Mikey has been asking for a pet turtle. Sometimes he asks for a dog, but usually it’s a turtle. It’s a little strange. Every time he asks me, my childhood inundates me with multitudinous memories of my dad giving me a single-breathed, crazy-eyed lecture that went something like this: “No-you-can’t-have-a-pet-because-you-won’t-do-anything-and-I-wil-be-the-one-stuck-taking-care-of-it.” It seems to be an unavoidable destiny that children turn into their parents. Anyway, there’s little chance that we will be getting a pet. This past Christmas, one of my American friends here started a conversation with me that began with the phrase: I wanted to ask you before I got this for Mikey. I knew I was in trouble. Keep in mind that this friend is American. He said that he had a great idea for helping Mikey learn responsibility. He wanted to buy Mikey… two chickens, TWO CHICKENS, TWO CHICKENS! I was quite glad that he had asked me first. He said that it was a fantastic idea because if Mikey couldn’t take care of them, we could just eat them. We didn’t get any chickens. But that encounter did seem to contain a nugget of truth. So, I put Mikey in charge of Larry and Perry. Larry is a lime tree, and Perry is a pomegranate tree; both are producing and need water. Watering them is apparently a vexing chore.
The global stay-in-your-abode directive has made it to Niger, arriving a few weeks ago. What Mikey and I are doing probably resembles what you are doing. We have been homeschooling this year anyway, so he’s a little upset that his classes just keep rolling along while friends who attend school in a building have gotten several free days. Ironically, me being at home more means Mikey’s school time actually gets increased; he’s thrilled about that. However, all of our communal church activities have been suspended, and I am momentarily not teaching anywhere. But we’ve also been working on a puzzle, playing UNO, laughing at a comedy group from Brigham Young University, chasing dust bunnies, hunting for limes, and watching loads and loads of free disaster movies on YouTube.
Missions Convention
A few weeks ago, our local denomination held it’s second-annual day-long missions convention, and it took place at the church where we attend. It was a long event, lasting about six hours. Mikey, not understanding any of the languages, struggled to sit still, but he made it. But for me, it was quite fulfilling. I was able to connect with a pastor who had been a student in Bible classes that I taught in 2007. There were also many pastor’s wives in attendance who had been students in those class from 2007 to 2009. And, of course, my current three Bible school students were there.
The denomination supports about six missionary family units in outlying areas (one of them is in a neighboring country). Niger is very large, about twice the size of Texas, but has a smaller population than Texas. Much of the terrain is desert, and the predominant religion is Islam. Thus, communities in isolated areas are often overtly resistant to the message of Christ. Churches in the larger cities, where persecution is rare and where many expatriate Christians reside, are beginning to see Niger’s rural villages as their own mission field. So, the purpose of the annual convention is to present the denomination’s outreach efforts to the wider church body.
One of our missionaries, who is a current Bible school student, has been showing a movie called The Jesus Film to groups of children. The parents became interested in the film and invited him to show it in their homes. Another missionary, an older man and his wife who had been regular members of our church, prayed for a man in the village who was either mentally ill or demon-possessed. The man was healed. There are few more stories from these missionaries, but I’ll save them for later. However, the clear truth is that, pandemic or no pandemic, God is drawing the souls of Nigeriens to himself.
The Pandemic
As I mentioned earlier, international efforts to slow the spread of Covid19 have made it to Niger. Needless to say, our return to Oklahoma that had been scheduled for the end of April has been canceled until the situation around the world becomes more stable. Like most countries in the world, we do have cases. In recent years, Niger has become a center for global terror-fighting initiatives. As such, Niamey sees its fair share of travelers passing through the national airport. So, the government officially closed the airport a few weeks ago. There are occasional special repatriation flights organized by the embassy, but we will probably not try to book one of them unless we have a specific emergency.
Pray for Niger. Like most countries in West Africa, the virus was officially slow to come here, with our first case not being documented until about three weeks ago. As I write this on April 4, Niger has had 120 confirmed cases and 5 deaths (according to the site Worldometers). There has been much talk about the virus being sensitive to high temperatures. The heat in Niamey has been peaking at 112● F. This is our hot season. However, knowledge of this virus is limited since it is a new discovery. The research concerning its heat sensitivity is mixed.
According to some measures, Niger’s healthcare system is among the weakest in the world. I have written in other posts regarding the way everyday life works in most of Niger. The majority of people here conduct their daily affairs in much the same way as humans did hundreds of years ago. People draw water from wells and cast nets into the river from small vessels. It’s quite Bible-like actually. Life in Niger’s vast rural areas can be peaceful and simple, but it can also be very primitive, where the weakest suffer most. Pray for Niger and her medical personnel.
What Are We Doing?
We are essentially staying home. I recently completed an editing project for Africa’s Hope of the Assemblies of God. I have also been using phones to follow-up with recent converts. The pastor from our local church visited several days ago so that I could help with a Bible course he is taking. Mikey is drudging through his English class (he does school in block courses). I am preparing correspondence packs for my British Literature students at the international Christian academy. Financing large projects is not what I do, so I don’t have access to deep funds. Even so, I have been able to assist a few people with bags of rice and money for food.
Again, pray for Niger. Certainly pray for Niger during this difficult time, but also pray that the hearts of Nigeriens would hear the call of God’s love for them. Thank you for your support. If you would like to contact me, please feel free to connect with me on Facebook; I am the Jeremy Wyckoff wearing red and sitting near a tree with a friend. Or, you can send me an e-mail at jeremyw4africa@gmail.com.
Blessings.
The pictures below are snapshots from the convention and from our daily life.
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