When it rains, it pours

I'm learning that Niger doesn't do things halfway. When it's hot, it's over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And when it rains, we get 2.5 inches in a span of 4 hours. When it rains, it pours. Then it floods everything and washes away homes (made with mud and straw), killing both people and animals.

credit Boureima Hama/Agence France-Presse

While I'm thankful for my secure apartment, I also feel like I'm "treading water" in the flood of my current circumstances. I've been struggling with frequent migraines, which seem to be mostly related to the fluctuating humidity, and my friend passed away in the States, and last Monday, I was the victim of a sneaky theft in a taxi. The driver and passenger worked together to distract me so that the passenger could take my wallet and my phone from my purse without my knowledge. It was such a disappointing and frustrating experience. Fortunately, I don't carry anything important on me (no one takes credit cards here, if you can imagine that back in the States!), and I didn't lose much cash. I was even able to recover all of my pictures with my Google account. I will get a new phone next week from a fellow traveler who is returning to Niamey.

I learned from African friends that the incidence of crime around Niamey increases before holidays, such as now before Tabaski (the local name for the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha). It puts a lot of strain on each family to buy the required sheep for sacrifice (between 40,000-60,000 cfa, or $69-104 US equivalent). So, my friends explained, a lot of them turn to theft in desperation, in order to avoid the shame of failing to provide the sacrifice. They were not excusing the behavior, but they warned me to continue to be more vigilant. Speaking of sheep, the local cell phone carriers are holding multiple contests to give away sheep leading up to the holiday on Wednesday. I have not entered any of them, for the record.

When I look at the reason for the holiday, to commemorate Abraham's submission to God's will and celebrate God's provision of a suitable sacrifice in place of Abraham's son, I shake my head in frustration, that some people have twisted the spirit behind the holiday and resort to thievery instead of trusting in God's continued provision. But it is the same with many of our American holidays, is it not?

So what do we do in the flood? We grasp the hand of the One who walks on water. And then we splash in the puddles.

image: "Hand of God" by Yongsung Kim

Goodbye, my friend

Today they are burying my friend in Minnesota, and I am an ocean away. (Here is her obituary.)

I was friends with Wendy for about seven years, since we got to know each other through the Young Adult group at Wheaton Bible, or the class formerly known as Ecclesia. I gravitated toward her warm smile and we found out that we had a lot in common. We both loved our rescue dogs, we were both fascinated by biology and God’s purposeful creation of the human body, we both loved watching movies and were learning to knit, we both had sweet tooths, and we both loved Jesus. We enjoyed going out to eat together… she was famous for ordering a big stack of chocolate chip pancakes! We loved taking our dogs, Stormy and Angel, to Red Mango for frozen yogurt. Wendy was an avid sports fan, especially for the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bulls, and you could count on her to know the score of last night’s game. Speaking of games, she had a competitive streak! If you had dominoes, watch out! One of our favorite memories was going to the Cascade Drive-In to see “Wonder Woman”… Stormy and Angel loved it, too! We also went to a couple of Newsboys concerts, since they are her favorite band, and I’ll never forget how we screamed and jumped up and down when we saw their drummer lift up in the air and spin vertically, while drumming to “God’s Not Dead!” I can only imagine that Wendy had about the same reaction when she met Jesus face to face.

Wendy and I were in the same small group for over four years, and when I would give her a ride, we would discuss how our lives were going, our hopes and fears, the difficulties we were facing as we followed our Lord. We could sit in her driveway for an hour after small group just talking. She told me that God had called her to help people by becoming a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), and I shared my calling to missions with her. I knew that she had more obstacles to overcome than most, but with her passion for studying medicine and with lots of prayer, she found a fulfilling career. I am humbled by her determination and perseverance through it all. When she told me that she got up at 4am every Sunday in order to work the camera at WBC, I was amazed by her dedication. I will miss our talks in the car, I will miss her smile and her sense of humor, I will miss all of the sweet messages that she would send me to let me know she was thinking about me in Africa, and I will even miss her giggle when she beat me at a game… but most of all, I will miss her hugs. I am not very good at asking for hugs, but that didn’t matter, because Wendy was great at giving them.

This morning, I ate chocolate chip pancakes in her honor.

One day, we will eat them together again, with Jesus our Lord.

