is coming. Pray for a good rainy season.

Thomas Johnson

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 314