Weekly Prayer Focus: Emily & Erin

Please be in prayer for Emily & Erin this week. These girls are our summer interns who are doing ministry in Boubon. They have completed their week of language learning & their first 3 day stint in Boubon. They have great attitudes & have already formed relationships with women in Boubon. As our national partners have worked in this village for 3 months, their focus was to reach the men of Boubon. Emily & Erin's goal is to find women or groups of women who are interested in the Gospel & begin to minister to them.

The first few nights in Boubon were tough for the girls as it is unbearably hot. They are in a new country, speaking a new language, dealing with a difficult climate in a very unfamiliar environment. Just imagine going from "college life" to sleeping outside in 100 degree weather (at night!) while donkeys bray at 3 am, dogs bark all hours & women are chit chatting way past midnight. You wake up & have to get your own water in a bucket, use the "restroom" which is a hole in the ground, shower outside with said bucket, eat breakfast & then try & figure out what you are going to do that day with your very limited language.

You walk around & people stare at you, they say things that you don't quite understand, you feel like a child because you can't put a complete sentence together ... oh & it's 115 degrees & there is no a/c &, if you're lucky, the power may work for a few hours & you can get a nice cool breeze from your pedestal fan. And that's all before 10 a.m.!

That is what these girls signed up for this summer!! And, although they still have great spirits about their new life & passion to see the women of Boubon worshipping the one True God, the environment that surrounds them is, nevertheless, draining & difficult.

Would you please pray for them this week? Pray for them to continue to find joy in their struggles. Pray for them to excel in their language. Pray for the nights to be cooler & their bodies to adjust quicker to the heat. Pray for them to learn even quicker how to survive in Boubon so that they can begin to thrive. Pray for God to draw them to the women that He is already calling to Himself. Pray for rest & peace at night while they sleep; that they may sleep deeply & their ears to be muted to the 10,000 other sounds that would normally keep them awake. Pray for them to remain healthy & strong as the heat takes a toll on their bodies.

Volunteer Testimony: LHBC (May 2011)

It is not hard to prove what the Bible says in 1 John 4:8, God is Love.  The “Road to Karma” is a dark road.  Until very relatively recently, the story of Jesus has not been told in these villages.  They have no true “Love” because they do not have God the Father.  To be a part of God accomplishing his will by praising His name and spreading the Gospel in these villages is such a blessing that He lets us be a part of.  Driving away from Boubon I found myself wishing for one more day.  The Good News that had brought us to Niger, is the same Good News that will bring the Songhai people:  joy, peace, hope, understanding, patience, truth, and Love.  The strength and faith of the few believers is amazing to me.  What an awesome, blessed, and humbling time this was for us.  We will never be the same.

Travis and Tiffany

Volunteer Testimony: FBC Hurst (May 2011)

My mind is racing as I try to capture my thoughts from the past week.  There is so much that can be said that it is hard to put into a few short words.  It has been a trip that has given me memories that will last a lifetime and will have an impact for eternity.  Our week of intensive discipleship training with the Songhai believers addressed many practical, day to day issues but also opened my eyes to how God is actively at work in this place.  I praise God that he is calling out His church from among the Songhai.  I have had awesome opportunities to do some new things, get to fellowship with my fellow believers, and grow more than I could have imagined. 

My time in Niger has given me many new experiences.  I slept outside under the stars, rode a camel, stood in the middle of a sandstorm, ate a fresh mango and tried to teach the neighborhood kids how to play baseball.  I ate local meals of rice, couscous, meat, sauces and spices and drank a lot of water.  I even saw a car with eight cows loaded on it while waiting at the ferry.  I have been stretched beyond the normal comforts found back home but have found complete satisfaction knowing I am where God has called me at this time. What was new, strange and, on the surface, uncomfortable was nothing in comparison to seeing God work in my life and the lives of our Songhai brothers.

As we spent the week in their village, I was able to get to know the believers individually.  It was great to laugh with them and share meals as a group.  We were able to walk around and meet their families and see how they live and work. I was reminded that God has called us to be a family and to show the world we are different by our love.  In one of our lessons we shared that God loves us and wants to have a relationship with us.  This is very different than what is normally thought in their culture.  I was encouraged to see God’s love expressed in the relationships started during the week.  This is who we are in Christ. 

I was amazed to meet the men that have had their lives turned upside down so they can follow Christ.  They told us how they stand up for their faith even at a great cost.  They have been kicked out of their homes, been cast out of their communities, been cursed and threatened with beatings.  At the end of our conversations I had to ask if my life was turned upside down for Christ?  Have I followed Christ in such a way that tells the world that nothing is worth anything in comparison to the surpassing greatness of following Christ Jesus my Lord?

