MEHANNA ROAD

Our ninth team to Niger, six folks in all [only four pictured] landed in Niamey yesterday afternoon pumped and ready to go.  The team members names are Jenn, Pam, Jennifer, Michael, Linda and Danny.  Danny and Linda are from a church in Tennessee.  They will work in one maybe two villages - KK and Y for the entire week.  Michael Well's, the team leader, bags did not make it but everyone elses did. The airport took 10 boxes of cassettes [of 17]and said they could not bring in Christian cassettes. Then, they decided they could for $500. They are at the airport still and they will send  Yomi, an African believer, after them later the week.  TIA - This is Africa!  Pray for the team's energy and health;training and orientation today; the 700 confiscated tapes to be released; and their five days of ministry on the road. 

Here is an update after four months on Laoualy, the discipler we have hired on the Mehanna road.  He is all alone, doing his best to do what God has called him to do.  Please pray that a partner will be found for him.  He needs the support and companionship, accountability and friendship that comes from having a partner in a tough mission field! 

Village KK- He had been faithfully discipling one believer, Ayouba.  Another man accepted Christ last week named Idrissa.  The others baptized have moved, gone underground or returned to Islam.  They are studying the Gospel of John. Laoualy reports about Ayouba "God is opening his understanding because those first days were difficult and now he is getting easy understanding."

Needs:  Prayer for chief [Laoualy stays with the chief], Ayouba and Idrissa.

Village T- They are working on their 2nd discipleship book.  Their are five consistent believers that gather to study and worship.  Laoualy writes "I am doing my best to show by action and words what Christianity is about."  The believers, most were outcasts and involved in criminal type activity before becoming followers of Christ, really need prayer to continue to learn and act like Christians as they are coming out of darkness.  The believers names are Amadou, Keila, Adamou, Mohamadou and Abdoulaye.

Needs:  Prayer for Lolo - Laoualy reports "we are losing him day by day." Prayer for Laoualy as the believers have scheduled a time for prayer for people struggling with "evil power and demon possession" this month.

Village M- Pray for this village, Laoualy reports a real openness to gospel there.  Our May team and Laoualy gave out six Bible to seekers Hassane, Abdoulaziz, Bachir, Yaye, Bourama and Issa.

Needs:  Prayer for the clinic - there is a real need for material and medicine.  Also pray for Laoualy who is preaching on the radio in M once a week during the month of June.

Let me just start out with telling you all how many times I said "No" to Africa. Probably about a thousand times. My husband Jeff has been a part of two other trips, so I was well aware of the cultural and climatic differences between Niger and the U.S. I really had no interest in going and every time someone asked me if I would follow in Jeff's footsteps I said " uhh............no".

It all boiled down to fear. I was afraid of what I would find in Niger. I was convinced I would be in tears the entire trip because of the poverty and dire conditions I would witness. Looking back now I know that God had been urging me all along but I would not budge.

Karissa began asking me if I was at all interested in going to Niger on one of the vaccination teams since I had some experience with it. My answer, "No thanks". Chelle Mount told me "you really should go, you would love it".  Again, "No thanks". My husband said "if you want to go, you can, it won't be a problem." Really people, "thanks, but NO!".

God had a different plan and one day He told me so. Out of nowhere, or so I thought, God was telling me I was supposed to go to Niger to help give vaccinations. After arguing with God a bit, I finally stopped dragging my feet and told Karissa I was in.

When we finally arrived in Niger, it was so surreal. I had heard so much about it and it was strange to finally be there. It was not near as scary as I had let myself imagine it.  The people, the colors, the smells; it was all very new but somehow familiar. I guess that was because of all of the stories I had heard from the other mission teams.  Being on the Mehanna Road and doing the vaccination clinics was amazing. I wasn't in tears constantly as I had thought. God gave me His eyes to see these people. I wasn't feeling sorry for them, I was happy to see them and be around them. I was happy to let them watch me with their curiosity. It felt really good to have something that they needed. It felt even better to know that what we were doing was going to help them live a longer life and in turn, give them an opportunity to hear the gospel from our future teams. Sure we saw sick people with needs we couldn't meet and yes that hurt. But what it all came down to was that God had asked me to go and in doing so, I helped change lives. My own included.

I really want to encourage anyone who is considering Africa as a mission trip, or any mission trip for that matter. I have been fortunate enough to go on several in my life in different countries all over the globe, but I was still scared to step out on faith and go to Niger. It is natural to be scared of the unknown. Through that fear, God has the opportunity to show you who He is. God is loving and caring and compassionate. In Africa, He gave me the strength and comfort I needed to serve Him and His people. He gave me the peace that was necessary to get through each day. I pray that those of you reading this give God the opportunity to show you the same.