God's Providence

Most believers can recite Jeremiah 29:11, although they often take it out of context as a splashy platitude to mark an occasion such as a graduation, anniversary, etc. They might be surprised to learn that the context of this passage is the beginning of the exile of the Israelites to Babylon. Go back to verse 10, where God promises that the exile is going to last for 70 years. Let's put that in a greeting card... "I hope you suffer for 70 years, and then enjoy some benefits at the end." (#adulting) Why would a benevolent God subject His people to such a thing? The answer lies in His providence, His pre-planning and provision for the fulfillment of His ultimate goal. And what is that goal? Americans might be discomfited to realize that the plan is not for us to be content with a fulfilling career, a loving spouse, 2.5 children, 2 luxury cars, and an annual trip to the beach. Reality check: "...God our Savior, ...desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3b-4). So how does God accomplish His plan?
My US pastor gave a great message on Romans 8:28 on June 17th that you can listen to here ("The Promise of Providence"). It brought up both self-reflection and interesting discussion with my French language teacher, Ibro. Here are some of the things we have been discussing:
Do we believers think that we deserve only blessings? Do we say to God, somewhere deep in our hearts, "I gave up half of my Sunday to go to church, so I really deserve for you to bless this project at work on Monday"? Do we lose our faith when prayers aren't answered the way we expected? Do we missionaries count our "sacrifices" in moving to hard places and expect mounds of blessings in return? I admit that missionaries are not immune to pride and comparison--we struggle in varying degrees with the temptation to think to ourselves, "Well, not only did I move to this Third World country, but I can survive here without an air conditioner! Look at these other "soft" missionaries, with their modern appliances! Not me! I'm REALLY COMMITTED to the Lord's calling!" Reality check: all believers are required to be self-sacrificial (Jesus called the disciples away from jobs, family, homes in Matthew 4) and all are required to go through trials (John 16:33). Thousands of believers are suffering and dying around the world today.

Can we trust that ALL THINGS work together for good--for God's plan? Even in discomfort, in grief, in pain?
What we have to remember is that God is never absent--silence doesn't mean absence. John the Baptist and 11 of the 12 apostles, except for John, were violently martyred. Does that mean that He abandoned these faithful ones in their final hours? I don't believe so. God's answer is not always the one we want nor expect, but He is the only omniscient one. He often uses martyrdom as a catalyst for church growth, as we have seen in modern-day Iran following the death of Pastor Haik Hovsepian. Please pray especially that the recent outbreak of violence against Christians in Nigeria will somehow be turned to glorify God. My heart breaks for my Nigerian brothers and sisters who are living in fear, and I pray for the steadfastness of their faith, their hope, their trust in God.
To trust in God's providence in the midst of trials is the refining fire of faith. The verb "to trust" in French is "avoir confiance", literally, "to have confidence in." I am reliant on Jesus and the Holy Spirit to wake up each morning and place my confidence once again in God's hands, not finding any confidence in my abilities, education, position, family, etc., but only in my identity as a daughter of the King.
What do you have confidence in?

Adventures in Language Learning

I’m thankful that I have a good French teacher who has a pleasant sense of humor. He speaks French, Zarma, Hausa and English, and he’s been teaching for many years. But there are some sociolinguistic things that I have to teach him about American English. Like today, I taught him about the art of the “mic drop.”

Each day Ibro will ask me to tell him 2 Bible stories, with as much detail as I can remember, and then he’ll ask me questions about them. Today I told him the creation story and the tale of original sin. After peppering me with questions for a few minutes, he then asked me how I would sum up everything I had told him. I said, “Le peché est grand, mais Dieu est plus grand” (Sin is great but God is bigger) and dropped my pen. Then he laughed and I had to explain how Americans will make a joke (or a profound statement) and then drop the microphone. He loved it.

One of the first English idioms I had to explain was “it will cost your firstborn child,” in the context of American students attending university. Ibro asked, in surprise, if it was normal for a student to pay their own tuition (versus their parents paying for them) and I told him that in my experience, it was very rare for parents to have enough money to pay for the university tuition, so there’s a big problem of student debt in America.

 Anyway, he knew the expression “it will cost an arm and a leg” (il coute la bra et le pie) and I explained that this expression meant it was even more expensive. Then I recounted the story of Rumpelstiltskin to give him further context.

