Joyous Journey

Flat Stanley at the Game Park

2009-02-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92606&id=650856154&l=6a181

New Pixs

2008-08-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Check out the new pictures by clicking on the link.

Road from Niamey

2008-05-10T04:32:00.000-07:00

Follow the link and see some pictures from Niger. there is also a video if you have facebook you should be able to view it. Sorry that i have not been able to download pictures on to my blog it refuses to download. Hope this works and enjoy.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35300&l=02183&id=650856154

I am home

2008-04-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I am here and almost settled into my house. They had to do some repairs so it took a little longer to get in then I planned but everything is there and it is as clean as it can be which means dust everywhere. I have seen a few people in town and I will start going to the villages either Friday or Saturday it depends on how tired I am after driving from Niamey to Konni and then Konni to Guidan Roumdji. The roads are really bad right now as they are doing construction, lots of detours, missing parts in the road, and of course the pot holes. I have visited with a few friends in town this week. Ali, my night guard, wife had a baby boy while I was gone he is so adorable I have some pictures I am going to but on my blog and facebook page. They are all doing well I have sat with them a few times this week, it was so nice to come back and speak fulfulde (Full-full-day) again I did not realize how much I missed it until I was able to speak it again. My other night guard Ibrahim, his wife also just had a baby, I was invited to the Buki, baby naming, I was told that it started at 7:30 in the morning so I went at 7:30 and when I got there it was already over but the baby is very cute her name is Nana Rashida. I don’t have any pictures yet but I plan to get some this week. I love being back. The smells in the air, the intense heat, it was 116 three times this week, and the constant noise of camels, donkeys, sheep, goats and the very annoying guinea fowl. It just feels like I finally came home. When I got there last week and I pulled up my street the people started standing and clapping saying welcome back, it was an amazing feeling to know that people were happy that I come back.
Praises:
I am back in my house.
Jake is much better (I think he just wanted to be at his house)
Prayer Request:
that the Lord would show me what He wants my schedule to be.
Safe travels to Guidan Roumdji.
That the doors would open in the hearts of the Fulani people.

sorry pictures are not working i will try again tomorrow.

I Have Returned

2008-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

I am back. I got in on Tuesday the 11th of March at 2:00 in the morning. I leave tomorrow for Guidan Roumdji. It will be an all day drive, just Jake and me in the car. Please pray for us as we travel that the Lord would protect us on the roads.

Tree Climbing Adventure

2007-08-10T14:56:00.000-07:00

In the village of Toda one day Rachel and I decide to climb a tree.
Now in this picture we are smiling and happy, but that is because this was no easy task to accomplish, you see in the village every day we were warp skirts and sandals tying to climb a tree in this and still be appropriately covered is quite difficult.

Representing Union

2007-07-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

Please be praying over the next ten days as Jenny Jones is here in Niger with Rachel and me sharing the Word with the Fulani in and around Guidan Roumdji. We have come to love these people so very much and we want them to know the One who gave His life for them so that they can stand with us lifting their hands and praising the Father in their language saying "Mi yetti Allah Joomirawo" (I thank you God my Lord). Please pray that the Father will use our words and give use the ones we need to tell and show them of His great, mighty and everlasting love for them.

Fulani Women

2007-06-18T01:46:00.000-07:00

I have not updated this in while so I thought you all might want to know what I have been up to lately.

I have been spending the majority of my time in a Village called Marafa. The women in the village have been teaching me to be Fulani, teaching me all the things that make them Fulani women... so here are a few pictures of what they have been teaching me.

This is Grandma, who spent an entire day teaching, or rather showing me how to weave a grass mat that they use to sit on or to sleep on.

The women have been teaching me to cook some Fulani meals. Some good some not so good but I am learning to cook them. the meal they make most often involve pounding millet and then cooking it and pounding it again then adding sour milk and water to make it a drink then letting it sit until they are ready to eat it.

They have also been teaching me to weave covers of their gourd bowls, and to pound millet. We also sit and talk about anything and everything from the reasons that i am not married to who Christ really is to why they like cats and not dogs to how to braid hair or put on make-up. The Lord has been opening more and more doors in this village to share with them about Christ. They are interested in who Christ is and the are asking questions, pray that the Lord would continue to open the door and give me the right words so that they may understand the Love of Christ.

Toilet Problems

2007-02-02T04:52:00.000-08:00

We have a volunteer team coming in this week so we dicided we needed to clean the house. So i was cleaning the bathroom, i was scrubing the toilet and the floor around the toilet when i truned to get the conrer but my elbow hit the pipe that goes from the wall to the toilet and it broke off the wall and shot water all over me and the bathroom making a mess and shocking me. I went out side to turn the water off but could not get it to turn so i had to run to the water place which is about a mile or so form our house up hill in the sand, so they could turn off the water. while i was gone Rachel's Dad got a wash cloth and a stick and plugged it up until the water was turned off. then we had to drive to Maradi (50 K) to get a new hose because you can not get them in Guidan Roumdji. Just another adventure in our lives here in Guidan Roumdji.