At the end of this week I have learned about myself and my God.  I came uncertain of what would happen and how everything would play out.  I leave with a grateful heart.  I am confident that God has started a great work among the Songhai and he will be faithful to complete it.

--Scott C

Weekly Prayer Focus: Karma

Please be in prayer for Karma this week. The national partners, H & B, have faced many struggles in their attempts to begin ministry there. You know, as well, that our brother "Henry" has also faced much persecution from his neighbors & family as the only Christian living there. This is a dark, dark village that has proven to be very resistant to the Gospel & anyone who is a follower of Jesus. Please pray for God to do a mighty work, like none we've EVER seen, & bring His Light into the darkness!

may 2011 newsletter

Dear Prayer Partners,

Thank you AGAIN for committing to pray for us & the Songhai for another month. We have truly seen your prayers at work this last month as the housing situation in Boubon is resolved! We hope you understand & know how vital your prayers are to us & the ministry among the Songhai. God is hearing & answering them!

Please continue to pray for us & the Songhai this summer as our lives are beginning to get very busy. We love our volunteers & are so excited that SO many have committed to come here during the hottest part of the year to serve beside us. From discipleship lessons to painting schools to sowing seed on unfertile ground, these volunteers are doing whatever it takes so that the Songhai may hear & KNOW that there is only one God & His Name is JESUS!

Don't forget to check out the Songhai blog for weekly prayer requests & other stories we post on there from time to time. In the next few weeks, start looking for the "More People, More Prayer" contest. We're going to ask you to step it up a notch & widen our prayer team by enlisting your family, friends & church to pray for the Songhai. Currently, we have around 600 people praying for the Songhai. We'd love to see that number rise to 1,000! Can you help us? We have seen incredible things happen as a result of your prayers! Can you imagine if there were one thousand people praying for the salvation of the Songhai?! Be sure to check out the blog in the coming weeks for details of how you can help us expand our prayer team.

You can also find us on Facebook (search: The Songhai) & receive timely updates on your newsfeed when we post new information on the blog. You can also find each team member's family blogs listed on the right side of the Songhai blog. Feel free to check them out & get to know the Songhai team a little bit better!

Again, thank you for ALL of your prayers!!


that ALL may know HIM,

Mark & Parker <><

Weekly Prayer Focus: Living Hope Team

Please be in prayer for the Living Hope Baptist Church volunteer team this week. They will be working in Boubon throughout the week with a visit to Ayorou as well. Half of their focus this week will be for the 2 men of the team to "pick up the torch" of the national partners' work in Boubon. Will & Travis will teach stories from the E2E to the groups of men that have formed as a result of the national partners' outreach.

The women of the team (Emily, Erin, Linda & Tiffany) will be working to establish relationships & connections for the ministry that Emily & Erin will continue as they spend their entire summer in Boubon. They will be prayerwalking, sharing their testimonies & also sharing the C2C (Creation to Christ) story as they find & meet with groups of women all across Boubon. We hope that these relationships that they form this week will be the catalyst for outreach groups for Emily & Erin this summer.

One day during the week, the team will have the opportunity to visit Ayorou to meet with & encourage the believers there. Please pray for the team this week as the temperatures are soaring! They will spend almost 8 hours a day outside with little relief from the heat. Pray for their health to remain strong! Pray also for the men & women that they will have the opportunity to share with & pray for. Pray that many, many would hear the Gospel & know it is true. Pray that many would forsake all to know Christ as their Savior.

You can also keep Emily & Erin in your prayers throughout the summer as they will be living in Boubon in a very primitive manner. After the Living Hope team leaves next Friday, they will do an intensive week of language learning. When that week ends, they will pack up & head out to Boubon. They will be living in a house on the chief's compound & their focus will be to minister to women & children through sharing Bible stories using the E2E curriculum &/ cassettes. Please pray for their language, their safety, their health & all the women they will minister to.

Thank you for praying for our volunteers & for the Songhai that they are reaching!

Weekly Prayer Focus: FBC Hurst Team

Please be in prayer for the team from First Baptist Church Hurst, TX this week. They will be traveling to the Mehanna Road to meet with a group of believers & take them through the "D" track using the E2E. The "D" track is composed of discipleship lessons aimed to help the believers grow in their faith & knowledge of the Word.

Pray for the team as they will also spend a few nights in the village. It is extremely hot here & the nights are not exempt from the heat. Pray for safety in travels (about 6 hours round trip from Niamey), their time with the believers & their health. The heat can do excruciating things to your body & your mental state of health!! Pray that they would be able to focus during the days despite the rising temperatures of almost 120 degrees & for their sleep at night.

Pray that the believers who have committed to come will be in attendance for each session & that they would also be able to focus on the lessons & grow in their faith.