Missing My Africans

messages from dani and myself after coming back to the States

from dani:
I miss them too... Except not Abou when she tells me to go back to the states and Rashida when she's satan's spawn... Bahaha.
I miss our chicken.
And I really miss Mamoona.
And okay I even miss that super tall man lady that ALWAYS asked me for my belongings... Without fail....
I miss Barbara.
and the boy that everyone hated but we loved because he was so sweet.
I miss Zerma, even though it caused me much stress and heart ache.
I miss downtown and gettin' pissed at the kids.
I miss Bobay... My hubby.
and his pigeons.
And I miss running in at night only in the midst of the dust storms, never before and having a sandcastle in my tent.
I miss market day.
And farimosa on Sundays under our mysterious structure/get away.
I miss walking for miles with Charifa and never really knowing where we would end up.
I miss windy windy.
I miss late night talks and weyno.
I miss "Charifa une Charifa deux Charifa uh uh uh uh uh."
I miss rice and beans and hiding in the hot back room to eat our food.
I miss it all.
And I REALLY miss you.

from myself:
well since its 9:30 right now... I miss you giving me the ok to set my bed up :-)
I also miss...singing Zaru Neeya a million times a day and doing all those hand games
awkwardness at compounds when we first entered
hearing Africa's heartbeat- (the pounding)...
our teamwork in getting water to our house
praying together every morning and your heart of joy and encouragment
Bakissa watching us like a hawk- well not really that part- but I do miss B bunches
our cow eating our dalas
the way the old lady took the goats back to where they belong
trips to the bush after dark
and early morning adventures to avoid being caught with the black bucket
having filthy feet and never feeling completely clean
laughing so hard- the day of the kuuku, the baby, and Bisara's makeup
running to Kollo and Sidinary and waking you up so early
the meat lady... however crazy she was
dinner conversations in Niamey
moments in "African paradise" with B & K
the excitement of gettting a new outfit made or even more so the fun of selecting the fabric
Arfat and his friends and the rat
sneaking videos of the old lady
the joy Bob Marly had in letting you cook
Laban! the coolest and most refreshing thing in the bush
I miss it all too!!

So I never did write many more stories from my time in Africa on here but I have been able to share my experiences and memories with many since coming back to the States :-) and that has been good for me because I enjoy sharing.

Just Dani and Myself

journal entry: Wednesday, June 10, 2009

So today, was our first day all alone in our village. It was a good day! Truly it was :-) I carried water on my head back to my house, took a bucket bath, pooped out in the bush, greeted every person I saw, and even had the opportunity to share my testimony. I am learning a lot and adjusting and getting use to the culture. I'm going to love it I know- minus the sand that is on me 24/7 and everything else. I feel so dirty all the time but its growing on me. Well good night tonight to the loud rap music on the scratchy radio, kids playing, adults talking, and all the animals(cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, and birds) makaing their noises. Nights are not quiet out here.

Our house (on the left side, the other side was a storage house for their grains):

All the children that came over the first night... they are so precious!

First Day Out and About

Journal entry: Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Crowded corners, bumping into many Africans, and trying to keep up with Zalika(the young girl with us), yet being overwelmed by all the sights and smells that entered my mind for the first time ever in my lifetime- some good, some bad, but most simply unfamiliar. Yes, this is the busy market in Niamey. Taking in so much, the people began to really stand out to me- their faces especially. The joys so many had, though the majority had nothing. The persistance of those wanting to sell me something and the urgency of the beggers. Then from across the crowded street stood out an older man with one leg as he was hobbling around on crutches. How challenging it must be to get around on the bumpy dirt streets in this intense heat. He was moving so well- must have been on them for quiet sometime. Then there was the begger with no fingers on either of her hands. The man of bones and I think blind crawling through the tiny market pathways. On his hands and knees moving so slow, not asking for a thing just seemed to have the ambition of getting some place. The market, the people, and interactions were hard to take in. I thought I had prepared myself and built up the strength, but in reality words cannot portray the reality of life here. Its like one of my teammates said earlier today "we are living out the national geographic" and its intense.

Three days later...

