The children, oh, the children. So many of them. They were so hungry, not just for food, but for our attention. And, of course, they were very curious about these white-skinned people who wore pretty bracelets and watches or even eyeglasses. Everywhere we went, there they were with their runny noses, dirty skin and hair, distended bellies or herniated belly button, bare feet or even bare body.  It was so difficult not to just want to scoop them all up and clean them up and give them new clothes and shoes.  A stranger can easily see that the Songhai children are not nearly as valued as American children, especially the girls.  Some of the girls are absolutely beautiful. Their skin is flawless and they have beautiful teeth and smiles to go with them. The children all love to touch and be touched. They so appreciate a smile, hug, or simply holding their hand. It was so hard at times because there were so many of them. The other women and myself learned to spread our fingers out on our hands and let the children grab one finger each so more of them could hold on as we walked around the village.

My first impression of the village itself was of the lack of the color. Everything is the color of sand; the road, the houses or huts and the bricks or adobe used to make them. There is not much vegetation because it's the desert. Maybe that's why the women wear such colorful clothing, to contrast with their environment.  

They have so little. It is amazing what they can claim as theirs. Obviously, to those of us who have far too much, it was shocking to see. It made me feel guilty for having so much and for not being more thankful for everything I have and can claim as mine. It also made me feel so very fortunate to have been born and to live here in America. We are most definitely an affluent society, and yet, we still want more. We never have enough. God really spoke to me regarding my attitude toward material possessions. I pray that he will continue to change my attitude and my heart where they are concerned. The only thing in life that is eternal is God and my relationship with him.

Everyday he continued to stretch me as I learned more and more about the Songhai culture and its people. They are so unlike us. They are not pressured by time and rushing here or there to do this or that, and then off to the next thing. They just live for that day. Of course, the dark side of that is they have no hope for the future. However, there is one who has more hope than the rest. There is a new believer among us; we have a new Christian brother. His name is Hamza. We had the privilege of baptizing him in the Niger River the last day we were in Koulikoira (I finally learned how to spell it!). Our team leader, Michael, waded out into the water with Hamza. That very day, Hamza sought out the team who ministered to him, and he helped them pass out cassettes to the people of his village. We need to continue to pray for his spiritual growth as Loauly disciples him.

God brought me, along with five others, to Koulikoira, West Niger, Africa to tell his story, and that we did. However, there are still many more Songhai who need to hear it. God wants other believers to answer his call to share his truth with the people in the villages along Mehanna Road. Many are needed to share so many may hear and know. The current generation of the Songhai may not be the one that is changed so completely by knowing God; it could be the next. But, unless we are obedient to God, we won't know. So, I encourage you, if you have ever considered going, God will equip and prepare you to meet him in a new and refreshing way. I told God from the beginning, if you want me to go, then you will have to provide the means for me to be able to go. He did just that! All my funds were raised before I left; I even received more than I actually needed. When I thought I wasn't going to be able to get all the immunizations that were necessary, he helped me find a place and people who were willing to provide me with all that I needed in a friendly cooperative environment. He taught me that when I am faithful and obedient to his call, he will provide and make a way for me. He can do the same for you, too. If you feel God nudge your heart, I urge you to say yes to him. You WILL be blessed!  

In Him,

Pam Hardisty

How does that equal -7 you say? Well, at the airport in Niamey, between the six of us we had seven boxes of cassettes confiscated. Brad told us God just has a better plan for them. But, he is sending someone out tomorrow to see if they might release them.

On another note, ALMOST all luggage arrived. Only Michael is batting 66% in the loss column. Both of his did not arrive, and he was already familiar with the routine for completing the forms. So, he was attacked for the second time. Tomorrow another flight comes in, so maybe it will have his two suitcases on it.

Last night the electricity was out in the restaurant where we had reservations and where Brad was planning on doing orientation with us. Satan has begun his attack. We just adjusted our schedule, which is something you have to do around here, I have already learned. (People don’t wear watches too much and they do things very leisurely. Boy, Americans could learn something from that!) We oriented this morning, enjoyed lunch and then went on a trip to see the GIRAFFES. Whoopee! We saw a total of 7 giraffes. Drove right to them. It was great.

