Hello to everyone in America!
(I had sent an email to Lauren asking her a few questions and these were her replies)
Our 4th of July fiesta was great. Yes our pinata was an American flag.
I felt a little unpatriotic swatting at the American flag on our
Independence Day. We didn't really eat the candy. We left that for the
kids. It was all African candy anyways... so it probably wasn't too
great.
(I asked Lauren if it would be ok to have a small party with family when she got home or would it be too overwhelming)
Finally, I would love to have a party when I get home. I want to get
as much in as possible before I have to head back to Birmingham. Trust
me, any American party will be much less overwhelming than a slow day
in an African village. We feel weird if we get 5 min. alone without at
least 20 eyes staring at us. I am more worried about being lonely than
overwhelmed!
About this week...
It has been a great, busy, full week.
Monday we headed back to the village in the morning. There had been a
baby naming ceremony in Dare last weekend, and there were a
bunch of people in town still. When we walked into our door there was
a group of 9 women and 15 children that followed us in wanting to hear
the stories. They were all from different villages, just in town for
the party. We both were really excited. They listened well, and then
we thought they wanted us to go back to their villages with them to
share. At that point I wasn't feeling so well and didnt think I could
make it on the long walk so i decided to stay behind. They changed
their minds too and told us that we should just stay in Dare cause it
was hot and we would have to be in the sun if we walked (the Africans
expect us to sit on our butts in the shade all day). As the day went
on I really wasn't feeling well, so I laid down and then... I started
throwing up :(. I spent most of the day sick and finally around dinner
time Wesley decided to call Greg (we have a satellite phone out in the
village). He came and picked me up and brought me back to the missionaries house to rest.He dropped Wesley off in another village to spend the night
with Rachel and Rebecca (from the brook hills team). I was able to
get some Gatoraid and sleep in a real bed that night. My fever went
away, I quit getting sick and in the morning I was able to keep some
food down. I think the germs and lack of sleep just caught up with me,
and I got a 24 hour bug. Most of the day Tuesday, I just rested, read
a cheesy Christian romance novel, and tried to rehydrate. By 4pm that
afternoon I was feeling wonderful. The whole Missionary family took me
back out to the village. We picked up Wesley on the way out too. I was
so thankful for the Missionaries and having a place to come to for resting
and relaxing, cause it is pretty miserable laying in the dirt in 110
degrees with flies swarming around you, throwing up, and trying to sip on hot
water. Honestly I really love the village, but Monday, not so much!
Tuesday evening I was feeling really good though and the rest of the
week was wonderful. Wednesday morning, we found out that someone in
the village had died. It was an old man that we didn't know, but here
funerals are a big deal. They last for at least a week and everyone
comes from out of town to greet the family, give money, and pray to
petition allah to allow the deceased person into heaven. So Dare has been
a hopping place this week. It is sad that the old man died not knowing
Jesus, but there was probably 150 women that we were able to play the
tapes for that were just in town for the funeral. I don't know how
many villages were represented in all the people that came throughout
the week, but it was a lot. God heard your prayers, cause we shared
those tapes non stop this week. Friday, which is usually a slow day
because everyone goes to market, we were bombarded with women coming
to greet us. We didn't leave our yard until almost 1:00. Then around 5
a car pulled up and it was Brittany (the journymen) dropping off Rachel
and Rebecca for a slumber party! I cooked Ranch chicken salad (we got
some mayonnaise packets from town)apple sauce, canned pineapple, and green
beans for dinner.We had a real feast! We stayed up till 10:30 playing Rummy
and eating packaged cookies. We had a lot of fun. It was a good way to end our
last full week in the village.
Today, we all got picked up and after lunch had a surprise waiting for
us. Greg hired a man to bring his camel for us to ride! We each got a
turn riding the camel. Mom, don't worry I got LOTs of pictures and
they are hilarious!
Tonight we had a delicious dinner of sloppy joes, baked beans,
cucumber salad, and fried okra and now everyone is in the living room
watching Indiana Jones. Every Saturday night Greg pulls out the
projector and we watch a movie. So Mom don't worry about me too
much... I still get lots of good food and we get to watch movies.
