Fulani Wedding

We attended the wedding of one of our guard's daughters a few years back. I never saw either the bride or the groom and never knew when the "ceremony" ac

tually took place. S. has 7 kids (not counting the three who have died before age 5) and his wife is obviously pregnant again. He barely makes it from month to month, although he has a garden, and mango grove, and a donkey cart and he used to have a boat. He is not lazy, but it takes a lot to feed that many mouths. His first daughter to get married was only married a few months and I'm not sure what happened, but her husband left. I never heard if he returned or not. She was only 14 or 15.

A. his oldest daughter (I think she is) is 17 and today was her wedding. We were told the "ceremony" would take place about 4 p.m. so we arrive

d around 4:30 p.m. I went off with the ladies, greeting each one until I saw S.' s wife. I entered their suudu made of mud brick with sand for the floor. A mat was on the floor and lots of little kids were around. I greeted many women in Fulfulde, some tried Zarma and Hausa but switched to Fulfulde when they found out I didn't speak either of those languages. The twins had really grown, about 5 or 6 now. Water was brought out and I graciously declined (I saw everyone dipping into the water bucket!) then "kossam" actually not milk but yogurt was brought out and I took a drink. Not bad but I explained that I would have problems with my stomach if I drank the whole thing. So they took it to the men!

I told one of the little girls named Mariama that she had a very pretty name and her mother said, "Like the mother of Issa." Yes like Jesus' mother, Mary.

This lady I found out later is S.'s sister. I met her a few years back. She had lost her Beninois husband and had moved back from Benin. She remembered me and she wanted her picture taken so outside we went to take her picture. She was so excited she wanted me to meet her husband. He was, I learned later, a widower. I'm not sure how long they have been married. She seemed so much happier. I remember her asking me many time to find her a husband or to pray for her a husband. She was so cute, because her husband had something on his chin and she did the unthinkable. She reached up and wiped it off. How sweet. A little gesture in our culture that shows love. It was explained to me that that was a "city" gesture. A bush Fulani would never do something like that. They are more reserved.

I took several pictures of the kids and then Milton came to get me to pick up the kids at a birthday party back in Niamey. Everyone was happy that we had made the trip out. We saw several of the men we have known for a number of years.

I never saw the bride and when we left, the religious leaders were coming to do the ceremony. We were already late to pick up the kids so we didn't stay for it. As we made our way down the hill we saw the bride with her friends eating under a big tree not far from the spring where the ladies go to get water and to wash.

The sad thing is that although we are friends with many of these guys we have never been able to get a foot into the village to share the Gospel. Others have and have been chased away by the religious leaders. Others have been told firmly no that they can come to tell stories in the village. Lots of effort to try to share the Gospel but nothing has stuck that we know of. Our guard S. says he believes in Issa or Jesus but he continues to do his m*slim prayers, etc. Pray for these little ones and big ones that there might be a Christian witness out there somewhere.

Taking Care of Family

When we returned in Sept. to Niger I knew we would be facing difficulties and that we were headed into some stress-filled days and months. With all that is going on with the translation project and Milton's doctorate I knew better than to take on anything else. When asked by administration what my ministry would be I said, "husband and kids!" That seems to be about all I can handle these days. It has been more than enough for me too. I love being able to scoot over to SIL to pray every morning and that has been a lifeline for me. I have felt more support over there than anywhere else. The Moms in Touch prayer group, and weekly prayer meetings both at SIM and SIL keep me busy but in a good way!

One of the ways I like to take care of my family is providing good food for them! I detest the hot dogs we get in town but if I turn them into pigs in a blanket we love them. I have a very simple pizza crust recipe that works really well for that!

Pizza Crust

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 tablespoon yeast dissolved in 1 cup of warm water

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons of oil

mix it all together and voila! You have pizza dough. This is enough dough for a 10 pack of hot dogs cut in half

Another recipe that I like a lot is for pizza rolls. This one is so simple. Take your pizza crust recipe and divide it into small balls that can be flattened. Add a pepperoni or two, some cheese and wrap it all up! I bake these and then make a

marinara sauce (Aunt Anora's lasagne sauce works well for dipping, minus the meat!)

