Stolen Sunset

I am an avid lover of sunsets - I am sure that I would love the sunrise too, but I am rarely up to see their beauty. So the other night, when I was driving in the late afternoon and I saw the sun getting ready to set in an hour behind a beautiful display of clouds, I thought that it would be a spectacular sunset. I called my friends Jenn and Chantelle and we hopped in my truck to go sunset chasing!

We headed out of town on a main highway towards another village and drove until we saw a flat horizon with some beautiful trees and pulled off the highway. We were happily taking pictures when about 10 minutes later a military truck pulled up across the road. The soldiers got out and sauntered over to find out what we were doing. Turns out we had accidently drove into an unmarked military zone!! Yikes! They asked to see our pictures and asked where we were from. Well, when they found out we were Canadians the chatter began. Did we come from Québec, etc...? Quite the friendly bunch! They advised again not to take more pictures there and asked if we were heading further along the highway or heading back to town.

We headed on back to town laughing at our accident and all ready to see the pictures we should not have! It is tough to pick my favourite photo - so here are a few for your viewing enjoyment:

Okay - I admit that upon reflection, photo #3 is my favourite, though they are all beautiful! I cannot wait to get out to the plateau which overlooks the river to get some more sunset photos, hopefully with boats on the water too!

Catch Up . . .

Again, with my internet having been down for 3 weeks, I have a few moments of life to share, one of which began today . . .

The Rains Have Come:

Though we have had 3 rain storms during the nighttime, they have all been fierce storms with heavy blowing wind. The thunder here is amazingly much louder than ever at home! Today though, a good rain has come. It started at 5am this morning and at this point (9am) it is still falling gently. It is such a joy to sit in my office and listen to the rain and the chorus of frogs in the street - and the coolness this rain has brought is wonderful as well!

This is a good rain for the crops, the water is staying on the ground and the wind is not strong. The crops were in desperate need of this type of rain. And the people of Niger even more so. Since they started planting the crops after the first storm (see: May 21 post) it has continued to be hot (48-50s) with just 2 other rain storms which lasted 2 hours each.

As the rains were not good last year, and consequently the harvest was poor - some people only receiving 3 bushels of millet (as opposed to 80-120 in a good year) - the need for good rains and a good harvest this year is doubly important. Our partners who work with Samaritan's Purse report that one of their villages is already out of food - and harvest is not until October. The rising food prices around the world have impacted Niger as well. The women in this village are scavenging the area for wild nuts and food to eat - sometimes gone from 7am - 9pm and ofttimes for a week at a time.

Please pray for our team as we work among our people groups in this desperate situation. Pray for continued and good rain that their crops may be plentiful this year.

Giraffes:

I was able to go out and see the giraffes a few weekends ago with a visiting team from Edmonton and some of my teammates as well. The herds of giraffes are about 50km outside of Niamey and are the last wild herds of giraffes in all of West Africa! It was amazing to see the beauty of these animals up close and in nature. And we all giggled a bit over the creativity of God - they are kinda bizarre looking too.

Bennett: "If I carry this tree - perhaps they will think I am a tree and not run away!!"

My African Name:

As the people of our Fulani village have had difficulty in pronouncing my name - with varying degrees of success - Lisa and I introduced my African Name during our last visit. My name is no longer: "fiptsi, siptsi, fisti, taxi", but . . .

Khadiza

I love this name for a few reasons:

I get to keep my "K"

though, the "K" is sometimes silent - so like my last name with a silent letter, I now have a silent letter in my first name too!

Khadiza is the name for: "Esther"

God has called me to this time and place to minister to these people and to share His message of salvation with them. Esther too was called to a time and place to save her people. In fact, the other day in the village, one of the village elders mentioned that they had been concerned as to what they would do during Lisa's absence this year while she is on home assignment. He concluded that of this whole big world and places to go, God has chosen to send me to Niger to be in relationship with their village. It was a humbling experience to be welcomed thus in their village with open arms! What an answer to prayer, for this is what I have come to Niger to do!!

When I started looking into my options in 2006, I wondered perhaps if I could stay at home in Calgary and work with an organization that would send me out a few months at a time during the year. However, as I continued down the path, it was evident to me that God was calling me to full-time career missions. I committed to searching for this in my heart; but God called me to a public declaration during a church service in June - when my Pastor spoke from the book of Esther.

And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? Esther 4:14b

Our pastor urged us in the divine moments to:

dream God-sized dreams

live an obedient life

choose resolved over fear (courage)

To this I committed and as I walked down the path of application to work with the Christian & Missionary Alliance, I have felt that God has opened the door and appointed me to this time and place.

With my African name to remind me of my call, I live in Africa dreaming God-sized dreams. Hoping to bring relief to some in their physical suffering - lasting change. And most of all, dreaming of the day when we will sing around God's throne, complete with our Fulani friends from Niger!

Sea Container Story

Well, so much has happened in the last 3 weeks since my internet mysteriously ceased to work! After many theories tested and failed, we discovered the solution - and found 5 viruses on my computer, one of which was blocking my internet from connecting. 5 zapped viruses, a new virus protection program later and I am back online!

