What Do the Foxes Say? March 2014

BABY STEPS

I remember many important milestones in my children’s lives. Their first smile, first time sitting up, then crawling (army style for C*), first time eating baby food, and then of course their first steps. It’s so exciting to watch a baby grow and learn these things in front of your eyes. And I’ve tried my best to record these events in a baby book and by taking pictures.

The same is true spiritually. When someone first becomes a believer they are an infant in the faith. But the goal is not for them to stay that way. We want them to grow into a healthy and strong believer.  I also know this doesn’t happen overnight.  We have to be patient and gracious with new believers. We can’t expect them to know everything and do everything right all of the time -­‐ just like we don’t expect our children to be walking and talking in their first week of life!

I’d like to share with you some milestones of the people we work with. These may seem small to you, but they are steps in the right direction.  

This past week S* (a baptized believer) prayed out loud in front of a group for the first time! She’s been meeting with me for well over a year and I’ve asked her to pray several times. She’s always laughed and said no, I don’t know how to. Even when it was just the two of us, she would not be willing. But this week we were meeting with her and two other women and Sakina agreed to pray. I was very excited at her reaching this milestone!

Another exciting event was when Jody was playing Luke 2 on the proclaimer, M* (a 9 yr. old girl, sister of A*) was quoting the words right before they would play. Even though we’ve focused a lot of time teaching her parents and brother, she has been listening and learning! Pray for her salvation.

About a month ago S* and I* came to our church meeting. They are not believers, but at the end they wanted to pray for God to protect Jody while he was in Senegal. This seems like baby steps as God is opening their hearts to want to understand Christianity. Pray for their salvation.

Lastly, a woman named H*, who is the mother-in-law of one of the believers, had been against our message and said we were not welcome in her compound. This week she showed up at our house and wanted me to teach her! Pray for her as well!

PRAYER POINTS

• Praise the Lord that we had our biggest church meeting. Many were unbelievers, but we are grateful for more people coming to hear.

• Pray for the Songhai team as we meet this month and learn more about community development opportunities for Niger.

• Pray that the Lord will open the hearts of three men named S*, I* and H*.• Pray that our believers will share their faith with others in our village.

• Pray for Jody because he is taking a seminary class this semester.

• Pray for Sarah balancing homeschool, family, and out of the home ministry.

• Pray for strength that we would finish our first term with health and diligence.

YOU DID WHAT???

Recently we have had to do things to prepare for our home assignment (coming up from July 2014 - Dec 2014). With all of those preparations our minds have been thinking about what the transition will be like coming to the states after living in Niger for 3 years. Our two youngest hardly remember anything about the U.S. and so it will be like a whole new world to them. So, I’ve compiled a list of things that our kids have done in Niger that are completely normal and ordinary for them. But...if they were to tell their family, friends, or teachers in America... the response may be “You did WHAT???”

1. Ate grasshoppers and called them a ‘snack’

2. Rode a donkey

3. Crossed the Niger River (with hippos) on a canoe

4. Slept outside under a mosquito net

5. Stayed up way past bedtime watching the Jesus film outside

6. Bought bread by ourselves using the Zarma language

7. Helped make pottery

8. Have visited 4 other African countries

9. Saw a cobra

10. Had to ride a boat and walk to get to church (took 45 min.)

11. Saw a scorpion in our bathtub

12. Had a cow market right outside our gate each week

13. Ziplined over the Zambezi River by Victoria Falls

14. Constantly saw people with babies on motorcycles

15. Tumbled down sand dunes

16. Ate rice and sauce using our hands

17. Haven’t worn shoes in three years (only flip flops or bare feet)

18. Learned a new language

19. Have a pet tortoise, goat, and cat

20. Peed on a squatty potty

21. Lived with an African family for three days

So we think our kids are pretty amazing...Let’s just hope they can learn to tie shoes and ride a bike before too long!!!

OUR LITTLE GIRLS

• Praise the Lord for a healthy month!

• Praise the Lord for a safe and fun vacation to Burkina Faso.

• Pray for perseverance in school.

• Pray for continued building of friendships and sharing the gospel with these friends.