(Lauren sent this email to her family and asked that we post it to her blog to let all of her prayer warriors know how their team is doing and to know where the greatest prayer needs are. She said that there are 16 team members trying to use one "dial-up" computer on the weekends and they have to pay for internet access. Needless to say 1 email is all she will probably get out each weekend so she asked that we share with her friends and family. Thank you for your prayers for Lauren and her team members.)
I hope that y'all are having a great weekend! I have a nice long
weekend this week! Yesterday, Wesley (Lauren's hut mate) and I came in from the village
early to help with the health clinic Laura and Greg (the missionaries) host every Friday.
We also got to go to the market that they have here in Matamey every Friday.
To catch you up, we finally made it to Matamey 2 weeks ago on Sunday
night. We spent a day in Niamey doing orientation with Greg. We stayed
at one of the IMB's guesthouses. That was the last time I felt AC (and
when I say AC I mean a small window unit that worked at night when the
rest of the town was asleep. I was very surprised how underdeveloped
even Niamey was. It is the biggest city in Niger, and it looked like a
war torn, ghost town. I was a little scared when we first got there.
Not that I felt unsafe, it was just very shocking. After a day of
orientation, Wesley, Patrick, and I got on a bus full of Nigerians and
rode the 13 hours to Takieta where Greg picked us up and drove us the
rest of the way to his house. The ride actually went by pretty
quickly. There was even one man that spoke a bit of English, so we
didn't feel totally out of place. It is quite humbling how many people
here in this 3rd world country know 3-4 languages! They all speak
Hausa, French, some English and often another African language.
When we finally got to the house, we were greeted by the rest of the
Brook Hills team that had rode in the car with Greg, and the other
volunteers. There are 9 other people here volunteering. They are all
college students from NC, TX and 1 from Mississippi. I
am still the youngest person, but until last night most of the people
thought Wesley and I were the same age: 26.
We did 2 more days of orientation and on Wednesday, they sent us out
to our villages. Wesley, Patrick, Justin (the kid from Mississippi) and I are in Dare. We are the furthest out. About a 20-30 min drive. (p.s. they drive us to our villages, we don’t have to walk, drag our stuff through the dirt, or pull it on an ox cart like you thought) Some of the other guys are close enough to walk back and forth from Matamey and
their villages so they come back for Market on Friday mornings.
Matamey is considered the city... but there is only 1 paved road and
it last about 1 mile. Greg and Laura live in the nicest house here and it is paradise compared to the village life. All houses are gated, and they all have guards. I don’t think it
is a security thing as much as privacy. From dusk till dark, kids are
in the "yard" playing. There are people coming by all day long asking
for food and medicine. Here it is the norm, and it is crazy how quickly you get used to the different culture. I have yet to experience much “culture shock.”
It is also surprising how bearable the heat is. It does get hot with an average temperature between 100-110 degrees, especially from 1-4 pm, but in the mornings and at night it is really pleasant. There is usually a breeze, and the air is so dry, that it doesn't feel nearly as hot as it is. It has rained, or at least sprinkled almost every night too which always makes it cool off.
I have really enjoyed living in the village too. We have wonderful
neighbors that have been a huge blessing. Their names are Marrium and
Horunah. He is the headmaster of the school in our village. He speaks
a good bit of English which has been extremely helpful. His wife is so
sweet. She has taken us out to work with her, taught us to cook
different Hausa meals (they all are gross, but its fun to learn), and
she has made us good food several times. Their kids are awesome too.
They sweep our yard (apparently it is expected that you sweep your dirt
yard every day), shoo kids away when we are resting, they are patient
with our poor language skills, and they are always willing to help.
In African culture greeting is really important. We spend a majority
of our day going around asking:
Sanu (hello). Ina kwana (how did you sleep)? Ina ga gia (How is your
tiredness)? Ya ya ike (how is your work)? Ya ya iyalie (how is your
family)?... It takes a while., Then we usually play the tapes and show
them the pictures, and then daka (which is pounding grain, or corn, or
spices with a giant mortar and pestle) Wesley always gets laughed at,
but I have gotten pretty good at it.
Our focus is supposed to be mainly on the women. In this culture it is
not really appropriate for men and women to hang out, so we spend all
day with the women. They are very uneducated, and the only education
they know is rote memorization. The common misconception is that we
are playing these tapes for them to memorize like the Koran so that
they can get points with God. They don’t understand that it is a
convicting message of truth that will change their lives. There is no
concept of logical thinking here either, especially among the women,
so we have a lot of work and prayer! Greg and Laura have been very
encouraging, but it will be only by God's power to see any fruit from
our work this summer. I haven't been discouraged yet because I know
I'm being obedient to God, but I think some of the teams are a little
disappointed with the lack of response.
There are people who are interested though, and hospitality is so
important that they all listen (or pretend to listen) attentively.
A few random things:
We saw a lunar eclipse Wednesday night.
Pretty much everyone caught a 24 hr bug this week. I actually have yet to be sick in any way! I feel better then normal actually. No headaches, stomach aches, or allergies!
I doubt I will be losing any weight this summer! We eat
really well on the weekends!
Next weekend we are going to Zinder for a half way break. We are going swimming, souvenir shopping, and spending the night in an air conditioned house! Can you believe its almost half way over!
Keep praying for God’s message to be accepted in the hearts of the Hausa people.
--
*Lauren*
*Jeremiah 6:16 *
