Second Term Updates – Niger

Teachers and students the world over (whose school year runs concurrent to ours) are experiencing the same feelings we at Sahel Academy are. There’s amazement and relief that the year is actually over as well as excitement, anticipation and possibly apprehension about what’s next. Those involved with international ministries experience more sadness at saying good-byes, not knowing when they will ever see one another again. Re-unions are a little harder to plan when your student body and staff comes from all over the world.

Please pray for us as we are some of those saying good-byes. Most of you know by now that we are returning to the US for an early furlough. Please pray for our travels as we leave in just 5 days from now early on Saturday morning June 6^th.

For many reasons, it is unlikely that we will return to Niger. We’ve been struggling with this decision this past half year, wanting so badly to at least finish our four-year term, but slowly seeing that God was leading us home. We’re amazed that we’ve been here in Niger for three years, relieved that this busy and difficult year is finally ending, excited about returning to our friends and family in the US, sad about all the good-byes we’re saying once again, and filled with anticipation for what’s next for us. We believe that God is giving us a new vision. We’re anticipating the time with our pastor, our sending church, our mission, and you, our supporters, who will help to confirm this new direction in our lives.

Please pray for Niger. Recent political decisions have many concerned that the country is headed in the same direction as many other African countries that seldom resolves itself without loss of life or livelihood. Here in Niamey, the large African market burned to the ground this past week which will cause extreme hardship for those whose every possession was lost without insurance to cover the loss.

We will miss Niger and our ministry here at Sahel Academy, but we know that it is time to move on to a different ministry of Training the Next Generation. Our ministry once again will not change – only the location will change. Please pray for us as we seek to clearly know God’s direction.

As we wrap up another year with our students, we are reminded that the reason we are here at Sahel is to imprint our lives into the lives of our students. We trust that they will see Jesus in us and learn to trust Him and His Word. Our hearts resonate with the words of the songwriter who says: “I see a generation rising up to take the place in selfless faith…” One of my goals in teaching is to instill in my students an unquestioning trust in the complete Word of God and help them to realize that His Word gives us truth for every area of our lives. It is rewarding to hear from graduates about how this teaching of a Biblical worldview has prepared them for life after Sahel Academy. They are seeing it as essential for their survival, especially as they enter university studies. Pray that we will have the same kind of impact in the lives of the students we are teaching now. 

This past week, a fellow missionary and I went out to a remote village one evening to show the Jesus film. This church is one of a group of churches where we have baptized many believers in the past few years. We do not have any missionaries regularly working with these churches, but they are doing quite well on their own evangelizing and spreading out all over that region. The last time I was at this  particular village, the church had just started with a hand full of believers. Since then, they have built a small church with a shelter along side it. When we arrived, there was a Good Friday service going on and about 200 people from all around the region were crammed into the shelter listening to sermons, one after another. Just before dark, they broke up and we set up for the film. The full moon was just coming up, and I could hear drums and singing coming from all directions as the people spread out into smaller groups waiting for the film. We set up a screen that can be viewed on both sides, women on one side and the men on the other. With the help of a generator, a projector and an amplifier, over 200 people viewed the film that night. Afterwards, many villagers came to the pastors to learn how to receive Christ. We guess that there will have to be another baptism soon, but not until the rains come and fill up the waterholes again. We used my GPS to work our way out of the bush late that night. There are no roads out there—just donkey and bike paths that meander all over. Since it is not safe to drive late at night way away from the city (Niamey), we spent that night on the porch of the house of a missionary couple who are on furlough. There was no need for an alarm to wake us; the guinea hens woke us up in time to get on the road early so I could get back to my classes at Sahel Academy. Reflecting on the whole event made me remember once again that the God who listens to our worship in our beautiful churches is the same God who works in the lives of these people who barely have enough food to eat. These people have the joy and love from the Holy Spirit, and they take their relationship with Christ very seriously. It is not just something they do on Sunday. It has become so much a part their lives that literally entire villages are coming to the Lord through their living testimonies. Once again, I was humbled and challenged by their sincere and simple faith. 

Due to family health needs, Lois and I will be taking our furlough this next nine months, a year earlier than planned. We look forward to this time of re-evaluating our ministry, and visiting with our friends and supporters in the coming months and sharing the ministry that God has laid on our hearts. We will be contacting our friends and supporters to arrange for a time or ‘reporting’, but please feel free to contact us if you already have dates in mind.

The Lord has answered your prayers in regards to our French elementary school. Please read what our Regional Coordinator had to say about yesterday’s meeting with the Director of Education:

“We want to thank you for praying for our meeting today and also for the many notes of encouragement we received from so many of you stating that you were standing with us in prayer…At the meeting today we stated that taking the teacher back was not an option for us.   We were then able to come to a mutual agreement.  We have learned a lot from this experience.  We are thankful that it is finished and the case closed.  We have been assured that it cannot be opened again. 

Please continue to pray with us for the French School ministry.  Pray for the teachers and the director that they will be able to put this incident aside and work together with a spirit of unity. 

Thank you for fighting the battles with us through prayer!”

Thanks, team!