Coming home became an unwanted adventure within itself; therefore, after many miles, much waiting, feeling miserable, running off a couple hours of sleep in 48 hours, and spending the night in both Paris and Dallas, three nights later I was able to make it back to Alabama. For those who did not here the story, Thursday night those wonderful african dust storms delayed us two hours and caused us to miss our connecting flights. I now know my way all around the Paris airport since we spent about 24 hours there trying get a way back to the States. Saturday morning we were able to fly to Germany and soon after board the plane that would fly 10 hours to Dallas where each of our families would be waiting for us! We spent the night in Dallas that first night and hit the road Sunday morning for our 9 hour drive home. I was simply give out from getting little rest and having both malaria and stomach problems. Yet now I am in the comfort of my home and with my family and feeling much much better!


Since I was unable to post pictures and tell details of God's work in Niger these past two months, I have decided to update and leave a few stories on my blog over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

Blessed Be Your Name

YESU ALAMASIFU! (Jesus!) The other day as I was spending time with God, He showed me my verse for my time here in Africa. Matthew 12:21 simplfies the ministry I have been doing here in the beset of words:
"In His name the nations will put their hope!"
My task has been to spread the name of Jesus throughout my village. This verse just captured my heart that morning I read as I sat in awe looking back at the past weeks at how much of Alkwara (my village) knew that Dani and I were Christians and were here to tell them about Jesus. God has been guiding us each step of the way and been giving me wisdom- the two things Dani and I have prayed for everyday we have been in the bush. Jesus is the only hope for these people whom I have come to love and cherish and "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!" (Joel 2:32) There is so much power in just the name of Jesus!

I now only have seven more days left in the bush. I will most likely be going back to the bush tonight by myself. Dani is very sick and will be staying in Niamey to get rest. So please keep her in your prayers that God will heal her and she can spend as much time as she can with our village. Also pray for me as it will be myself and the Africans. I'm kind of excited about it though :-)

I don't have time to list specfic prayer requests this time, but just continue to pray!!!! God knows what I need and when I need it. He also knows the hearts of these people and those whom are searching. My time here is coming to an end and it really hurts to think about the future (the next two weeks). Good-byes will be hard because part of my heart will be left here just as it was in Serbia and its not so easy coming back home.

I love you all and I'm doing wonderful!

El Shaddai--- God Almighty

"Look at the nations and watch- and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." ~Habakkuk 1:5

My heart breaks for these people I live with and the triumph that evil has now and has held for years among these people. I am in Niamey again for a couple of days, but truly I would rather be in the bush with my family. Its really hard to leave the place I call home now, especially when I look back and see how fast the weeks have passed. I absolutely love life out in the middle of nowhere and God has been working in some incredible ways. Once again like always I appreciate the continual support from all of you back home. Your prayers are a huge blessing to me and keep me going each and every day. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I wanted to let y'all know of some of the ways God has been at work over here. I can't tell it all or every detail but I did want to posts some exciting work of God.
- My Zerma is coming along much better! It's still broken and far from perfect, but its becoming less of a challenge. I am now able to pray for the people in Zerma, their own heart language, which means alot. I always ask God to intercede and speak to the people I pray for himself, so that they too can hear directly from God.
- Speaking of praying... the other day while we were prayer walking I group of devout Muslim men stopped us. They were sitting on their mats under the tree relaxing and greeted us. Once they found out we were Christians they asked us to pray for them. Oh my goodness how amazing, because these men are those really strict Muslim followers. It was a God thing. I was actually kind of nervous being put on the sot like that to pray for these men, but God was totally with me and spoke through me.
- Every afternoon we hang out with our family. Dani and I love our family and hate being away from them. We consider our family the two families who live in our compound and the family right beside us. They love us and we love them and have wonderful afternoon together. The other day I got to hold a baby goat. It was so cute. I always love when Ridwand or Abu have fish and are cleaning them. It reminds me of home. They older boys had a pigeon killing the other day and massacared like thirty of them. We took pictures and they thought it was great. And I have also held chickens and baby pigeons. Oh the good times in our compound. You can really see how our family misses when we go to Niamey and most importantly its the presence of God they miss yet maybe they don't realize that for sure right now. They know we are Christians and we have played the tapes for them. We sing many songs with the children and just take the light of Jesus with each day.
- Dani and myself have got ourselves in a mess a couple of times with our water. We usually get two buckets a day and it is enough for baths, washing dishes and such. However when our clothes are washed we use a lot more. Also the other predicament is when it rains the pump is closed and during the hottest part of the day. So to say the least, we have ran on about five gallons of water some days. Even when it seems we are going to run out God always provides and somehow in our storage container in the back of our house there has always been just enough water to meet our needs even at its lowest point.
- I am feeling much better now! My cold is gone and have all my energy back. The heat isn't so bad anymore, maybe just because I'm getting use to it :-) Yet the flies will drive you crazy! I still have not been sick from the food at all, so praise God!