The Womble’s daughter, Ruth, is graduating from the French school. Tonight is her graduation party and we were included.

Tomorrow is our first day out on the road to Kuli Koira. Pray for safety in travel, the Person of Peace, open hearts and minds among the Songhai, wisdom and discernment among us, as well as confidence in our storying to them.

We know you are praying for us. We all appreciate our faithful prayer warriors who lift us up daily. It helps us.

God’s blessings,

Africa Team

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 stuyding 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 openess 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.

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.

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!

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"

In the morning, Brad and Sally came by to talk about our week and discuss next steps for future teams.  Afterwards we had lunch at the Womble's and then Brad escorted the team on one final shopping excursion to the local markets.  We then returned to the guest house to pack our bags for an early check-in at the airport.  We arrived at the Air France office early and had to wait nearly an hour in line but were eventually able to get our boarding passes and baggage checked.  Niamey's airport consists of exactly one gate although that generally means that the amount of visitors is kept to a minimum as they don't service many flights each day.

Upon returning to the guest house, we finished putting together our carry-on bags and then enjoyed dinner at a nice Lebanese restaurant across town.  The food was quite good (a pasta fettuccine dish) and the chocolate mousse dessert was very tasty.

After dinner we came back to the guesthouse, gathered our bags and made our way to the airport.  After one final last-minute round of buying things from the vendors inside the airport, we boarded the plane for a midnight departure.  Paris, here we come.

In His service,
"The Seven"

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"

Today we were heading to Y, a village that we previously had been asked not to return to when we attempted to show the Jesus film.  A previous team from FBC was able to spend two days this past January providing vaccination shots to the children and we determined that a return trip to attempt storying was in order.  Unsure how we would be received, we drive to Y to see what we could find.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a man who took Jeff, Tim and Laoualy to meet with the chief while the rest of the team visited with a very nice man who was surrounded by the local children.  He told us he was from Y and occasionally had to leave his village to find work in Ghana to help support his family.  However, he said he always returned in the planting season to help with the millet farming.

Soon the chief arrived and stopped by the van greeting the team members there before inviting everyone to follow him back to his home.  Jeff and Tim were surprised to see the rest of the team following the chief as he entered his courtyard area.  Chairs were brought for everyone in our team to sit upon while the chief himself sat on a modest wooden stool.  The courtesy and graciousness of all village along the road is enormous.  Every stranger in their village is treated like a king.

The chief, who previously had prevented the Jesus film from showing, informed our team of the best location to perform our drama just off the main market square.  We found out later that the man we'd been speaking to while waiting for the chief was actually the chief's son.  We drove the van to the location and setup the drama while some of the team sang and taught songs to the children.  When the children were asked if they could sing a song for us, they replied "we don't have a song."  Our hearts broke when we heard them say this so we immediately taught them a song, Irikoy Saabu to the tune of "Hallelujah, Praise Ye the Lord."  Smiles erupted from all involved and the children really enjoyed the singing.

Our performance was one of the best attended so far with the largest number of adult men showing up and watching it all.  The crowd was very respectful and cheered for Jesus when we healed the demon-possessed man and also when Jesus rose from the dead at the resurrection.  The story of the "prodigal son" (pictured at left) was especially touching as Laoualy portrayed the son who finds forgiveness in the arms of his father. Just as we portrayed the son's forgiveness, so does God desperately desire to bring the Songhai to Him when they understand that He wants to live in their hearts.

At the end of the performance, a fervent prayer was lifted for the village and the people as many had never heard the Gospel preached before.  We continue to pray for this village as well as the others that the seed that has been planted will take root and grow in their hearts.  Our team firmly believes that our success at performing for the town was made possible by prayer and previous visits by other FBC teams to provide favor for us to perform in what we previously considered a "closed town" to the Gospel.  Praise the Lord.

 In His service,
"The Seven"