MEHANNA ROAD

Our third ministry day on the Mehanna road greeted us with one of the team members not feeling well.  Mark G. awoke early in the morning with nausea and decided to ride at the front of the van to help minimize nausea.  This morning we made a trek almost as far as the day before.  Luckily for us, the morning had more of a breeze than the previous two days and we were able to see two dust whirlwinds on the way to the village.  With the exception of Mark's slight nausea, the team was upbeat and ready to perform.

One piece of good news was that Mark K's missing bag of luggage with the remainder of the costumes and props showed up at the airport the day before.  We finally had enough costumes for everyone to use, a doll for baby Jesus and a proper stuffed animal for Abraham's lamb sacrifice.

We've been using a large wooden cross in our drama that was built and used by another church from South Carolina who left the same day we arrived.  It is a great prop and allows us to dramatically depict Christ crucified for our sins.  To transport the cross, we've had to tie it to the top of our van every morning before traveling to the villages.  Our our way this morning, we realized that we've been traveling "under the cross" literally as well as figuratively.  It's a welcome thought.

When we arrived, we were unable to find a decent non-sand covered road into the town so Jeff, Laoualy and Markus hiked over the nearest sand dune towards the village.  They were met by the chief of another nearby village who brought them to the chief's house while he called for the chief of K.  After a short while visiting with the first chief, the second chief arrived.  Jeff and Mark inquired to the chief's health as the last time someone had visited him he had dysentery.  He said he was feeling fine now and seemed in very good spirits.  We prayed for both chiefs and the village.

After returning to the van, we lugged our gear over the sand dunes into the village.  Our team was shown a central open area with a single shade tree to perform in before returning to the van to fetch the props and other team members.  Everyone hiked across the sand and were met by children as we entered the village talking to the people and passing out cassette tapes.

We set up our stage area with our green rope that we'd been using to hold the cross to the roof of the van.  We performed to a decent sized group of children and women who listed attentively and quietly.  A few women with children watched from a distance but still within earshot to hear the Gospel truth that Hama was proclaiming.  What a blessing to work with Laoualy and Hama with their heart to bring the Gospel to the Songhai.  The Gospel was presented and we prayed for the village and the people.

While we packed up our props and performance items, Mark G. brought out his guitar and harmonica and taught the children songs in Zarma and even got the children to sing one for us.  Clapping and singing songs with the children has been a great source of joy and encouragement for the team.  We've been using printed songsheets with the words in Zarma to help get the words right.  The children who gathered to watch sang songs with us and even sang one song for us.  They loved the guitars and harmonica that Mark G. was playing.  Once again, the smiles of the children and those gathered fueled our hearts with love for the people.  It's easy to smile and have fun with the people when everyone you meet has a smile on their face.

After leaving the town we had lunch and returned to Niamey to clean up for dinner at the Womble's.  Markus left early to continue work on the http://www.seekingthesonghai.net/ Web site with Sally and the rest of the team arrived at 6:30 pm.  We enjoyed another tasty meal prepared by Heather and finished the day with some restful sleep.

In His service,
"The Seven"