What Does Rain Mean to You??

Rain – for me now that I live in Niger – means many things:

1. moisture – after a long “dry and cold season” and a “dry and hot season” …. rain the first moisture in 7-9 months!

2.  cool air – each rain that comes breaks the high heat …. temperatures can drop 10-15 degrees from before the storm!

3. life and hope – for my Fulani villagers, I think that in part rain means hope for life …. they are subsistent farmers and the rain brings hope for food.  Especially this year during a famine following a bad harvest last Fall – they are eager to plant their fields and have food to eat again.

Today, the rain storm that came to my village was an answer to prayer.  Monday this week was the day following the first big rain storm.  Monday – all the men, women, and children descended upon their fields en masse and planted their millet for this year!

Today, the chief’s son told me this morning that the millet had started to poke out of the ground.  But, it needs rain to survive.  And again this morning, I prayed for rain …. a prayer that has been circling through my head and my words all week.

Today, it was six days since the last rain.  It was time.

Late this afternoon, at 2:22 pm, as I sat in a courtyard conducting one of my surveys, I glanced at the sky and saw the black clouds rolling in with sand.  Soon, we heard the thunder in the near-distance.  We packed up my survey and ran into the home – myself and seven other adults and three children! 

Following the rain – the chief’s son gave me my quote of the day:

Rain is God’s gift of air-conditioning to the poor people!!

So …. What does rain mean to you??