Toda Update

2007-02-02T04:22:00.000-08:00

Things in Toda are going well. We thought that doors were closing and were praying about our next move when a young man asked us to share with him. We have been sharing tapes with him so far we have shared 6 of the eight tapes we have. He still seems very interested and has been sharing with his family. The children in this village have also been listening to the tapes and some have been very interested in the stories on the tapes. Please continue to pray for the people in Toda that as these doors open that they would stay open so the people can hear and understand.

Faithfulness of the Father

2006-12-02T06:45:00.000-08:00

The Lord is Faithful even when we have a lack of Faith. The Lord is calling people to Himself. Between the Thursday and Monday before Rachel and I left for Togo five people in one of the villages we go to received Christ as their personal savior. This is the time for the Fulani to come and He is bringing them and opening hearts to His word.

bugs

2006-12-02T06:24:00.000-08:00

These are some of the bugs that i have found in our home.

Signs

2006-09-30T02:17:00.000-07:00

These are just some of the strange signs that we pass when driving in town and out side of town.

Top is cow crossing
middle is caution
and
bottom is a speed bump sign

Toda

2006-09-30T00:51:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures of me in one of the villages Rachel and I go to about twice a week. The villages name is Toda and we sit with some of the women in the Chiefs compound and share Bible stories and work on our language skills. We have shared nine stories so far and we have thirteen to share in all. Each story is translated into Fulfulde and then we share the story with the ladies in the village that come.

This rain season has been good in our area the millet, sorghum, and corn are all very tall and will be ready for harvest very soon. Just as they fields are ready for harvest in this village we pray that the people are as well, we have four stories left to share and three of the stories deal with Jesus birth, life on earth, death and resurrection. Please pray as we share these last few stories that the people will be ready for this harvest.

The Father's Beauty

2006-09-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

The Creator is my God. Daily shows us the beauty He creates and daily it is different and Beautiful.

Togo

2006-07-31T04:05:00.000-07:00

My time at the Missionary meeting also called Advance was a wonderful time of worship, fellowship and learning. The Father taught me many things through the times of worship and the classes I took while I was there. Thank you so much for all your prayers, I don't know when my next update will come so please continue to pray for us as we go out and continue our work.

Henna

2006-07-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

The women here like to have black feet, not just there normal color but the put henna on their hands and feet and then use a chemical that turns it black so Rachel and I had the henna tattooing done to our hands and feet. The girls who did the designs are amazing artist; they look at a picture and then paint it onto our hands and feet with no stencil or anything. They also use only a little plastic bag with the corner cut off to draw on out feet. It wears off in a few weeks and I will have to have it redone but here are some pictures so you can see how creative these girls are.

Market

2006-07-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

We have been meeting and sitting and visiting with friends at our house and at their homes. We also meet up with one friend at market ever Sunday. She sells food at her little shop there. Market is quite the experience; there are people everywhere, animals all over the place and things you never thought you would see are all at market. Here are some pictures.

Jake

2006-07-20T05:53:00.000-07:00

Some of our team mates decided to go home and they could not take their dog so they gave him to me. He is a four month old German Shepard named Jake. He had not eaten much since the Blessings left but he is now and is gaining back his weight that he lost, and he is getting bigger everyday.

Our Home

2006-07-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

The house was ready for us to move into. All of our things were there and the electricity was hooked up. So we stayed. We spent about the first week unpacking and organizing our house so here are the after pictures.

Leaving

2006-06-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

We found out yesterday that we are leaving tomorrow. If all works out as planned we will not be returning to Niamey until the end of July. Please lift us up.

Please lift us up

2006-06-16T02:50:00.000-07:00

Please lift us up over the next few weeks especially. Jessica and Sarah leave on Monday for there new home, they are both very excited. Please also lift Rachel and I up, we still do not have a date for when we are moving, our house is almost ready, but some important things like water and electricity are still not in the house. We should know soon, but please continue to lift both our teams up as get ready to start this next big step in the Father's plan.

long but worth it

2006-05-27T00:58:00.000-07:00

The father is great and great are his blessings. We returned a week ago after a ten day trip to the towns we will be living in (Guidan Rrumdji which means the house of the butcher, and Tessaua). The work that needed to be done on our house was started and looking good, our neighbors were very friendly. One of our neighbors came to greet us and found out what we are doing in Niger and offered to take us out to Fulani villages. The Father is so Good. She took us to three villages all of which were so excited to allow us to come and learn culture and language from them and they were very excited that we wanted to come and share our beleifes with them. All three are expecting us back when we move, which is the next blessing. We were originally not supposed to move until late August or early September, but we are now moving in three weeks. Please continue to lift us up in the next weeks as we get ready to move.

here are some before pictures:

our home

our bathroom, unless we want to go outside

my room

hall way

Kitchen

Rachel's room

Leaving Niamey

2006-05-07T04:23:00.001-07:00

Wednesday we get to leave Niamey for 10 days. We are going to a town called Konni where some of our team members live to work on language study where the people speak the dialect we are learning of Fulfulde. On Thursday through Friday we will be traveling past Konni to the town were Rachel and I will be living in Gideun Romgi seeing our house and talking to people there and trying to find some villages to work in ( I am so excited) , and then spending the night in Maradi (a large town about 30 min away), and then go out to Tesawa and seeing Jessica and Sarah's house and meeting people and finding villages for them to live in.