Wow!  What a wonderful experience it was to help finish giving the leftover meningitis vaccines from the January vaccination clinic.  We had just 2...Karissa Tolson and Jaclyn Wilkinson.   We, under the guidance of our favorite missionary "S", and 2 translators were able to give almost 2,000 more vaccines to 5 villages further up the road to Mehanna.  It was chaos, but organized chaos.  We quickly checked the children in at the door, gave their Tylenol and then gave their vaccine.  (I have to report that I was so nervous about giving vaccines to children and about getting a needle stick, and had many people praying for me.  The Lord melted this fear and concern from me....and it was gone 30 minutes into the first day!) 

Then they were gifted with a lollipop, a color sheet and colored pencils.  The color sheet had a picture of Jesus and the little children with the words of the song, "Jesus loves the little children".  One of the most beautiful things in the world is hearing these children sing a song about a God that loves them.  Many could not read the paper, but they soaked in the words and memorized the song.  They really enjoyed hearing Jaclyn and I butcher the words.   One of the most important things we did in this time was to pray individually for each child.  We prayed for the vaccine to work, for the child to be well, to live long enough to come to knowledge and relationship with Christ.  We got to pray over newborn babies and bless them with a blanket or hat.  Nearly 2000 kids were prayed for along our journey.  It will be exciting to see how those prayers will be answered as we continue our partnership with the Songhai people. 

Another wonderful thing that happened was that the door was opened to work with one of the clinics.  The Major invited us to do health teaching and offered for us to stay in the clinic compuond.  We were looking for our next project, and the Lord opened these opportunities to us. 

We also got to work with our hired discipler on the road.  He was such a blessing to us.  He had the most kind and gentle spirit with the children.  He would hold them for their vaccination and distract them with his kind or funny words.  We did have some sick kids who would come through and he would hold them and say,"Jesus name" over them.  He told us of his progress with some believers on the road.  He also said that people now seek him out with questions and prayer needs.  He asked us to pray for him, his protection, his discipline, and also his sleep.  He said many nights in the village, he cannot sleep between 12am and 4am.  The opression is so heavy.    He also gave us some names of some seekers that he is praying for.  We are so blessed to have him working on our behalf. 

The two of us had a great time.  It was a small, intimate trip.  We got some extra special time with the missionaries.  We love them and their family so much, so this was a treat!  We also got to do some fun things because we were so small...like visiting the Grande Marche.  What a cool place.  It is a huge market in Niamey.  They sell everything!  Acres of small booths crammed together under a roof, with tiny dirt paths in between the rows of booths.  What a bizarre mingling of people, colors, textures, food, smells.  You name it, we saw it in the Market!  We also got to see a very cool "dust storm" that came right before the first rain in Niamey.  The  sky turned from day to complete darkness in one minute.  Absolutely amazing!  Then...it rained mud because the dust was so thick in the air.  Niger never ceases to amaze you!

The trip home was largely uneventful, filled with long hours of flying or waiting in Paris.  Luckily, the flight from Niamey to Paris began at midnight and was the perfect time for us to sleep.  We were landing in Paris before we knew it.

We had a nearly a five hour layover to kill at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and found a coffee shop to sit and debrief on our experiences in Niger.  Each of us has come away with a heart longing to see the Songhai people come to know Christ.  Now that we have experienced what the Mehanna road has to offer, we all felt privileged to be part of the work that God has ordained among the Songhai people.

We discussed the progress being made by Laoualy discipling believers along and the prospects for new believers to come forward from the drama and storying we were able to perform in each village.

We talked about how music played a large role in bringing people together to view the drama and hear the Word of God.

We spoke of the hospitality that greeted us in each village as we rolled into town and were greeted humbly and graciously by the chief or king (not to mention the numerous children!).

We were amazed at the fluidity and seamless teamwork that we enjoyed all week to pull together and get the job done without any lost tempers or bickering -- even in nearly 120 degree temperatures.

We noted the love and warmth that our translators, Laoulay and Hama, showed to us and the peoples of the villages all week long through their patience communicating the words back and forth.

We all agreed that our trip was blessed all week by God to accomplish his work that He set for our team's trip to Africa.  And we talked about when we might be able to return to Africa to continue in this wonderful partnership.

Once we were able to board, we made our way to the plane and started the 11+ hour flight back to D/FW where our families awaited.  Although the flight was long, it was a joy to meet our loved ones at the airport or back at our homes to enjoy some well deserved rest.

As a parting shot, here is a nice photo of some "cold" weather over Hudson Bay, Canada. Quite the opposite of what we've been through all week.

In His service,
"The Seven"