Visiting a new church

We were two minutes from arriving at church with our SIM friends, Steve and Mikki, when he said, "Oh, I should have told you before, but our church is quite different.  We all sit on mats on the floor.  I hope you don't have back problems!"  Tom's back is still sensitive so they gave him a chair in the back and the rest of us sat on the mats for 2 hours straight.  Along with the lively music we were singing, the roosters were crowing and the goats were bleating right outside the grass mat walls.

We thoroughly enjoyed the service.  The sermon was in French, translated into Tomachek (sp?)  There were about 20 adults in attendance.  And wouldn't you know, I was asked to close the service in prayer.  That's what visitors are for!

I promise I won't bore you with fashion pictures, but I did want to show you the new scarf Accora (our national staff director) helped me buy at the market.  They are kinda fun to wear.  I guess I need one for each outfit now...

We found a house....I think!

Just as there is no easy way to find a house here, there is no easy, fast way to get it to the "liveable" state.  We have not signed a contract yet, as there is a question about the electricity.  Hoping that will get resolved tonight yet.  The house is close to the university, close to a main road and open market and close to the Cru office. We are very grateful for God's provision.  Here are a few pictures: 

(I've put explanations under the pictures.)  

  All houses are surrounded by tall walls as a deterrent to thievery.  Plus there are metal bars on the doors and windows.

 
The yard is non-existent.  There is room to park a vehicle to the right of the veranda and that's about it.  The yard is paved--nothing green in sight, although there are a couple of big trees outside the wall in front.  The veranda is a must as most of our visiting with friends takes place there.

We can squeeze around the other 3 sides of the house!   We are wondering where we will put our clothesline.  Tom wasn't sure he wanted his underwear strung up in the front yard!

The kitchen has the basics--the sink! Cold water only.  We will have a carpenter build a cabinet for the opposite side.  It does have a pantry with a window so that lends itself to all kinds of options.  The floors are tiled and so are the walls in the kitchen and bathrooms.  That will be easier to keep clean.  We still need to buy our appliances.

There are two bathrooms--identical.  Some plumbing needed to help them work well, but otherwise they will greatly suffice.

There are 4 bedrooms so plenty of room for visitors.  I didn't take a picture of the living room as it's just a big square room.  The windows all have screens so that's a plus.

Keep praying for the details to come together.  We are excited about it.  It will be a week or two before we can move it due to the work that needs to be done on it yet.  More later...

Resting and Reflexion

                                       We rest on Thee, Our Strength and our Redeemer

                                       We go not forth alone against the foe.

                                       Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,

                                       We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go.

This has been one of our favorite hymns since we first sang it at the memorial service of a dear fellow missionary in Burkina Faso.  It’s sung to the tune of “Be Still My Soul.”  I keep a copy of it in my Bible and love to sing it.  This morning as I was singing it, I realized how powerful and comforting the words are.  We’re not alone in this new endeavor;  we can REST totally on the One who called us here.  How reassuring is that!   I have experienced the opposite of resting a couple of times since arriving here—a major melt-down one night as well as several times when the anxieties of being here clogged up my thinking.   Resting on One who is solidly secure and always good all the time is so much better.

I like the third verse too:

                                       We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,

                                       And needing more each day Thy face to know
                                       Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,

                                       We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go.

**This hymn was the one sung by the missionaries in Ecuador the night before Jim Elliot and his comrades left for their final mission.   

These days of house hunting have been good for my reflexion, alone time.  I’ve been reading Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Barton and challenged by some of her thinking:

“What would it look like for me to lead more consistently from my soul-the place of my own encounter with God-rather than leading primarily from my head, my unbridled activism, or my performance-oriented drivenness?” p.25

  “Those who are looking to us for spiritual sustenance need us first and foremost to be spiritual seekers ourselves.  They need us to keep searching for the bread of life that feeds our own souls so that we can guide them to a place of sustenance for their own souls.  Then rather than offering the cold stone of past devotionals, regurgitated apologetics or someone else’s musings about the spiritual life, we will have bread to offer that is warm from the oven of our intimacy with God.” p. 29

Good thoughts to ponder.