Tomorrow we will have our last church service, and then Monday we will
head back to the villages. We will have Monday and Tuesday all day,
and then Wednesday, they are coming around to pick all of us up to
pack and get ready to leave. On Thursday, we will leave to go to
M for a final vacation and debriefing. I think we will get to go
swimming in the pool(if there is water in it) and we're
staying in a hotel Thursday night. Friday the Brook Hills team will
make the bus trip to Niamey where we will have Saturday to rest, and then
we leave Sunday morning at 3 am! At least I think that is the plan. I
am looking forward to being home, but I have absolutely enjoyed my
experience here. It is going to be extremely hard to leave both my new
American and African friends. Several of our village friends told us
that they were gonna cry when we left and that it wasn't good that we
are leaving ( I think that's the Hausa way of saying we will be
missed)
I miss you all, and look forward to seeing you really really soon!
--
*Lauren Taylor*
*Jeremiah 6:16 *
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Hello from Africa!
At the half way point of Lauren's trip they took the teams to a town called Zinder to swim in a pool, eat in a restaurant and sleep in a bed (woo hoo!) this was Lauren's message after that weekend of R and R
ZInder was great. We got there Friday afternoon and went straight to
the pool. We were the only ones there. It looked a lot like a high
school pool. There was also a tennis and basketball court. We wore
bathing suits and shorts and ran around and drank soda all afternoon.
It was marvelous! We then walked across the street and all 25 of us
(we had some extras with us) sat outside the restaurant since we
couldn't all fit inside. I ate chicken in "some kind of sauce" and
french fries. And we had "ice cream" which was really more like frozen
cool whip for dessert. It was good but everyone ate too much and paid for it later.
Saturday we went to the tourist souvenir shops which were the nicest
buildings in Zinder. We ate lunch and then headed back to Matamey. We had
our weekly movie night saturday evening and then church on Sunday. We
have Hausa church on Greg and Laura's front porch on Sunday mornings.
Last week was high attendance. There were like 5 Hausa grown ups.
Unfortunately half of them were there because they thought they would
get medicine. And then on Sunday evenings we have English church.
We had a 2 hour and 45 minute sermon on marriage.
This week was our first long week in the village. It still went by
pretty fast. It was a good week and one of the women that we have
befriended told Britney (one of the journeymen that had come to visit
our village) that she understood that Jesus was someone important and
that He was the reason that we were in the village playing the tapes.
Believe it or not that is a huge break through. Her name is Marriama
and of all the women she understands the tapes and retains the most
information. This week we were able to walk to a few of the
surrounding villages and share tapes with some new people. It was
exciting to see some new faces.
Lunch is ready. We are eating white rice with pumpkin sauce ( a spicy
red sauce that is a combination of tomato paste, onions and pumpkin
with some kind of brown meat in it) It is really good!
(I had asked Lauren if she could "feel" all the people praying for her and this was her response)
oh and yes I can definitely feel peoples prayers mom! I will tell you
more about that when we can talk. I am trying to take a lot of pictures, but I have to be careful because the Africans get a little crazy when we pull out our
cameras. They all want their picture taken and they start getting
aggressive the more pictures you take. But dont worry, I am taking
lots of pictures when I can.
(We are on vacation at the beach and on Sunday, July 3rd, Charlie, Morgan, Brian and I were sitting on the balcony having a short devotion when Charlie's phone rang and it was LAUREN!! Calling from the missionaries phone in Africa (not sure how much that call cost but it was worth every dollar). Hearing her voice after 6 weeks of being gone with little communication was such a wonderful blessing. We all passed the phone around and tried to ask different "intelligent" questions but I was so excited to just hear her voice that I couldn't think clearly. Needless to say I thought of all kinds of things to ask once we had hung up. At one point in the conversation there was a lot of commotion in the background and Lauren said they were letting the African children back in the yard. The children love hanging out in the missionaries yard and would be there 24/7 if allowed. So every day for a few hours in the afternoon the guard runs them all out so the family can have some private time. They play just beyond the gate and wait to get back in as soon as possible. Morgan wanted to see if she had a "Hausa accent" :) after being there this long but she sounded the same. Morgan also asked her about animals she had seen and she said that on her way from Niamey the bus had to stop for a "giraffe crossing". Pretty much like our "deer crossings" but a giraffe would do a lot more damage to your vehicle and they are easier to see coming. They were getting ready for a Fourth of July celebration before they headed back to their villages. The following email was received on Fri. July 8th.
Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July celebration. We enjoyed our American fiesta. We had a pinata and a water balloon fight. We ate delicious fajitas, quesadillas, hummus, and funfetti cupcakes. It was fun, but not quite the same as our traditional barbecue. We had a good week in the village this week. Each week seems to go by faster. Today, we came in early to help with the medical clinic Laura has at her house every Friday. It is always pretty crazy. They open the doors at 9, but people from villages all around Matamey walk here before sunrise to get in "line". There are probably over 300 people that come through the doors every Friday. It sounds like an emotional scene, but so many of the Africans are extremely pushy and greedy so it makes it hard to accomplish your mission. Many of them just tell you that everything hurts so they can get a bunch of medicine to take back to their village and sell. It is not unusual for Laura to have to break up fights. She is an amazing woman to put all of this on. It is difficult to organize anything around here, but she keeps everyone in line. The people that want medicine have to get here early to get in line. They give their name to Alfa the guard who lets ten people in at a time. They hear a bible story in Hausa and then someone prays for them and they get to go to the porch where they sit and tell Laura everything that is wrong. Usually they just get vitamins, maybe some tylenol and they're sent on their way. It is amazing how if one person says something hurts and they get medicine for it, all of them magically have the same problem. There are some cases of people who really need medical attention and are honestly seeking help for them or their baby. I dont mean to sound cynical in all of this, but just letting you see that missions, especially medical clinics aren't always so glamorous or feel good.
I can not believe there are only 2 weeks left. It feels like I have been here forever, but the time goes by so fast. I have been looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone and enjoying the American way of life.
c,./.nbgvccc;zaX xzX zx
That was a message from Maggi the two year old. I am in charge of babysitting on Fridays.
I have loved every moment of being here in Africa. It is a really hard place to live and I greatly respect Laura and Greg for their persistence. I can not wait to come home and share stories and pictures and hear all about y'alls summers.
Please continue to pray that the gospel will be clear through us and that nothing will hinder the spread of God's love as we serve the Hausa people. Also please pray that in these final days we will be able to take advantage of every opportunity we have left to share the gospel.
ZInder was great. We got there Friday afternoon and went straight to
the pool. We were the only ones there. It looked a lot like a high
school pool. There was also a tennis and basketball court. We wore
bathing suits and shorts and ran around and drank soda all afternoon.
It was marvelous! We then walked across the street and all 25 of us
(we had some extras with us) sat outside the restaurant since we
couldn't all fit inside. I ate chicken in "some kind of sauce" and
french fries. And we had "ice cream" which was really more like frozen
cool whip for dessert. It was good but everyone ate too much and paid for it later.
Saturday we went to the tourist souvenir shops which were the nicest
buildings in Zinder. We ate lunch and then headed back to Matamey. We had
our weekly movie night saturday evening and then church on Sunday. We
have Hausa church on Greg and Laura's front porch on Sunday mornings.
Last week was high attendance. There were like 5 Hausa grown ups.
Unfortunately half of them were there because they thought they would
get medicine. And then on Sunday evenings we have English church.
We had a 2 hour and 45 minute sermon on marriage.
This week was our first long week in the village. It still went by
pretty fast. It was a good week and one of the women that we have
befriended told Britney (one of the journeymen that had come to visit
our village) that she understood that Jesus was someone important and
that He was the reason that we were in the village playing the tapes.
Believe it or not that is a huge break through. Her name is Marriama
and of all the women she understands the tapes and retains the most
information. This week we were able to walk to a few of the
surrounding villages and share tapes with some new people. It was
exciting to see some new faces.