I could write for hours and hours but at some point I must share my computer time with my other teammates :-) These are just a few of the things God is doing and I give him the glory for all that is good over here and the many ways he is at work. Praise God for being our God the one who reigns over all the earth!! He is God Almighty- El Shaddai!

A Day in Our Bush

There is not much of a schedule here; time is a concept Africans pay no attention to. However, I've kind of developed some consistency in my life here simply by routine. Below is a typical description of day in my village:
4:00am~ the mosque's call to prayer announced on speakers so all can hear it. It woke me up the first few nights, but now I don't even hear it that early anymore.
5:30am~ Good Morning! I wake up and atrat my day. It's still dark outside but I get my headlamp out, stay in my mosquito net and begin my day with God... talking to him, seeking His heart, and growing deeper in his word.
6:00am~ I can turn my headlamp off. The sun begin to rise and light up the sky. All the animals begin to wake up too- roosters crowing, cows mooing, goats, sheep, and donkeys all making their nosies too. The Africans also start waking. I still lay in my net spending time with my loving Father.
6:30am~ Dani gets out of bed and goes to get a bath.
7:00am~ I put our nets ad beds inside our house and Cerifa comes to sweep our house and yard.
between 7-10am~ I go to take a bath. We eat breakfast. Greet our neighbors. Study Zarma. and go to the pump to get water for the day if it is open and we carry it back on our heads :-) All th Africans come out to watch us white folks try to be like them.
between 10-12~ We go tell people about Jesus and visit compounds. After greeting the people we ask them how we can pray for them and then pray. We also tell them a Bible story and let them listen to a cassette of th story of Jesus' life before we leave. All of this is done in Zarma- the communicating, the praying, and reading! This is why it is so important for me to learn the language and at the same time it feels like an obstacle I can't overcome. I pray for God to speak through me and may his presence be among us, because without him I could do nothing! Each day and moment is a new opportunity God has given us and with that I'm encourage. If all these people ever see is the love and joy of Christ in our lives here in Africa, then I know it would be worth it all for me to have the privilege to live here for two months!!
Noon~ Dani and I have been getting out and seeing more of what is around us by prayer walking. This has also been a wonderful getaway time for ourselves.
between 1-3pm~ Fulanzam! our resting time Most Africans rest during the hottest part of the day, so we go along with the culture and try to take a nap too. however, for one thing its hard to sleep being so hot, sweaty with flies all around you. I usually doze off for a maximum of 30 minutes before being woken up by a visitor. Some of our teammates can take 2 hour naps though- wow!
3:00pm~ we spend he rest of our day in our compound with our "family" We take our mat out and just sit, talk, laugh and have a good time. We also have many visitors tha come and go throughout the afternoon. Dani and I are the first white people to ever live in this village, so they find us interesting, unique and watch us intensely.
8:00pm~ the sun goes down and it gest dark. With no electricity or city lights, its amazing how much light the moon gives off. It is really awesome and we mainly use our flaslights inside our ouse because it is so dark.
9:30pm~ I take my cot outside and set up my mosquito net. I brush my teeth and wash my face all over the small bowl in our back room. Then I fill up my water bottle and take out my fan to lie under the stars for another night in Africa! ----- nights: are good here, but loud!

Though so much more happens in a day here. This is the basic layout of what I normally do, so maybe yall can get a glimpse of what life is like over here :-)

~Safia (This is my African name and what I answer to. Even Dani and I call each other by our African names. Its just by habit now.)