Other discussions about translation have arisen around Biblical terms. For example, I said I would pray, “I will bless the name of the Lord” and he thought I had mixed up the sentence, meaning to say God would do the blessing. We do get into our theology! Last week I tried transliterating a passage of Scripture from English to French, and Ibro was confused by the context. I said that God instructed us to make a joyful noise (in worship, celebration, etc—see Psalms 95, 98, 100) and he said noise couldn’t be joyful. Apparently “le bruit” has a negative connotation in French. So the French Bible I have reads, “Venez, crions notre joie en l’honneur de l’Eternel!” (Come, we are shouting our joy in honor of God, the Eternal!)- Psalm 95:1a.

I make plenty of mistakes when we’re in lessons, but I think the funniest was when I meant to say “she fed the baby” but I said “she ate the baby” (in the context of the story of Moses…oops!!). It just makes me think of the famous line… “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.” I'll push through the blunders, though. I won't give up on French--that would be

Tastes of Niger

Cooking with gas is an adventurous undertaking, but I’ve taken up the challenge of cooking from scratch with what I can find in the stores in Niamey. Each store has slightly different items in stock, and they may rotate their stock (like Aldi back home), so if you find something you like, you buy all of it. And produce is bought at local stands (along with eggs—better prices from the fruit stand guy). I am also dairy-, gluten-, and soy-free (6 days out of 7), corn-free, plus I don’t eat onions due to migraines, so there’s a lot of careful planning behind all of my cooking. Since I spend a good deal of time on it, I thought I'd write about it!

During my first week in Niamey, I adapted one of my favorite recipes, a one-pot recipe for keema aloo (Indian beef and potatoes) to make it with chicken. Here is a link to the recipe on AllRecipes, a fun app/website I use to find new things (I like their ingredient search feature- just type in what you find in your cabinet/fridge, and it will generate recipes for you).

This week I used the “More with Less Cookbook” to try a new recipe: coconut rice. It is my new favorite! With my first serving, I added fresh mango and cashews, and for the second, I added canned beets (yes, I love beets) and cashews. YUM!

COCONUT RICE

Heat 2 Tbsp oil or butter in heavy saucepan over low heat. Add ½ cup chopped onion or 2 Tbsp minced garlic, 3 whole cloves, 3 cinnamon sticks, and 3 bay leaves. Sauté until onions/garlic are browned but not burnt; add and fry for a few seconds- ¼ tsp ground turmeric and ¼ tsp salt. Quickly add 1 cup uncooked rice and 2 cups coconut milk. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Remove whole spices before serving.

I also love eating mangoes. Mangoes over rice, mangoes with yogurt, mango lassi, mangoes with chicken…I have fresh mango pineapple popsicles setting up in the freezer right now. Nowhere else on earth has better mangoes than Niger. I also eat peanuts in Niger, which my family will tell you is completely out of character; but the peanuts in Niger are also top-notch. I don’t know why.

Eating out has been a great experience so far. I love brochettes (beef kebabs, hold the onions) and fries, which are easy on the budget; and one of the local restaurants, Le Cabane, specializes in Lebanese food, and their hummus, falafel and baba ganoush are not to be missed. But the dangerous one is Namaste Indian Restaurant, because that’s within walking distance from my apartment. I had their butter chicken and I had to bring leftovers home! And don't forget dessert at LA Fondakayan: Nutella crepes! This was stuffed with "the works": honey, pistachios, bananas, and Nutella!

Finally, I have a new favorite drink: peach-raspberry syrup in water over ice (it’s 105 degrees; I have 4 or 5 ice cube trays filled at all times).

Stormy wanted to add that he’s not complaining about the new diet. He gets chicken or beef with rice, broth and carrots (my homemade version of dog food…there’s only 2 types of dog food I’ve seen in stores, and they’re not grain free). But sometimes mom lets him visit his friend at the convenience store, and then he gets a muffin as a special treat!

Bienvenue en Niamey

Stormy and I arrived in Niger as planned on May 30^th, with all of our luggage. Stormy protested being in his carrier for the 8.5-hour flight to Paris…apparently 5 hours is his limit. We are settling into our new home-away-from-home, our 1-bedroom apartment in Niamey. 

