Words cannot express the depth of gratitude we have for those of you who have prayed for the flooding in Niger. We were humbled & blessed by the overwhelming & immediate response of so many of you who emailed to say, "We're praying." Thank you, thank you!
We are sorry it's taken us a few days to send an update. Right now, the situation is really a waiting game. We wanted to email all of you within 24 hours to give an update but it was hard to give an update when we just didn't know the devastation or what the future would hold for this country. But I will tell you this: your prayers are working. For 3 days, we saw dark, ominous clouds that should've brought hours upon hours of rain on our land ... but it did not. We received maybe a total of 20 minutes of rain over those 3 days. I would hold my breath each time I heard the thunder roll & saw the dark clouds & just prayed, "Lord, may your will be done." The river has not receded a significant amount but it has receded some by a foot or 2. God is definitely in the business of still working miracles & He could choose to dry up the river at any minute. And He could restore the crops & gardens & homes & livestock that have all been lost in this situation but He has not. Yet, we will praise HIM still.
Much prayer is still needed for this country. We do not know the long term effects of the flooding but here is what we do know. 90 years ago, this country first started recording the depth of the river. This is the highest the river has ever been ... in the last 90 years. But the worst could be yet to come because the river does not technically reach it's highest point until December when the river crests. The Christian school & dormitory has closed for the rest of the school year. There is 2-3 feet of standing water inside its buildings & they are predicting that it will not recede until January. They need to find a new location for schooling & housing for staff & students within the next 3 weeks. There are over 100,000 homes that were destroyed from the floods & that does not include businesses. Almost 3 dozen people were killed because of the floods as well as thousands of livestock. A few of our believers have lost everything including their homes, gardens & farms.
That is what we know for now. But we also know that we serve a mighty God who saves. And we praise Him still. We ask that you would continue to pray for this country who will see yet another year of lacking & struggle. We ask that you would pray for God to provide above & beyond for our believers. Please pray for their faith to remain strong in Him & that many others would come to know Him as a result of our believers' testimony. Please also pray for the Christian school, Sahel Academy, to find a new location for schooling & housing. And pray that, above all, the Lord's will would be done & His name be glorified & praised.
"For 3 days, we saw dark, ominous clouds that should've brought hours upon hours of rain on our land ... but it did not."
ReplyDeletePRAISE the Lord!!!