At the end of November, I will have been here for 6 months. Besides "going away" to college (which was 86 miles from home, so I was able to visit whenever I wanted), this is the longest amount of time that I have been away from my family. I have been reflecting on a lot of the lessons that I've learned, both hard and good, both fun and surprising. Here are some of them:
Stormy's airplane limit is 5.5 hours in his pet carrier. He much prefers public transportation, such as buses and trains.
Keys to surviving hot season in Niger: air-conditioned movie theater, battery-powered fan, cooling pads, keeping the ice tray full, pool membership, kiddie pool (for when the pool is closed), occasional rehydration drinks (1 tsp sugar, pinch of salt, juice of 1 small lime or 1/2 lemon in a full glass of water)...
I can be convinced to become a cat person.
Indian curry potato chips. Enough said.
"I know I have no power to change an individual's worldview." -Kate McCord, In the Land of Blue Burqas. I'm reading this book alongside other new missionaries and our mentors, and it's not necessarily a new lesson, but a good reminder, that my job is to share love and hope and let the Holy Spirit do the work of transformation.
It can hail in the middle of the desert.
Everything is not as it seems. This one hurts my heart to share, but since it is firsthand experience, I will say it. Samaritan's Purse has had a strong ministry here for many years, and they do varied and wonderful things, like support our local pastors. Without knowing who exactly is to blame, friends here have found Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes for sale in the local markets. And it's not only here; friends of friends have reported the same story in Kenya. I would just like to advise that if you'd like to donate material things, like clothes and toys, your local organizations are far better equipped to distribute them. When you desire to contribute to a project overseas, we can generally be more efficient and effective if you would give a monetary donation, and we could use that to buy supplies locally.
As a woman in Niger, you're not fully dressed unless you're wearing earrings. I really need to keep an "emergency pair" in my purse, in case I forget to put them on in the morning! It's a good thing that I'm not married, because in some cultures here, a married woman who neglects to wear earrings is signaling that her husband has died.
Stormy is excellent at hide-and-seek. He waits and I hide, then he finds me. It's adorable.
Nigeriens take things quite literally. For example, if you ask an American schoolboy or -girl what color is the sky, 99% would say blue (except that cheeky one). A Nigerien of any age will tell you that the sky is white. When I look up, I have to agree! The Nigerien sky is usually white!
I've enjoyed learning many styles of tying head scarves!
Africans place a high value on the gift of "presence" even if the language barrier cannot be breached. When a widow is grieving, you go and sit at her house. When it's meal time, you share with coworkers or friends. Silence is OK, it's the sitting that counts.
Asking a taxi driver in Niamey to show up at 8:40am means he might come by 9:30am, but only if you call to remind him at least 2 times.
I can make kombucha...the gift that keeps on giving! (With each batch brewed, the scoby grows, and can be passed onto a friend to brew his/her own batch!)
Ice cube trays aren't just for making ice. I have frozen chicken broth in them (to save for recipes or for a treat for Stormy) and used them to make protein balls!
It takes about 950,000F cfa to throw a wedding ceremony in Niger (just under $1,700 US), which could take a man employed full-time in Niamey up to 2 years to save.
Just because I can now understand French, doesn't mean that I can understand everyone's different French dialect/accent...
One of my favoritest things here is the clothes shopping process, which involves 1) mental preparation for sensory overload, 2) taking a friend (and possibly the friend's husband as driver/bag carrier) to a local market to pick out fabric, 3) getting ideas for what you want made from other ladies or pictures online, 4) going to the tailor to have him/her take measurements and create the items in EXACTLY your size, and 5) picking them up and trying them on to be sure they fit as expected. No more seeing something and thinking it's cute on the hanger, but discovering it looks horrible on you! It's the tailor's responsibility to tweak each thing until you're happy with the fit.