Please lift us up as we go:
we have had language study but not much practice with people that speak our dialect so this will be a first for us ask the Father that we will be given the words that He wants us to say to the people.
Ask the Father to show us the villages He wants us to work in and people who are ready to hear is Word.
Ask that we will all be healthy and say on our Journey.

Ordering Chineses food in French in Africa

2006-04-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Our trip to the village was great it was wonderful to be out of Niamey for a while and see the culture that we will be working in when we are finished with language study.

Sarah and Jessica left for the village last Sunday and stayed out until Wednesday. While they were gone since nether of them like Chinese food Rachel and I decided we wanted to try the Chinese restaurant that is here in Niamey. It was a lot of fun using the little French we have to order Chinese food, we ordered beef and rice and nems (small eggrolls). The food was very good, but it is very strange when we sit and think about ordering Chinese food in French in Niger, West Africa.

A Inti Jam

2006-04-13T14:45:00.000-07:00

This week has been a very good week. We started our fulfulde language study this week. Jessica, Rachel, Sarah and I study with our teacher Hamony. We study for three hours each day.

Saturday Rachel and I will be going out to visit a Fulani Village for about five day, to learn more about the culture and practice the little bit of language we have learned this week, please lift us up as we are in the village that the Father's love will be shown through us.

New clothes

2006-03-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

To practice our French we went to the tailor and had some new outfits made so here are some pictures. Just so everyone knows I did get some fabric that is not green, just not much:)

The hospital

2006-03-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

I had to see a doctor so that I could get a permit to live in Niger, the doctor visit cost me about $10. I went into His office he said what is your name and birthday, then he filled out the paper and signed for both doctors. So I now have my temporary permit. Here is a picture of the hospital.

2006-03-25T11:05:00.000-08:00

here is me and Geoffery's Dad

Here is me driving off road

here is me and the giraffes

Week One

2006-03-17T09:56:00.000-08:00

This week has been very exciting and full of new things. These first days were field orientation so we have spent the week learning all about this area, were to buy food, were to get fabric. We also spent some time in the markets walking around seeing were to get things that we may need for our five month stay in Niamey. We also did some driving to the school were Rachel, Sarah and I will have language study, which I found out for sure yesterday that I will be driving us to for sure instead of us taking taxis. It has been hot here but not to bad yet, we were told one day this week that it got up to 104, so we still have 16 degrees to go. Thank you each that have lifted us up to the father this week. Please continue to lift us up as we go on in these next three weeks of our French language stud, and especially since I have to drive.

Two weeks down five to go

2006-01-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

We are done with the first two weeks and are now in class everyday from 8 to 3. This may not seem like a long day but we are usually in the same room the entire day other than the hour we have for lunch, but there are about 150 of us to feed in an hour so even that is difficult. Other than sitting for long periods of time the classes have been great and I have learned a lot about God and a little about myself. I am very excited because tomorrow I am in charge of a class on cooking from scratch, we are making spaghetti, apple pie, biscuits, and teaching them about cooking fresh veggies. 48 people signed up to take the class and only three out of the seven cooks that signed up to help can make it so it should be a lot of fun if everyone shows up.

Day of Quiet Prayer and Reflection

2006-01-13T14:31:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day. We were given most of the day to just spend with or savior and meditate on His word, and what He had to teach each of us as individuals and to spend the day in quiet worship of His greatness.
With all that had gone on in the past few weeks I have not been willing to be still and listen to Him but today I was able to truly be still and listen to what He had to tell me. Through this time with just Him, He was able to convict me of my sins in His tender way through His word and His spirit, comfort me in My fears about leaving and reaffirm the call He has placed on my life.
I praise His wonderful name for the wonders that he has done in my life today.

The Start of the Journey

2006-01-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

I am finally here. I got in Monday afternoon, and the rest of my team got in Tuesday afternoon, so we are all here and ready to go. These first few days have been slow, but tomorrow everything speeds up. We start classes at 9:00AM and get finished with the class at 5:00PM, these next seven weeks are going to be packed full of long days in classes. I am so exited to be here knowing that this is were the father wants me, and I ask that when you speak with Him that you think of me and my team as our travel plans are still being sorted out.