following the LEADER

We are now without internet connection in our house so for the next little while our posts may be few and far between.  We really want to keep you all apprised of our goings on so we will do our best to make it to the internet café as much as possible.  I am currently typing in word for Dave to cut and paste onto our site when he has a connection.

Several people have come and gone these last few days, and the chaos of being constant hosts is starting to become the reality of our life in Niger.  Last Wednesday our 5 Salvadorian friends arrived.  We have definitely been enjoying our house full of guests.  “The Ninas” as we call the 3 girls working with the Rivas’ are Sam’s little fan club.  This is a picture of Sam with one of the girls named Lydia.  Tonight Blessie was calling him Samuelito.  They are full of songs and smiles and bring a joy to our life that we will really miss when they return to Agadez next month.  On Friday Jeremy returned to Niger. 

The guys have been enjoying each other’s  company while playing many competitive games of Rook.  Yesterday Juanita and the girls took me to Grande Marche (the big market) and we bought fabric to make drapes for the house.  It was quite an experience.  Last night we had another big dust/ rain storm and the power was out most of the night.  We had an El Salvadorian dinner at the Teagues by candle light.  Homemade tortillas, beans, cheese, and rice with chicken.  It was awesome.  (this isn’t a great picture, but it shows a little of what the dust storm looked like)

The other day Dave and I were leaving the Teague’s with Sam and a very cute little boy and girl were walking down the street.  They greeted us in Djarma.  We had a half a loaf of French bread with us in the car that had gone stale, and so we gave it to them.  They started jumping up and down and laughing, holding the bread over their heads as if it was treasure.  You would have thought they won the lottery.  It was such a beautiful moment to us, and we were reminded, yet again of how blessed we are. 

Every day I am struck by the real, heart wrenching, poverty that surrounds us.  I see people working, walking, and living in 120 degree heat.  They are thankful to have the money to buy a bag of rice to feed their family.  They do not complain about the power going out or having to sleep in a room without air-conditioning.  They are thankful for the rain not because it brings a cool breeze, but because it waters the crops and brings the promise of food.  I ask God why he chose me to be born in the most wealthy country on earth.  Why did he choose to bless me?  I am thankful for the opportunity that I have to encounter this world that is so different from my own.  It helps me to understand the responsibility that comes with my privilege.  It also strengthens me in those moments when I feel like complaining.  I am reminded that some are thankful for stale bread.

So Stephani left last night, and should be home safe and sound now.  While her family is excited to have her home, there are lots of people that will miss her here, including us. It was strange to be the one taking someone to the airport to leave.  I felt glad to not be getting on that plane.  This is definitely home.

Today Rodrigo and Juanita along with Lydia, Haiti and Blessie (missionaries from El Salvador to northern Niger) arrived at our house.  They will be staying with us for the next month or so.  We are excited to have some company in our house.  It gives us practice for when we have larger groups here with us.

Today is my parents 43^rd wedding anniversary.  Happy Anniversary mom & dad.  We love you. 

I have a great story that I will be posting in the next couple of days.  I don’t know all of the complete details yet, but it has something to do with a witchdoctor and his desire to know more about who Jesus is.  It’s an awesome story and it has a great ending (or a new beginning depending how you look at it).  Check back for more details soon.  Ok that’s all for now, a tout a l’heure.

Look at my house. Too bad I haven’t learned to verb “to like” yet, or I would ask you if you would like to see my house.

Bienvenue! (welcome). This is our terrace where most of our meeting and greeting has been done so far. Thank you Steph for the beautiful porch furniture and the potted plants. This is where we have our French lessons with Pastor Samson on mon/wed/fri. The front door is just to the right out of the picture.

This is the view from just inside our front door. You can see through the atrium the window to Sammy’s room. The blue room beyond the arch will be the dining room, but right now it’s more like the kitchen. Our fridge and stove are in there along with all my kitchen stuff in rubbermaids. Beyond that you can see into the kitchen.

And this is the view from the other direction. Sam and Daddy are enjoying a breakfast in the living room. You can just see the corner of the atrium to the left.

This is the kitchen. The cabinets are opened because we’re still working on the water filter. Currently we turn the filtered water on from under the cabinet to the left and it comes out the hoze in the cabinet next to it. Eventually (hopefully today, but don’t bet the farm) it will come out the spicket into the sink.

This is Sammy’s room. I picked it for him because I love the window, but right now it’s the hottest room in the house. No AC and the ventilation is not the best because the window opens to the atrium and not outside. He’s sleeping in our room now anyways, but (as you can see) he’s been playing in here.

This is our room. You may notice my husband’s pants in a lump on the floor. Some things never change.

So that’s the grand tour so far. Hope you enjoyed it!

I have an awesome family.  I wish that you could all watch bits and pieces of our lives through a little peephole.  I know that it would bring smiles to your faces.  I would love for you to see my wife washing clothes by hand with sweat dripping down her nose and a smile on her face while speaking broken French to Amina.  I wish you could see Sam crawling around the front terrace squeeling with glee at each lizard he sees.  It would make your eyes water (as it did mine) to watch my beautiful wife from the rear-view mirror jumping and dancing in the streets with the neighborhood kids.  You would be amazed at how many smiles Sam gets from everyone he meets.  You would laugh at how many Africans Mulligan has scared half to death.

I wish I could adequately describe to you how we fit just right here.  This sense of being so different, yet belonging can only come from one place. Sam’s willingness to crawl into anyones arms, and my wife’s willingness to pick any child up and give them a hug as if they were her own.  These are small gifts that I get to be a part of every day.  I am so thankful that we were made for this.

We’ve spent two nights here, and tonight will be our third.  Every day we get a little more organized, but we definitely still feel like we’re camping.  That’s great with us because we LOVE to camp.  Our bedroom is the most set up.  That’s because it’s so small, that there’s really only room for our bed.  We’re very happy about this, though, because it means the AC works great.  Last night I even had Dave turn it off in the wee hours of the morning because I was COLD.  Sam’s going to stay in our room for now to save on the cost of electricity.  Mulligan has also been spending every night with us in the AC.  Dave claims he will relent to my pleas when the hot season is over and make the pup sleep outside, but for now we just feel so sorry for him in his fur coat.  

We’ve had a few meals at our house.  We’re keeping it VERY simple until the plumber is finished installing our water filter in the kitchen.  Right now our mini fridge (think college sized) and our mini stove are in the dining room.  We’ve made grilled cheese, mac and cheese, and pb & j.  YUM!  We are loving the goodies that we brought from home and hoping that we can make them last as long as possible.  Too bad I sent out 3 huge things of Great Value peanut butter that are from the tainted e-coli batch.  It hurts me that we’re going to have to throw it into our septic tank so that no one will eat it.  

Today we went to a Persian Exposition which is a fancy name for a fancy flea market.  It was so awesome.  We saw a leather sectional for $7k US and a $10k US bedroom set.  We bought a $15 water cooler with a spout (like the big Gatorade ones, only smaller).  It works great.  We also made our first batch of sweet tea.  I’ll definitely have this perfected in time to offer some to Andrew when he and Lizzie get here.  

Our excitement over the arrival of our first team is growing every day.  We’re feeling more and more prepared as the days pass.  Our French lessons with Pastor Samson are definitely helping.  

Please continue to pray for Samuel’s sleeping habits.  It’s tough having him in our room, but we really think that’s what’s best for now.  He and I missed play group today because we both took a 2 hour morning nap.  This was the direct result of a late night with many interruptions.

The internet has been hit or miss here lately.  Hopefully it will be more consistent soon and we will be able to post more frequently and with some pictures.  We miss you all.