Tonight I wanted something simple but comforting and delicious. I went to my Niger Common Pot Cookbook and decided on a Cajun bean and rice recipe, but I completely reworked it and it was exactly what I hoped for!

Cajun beans and rice

1 lb hamburger browned

onion chopped (I did not put in)

2 cloves of garlic chopped

packet of chili seasoning

1 t. cumin (I just sprinkled a bunch on)

1 can kidney beans with liquid

1 can tomatoes chopped up good

2 c. rice

cheese

Brown rice in oil. Add hamburger, chili seasoning, beans, tomatoes and cumin. Let cook slowly with lid on it and add a little more water if rice is not tender after 15 min. Grate cheese and put lid back on and let it melt! Yummy!

Yesterday I was bemoaning the fact that I was just taking care of my family! I decided to change my attitude to see how I do that! So each time I did something that helped out someone in my family today I said, "I'm taking care of my family." Running errands for Milton, picking him up from work at lunch time, picking up Alicia sick at school, making lunch for us, shopping for veggies and fruit, picking up John some chocolate spread and cereal, picking up John at SIL after video club, making a delicious supper. I guess I did do a lot to take care of my family today!

Visit to the Game Park

One of our favorite things to do is to visit the game park which is about 2 1/2 hours from Niamey. We are not campers and we don't have a lot of money so we usually try to do this the most economical way possible. (If we camped, tenting it on our own would be a good option!) We spend one night in the hotel and take our lunches and our breakfast! We then eat the evening meal at the hotel.

We usually go with one or two other like-minded families who would rather enjoy the pool and sitting beside the pool to read or play games--Apples to Apples or card games. Our kids prefer this to getting up at 6 a.m. to look for lions!

We usually head for the watering hole around noon and hang out there for a couple of hours then head back to the hotel for a sieste. We will go out once more in the afternoon when we can find the elephants at the watering hole.

This year we hit the jackpot. We got to see the elephants up close--just across the river from us. We saw beautiful birds (no pictures), and a few crocodiles, monkeys, baboons, and a lot of dlcs--deer like creatures.

This was a whole family of elephants and they gave us a real show in the water!
You can tell just how close we were able to get. Yep that's me right by the river edge. Our guide was with us and until the elephants crossed the river never said a word about us being too close!

We got to see baboons and monkeys!

What a great time we all had including the boys! Nothing like riding on top to feel the wind and see all the great animals and birds or just hang with your friends!

Christmas Stay-cation

Everyone in our family including Milton had a week's vacation over Christmas and New Years and we have enjoyed hanging out together, sleeping in, eating all kinds of good meals, and Alicia has pitched in and helped quite a bit. She is also learning to cook a few meals as well. We have played game after game of Dutch Blitz, watched movies and really have enjoyed our family time. It is not often that we all have time off together so this has been fun.

One of the things we had said we would do but had not scheduled was a trip to the plateau area where we have had picnics, and where kids learn to drive. There is so much open space that it is like a giant parking lot minus the pavement and lines for parking, but backing up, turning, and just shifting gears is easily done out here. You only have to dodge the occasional goat or donkey cart!

One of the things we noticed is that there were areas dug up in different patterns. We weren't sure the purpose of these rather random patterns like what you see in this picture.

While the kids were having a lesson with Dad, I was walking along the cliffs overlooking the Niger River. What a view!

We started our lessons at the house. Both kids had to identify the different parts of the car, how to use the clutch and brake and how to shift to the different gears. I think Mario Cart may have helped.

Both kids got an opportunity or two at the wheel with Dad. He is the calmer of the two of us! Then John drove out from the Golf Course to the big baobab tree.

I love this picture of Alicia in a reflective mood. We were talking about some of our picnics out here. We have lots of good memories tied to the plateau!

Several factors prevent us from going out here in the evenings--including security measures. Today we enjoyed the view of the river.