We live on the 2^nd story of a 4-unit complex. I have been busy unpacking, and Stormy has been getting over jet lag and adjusting to the heat. (You’d think he would offer to help with all these bags!) I’ll admit it has been challenging, with major power outages during our first 48 hours. After 2 nights of sleeping with wet towels on us, we’ve made it through the last few nights with power. And power = air conditioning! WOOHOO!

I’ve already accomplished some major things, like cooking eggs and rice and chicken on the stovetop (gas range)! And washing laundry (seriously, mom!). And hooking up the wifi! And I take Stormy for walks outside our compound to get to know the neighborhood, so we’ve befriended some of the kids on our block. At first they were afraid of him, but now they like to greet him and pet him.

the friendly kids

the unfriendly kids

There is a mosque within a stone’s throw from our front gate, so I hear the call to prayer when I’m at home and it reminds me to pray, too. I went to the tailor last week with some fabric and expect to pick up my first outfit today! I also walked to the market at the Stadium (le Stade) and found a shirt that will go with my black skirt in cooler weather. On Friday night I attended my first French film (okay, it was dubbed): SOLO, A Star Wars Story, which of course I saw with some awesome friends at home just before leaving. It was worth seeing it again! The cinema here is brand new, and has both an outdoor area like a drive-in, and an indoor stadium complete with air-conditioning.

Me, Gina and Crystal (fellow SIM workers) at the cinema

On Saturday I wasn’t feeling well, so I took it easy. On Sunday I attended a French/Hausa worship service in the morning, and an English service at Sahel Academy at night. Everyone welcomed me warmly. The morning church was an open-air event. Then I accompanied the church members to visit a sister whose young husband (maybe 40) passed away unexpectedly on Friday. All of us women sat quietly with her as the pastor talked to her—it reminded me of sitting shiva, like Job’s friends did (before they opened their big mouths!). The church will look into providing for her needs and supporting her 3 small children, since her family is unwilling to support her. Please keep her in your prayers.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the range of things available at grocery stores in Niamey (last year I was in Galmi, a rural area where “stores” don’t exist). There is cheese, and Nutella, and ground beef, and potato chips, and I found a strawberry sorbet I can eat (I’m gluten-, corn-, and dairy-free)! Unfortunately, after suffering another long power outage, I had to throw away the spoiled beef and I was left with sorbet soup… but we are surviving! I even ate falafel at a local restaurant that specializes in Lebanese food, and I learned that the Indian restaurant is within walking distance… dangerous! This week I will start to replace the borrowed furniture in my apartment with my very own, and finish unpacking, and get a second air conditioner installed. I will start language classes this Thursday!

walking through the market at le Stade

Prayer Requests:

•           For a good balance of introvert time, time with God, and time with people
•           To quickly learn basic French phrases so I can develop friendships with neighbors
•           For no more power cuts
•           For physical stamina

Heart Wounds

I am writing this as I head back home to Chicago after a week of training in Trauma Healing. It was both good and hard! We learned how to recognize a wound of the heart (it looks different in children and adults), how to help someone who is grieving, the importance of forgiveness, the healing that is offered at the cross of Jesus, and about self-care for caregivers. I'm now certified by the American Bible Society to facilitate healing groups, which would help people walk through their grief, but I do not replace a clinical psychologist. This will be very valuable in my practice as an occupational therapist because people with physical wounds or disabilities are often, if not always, also dealing with emotional wounds, and I now feel better equipped to lead them on the path to healing.

Part of our conflict resolution lesson

With a new friend, Karen

What a comprehensive training! And all in 4.5 days!! With such heavy topics, I took time each evening to do something for myself-- see a movie, watch "The Voice" on TV, read, work out, talk to a friend, get French fries, walk around a local nature preserve... and to top it all off, on Friday afternoon I went to the US National Whitewater Center!

Look at this place!!

It's this amazing public adventure park and training center for the US Olympic team, featuring rock climbing, kayaking, rafting, mountain biking, high ropes courses, and zip lining. I had never been zip lining before, so I did the novice course through the forest, over a small gorge. It was thrilling! Something to check off of the bucket list.  Then I kayaked on the Catawba River, which was beautiful. I couldn't take any action shots because they tell you to leave belongings in a locker, but trust me, it was a perfect afternoon! I saw a lot of wildlife on the river, including heron, a hawk, and tons of turtles--I counted 15 turtles crammed onto one log! I appreciated every aspect of God's creation as I allowed Him to continue the work of healing that He was (and is) doing in me.