There is a difference between spending time with the Lord with a motive/expectation, and spending time out of the joy of being in His presence. I recently read Lon Allison's biography of the Reverend Billy Graham, "An Ordinary Man and His Extraordinary God," and it is said that Billy regretted spending too much time studying the Word with an agenda, always thinking of preparing for his next sermon, and not enough time simply BEING with the Lord. This resonated with me and I'm trying to examine my emotions and capture my thoughts before sitting down.
Stormy's airplane limit is 5.5 hours in his pet carrier. He much prefers public transportation, such as buses and trains.
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| On the train in Paris |
Keys to surviving hot season in Niger: air-conditioned movie theater, battery-powered fan, cooling pads, keeping the ice tray full, pool membership, kiddie pool (for when the pool is closed), occasional rehydration drinks (1 tsp sugar, pinch of salt, juice of 1 small lime or 1/2 lemon in a full glass of water)...
I can be convinced to become a cat person.
Indian curry potato chips. Enough said.
"I know I have no power to change an individual's worldview." -Kate McCord, In the Land of Blue Burqas. I'm reading this book alongside other new missionaries and our mentors, and it's not necessarily a new lesson, but a good reminder, that my job is to share love and hope and let the Holy Spirit do the work of transformation.
It can hail in the middle of the desert.
Everything is not as it seems. This one hurts my heart to share, but since it is firsthand experience, I will say it. Samaritan's Purse has had a strong ministry here for many years, and they do varied and wonderful things, like support our local pastors. Without knowing who exactly is to blame, friends here have found Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes for sale in the local markets. And it's not only here; friends of friends have reported the same story in Kenya. I would just like to advise that if you'd like to donate material things, like clothes and toys, your local organizations are far better equipped to distribute them. When you desire to contribute to a project overseas, we can generally be more efficient and effective if you would give a monetary donation, and we could use that to buy supplies locally.
As a woman in Niger, you're not fully dressed unless you're wearing earrings. I really need to keep an "emergency pair" in my purse, in case I forget to put them on in the morning! It's a good thing that I'm not married, because in some cultures here, a married woman who neglects to wear earrings is signaling that her husband has died.
 |
| My collection has grown considerably... |
Stormy is excellent at hide-and-seek. He waits and I hide, then he finds me. It's adorable.
Nigeriens take things quite literally. For example, if you ask an American schoolboy or -girl what color is the sky, 99% would say blue (except that cheeky one). A Nigerien of any age will tell you that the sky is white. When I look up, I have to agree! The Nigerien sky is usually white!
I've enjoyed learning many styles of tying head scarves!
Africans place a high value on the gift of "presence" even if the language barrier cannot be breached. When a widow is grieving, you go and sit at her house. When it's meal time, you share with coworkers or friends. Silence is OK, it's the sitting that counts.
Asking a taxi driver in Niamey to show up at 8:40am means he might come by 9:30am, but only if you call to remind him at least 2 times.
I can make kombucha...the gift that keeps on giving! (With each batch brewed, the scoby grows, and can be passed onto a friend to brew his/her own batch!)
Ice cube trays aren't just for making ice. I have frozen chicken broth in them (to save for recipes or for a treat for Stormy) and used them to make protein balls!
It takes about 950,000F cfa to throw a wedding ceremony in Niger (just under $1,700 US), which could take a man employed full-time in Niamey up to 2 years to save.
Just because I can now understand French, doesn't mean that I can understand everyone's different French dialect/accent...
 |
| Represented here are French speakers from America, Niger, France, and Germany |
There is a difference between spending time with the Lord with a motive/expectation, and spending time out of the joy of being in His presence. I recently read Lon Allison's biography of the Reverend Billy Graham, "An Ordinary Man and His Extraordinary God," and it is said that Billy regretted spending too much time studying the Word with an agenda, always thinking of preparing for his next sermon, and not enough time simply BEING with the Lord. This resonated with me and I'm trying to examine my emotions and capture my thoughts before sitting down.
After that evening, I came across this lovely analogy of
carving pumpkins to God’s work of sanctification in our lives:
