Merry Christmas from YOU! I gave away your boxes!

Does anyone remember the MCC Christmas bundles we packed as children:  soap, washcloth, clothes, all wrapped in a bath towel, and secured with diaper pins,  destined to go to a child in some far off land who needed help.  We would proudly carry them to the front of the church around Thanksgiving time and wonder who would be receiving this little gift.

Years later Operation Christmas Child came into existence.  The few years that we spent on "furlough" in the US, gave us opportunity to help our children shop and pack shoe boxes for some unknown, needy child in a foreign land.  So many of you have done the same.  We've all seen the stacks of beautifully wrapped boxes piled up and we've all imagined the scene on the other end when a child would receive what we had lovingly packed.

Yesterday I had that chance!  We say and we sing that Christmas is for giving and yesterday I saw the dull look of sickness replaced by joy as we placed these beautifully wrapped packages in the hands of sick children at the National Hospital here in Niamey.  What an absolute gift to have been a part of this.

It all started a couple of months ago when we were in a city a couple of hours outside of Niamey and I saw these boxes in the corner of the Pastor's study.

I was thrilled when the Pastor and our staff told us about the distribution of these shoe boxes and the excitement and the incredible joy of the children AND their parents as they opened the gifts.  They promised me that they would let me know the next time there was a distribution so I could be a part of it.

Wednesday night my director telephoned to say that the Women's Group at their church was going to the National Hospital the next morning to give out some of the boxes to the sick and hurting children and I could join them!

 

The hospital is a BUSY place.  Lots of people coming and going.  Lots of vendors.  Food for the patients is prepared by the family instead of being provided by the hospital so there are places to buy food supplies on the grounds outside the hospital. 

A pastor who accompanied us explained to the doctor and nurses of the pediatric ward what we wished to do:  we wanted to give a gift to the children who were suffering because of the gift God had given us in His Son.  He explained that the boxes were given by children and adults in North America who wished to share their love for Jesus with children here in Niger.

A gift was then symbolically given to the doctor .  The pastor specifically noted that the boxes were all securely scotch-taped shut and had not been opened by anyone up to this point.  He then opened a box to show her what was inside.  She graciously invited us in to give the gifts to the children.

 We loaded up and lovingly gave the gifts to the hurting children and their moms.

 We went from ward to ward making sure each boy got a "boy" gift and each girl got one marked for a girl.  

 This little girl was overjoyed.  Most all of the children were hooked up to IV's and their mother or care-giver was sitting on the bed with them.  It was obvious that some were very sick.  I visited with a few of the moms, if they could speak some French.

It really worked!  How exciting to have been a part of it on both ends of the giving.  I hope this is an encouragement to all of you and your little ones who pack these boxes wondering who will be on the receiving end.

May God use the gifts that you have so lovingly and prayerfully put together to bring NEW LIFE to children and families here in Niger and elsewhere in the world.  AND a big thanks to Samaritan's Purse who makes this possible.

Merry Christmas to you!

 

A Favorite Toy

With Christmas right around the corner, my thoughts are so often with our children.  This is our first with no children and I have to say, it's not so fun.  We are so thankful that the three in America can spend the week together and thankful for special friends in France for Melissa to spend the days with.  But we also know that no matter how special the friends are, or how loving the relatives, they are never a substitute for family.  

Here in the country we now call home, there is no sign anywhere that Christmas is coming.  In fact, today when I picked up a special Christmas package at the post office and the customs chief was opening the said package and taking items out one by one, I mentioned that he was spoiling the Christmas surprise for me.  He looked at me a bit strangely and then mumbled, "oh, yeah, Christmas is tomorrow or something... "
Well, it's not until next week, but that's okay.  It was obvious it wasn't a holiday he celebrated.  He just cautioned me against eating all the candy at once!  I appreciated his concern and was thankful when it was all back in the box again.

Anyway, I digress from the true theme of this post...

One of the fascinating "toys" that we have seen boys playing with across Africa is tires.  Bicycle tires, motorcycle tires, car tires. Just the rubber part, no rims.  

We watch them race down the road using only a stick as the steering mechanism.  They are skilled at turning it and guiding it--even across 2x4 plank that straddled our drainage canal for so long.  Quite a deal.
 

It's Open!

Today is the day:  the road in front of our house is "un"officially open.  As I was walking home an noon the enormous crane was there to lift the road blocks out of the way.  A couple of hours later I actually went all around the round point in a taxi and DROVE all the way to our house.  Wow! This road connects this part of town to the new bridge that was built a couple of years ago.  

