Finally here...

Blog post – written 7/7/13

On the 3^rd of July I packed up and headed for Louisville – because the next day [the 4^th] I flew out of Louisville heading towards Niamey [Knee-ah-may], Niger. (I’ve been saying Niamey wrong this whole time…. Oops.) I flew from Louisville to Atlanta – from Atlanta to Paris, and from Paris to Niamey. What a trip. The Louisville to Atlanta flight wasn’t bad at all – no surprises there. I met 2 other ladies that were also going (Caitlin and April). Caitlin and I took off to Paris (April had a later flight).

The flight to Paris is LONG…. The Atlantic ocean is huge. When we finally got to Paris, it was around 11 am their time… but back at home, it was 5am – and it’s really really really hard to sleep on a crowded plane. So that was tough. Paris was interesting…. The whole “personal bubble” of space was suddenly gone… and everyone assumed I spoke French. On the plane – in the airport – I was approached numerous times. There was one African who asked me where I was going in French. I communicated that I didn’t speak French – and he asked about English, I said yes, and we chatted – but after a few moments and a slight pause he got up and announced he was going to the toilet.

I’m not sure that I’ve never had that happen before… minus a time or two with really good friends. (But we knew each other.)

Our plane was delayed, so we wound up spending quite a bit of time in Paris. We met 2 guys that were also joining us this summer (Thomas and Logan) – and we all boarded the plane to Niamey. At this point none of us had slept (and if we had it was only for a few hours) and we had another  5 hour flight ahead of us. Needless to say, I don’t remember much on that plane trip.

We got to Niamey at around 9 or 10 their time. We were brought into a small airport (slightly bigger than the one in Santarém) and stood in line to get our passports checked… then brought into another room that had the baggage claim. The guys were ahead of me – and by the time I got there, the guys and the hired hands (that helped move our luggage) had gotten all of our trunks/giant suitcases.

As we left the airport Jody was there waiting on us – and started putting our trunks on top of the car – and in the back. We were a little tight, but we made it work.

Niger is hot – and honestly I was a bit afraid because I heard some weird things about Niger – and how dirty and stinky it was (blah blah blah). Honestly, my first impression was something along the lines of “Oh… This is like Brazil. It’s hot, and dusty….” – and I had to stop myself from speaking Portuguese. (what little I do know anyway…. Which I know a lot more Portuguese than I know of French and Zarma [the main languages here.])

We were brought back to the SBC guest house in Niamey… fed, and sent to bed (that was Friday night, the 5th.)

On Saturday we did orientation… we learned some Zarma (with Cephas) . Even though we’re working with the Songhai, the specific Songhai we’re working with don’t speak the Songhai language. They speak more Zarma than anything else, because they live in close proximity to the Zarma people. We also learned how to make some African dishes with Beba. When we’re out in the village, we’ll be cooking all of our meals over an open fire. This time we had a stove – but it was really to get the hang of making sauce, rice and pasta – and how to cook the meat. We did some basic orientation to the Songhai people as well.

Today (Sunday) we went to church right outside the MBM The service was in Zarma and French – they shuffled between the two languages. We went to lunch at the rec center… then learned more Zarma – and more breakout session type orientation.

Tomorrow we go to the village. I’m a little nervous about the village because of how poor the capital city of Niamey is. Niamey is poorer than Santarém by far – but it does remind me of it. The people in the village will be the poorest of the poor. To be Songhai is to be the poorest of the poor.

…. And our task is to tell the hope of the Gospel to them.

Their way of thinking is a lot different than the western way – and it won’t be easy to get things across to them. There’s a reason why these people are still unreached….

…. Because they’re a hard people to reach.

As Piper says, “Missions exists because worship doesn’t”. Missions exists because God desires people to truly worship Him. If all people truly worshiped God (via being a TRUE disciple/follower) then there would be no need for missionaries.

I’m not talking about the Songhai – or anyone else for that matter – just saying that they believe in Christ and repeating the sinner’s prayer. I’m talking about spreading the Gospel so that people will truly believe – and not just say they do. I’m talking about teaching the Gospel so much that the people completely understand how wretched they are – and how glorious and majestic Christ is – so much that they desire to worship Him above all else.

… and that’s huge. Even on my level. Honestly – sometimes I’d rather be on facebook, play on my iphone or watch tv than worship Christ and read His Word… and I don’t think I’m the only one. I think that’s common today… especially in America. If we really love Christ, shouldn’t we put Him literally above everyone and everything else – and not just talk about doing so?

I think we should.

Pray that God would break our hearts for the Songhai people. Pray that the Songhai people would be open to the hope of the Gospel. Pray that our own hearts would be open to what God is teaching us. Pray for strength for the missionaries who are already here. Pray that we might remember the Zarma we learned – so that we can better spread the Gospel. Pray that Christ would be magnified in everything we do. Pray for boldness. Pray for courage.

…. For God has not given us a Spirit of Fearfulness, but one of power, love and sound judgment.”

 2^nd Timothy 1:7 (VBS 2013 Verse.)