Last week we started a cute jigsaw puzzle and it took all us working on it to get it completed! Finally everyone actually enjoys putting a puzzle together. This has become a family tradition that both Milton and I have carried over from our families. Both of our families enjoyed a jigsaw puzzle at Christmas!

One of the more challenging puzzles was a jelly bean puzzle. We stayed up late a couple of nights to finish it!

Joy, Joy, Joy

I don't know about you, but I hate it when joy does not seem to be there. It seems everyone else has it and you haven't figured out why they do and you don't. The empty chair represents what it is like when joy is missing. It is like you are missing from the family. The past two weeks, I have felt incredible joy and at strange times, but none the less it has been there!

Actually it has been more and more as I have focused on gratitude rather than what is lacking that I have felt the joy returning.

=

There has also been a lot of joy in serving others. We decided to help the families of our employees and prepared a very unique Christmas present for each one. When one of our friends took his gift home and his wife saw it he said she leaped for joy. How could something so small make such a big difference for a family? It is all in your perspective! The gift was given with great joy and love for each one. We all had a hand in putting together these gifts and it gave joy and brought us joy!

I was at a sale this week and remembered two Christmases ago. The atmosphere has changed a lot and I was reminded of it this week. The employees were getting ready for a big clean out sale and there was so much joy! Everyone was so happy! It was contagious! I was laughing and enjoyed helping explain what some of the kitchen utensils were, what didn't work, why it didn't work and just enjoyed the time. I also volunteered to take some of those purchases home for our coworkers without transportation! Another joy in just serving others!

I had noticed that most everyone was pretty tired especially after all this work for this sale. When we talked about Christmas no one really wanted to plan anything so I decided I would take on the task of preparing a meal for everyone. Milton asked if I was crazy! He knew I had not had a lot of energy lately, and for some very good reasons. But I did want to do this! I felt if we were going to have a Christmas meal together I needed to organize it. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend! Saturday, I prepared everything so we could still go to church on Sunday. That was certainly an undertaking. Don't get me wrong, I had help, and everyone brought something to share!

Usually Christmas Eve, we don't go to the services here, because it is more youth oriented and lasts very late. We usually have a family time and sometimes it has been fine and other times it has been a bit lacking. Usually when I was taking on way too much, then I lacked the energy required to make a family celebration happen. This year was different. The past few weeks I had kept the family supplied with cookies, and peanut brittle, caramel popcorn, and was making decorations right and left! I was full of joy most of the time!

This year I made a chowder for our Christmas Eve supper, and a delicious chocolate mousse pie!

Then we played Dutch Blitz, and worked on a puzzle while watching It's a Wonderful Life. We had a great family celebration. We opened our Christmas stockings and just enjoyed being together. Milton also managed to get some gifts wrapped too, at the last minute!

Christmas morning I usually make a fabulous breakfast, complete with bacon. I made a small breakfast casserole the night before and got up a little early to bake it. We read the Christmas story, opened our gifts, then got ready for church. I really wanted to celebrate with other believers, but was not up for an all day affair. There is always this dilemma of how to celebrate Christmas Day. Quite a few of our friends were hanging out with friends at church, but I knew I could not handle a full day of Church and then come home to make a meal for our 8 friends who I had invited and prepared for!

We attended the service at EEI which is our old home church here in Niger.

The church was all decorated, complete with a Christmas tree and lights plus a lot of other stuff on the walls as decorations. Even the fans had tinsel and glitter hanging from them. There was a kids program, a skit, songs by the women, and then Pastor's message. I loved seeing all the little kids, all dressed up in their holiday finery, reciting verses left and right! Just so beautiful! My heart was so full of joy! I entered into the joy of the Christmas worship and enjoyed every minute of it. I also noticed that I had joy! No room for anything but joy today!

We left after the message as we had quite a few preparations to do and set up. We had a very low key Christmas celebration, with friends who have become our family here in Niger. It was a great joy to serve them. It is also a joy to be with friends who accept you just as you are and you don't have to worry about anything, just enjoying the time together.

