January 2007

Vol. 6. No. 8

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year 2007! It seems a bit strange to say that this late in January, but we still hear it in Niger, particularly when we see people we know for the first time in the new year. So we hope that 2007 has gotten off to a good start for you!

We stayed in Niamey this Christmas, instead of going to Aïchatou’s family in Zinder. However, we did see her mother just a few days before Christmas as she came to visit her sister-in-law (Aïchatou’s aunt) in Niamey who had a cyst surgically removed (sadly, Mama Halima died unexpectedly from a pulmonary embolism related to this surgery on January 12).

There were two church services on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas Day, and we went to them all, which was really too much for our kids. By the time of the Christmas Day services, both of us spent more time outside the sanctuary than inside, as we were dealing with restless children. A similar schedule existed for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day at the church, but we chose to stay home for the New Year’s Eve service.

Although we all know how tough it can be to accomplish much during the holiday season, sometimes church volunteers actually have more time to do church things. Such was the case with our long-awaited goat proposal to Reformed Church World Services. This goat herd will be the first aspect of introducing a practical-skills curriculum to the Bible School at Dogon Gao. It was first introduced as an idea to the Evangelical Church of Niger (EERN) four years ago, and since then we’ve gone through a few leadership changes. There was also a strong desire to produce a solid proposal that will work, and we had a lot of things to think through. During this whole process the EERN and I realized that some fundamental changes would need to take place in how the herd and its corresponding land are to be managed if the proposal is to succeed. So, we’ve also been at work putting these organizational changes and policies in place. The proposal has been finalized in French and it is my job to translate it into English and submit it to the RCWS. We hope the funds will arrive in early 2007. One of my first jobs at the Dogon Gao Bible School will be to implement the project.

Speaking of translation, Aïchatou and I also found the time to translate some stories about her grandfather, the first known Christian convert in Niger. These anecdotes, which date from the early 1930s, had been written in Hausa by one of the first SIM missionaries in Niger as a gift to Abba Moussa’s children. We’re happy to make that translation available to you.

I’ve been busy with communications and had my first “conference call” with a New York church volunteer group that is coming to Niger in March. I got up at 1:30 a.m. and, using the Internet, I spoke briefly to them about Niger, answered their questions, and then we made some decisions together. Pretty neat! If you or your church wants to try something similar, let’s give it a try. Even at Dogon Gao, we’ll have Internet access, so the cost is next to nothing using Skype or another Internet phone service. All that you really need is a speaker phone (or even a cell phone with speaker phone) in a room (for addressing a group) since we can call a fixed line with Skype.

The move to Dogon Gao is almost upon us. We’ve set January 25 as our move date. We found a hauler for our things, and we’ve started packing the books, bedding, and other odds and ends. Initially, we’ll stay at one of the vacant missionary staff homes at the Danja Center for Leprosy and Health, which is only three kilometers from the Bible school. Meanwhile, we’ll be making some repairs to the house, adding glass windows (now just metal shutters), laying a floor tile, painting all the walls with an oil-based paint and adding a perimeter fence and gate for our children’s protection. We’re still accepting contributions to pay for all of this and those checks can be sent to Financial Gifts; RCA; P.O. Box 19381; Newark NJ 07195-1938; Memo: Johnson house expansion-Niger. It is actually a duplex with a three-bedroom side and a one-bedroom side. We anticipate future volunteers, particularly our children’s teachers, will stay in the other side in years to come.

Prayers and praises

• Give thanks for our time in Niamey and for God’s faithfulness as we have had a safe and pleasant stay in this city.
• Pray for the physical part of the move as we get everything packed and unpacked. Also pray that all our personal items will arrive safely in Danja.
• Pray for the challenges of the family adapting to this new, rural environment. Pray that God will guide Aïchatou as to her responsibility there and that our children will do well with the move.
• Pray for Tom’s new responsibilities at Dogon Gao as he works to improve the training of the EERN’s pastors and evangelists by better preparing Bible school students to be “agents of transformation” in witnessing to Christ’s love.

In Christ,

Tom, Aïchatou, Marie-Florence and Laurey

The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 319