Purple Pudding

As I squeezed my way through the aisles of a local grocery store the other day, looking for something familiar to cook, I spied Tapioca!  I purchased it and then searched on-line for a recipe.  One cooking blog said Tapioca Pudding was comfort food!  Maybe there was something subconscious going on when I bought it. We did eat a lot of pudding and fruit as a main supper dish during the summer when I was a kid.

Then I remembered  PURPLE PUDDING, a  wonderful summer supper dish that my dear mother used to make.  Last year, looking through Mother’s old recipe box, I had copied the recipe more for a memory than thinking I would ever use it.  All it has in it is grape juice, tapioca and sugar with a pinch of salt.   No expensive eggs or milk.  Yesterday I found grape juice at a tiny “hole in the wall” store, so I was all set.  My tapioca isn’t the minute kind so I had to cook it a bit longer.  But it worked!  A lovely color!  And something cold to eat for supper!  Voila!  I hope Tom likes it…

Sorry kiddos, I deprived you of this when you were growing up.  You’ll have to come visit and I’ll make it for you here.   Some memories must come back with age.

Grocery Shopping in Niamey

Today we did a bit of grocery shopping.  I'm weary of eating baguettes 3X a day so figured it was time to start cooking as it doesn't seem we'll be in our own home anytime soon.   There are  3 "large" grocery stores, all located in the downtown area, which are about the size of  a Walgreens (one of my favorite couponing stores!).  Remember that Niamey is a city of a million people.  Then there are countless "hole in the wall" stores that are the size of a very small gas station store but with 10X as much stuff crammed into it.  The aisles are so narrow that it's almost impossible to pass another person, so of course shopping carts are not appropriate. The challenge is to remember which "hole" has what!    One has soy sauce, one has brown sugar and one has white sugar; one has good ramen noodles and one has eggs that are kept in a refrigerator vs. in the open air.  One is a good place to buy meat and one has the best cheese. One is called "the white shack" (it's blue now) but most don't have names--"it's the one beside the..." .  The vegetables and fruit are sold outside along the street or at an open market. They are not too plentiful at this time of year. I'm told that January and February is the time when the local gardens really start producing.

We found our favorite snack:

Salted peanuts are sold in recycled whiskey bottles. No, the bottle doesn't smell anymore.   

 And this is what I fixed my dear hubby for lunch!  Yeah! for ramen noodles.

And for supper we had papaya with lemon juice.   Without the seeds, of course.

 Any vegetables and fruits that we eat raw are cleaned/soaked in a mixture of water and bleach. 

 .  

Tom stopped at the store tonight to buy a few things.  Here are the prices translated into dollars:  (475 cfa = $1.00)

Sugar:  $1.42/kilo  (2.2 pounds)
Flour:  $1.47/kilo
Oil:  $3.16/ bottle
Eggs:  $5.53/ 15 eggs     Yikes!  Maybe chickens don't like this heat either.  

As far as I could tell, they don't take coupons, either!  So sad.

Driving in Kansas is Quite Boring!

I have yet to get sleepy as I drive around Niamey.  The sights and sounds and smells are captivating.  We take taxis a lot and we're convinced that Niamey taxi drivers have a certain gifts.  Here are some of our observations:

The taxi's are white with a bit of orange on the top of the car.  They are all Toyota Starlets and can hold 5 people.  It costs 200 cfa (about .50) per person or you can buy all the places for 800 cfa (about $2.00).

When we are stopped at a (rare) traffic light, all the cars lined up behind  immediately honk when the light turns green.

The streets are lined with people selling potatoes, onions, cell phone cards, shoes, etc.

Camels are a common sight in the traffic, right along with the cars.  So are teams of donkeys pulling carts and even oxen with loads.

Four lanes of traffic can incredibly merge into one in a matter of seconds, without accidents and with only inches to spare.

