Here We Are, Avoiding Tires

In 2017 I spent ten days in Benin translating for a team. An African friend was driving me to the guesthouse where I was staying. Suddenly, he gasped. As I looked up, a car tire (or tyre if you’re from England) careened furiously toward us and jumped the grassy median, invading our lane. At some point in life, you prepare and organize the best you can and then hop in the car and head down the road; and if a Michelin all-season decides to detach itself from a Civic and barrel through carefully-constructed plans, what are you going to do? It is what it is. So, here we are, moving along with our best laid strategies and activities. And, we’re learning how to swerve.

Driving in Niger is an adventure. There are so many angles and so many different possibilities for disaster. In addition to the cars, trucks, and vans (all of which are often piled high with various and sundry things), there are pedestrians, chickens, guineas, camels, cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, donkeys with carts, school children, school children with carts, etc. I had been trying to prepare myself for this because I often struggle with driving here after being away for a long period.  One evening, after successfully avoiding the aforementioned obstacles, a wheelbarrow full of oranges and bananas appeared in front of me, and I slammed on the brakes. I didn’t want to make marmalade all over the hood of the car.

Our current living quarters are rather cozy. A few weeks ago when I had lain down for the night, Mikey had been asleep for about an hour. As I endeavored to quiet my mind, Mikey began talking in a very clear but spacey voice. “What, no ice cream? I will die without ice cream!” Such words have probably been spoken by many people who have moved to Niger. Though ice cream is available here, it’s not readily accessible.

One of my favorite days in Niger is Tabasky. Tabasky is the Muslim holiday that celebrates when God told Abraham to sacrifice Ishmael, and Abraham obeys, but God provides a ram. Of course, Christians and Jews possess this story as well, with the exception that Isaac is Abraham’s son. All over the city, families kill a ram, tie it to a cross beam, and roast it for hours. The whole country smells like a cookout. However, as a Christian, I can’t help but think about Jesus. This is what he did for us.

Well, we’ve been here since the end of July. We’ve had some difficulties, but we take one step at a time and try to do the next thing that needs to be done. Mikey’s home school curriculum is quite challenging. The system is rather complicated and is made worse because we are missing some pieces.  However, we are making it work. In October, we helped with a visiting medical team where I exercised my limited Zarma language skills and Mikey ran errands. The last time I rolled out Zarma, I asked an elderly man if he had given birth; I didn’t do that this time. I have been teaching British Literature at an English-speaking Christian school here in Niamey. I am on the teaching rotation at a local Bible school as well as on the preaching rotation at the Nigerien church we attend. Lastly, I continue to take copy-edit projects for Africa’s Hope of AGWM.

I have restarted my visits with my artisan friends who work with soapstone. I have written about them in the past. Some of them, I think, are Christians, but the social (and even monetary) price of being an open Christian is very high. I have also been meeting with two young men who are connected somehow to the family of a pastor friend. I say ‘somehow connected’ because he told me that they were from his village family but then struggled to remember their names. In any case, they are living on church property, and the pastor asked if I would meet with them to help build their faith.  So, you could pray for ‘S’ and ‘D.’ There is also another local pastor who desires to focus more on individual discipleship, and I have been encouraging him to do so. He has a list of people who confessed Christ and gave him their contact information at an evangelism outreach. However, his other obligations often overshadow this list. Building disciples the way Jesus did is not easy.

During a clinic with the medical team, a lady came in who had a wound on her foot. Apparently, this wound is several years old. She seemed desperate. She said that if Jesus would heal her, she would follow him forever. Pray for this woman. A miracle in her foot could lead to a miracle of eternity.

I appreciate very much your prayers and support. I would ask that you consider supporting us financially. The ‘give’ page on this website contains the steps on how to do that.

Thanks so much,

Jeremy and Mikey