Lunch is ready. We are eating white rice with pumpkin sauce ( a spicy
red sauce that is a combination of tomato paste, onions and pumpkin
with some kind of brown meat in it) It is really good!
(I had asked Lauren if she could "feel" all the people praying for her and this was her response)
oh and yes I can definitely feel peoples prayers mom! I will tell you
more about that when we can talk. I am trying to take a lot of pictures, but I have to be careful because the Africans get a little crazy when we pull out our
cameras. They all want their picture taken and they start getting
aggressive the more pictures you take. But dont worry, I am taking
lots of pictures when I can.
(We are on vacation at the beach and on Sunday, July 3rd, Charlie, Morgan, Brian and I were sitting on the balcony having a short devotion when Charlie's phone rang and it was LAUREN!! Calling from the missionaries phone in Africa (not sure how much that call cost but it was worth every dollar). Hearing her voice after 6 weeks of being gone with little communication was such a wonderful blessing. We all passed the phone around and tried to ask different "intelligent" questions but I was so excited to just hear her voice that I couldn't think clearly. Needless to say I thought of all kinds of things to ask once we had hung up. At one point in the conversation there was a lot of commotion in the background and Lauren said they were letting the African children back in the yard. The children love hanging out in the missionaries yard and would be there 24/7 if allowed. So every day for a few hours in the afternoon the guard runs them all out so the family can have some private time. They play just beyond the gate and wait to get back in as soon as possible. Morgan wanted to see if she had a "Hausa accent" :) after being there this long but she sounded the same. Morgan also asked her about animals she had seen and she said that on her way from Niamey the bus had to stop for a "giraffe crossing". Pretty much like our "deer crossings" but a giraffe would do a lot more damage to your vehicle and they are easier to see coming. They were getting ready for a Fourth of July celebration before they headed back to their villages. The following email was received on Fri. July 8th.
Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July celebration. We enjoyed our American fiesta. We had a pinata and a water balloon fight. We ate delicious fajitas, quesadillas, hummus, and funfetti cupcakes. It was fun, but not quite the same as our traditional barbecue. We had a good week in the village this week. Each week seems to go by faster. Today, we came in early to help with the medical clinic Laura has at her house every Friday. It is always pretty crazy. They open the doors at 9, but people from villages all around Matamey walk here before sunrise to get in "line". There are probably over 300 people that come through the doors every Friday. It sounds like an emotional scene, but so many of the Africans are extremely pushy and greedy so it makes it hard to accomplish your mission. Many of them just tell you that everything hurts so they can get a bunch of medicine to take back to their village and sell. It is not unusual for Laura to have to break up fights. She is an amazing woman to put all of this on. It is difficult to organize anything around here, but she keeps everyone in line. The people that want medicine have to get here early to get in line. They give their name to Alfa the guard who lets ten people in at a time. They hear a bible story in Hausa and then someone prays for them and they get to go to the porch where they sit and tell Laura everything that is wrong. Usually they just get vitamins, maybe some tylenol and they're sent on their way. It is amazing how if one person says something hurts and they get medicine for it, all of them magically have the same problem. There are some cases of people who really need medical attention and are honestly seeking help for them or their baby. I dont mean to sound cynical in all of this, but just letting you see that missions, especially medical clinics aren't always so glamorous or feel good.
I can not believe there are only 2 weeks left. It feels like I have been here forever, but the time goes by so fast. I have been looking forward to coming home and seeing everyone and enjoying the American way of life.
c,./.nbgvccc;zaX xzX zx
That was a message from Maggi the two year old. I am in charge of babysitting on Fridays.
I have loved every moment of being here in Africa. It is a really hard place to live and I greatly respect Laura and Greg for their persistence. I can not wait to come home and share stories and pictures and hear all about y'alls summers.
Please continue to pray that the gospel will be clear through us and that nothing will hinder the spread of God's love as we serve the Hausa people. Also please pray that in these final days we will be able to take advantage of every opportunity we have left to share the gospel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)