Round points are common throughout the city.  Some give priority to those in the circle and come give priority to those entering from the right.  Keeps driving interesting.

I do close my eyes from time to time when I think an accident is about to happen!

The taxi drivers have an uncanny sense of how close they can get to something without scraping or hitting it.  Although by the looks of the cars, that sense HAS been faulty at times.

(These pictures were taken out of a window so a bit grainy.)

All dressed up

Yesterday I dressed correctly for church!  Girls, does this outfit look familiar?  Church was 3 hours long and I was so tempted to take my hot headdress off, but I survived.  On the walk home I took it off until Tom said my hair looked horrific, so my pride forced me to put it back on until I could take a cold shower at home.

Men have it so easy; shirt tails out with slacks!

We are praying that this week will be the week we find a house.  Thanks for your prayers as we look.

Daily Excursion

As far as we know, there is only one public place in Niamey that has wireless internet:  a bakery downtown.  It’s not quite Panera, but it’s air-conditioned and we can check our email here free.   Every day we order the same thing:  Tom orders an expresso coffee with a pot of hot water to dilute it and I order a Sprite and he always brings me a 7up. 

Usually we get a taxi, as we are staying on the other side of the river.  Today, however, there were no taxis, so we walked.  Quite a pleasant 30 minute walk, even in the high temperatures, and as always there was a lot to see on the way.  The thought of AC and an ice cold drink kept us going.   There is one two lane bridge over the big river that separates the town.  Today, a large truck loaded with wood had stalled in the middle of the bridge so traffic was blocked.  Hence, the reason for no taxis.   

The sights here are constantly fascinating.   I wish I could take pictures of it all and that the pictures would truly communicate what we see.  Walking over the bridge (there was a sidewalk) we could see the scores of men either bathing or washing clothes in the river water. (I won’t say it was dirty water, but it sure was brown!) Then they either hang the clothes to dry on the bridge railing all along the road or lay them flat on the river bank.  

Yesterday afternoon I took a long walk around the area of the SIM guesthouse where we are currently staying.  Beautiful peaceful area of town.  I felt like I was in the countryside:  rice paddies, mud-brick homes, families sitting outside visiting.  I even met a herd of cows!  


Please keep on praying that we would find a house.  The process isn't going as fast as I think it should!!! 

The Walk to Church

We walked to church this morning, about a mile or so.

Lovely walk on a sandy road.

Two very large camels passed in front of us.

The river with vegetable gardens were along one side. 

The service was from 9:00 – 11:15.  

About 100 people.

Felt the sweat run down my back for the first time since being here.

The choir had robes and marched/danced in and out. 

Men sat on one side and women on the other.

The children's choir had 2 special numbers to sing, the older women’s group sang one number, the men’s group sang one and the young people sang one. 

I observed within minutes of sitting down  that I was the only woman without a head covering.  Oops!

      My bad.  I have to be a learner of a new culture.   

                P.S.  My toenails are still soooo pretty!  Thanks again my dear kids for that bday present! 

         Even after walking on the dusty roads.

The church we visited on Sunday morning.

Lots of vegetables grown along the river.

Having a bit of bread after the church service! Yeah, for baguettes! 

House Hunting in Niger

Step 1:  Stop on the side of the road and ask somebody if they know who the local neighborhood realtor is (usually an older man).

Step 2:  Find the realtor after stopping in several places where he was supposed to be.   We tell him what kind of house we are looking for and he assures us he has some to show us.  He crowds into our car and we drive in the opposite direction of where he says the house is.  He explains that we have to find the man with whom the owner left the keys for the house.

STEP 3: We find the man, we have the keys and now we drive to the vacant house.

Step 4:  We pile out of the car and look at the house. 

Step 5: We find out that the house is either too small, too expensive, isn’t finished yet (but will be in a week!),or is already rented.

Step 6:  We take the realtor home, give him $2 for his trouble and exchange phone numbers in case he hears of another vacancy. On a good day we might see 2 or 3 houses.