MEHANNA ROAD

Our team's last day on the road (for this trip anyway) was a tad bittersweet as we'd been enjoying God's favor on us as well as the hospitality of the people of each village.  Our trip to the road requires a trip on the ferry which crosses the Niger River.  Each day we crossed the ferry we were always met by the same three boys who enjoyed having their pictures taken, talking with our team and playing with the bubbles we brought.  We noticed even the adults on the ferry watching and smiling.  It's sometimes amazing to us that the things we take for granted can be such a source of joy for others.  What a blessing to see smiling faces.

Each day's drive takes about 1.5 hours to get to the ferry from Niamey due to road construction and detours.  Depending on what time we arrive, we may only have to wait a few minutes for a ferry run across the river.  Some days we had to wait almost an hour for the ferry.  Once we've crossed the river, it takes another 1-2 hours to reach the village of choice for the day.  We've kept ourselves busy going over language phrases and learning songs in Zarma.

Today we stopped first in KK to pass out cassette tapes and visit with the villagers.  We were able to speak with a few teachers who invited us to come in and take pictures of the classes in session.  We found that two of the teachers were from Ghana and spoke decent English.  They gladly accepted the tapes and welcomed us.  The kids showed us their hopscotch games they had drawn in the dirt outside the school house.  They even played once or twice with Yvette.  Mark G, Ginger, Tim and Jeff led the children in songs while walking through another part of the village.  Once we handed out all of the tapes we prayed with the people and returned to the road to head to our last village to perform.

We arrived and parked the van on the outskirts of the village and walked into the center of town passing out cassettes and looking for familiar faces.  We had a photo of the chief to deliver and Yvette was looking for a young lady she had her picture taken with the last time she visited Africa.  Once Yvette found her, we took photos of the reunion and proceeded to the main market area to set up our drama.

We were able to perform under a large shade tree (which was a good thing and this was one of the hotter days with less breeze blowing) next to the "brick pit."  The low hanging branches were a potential problem when we raised the cross with Markus portraying Jesus, but Laoulay was able to hack most of the lower branches with a macheté.  The crowd that gathered to watch was mostly women and children with a few men scattered about.  They listened and watched intently as Jesus was nailed to the cross and then resurrected from the dead.  The crowd cheered when he came back to life.  After we finished, the people gathered in and we told them that we came from a long way off to tell them this truth.  We pray that they understood the significance of our drama and the words spoken by Hama.

After we prayed for the people, we had a miniature "hoe down" dancing and singing praise songs.  The women and children clapped and sang songs with us and it was a great finish to nearly a week of ministry along the road.

We returned to Niamey and had a tasty dinner at the Womble's of hamburgers and iced tea. Isa and Hama invited us to their church for evening service and we were privileged to attend.  We listened to the pastor who was originally from Ghana as he preached from Luke about "First Things" related to following Christ such as "personal comfort," "family loyalty," and following God "above any cost."  It was a great way to end our week to attend church.  The team posed for one last photo with our fabulous translators before returning to the guest house.

In His service,
"The Seven"