It was a gala morning with over 600 people invited, including the traditional chiefs of the Katsinawa and Gobirawa and Maradi’s regional governor (he sent his representative). Also, nine Americans who are employees or supporters of Words of Hope came to participate in the festivities and learn more about Niger and the ministry field where the radio broadcast will be transmitted. Our group included the pastor and a member from Hopewell Reformed Church in Hopewell Junction, New York; the pastor and a member from Mayfair Community Church in Lakewood, California; two members from First Reformed – Sioux Center, Iowa; and three men who work with Words of Hope, including its President, the Rev. David Bast. They were in Niger for 11 days.
It was the biggest group of visitors that I had ever helped host and the number posed some special challenges, mostly with transportation. In the past, we’ve usually been able to handle visitors using my Toyota Prado Land Cruiser. It can hold seven to eight adults if needed. However, with a larger group, another vehicle was going to be necessary. The EERN has an older Land Cruiser that we had hoped to repair (again) in time for the group. It didn’t work out that way. Also, just hours before the team’s plane came, my radiator lost all its coolant (again) due to several small holes that were poorly patched in August. So, we ended up first taking the bus to Maradi and then renting vehicles for the rest of the time they were here. That, itself, added some new dilemmas because you never know what shape the rented vehicles might be in. We experienced losing brake fluid (due to a broken line), had flats (only to find that there was no spare), and the air conditioning disappeared several times with one of the two cars. Our biggest issue, though, was that part of the road between Niamey and Maradi was under water and one never knew the state of the non-paved detour until you arrived because of muddy conditions and other vehicles getting stuck and blocking the road. Despite the potential for huge delays, we arrived in Maradi and we returned to Niamey without real problems. Praise God!
The WoH team had ten days of activities and traveling to do besides the studio opening ceremonies. The group saw Niger’s giraffe herd, they visited the artisans’ workshops, they toured many of the EERN schools and institutions, and they made a side trip to Zinder, where they met the EERN President and Aïchatou’s family, including seeing her father’s rice farm. Also, one member of the team, Kevin P, is affiliated with an international youth ministry called Sonlife, which aims to strengthen church youth programming. He arranged for a representative from Burkina Faso to come with our party and to discuss their ministry with the EERN youth. It proved to be an ideal time because so many of the youth had been mobilized for the studio opening ceremony and because it was still school vacation.
A second highlight for our ministry this past month, after the studio’s event, would be the Christian education seminars in which RCA volunteers Ted and Eleanor V from Battle Creek, Michigan, helped lead, along with others. They bravely conducted two 2-week workshops on “Teaching from a Christian world-view” for Nigerien school teachers who are members of Niger’s churches, though not necessarily teaching in Christian schools. Fortunately, my colleague, Kara V, was able to host them along with some help from SIM missionaries. The couple, who had first visited Niger in 2004, reported seeing many changes and much more interest among the church in Christian education. They observed that many of the teachers whom they instructed were becoming inspired and could see that teaching could be much more than a way to earn a paycheck, but could be both a calling and a ministry. That’s exciting and that’s the kind of transformation thinking that good ministry results in. While we’re still not certain if the EERN will be able to open its second elementary school in Zinder this fall, there are many signs of progress for the future.
Finally,a quick update on our family. Aïchatou is staying at home with the girls. We have lost our 15 year-old mother’s helper due to her own family needing her for someone who was ill. Marie-Florence has started the fall term of her morning nursery school and her teacher told me on Friday that ‘‘Her French is very good — what language do you speak at home?’’ since she knew that I’m an American. Laurey is babbling non-stop. She surprises us with perfectly pronouncing some complicated words out of the blue like ‘’helicopter’’ and ‘’octopus’’ (from a book). We’re hoping to wean her very soon. Having our mornings free while Marie is in school is proving to be a great aid in getting work done at home!
Prayer and praises
Give thanks for the successful opening of the Words of Hope recording studio. Pray for the remainder of the production team that will soon be hired and that they will faithfully produce programming to inspire, explain and teach Niger’s population about the Gospel message.
Give thanks for all the visitors who were here in August and September and for the contributions they made to the ministry and the mission in Niger. Give thanks that they all returned in good health, although most of them experienced a few days of not feeling too good (including one cracked tooth!).
Pray for Christian education in Niger. Pray that Nigerien church leaders, teachers and parents can come together, work out differences, develop a shared vision and operate schools that give glory to God.
Pray for our family and our health and welfare. Pray that God will strengthen us in our work and in our personal challenges.
In Christ,
Tom, Aïchatou, Marie-Florence and Laurey Johnson |
