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.)

Your prayers and encouragment are so wonderful!!!

I want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for all your prayers and love. God's presence surrounds me over here and I can honestly feel the power of your prayers! Prayer, as I will always say, is so so powerful! and much needed. So THANK YOU!!

Right now, I am here in Niamey with my entire team until in the morning for some rest and time together from the bush. Life in the bush is difficult but let me say that I do love it! My cling to verse the first few weeks here has been Isaiah 58:10-11
"Feed the hungry,
and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
The Lord will guide you continually,
giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well watered garden,
like an ever flowing spring!"

Here in Africa it is a dark place. I cannot describe in words how feels to be amongst a people who have never once heard the name of Jesus before. There is so much darkness, but in this darkness where we have come to share and tell about Jesus, the light and love of Christ from within us glows ever so brightly!

Ways to pray for me over the next few weeks:
1. language, language, language! Its been a tough challenge, but I've learned so much more in the bush. I study everyday and I know God is helping me each step of the way.
2. Papa- is a young African guy whom I was able to share my testimony with the second afternoon I was in the bush. Pray that the seed that was planted will be watered and for his heart to continue to soften to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of his life.
3. Nili- is a girl around my age who is hard to love. She has an attitude and it has been difficult to be nice too. Pray that Dani and I will have wisdom in knowing how to talk to her and to keep loving her with the love of Christ, and for us to have patience in working with her. She comes to our house almost everyday.
4. the compounds that we go to share Jesus with every morning. Please pray that Dani and I will have the wisdom to know which compounds to go to in our village and that the presence of God will just overflow from around us even though we may not be understood or understand them.

I go back to the bush (our home) in the morning. I will be back in Niamey again around the 4th of July, so until then just keep your prayers coming. I love you all and miss you bunches. I wish a had more time to write more of what has been going on here but I'm journaling when I have the time so stories and pictures will come when I get back. :-)

Life begans in the bush!

This will be my last post before I go to the bush. We will be leaving in the morning and will be there for ten days. While there I will not have internet connetion. We will be back in Niamey on the 17th thru 19th. Please keep me and the mission team here in your prayers.

My Prayer Requests are:
1. Dani: She will be my partner. She is from Louisiana, has a big heart for the Lord and has so much JOY! She has kept us all (my whole team) in good spirits since arriving here in Africa. Pray for our friendship- that we will grow closer and deeper this summer as we serve our Lord here together in Africa.
2. Penny: A college student from the states who has been here for 4 months. She has been here for 4 months. She has chosen to stay longer and will now will be the mother of 4 orphan children for who knows how long. Pray for her strength and guidance of these children and that they may see Christ shine through her loving heart.
3. Brandy and Kanesa: The journeymen women who have been serving here for almost 4 years. They are our "supervisors" and have prepared us well, I do believe, for our time in the bush. Pray for their continual wisdom and leadership.
4. For my strength-physically and spiritually. As I had to find a "new strength" in my arms the first few weeks I was on crutches, I pray now for God to physically provide strength for me to eat, deal with the extreme heat, and simply stay in good health. And spiritually that I stay grounded in the truth and let God receive the glory for all I do.
5. Adaptation to life in the African bush country

"For those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not grow faint." Isaiah 40:31

Fo-Fo! (Hello!)

I am officially in Africa!!! So i got to Niamey Tuesday afternoon. I had no problems traveling and a safe trip here. Its really hard to update because all my teammates and I are taking turns sharing Cody's computer. The internet is very slow and there are seven of us so that's why it has taken me this long to simply let you know I'm here. Therefore, its going to be hard to tell a lot of whats going on by writing on here- takes a lot of time, so many of my stories are just going to have to wait until I get back to the States. I'm going to try to keep prayer requests up though because y'all are so faithful in doing that and its really needed. Prayer is powerful! So since its already past midnight here and I start my day at 6 with incredibly long days... its going to be short and sweet with how you can really pray.
1. learning Zarma-we have intense language study for 4 hours each morning for 5 dyas... once we leave Niamey we are on our own- no translator, kind of scary thought! but it has been fun. today was our first day of learning
2. physical body adjusting to the heat- it is HOT here and it really wears on you physically!!! Please pray that I'll continue to have the strength to stay healthy, eat and minister with motivation.
3. the poverty- living conditions, the lepers, the orphans, the widows, the lame, the hungry- i've seen it all. it's all here and it has been incredibly hard for me to adjust to and accept that its they way life is here. as one of my teammates said the other day, its like we're living the national geographic and we are! ( Niger makes the list for the top 5 poorest countires in the world every year.)
4. The people in the compound and village that I will be living with and interacting with for the next 9 weeks. May their hearts be soften.
5. and finally Tuesday morning we leave early to move to the bush. I'm very excited but it will be a challenge to adapt to a new way of life completely.

Thanks for being faithful in prayer. I miss you all and love you dearly!!!

"Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
declare his glory among the nations
his marvelous deeds among all people."
Psalm 96