February 2008

Vol. 7, No. 9

Hello Everyone,

Finally we have a little peace and quiet in the Johnson home after a rather turbulent three weeks! Our trip to Niger was significantly delayed after we discovered that the girls’ U.S. passports were missing and the airline refused to allow them to fly without them. (We never did find them.) A hectic week followed. Eventually, the airline agreed that they could fly under their mother’s passport, since both girls’ names and photos were already inside. Our rescheduled flight put us in Niger only 38 hours before a volunteer team of 11 arrived from Tom’s home church in Leighton, Iowa (plus two relatives from Harcourt, Iowa)!  Together we spent one full day in Niamey and then the 15 of us (11 volunteers plus our family of four), left for our home at the Dogon Gao Bible School in two Toyota Prado Land Cruisers for a 12-hour trip.

When we arrived at Dogon Gao, the house was just adequate for our needs. Our guardian and his wife had swept it out earlier, but the harmhattan (Sahara weather where dust from the desert lingers like fog) was in full-force and layers of dust were already present. Fortunately, everyone was sympathetic to the situation and, after a warm dinner of chicken and rice prepared by Pastor Sani’s wife, we settled into bed. The five guys slept in the apartment that will house future volunteer teachers, while two of the couples slept in the children’s bedrooms and a third slept in our living room area. We had hoped to have a week to prepare the house for our visitors, but circumstances didn’t permit it.

The next day, the men started working on an addition to our house, the women started cooking and cleaning, and I ran logistics, making sure everything got started, people found what they needed, and that we had food and water. Thankfully, my colleagues Jeremy B, Usman, and Ibrahim had been working ahead of time to ensure that many materials and supplies were already on site. A fellow missionary, Bert, even brought six mattresses to our home so that everyone had a place to sleep that night. The Lord looked out for us, as none of our problems were too serious during the group’s time in Niger.

This addition will be used for various kinds of storage, a classroom for our girls, and a shelter for our vehicle.

The visitors were here for only 12 days, and they had a lot they wanted to accomplish. We lost almost five days due to their travel and two days were spent in Zinder, thus there were only five full work days. That was enough to lay the foundation of the addition and to start on some of the walls. This work involved a lot of mixing cement, which isn’t an activity many Americans are used to doing by hand. There were many sore bodies as a result. Happily, the Bible school students pitched in and gave the visitors a few breaks from the backbreaking work. This addition will be used for various kinds of storage, a classroom for our girls, and a shelter for our vehicle. Additionally, the women found some time to paint four Bible school blackboards. We didn’t have much time for leisure or tourist activities while at Dogon Gao, but the group did visit the studio funded by Words of Hope, the SIM Center for Health and Leprosy, and the old French Club.

The volunteer team from Tom’s home church in Leighton, Iowa, with Aïchatou’s parents in Zinder.

As soon as I knew my parents were coming, I knew we should include a visit to Zinder, where Aïchatou’s family lives, since they had never met. After three days of hard work, the visitors were ready for something different. Zinder was just the ticket. They toured Aïchatou’s family’s farm, their machine shop/garage, and the church. The group was treated to several meals at her parents’ home and met most of Aïchatou’s extended family there. That Sunday morning in Zinder the sermon was preached by one of the group members, Mark, who is pastor of Ebenezer Reformed Church. After the service, we saw the new Christian elementary school and stopped at the Artisan village for locally made crafts. Everyone enjoyed the experience, particularly the chance to interact with Nigeriens in their homes.

On arriving at the guest house in Niamey, we learned that there was a temporary problem with the water pipes there. It struck me as funny that after a week in the bush, where we, mercifully, always had electricity and water, that our first experience back in the capital would involve a few hours of lacking something. The group spent the next day shopping for souvenirs, and we enjoyed a delicious meal at Niamey’s only Italian restaurant before the group left for home. No one was seriously sick (a few stomach problems here and there), no one became injured and everyone was able to cope with the circumstances. I would never try to duplicate this program again, but all in all, everything went well.

Now our family is unpacking and arranging all of our affairs and trying to put our house in order. Fairly soon, Aïchatou and the girls will go to Zinder, where they will stay with Aïchatou’s family while awaiting the new baby, who will be born in Zinder (Niger’s second-largest city). I’ll come and go, as I’ll help out with another volunteer group in Niamey and look after some matters at Dogon Gao.

Prayers and praise

• Praise God for his faithfulness as we coped with some pretty trying circumstances. Give thanks that, in the end, everything turned out well for our family and for our visitors.
• Praise God for the work that is going on our house. We’re thankful that we found everything in good condition upon returning home.
• Please pray that this house will continue to serve our family and ministry needs.
• Praise God for friends, family and colleagues that have helped us during these past few weeks. We would have experienced a hundred failures without such patient and kind-hearted people.
• We thank God for all who have prayed for us, particularly about the lost passports and the upheaval in our travel plans. We not only experienced His peace, but we also sensed that everything would work out.
• Please pray for Aïchatou and the new baby expected around April 1. Pray for their health and please pray that the baby will be full-term. Pray that our family will be together for the birth.

In Christ,

Tom, Aïchatou, Marie-Florence, and Laurey

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 7