Long Silence

Sorry for the long silence. I have been battling headaches lately. I finally broke down (ie Dave made a phone call) and went to see a doctor. There are a couple of possible senerios: not drinking enough water, a problem with my anti-malarial or sinus problems. It is such a relief to know what the possibilities and options are. It is also such a rich blessing to have doctors with other missions that are willing to take time out of their busy schedule to advise people like me.
While I have been wrestling with these headaches, Dave has been working on the long overdue newsletter. So if you think that you are on our mailing list and didn't receive it or would like to receive it let us know. We have had lots of trouble with e-mail addresses changing over the years that we have been here and would love to keep in contact with you. If you make a comment on our blog it will go to our e-mail so that you do not have to worry about your e-mail becoming public.
Please continue to pray for the political situation in Niger and for our ministry here.

Guest blog: Paul's Thoughts on Niger

Hot season may be over, but that should not insinuate to you that it is no longer hot.

Last night, the air conditioners were left off, but consider that they are normally set at a chilly 27˚C. Having only been here a couple weeks, you might be surprised to find that such a temperature would send me running in the middle of the night for a proper blanket, but the contrast between 27 and whatever we get with the mid-afternoon sun is a rather steep drop. Still, today was a pleasant morning to wake up. At least it was the second time around. The winds, which brought in a dust storm far too early this morning, had settled into a cool and soothing breeze. It looked as though it might rain, but that was just to get our hopes up. Fortunately, the electricity went out for a good portion of the day. Niger wouldn’t want me to forget where I am.
I leave Dave & Jenn tonight (Thursday). I leave them with cereal and peanut butter and other gifts from friends and family. I leave them with electrical problems and plumbing issues and daily challenges with the work that they are doing here. I leave with a mild sunburn and a slight (very slight) hankerin’ for McDonald’s.

PS He didn't really leave as expected when he arrived at the airport last night they told him the flight was cancelled and he would have to go to the Air France office the next morning to get a ticket for the next flight!

Praise and Prayer

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” 1 Tim 2:1&2

I am praising God that even as I write this the electrician is here replacing all of the fluorescent lights that died with our crazy power and rearranging the electrical lines in our house so that they make the best use of the “three phase” electricity that the electric company has now installed. I am so excited to have a working light in the office for the first time since last October! I think the electrician has replaced 9-10 fluorescent light as well as running a number of wires and a lot of other things that defy my limited understanding of things electronic.

We have been blessed to have a friend from Caistor Centre arrived last week and he has been enjoying our temperamental electricity along with us. (We have gone 2 nights without any electricity at all—forget air conditioning we didn’t even have fans!) Thanks to all of you who were praying for his safe arrival. Special thanks also to all those who sent goodies, I wish you could have seen the expression on the boys faces! You can keep him in your prayers next week as he leaves to visit other friends in the UK.

Most of all I ask that you would pray for peace in Niger and that God’s will would be done in resolving the political situation here.

PS. Since I originally wrote this on Wednesday the “new” disjuncture box that the electric company had installed went crazy and had to be replaced ie. I would go to use the microwave and the gage that registers the input on the regulator would drop to 50V (instead of 220) while in the other room the fans which were set on low would speed up to the point that it sounded like a twin engine airplane was taking off in our living room. Some where in that process, the control panels on both of our air conditioners burned out and are hopefully being repaired tonight. The repair man said “well at least the hot season is over!” And he is right because we have been blessed with a couple nights of rain this week, for which I am truly thankful. It has been a really long and expensive week.