In my last post I wrote that the McIver family arrived in Niger. This marks the final arrival of teammates who are currently scheduled and heading to Niger. So for the moment, here is our new team photo:

Sea Container:

The first week of June also marked the arrival of the sea container that the McIvers and I packed last year - coincidentally also in the first week of June! We were able to arrange for direct delivery of the container, which allowed for us to receive and unpack the container directly as the paperwork for customs was completed. This alone was an answer to prayer and a HUGE blessing! As I type, we are still trying to clear the paperwork through customs!! In fact, another organization which had a container delivered to Niamey in December did not receive their container through customs until the first week of May!

It has been a long year filled with activity for the container and a year full of memories:

June: Packing the container - the garage as it emptied and the container as it filled:

Memories from the fun of this day:

zillions of shrink wrap - wrapping the boxes with clothes or paper (books) in the shrink wrap to protect them from the sea water

Tim Horton's - on the way to the McIvers house on packing day, I stopped to get a 10 cup box of coffee and the large pack of timbits

diapers - you see the stack in the photo - 2 days before the day of packing, I called Chantelle to see if there was anything I could help with - "YES" - so off I went to Costco and bought a packing flat full of diapers for the children. That was quite to experience!!

watching the packers man-handle my trunk around (drop it, tip it upside-down) and wondering if my dishes would make it to Africa in one piece - "Did they not hear me say that all my breakables were in that trunk?!!"

Waiting anxiously for the delivery of our 220volt appliances, transformers, etc... They arrived in Calgary on the afternoon that we packed the container - so off we headed with a few vehicles to pick it all up

December: In November, we received the news from the shipping agent that we could get into the container when we returned from Québec and ship the container at the end of December of first week of January. This would still allow for an end-of-February delivery of the container - perfect for our arrival date at the end of February.

This was great news for me - I had a little too much fun in the second-hand bookstores in Québec as I had managed to purchase a small library of books to challenge my French (Shakespeare, Jane Eyre and a few other French novels - looking at the selection now I wish I had bought more). I also was able to pack my French textbooks, exercise books and dictionary in the container. I was thankful to send this collection on the container instead of in my check luggage when I flew!

Memories from this day:

COLD!! - we packed this container outside in the winter weather. We drank a lot of Tim Horton's coffee!! (sense a theme?!! - yes, I am slightly addicted) This photo marks my second extra-large Double Double!

A couple stow-away hopefuls! (Good thing we didn't stow-away, we got here faster on the plane!)

Writing messages for our team to read on the plywood when they received the container - in our absence! hee hee

Messages:

Going Home

Chantelle was here

Destination: West-Africa, Niamey, Niger

Going to see some hippos and Giraffes

Have fun unpacking this mess (that was Paul!)

Caution: Il y a un grand casse-tête dedans (there is a big puzzle inside)

We had such great fun writing our messages and thinking of our team reading our notes of love. It was just as great a joy to see these messages a few weeks ago and see that no one had peeked or gotten into our container and belongings!

January: During our language study training in Toronto mid-January, we received the news that our shipping agent had decided to not send containers to Africa anymore!! This left us scrambling to find another shipping agent, and realizing that the container would not arrive in conjunction with my arrival at the end-of-February. This also meant that I needed to buy a few more outfit items to take with me when I flew out - as practically everything was in the container; clothes, toiletry items, suntan lotion, mosquito repellant, etc...

February: The container finally left Calgary - destination: Montréal. Our shipping agent then began looking for the next cancellation on a boat that our container could fit on.

March: Mid-March, we received the news that our container had left the port on a boat. Destination - Europe, Africa!!

May: As we packed the container in December, we had joked about putting in a GPS tracking unit so we could track our container around the world. About the beginning of May I began wishing that we had actually done this instead of just joking!

The second week of May we received confirmation from the shipping company that the sea container had left Isla de la Palmas - just off the coast of Morocco and was expected in Cotonou, Benin in a week! As the container got closer, my anticipation and excitement grew. The container was finally in the home stretch! But I knew that I had to anticipate a possible delay of months before we could open the container.

June: The container arrived and cleared customs in record time! The truck backed up to the gate of the McIvers house and the unloading began. (And yes, I brought over a coffee with me; coincidentally - Tim Hortons!! I had bought a stash from Sandra, another collegue who has already headed home for a year of home assignment and then retirement.)

Chantelle and I directing the traffic:

Afterwards, the real work began as they attempted to lift the container into the yard. Yikes! So many safety infractions!!

After the dust settled down (figuratively and literally!), I gathered up my collection of belongings and headed home to unpack!

It felt almost like Christmas to be unpacking the container. I constrained myself through the last few weeks from looking through my packing manifest! Though I could remember in general what was packed, there were some specifics that were lost through time. I sliced open every box just to have a peek inside at what was inside! And joy of joys - all my dishes made it in one piece!

As I began to unpack the boxes and sorted through my belongings, I am began to sing an old hymn:

No turning back, no turning back. The cross before me, the world behind. No turning back.

Though there was no doubt in my mind of turning back and going home, receiving my household items brought home the finality of my call and my delight in coming to Africa to stay.