Staff needs at Sahel Academy

Here are the Staff needs for our school for next year. Pray that the Lord would provide for each needed staff person.

Admin and Support Staff

Assistant Principal
Business Manager
Administrative Assistant
Receptionist (English and French preferred, but at least English)
Recruitment
Curriculum Manager
Food Services Manager
Nurse
Maintenance
Building/Construction Supervisor
Youth Pastor

Teachers

Special Education Teacher
Art (K-12)
Physical Education (K-12)
Music (K-12)
Bible (K-6)
French (K-12)
Spanish
Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 5
Middle Grades Math (Grades 7-8)
Middle Grades English (Grades 7-8)
High School English (Grades 9-12)
Earth Science (Grade 7-8)
Upper level Chemistry (Grades 11-12)
Bible (Grades 7-12)
History and Geography (Grades 7-8
Sociology (Grades 9-10)
World History, US History (Grades 11-12)

Thirteen Years in Niger--Reflecting on that first Christmas

Tomorrow we will celebrate 13 years in Niger! We arrived on December 5, 1998. All our "stuff" and car had been stored for two years in Benin. We left Benin in Nov. 1996. I was pregnant with John and we returned home to complete our adoption of Alicia, Milton to do his Th.M. at TEDS in Deerfield, IL and I to work on my MABS at Moody to hopefully finish it. In those two years, we finished up Alicia's adoption, I gave birth to John and we moved to Wheeling, IL where we lived while Milton did his Th.M and I did a counseling internship with my pastor Keith Plummer at Our Savior Evangelical Free Church. When we could not return to Benin due to an impasse with the mission--I simply could not live in the north with two small children, unbearable heat, sporadic electricity and water and no meat and vegetable for most of the year. The isolation had exhausted me and I felt I was living in the desert. Little did I know I would soon be closer to the desert than northern Benin!

So what are some of the memories of that first Christmas in Niger. Lucy Brown took me to the Christmas Bazaar at the Rec. Center and I thought it was a wonderful way to prepare for Christmas! I still have Christmas bags for presents that Pauline Clark Nelson sold for the AIDS project.

We all got sick after going out to eat with Gary and Joy Freeman at the Damsi--for years we would not go there! Gwen Baker bringing us something to eat at the Guest House because we were too sick to cook or leave our beds except for frequent trips to the bathroom!

We flew with SIM Air to Benin and spent a week getting our car road worthy--last time we will store a vehicle for two years. Then we got everything out of storage and from friends using our furniture. We then followed the truck to Niger and stored all our stuff at CBN until we found a house to rent.

Gordon and Judy Evans allowed us to stay in their lovely house for two weeks while we looked for a house to rent. A Christmas tree and house already decorated, a cookie Christmas tree by Becky Evans, and a tea ring from Sandy Rendel made Christmas so special. However we did not know that the English service was next door! So we missed all the Christmas celebrations! Jim Knowlton lived around the corner from us and he helped us Christmas morning to get the tires in Alicia's new bike aired up! I remember the special Christmas morning and me preparing Christmas dinner. I do not remember anyone inviting us--the newbies to celebrate with them. We knew very few people in Niger. That part was rather lonely and I have made an effort to make sure those around me have a place to celebrate Christmas so they don't feel alone at that time.

When we came to Niger it was to work in translation with SIL. We had started out in Benin in Fulfulde so it made sense when SIL invited us to join the Western Fulfulde team to come to Niger. There was an established team but they soon left Niger and it was just Milton and his translators. Anyway coming to Niger to work with SIL explains why it was often difficult to figure out where we fit. It took a few years to really feel a part of SIL, but that is where our heart is. We have gotten to know the team there and love spending time with those we know well.

Over the years we have weathered many transitions and difficulties but none that prevented us from returning to Niger because we have always felt that in spite of the difficulties we have experienced here--two coups d'etats in 13 years, numerous demonstrations and conflicts with students, possible evacuations, etc., that this is where we were called to. Until we are called elsewhere we will continue to rely completely on the Lord for all that we need.