Here are a few pictures from start to finish of the last years road construction:

The road was pure sand when we moved in 1 year ago.  

Shortly after moving in, they started removing a 6 foot layer of sand and then hauled in some red rocky dirt.

The drainage ditches that line both sides of the road were all dug by hand.  In front of our house it was a good 5 feet deep. 

and then the trench was lined with cement.

The curbs and the sidewalks were all put in by hand.  Lots of hard work in the hot sun .  

Then came the exciting night last June when they started to pour the concrete.  New rubber boots and gloves were issued to the workers and they worked during the cooler night hours. 

We were in the US for the month of July and this is what our road looked like at our return.  

The lines were painted on and stoplights put in and road signs were put into place. 

There was still one serious problem:  how were we going to get our vehicle to jump the trench to go into our driveway?  A couple of weeks ago, I was walking home from the University and I met the entire entourage of Chinese who were the managers of the road-building project.  Out of the entire group there is only one who speaks English or French and we had visited a couple of other times when he was out doing his job of managing.  I complimented him on his road and mentioned that we still had a small problem:  no driveway.  He immediately promised me he would take care of it.  The next morning early, the crane and truck arrived with HUGE cement slabs to cover the trench.

Okay... now we have another problem!  The blocks are 8 inches deep so somehow we have to first: jump the curb and then, get the vehicle on to the cement slabs in order to make it onto the driveway.  We'll keep you posted.  We have been told that this is now the landlord's problem and he's promised to send a cement worker out.  

In the meantime, our neighbor sets up her table on the slab and sells her food to passers-by. 

Yesterday they swept the sand off of part of the road as we've heard that the ribbon-cutting-grand-opening will be Saturday morning.  I wonder if they will want me to help cut the ribbon....

Black Friday Shopping?

There is nothing like checking out the new shops and markets in a new town.  We walked by this merchant several times at day coming and going to the church. The clothes were neatly strung up or placed on the table.

 

On the next street, there was just a huge pile on the ground to dig through.  I dug a bit just to see what I could find.  I found a nice Gap jean jacket that will work well for someone now that the mornings are getting down to 75 degrees.   All the clothes were used from the US.

 

I visited with the "peanut butter lady".  She had already emptied/sold 3 huge pans like this.  I brought some home with me as peanut butter cookies are a favorite of the students.

Discovering Dosso

Friday morning we boarded "Big Blue" and headed 2 hours southeast to the town of Dosso where we did an abridged version of the "Weekend to Remember" marriage conference at a church.   As usual, my camera was my constant companion and there was always something new to see.

It was interesting to notice that most of the luggage didn't consist of suitcases but bags and buckets and more bags. Our old faithful black Samsonite that has traveled the world for years was the only suitcase of its kind.  

 

The countryside is always interesting to see as well as the myriad of little villages we passed through.

We made numerous stops during the 2 hours trip that stretched the trip into 3 hours.  We never got off the bus but it gave the people a chance to buy goodies out of the windows.

About an hour into the ride the TV came on with an American  R-rated "shoot 'em down, blow 'em up" movie.  It was in English with Chinese sub-titles.  Fortunately, most of the passengers couldn't hear it due to the bus noises and I don't think there was anyone on the bus who could read Chinese.

 

I preferred the sights out of the window.

We were lodged in a motel next to the bus station and a good half-mile walk from the church.  

It had AC and a small fridge.  Wonderful.

But only one pillow and a confusing set of faucets in the bathroom and....no. mirror. anywhere.  The reflection in Tom's glasses wasn't quite enough to confidently tie on my head covering, but we managed.  For the first time in our 32 years of marriage, I had to comb Tom's hair after he showered-to make sure the part was straight!  (We found out later that for an extra $12/night there are rooms with  mirrors.)

The conference was great.  Every culture, every people group has its peculiarities and challenges when conducing a marriage conference and this one was no exception.  Since it was a marriage conference...for couples...we expected couples to be sitting together.  But no, the women were on one side and the men on the other.   It was too uncomfortable for some to sit with their spouse, but others,with a bit of prodding, very reluctantly and with nervous giggles moved across the aisle to sit with their spouse.

Their were couples of all ages and the feedback was great.  We appreciated the pastor and his wife who not only took great care of us and fixed all our meals, but who are great shepherds to their flock.

As in every community, there are deep hurts and incredible relationship pain.  The session on asking and granting forgiveness in a sincere fashion, was as usual one of the most used-by-God messages.