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Good Morning Faithful Blog Readers,
I thought I would post one final letter now that we are all back home safe and sound. We arrived at DIA around 8:30 PM Sunday (Nov. 1), which was 3:30 AM Niger time. Absolutely no problems getting through customs or any of the legs of our flights. It all went very smoothly, and we were greeted by several family members and loved-ones as we entered the main commons area at DIA.

It's hard to image that just a couple days ago we were so very far away from home. I think I can speak on behalf of the whole team in saying we will miss our Nigerien friends very much. I for one hope there will be another chance to go back again - there is still so much we can do, it's really pretty endless.

I know the Lord was glorified in so many ways on this trip. One thing that I am so amazed at is the personalities of every single member of this team. To a person, each was kind, loving, never angered, but always looking to serve the other. Personally, it was a great honor to be a part of this trip, and work side-by-side with this remarkable group of people.

I am posting some pictures for you to see. (It's much easier to downsize the pix and upload them now that we are back in the states!) There were hundreds of photos taken, but these are just a few from my camera.

One last thing to tell you ... there are 50 new students attending the Peniel School who need sponsors. They are able to attend right now due to other donations that support the school, but this can not be maintained year-after-year. If you are interested in connecting with these people in some small way - yet making a gigantic impact on their life, you can sponsor a Peniel student for $30 per month. That amount of money will ensure that the child you support gets to go to school five days a week, and they get a full meal (lunch) Monday through Thursday (many - probably most - of these kids would not eat lunch otherwise.) I have sponsored a child while I was there ... couldn't help myself!!!  If you are interested, please contact Brian Decker at bhdecker@gmail.com. There are pictures now available of every student needing a sponsor.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and your support of our trip to Niger. We may never see the full evidence of what the Lord has accomplished on this trip, but we do know that while we were amongst these precious people, we shared with them the love of God and the freedom they can have through Jesus Christ. And we know that the Word of God will not come back void.

Signing off,
Teri Jones - Niger Team 2009 Blogstress

Niger - Day 8

This morning we broke into two teams - some went to Kamna again and the rest went to Peniel. At Kamna, Lisa worked with the ladies on sewing again, and started another jacket. Earlier in the week, Lisa taught sewing to the ladies at Kamna, and they had never seen patterns before. It was an interesting experience to see their reaction to using western patterns. In the preparation for a large lunch, all of the work tables were taken, so while waitng, Lisa was treated to a hair styling session and her hair looks really cool - wish I had a picture I could send you right now, but maybe later. The Computer team continued to work on the new cyber cafe and Brian Moe taught one last class to the pastors and missionaries.

At Peniel, we taught more sports and music. Today the music team taught the children the difference between melody and harmony - something that is really quite foreign to most of them. We sang "Praise the Name of Jesus" with hand actions, and it was a big hit. The older kids actually had some natural ability to harmonize with us. We had another wonderful feast for lunch, and so thoroughly enjoyed hugging and playing with the kids. Lot's of pix were taken today, but I do not have the tools to downsize them on this computer, so again, we will send pix as soon as possilble.

As I write this blog, the rest of the team is taking their luggage to the cars, as we will be heading out to the airport in just about an hour. We will be back home on Sunday evening. Most of us can not believe the whole week has already gone by, and we are already leaving these wonderful, full-hearted people. I will try to send one more blog tomorrow if possible.

We miss you all and will be home soon.
Blessings,
Teri

The REAL Day 7

Today began with a visit to the Jardin preschool, another school which Grace Chapel has helped support. The sports team taught some soccerball activities in the courtyard area, and the music team taught some voice lessons. We took the old children's song, "BINGO" and changed it to "JESUS". The holy Father had a Son and Jesus was His Name-o ... J - E - S - U - S,  J - E - S - U - S,  J - E - S - U - S, and Jesus was His name-o. It actually worked really well.

After the morning at Jardin, many of us went on a hunt for girraffs. We drove about an hour out of Niamey and into the giraffe preserve, and after driving all over the tundra - seemingly without any direction - our guide found a family of four giraffes. It's fun to see them in the wild - without fences. The giraffe are much lighter colored here than they are in the states. Interesting! We had a picnic under a tree, which provided much welcome coolness from the very, very hot dirt and air. I'd guess it was at least 100 today, but a cool 100 in the shade. Ahhhhh.

Then in the evening we headed back into town to do another mini-concert and sermon in the outdoors. This time, however, we were in a large parking lot near one of our pastor's churches, rather than in the middle of nowhere. It was a bit strange - cars driving by and people on bikes and motor bikes coming over to see what was going on. Yesterday, some of the other mission folks from Grace arrived, including Dave Bidwell, Kevin Tracy, Jay, Cal and Stephan. It was nice to see them and include them in our group.

It was a long day - another great day - but we were all tired and ready to hit the sack when we got back to the pastoral institute where we are staying.

More tomorrow ... if internet holds out!
Blessings,
Teri

Niger - Day 7

Niger – Day 7


Today we spent the entire day at the Village of Okoufounou for the dedication of the well. It is about two hours away from the school where we are staying, so we got to see a lot of the countryside today. Miles and miles of brush with people living in huts and shacks periodically along the way. We also passed through a few markets, which were very interesting. We had to cross the JFK Bridge (yes – THAT JFK) to get to the other side of the river. The United States gave Niger the money to build the bridge during the Kennedy administration, so in their minds, it was JFK who paid for the bridge.

There were many dignitaries there to speak at the dedication ceremony. It began with a choir singing and then our music team sang three songs. Then the dignitaries each gave a short speech. Depending upon who was speaking, each person had two interpreters so that there were four languages being spoken – French, English, Djarma, and another tribal language. Pastor Ali was also one of the dignitaries who spoke, including a man who is the governor of the area. Then there were dancers and another singing group. Several of the speakers thanked Grace Chapel, and particularly they were so grateful to Marcia for her grand love of these people.

After the ceremony, we walked to the well and they asked Marcia to be the first to catch the water from the holy spigot. The governor was next, and then they asked the music team to also catch the water from the spigot. It was pretty amazing to think that this well will now serve the people within a few yards from the well, as opposed to walking five miles for water, which is what they have been doing.

The medical clinic was set up once again, and Cindy, Carol and Ann saw about 40 people – children and adults. It was an incredible day. We interacted with these people with big smiles and speaking to one another not really knowing at all what the other was saying. But we got to hug them and hold the little ones. It was a great joy.

The highlight for these people is when you take their photograph. They love to look at the picture you took, and flock to the camera to see their image. They giggle and laugh, some are shy and surprised at looking at themselves. A personal experience for me was walking around with a water bottle that had a frozen chunk of water still floating in it. Some of the women I was standing with kept wondering what it was, so I handed the bottle to them. They jumped at the cold feeling of the bottle. Then I told them to take a sip of the water, and they were so amazed. I gave this one woman my bottle, and she started to poor a little water into the bottle cap and let each of her friends try it. They all laughed and thought the cold water was so amazing. I wondered if they will be sad when the ice melts!!

Blessings from Niger.

Teri

More pictures ...

Niger – Day 5


We spent the day at Peniel and KAMNA again, teaching music, sports, crafts, sewing and cooking, and the medical team continued to do physical examinations on all the children at Peniel. Still so many more children to see, but we will be back at Peniel on Friday and can finish the exams then.

Tonight we will be out in one of the local villages again, singing and preaching. We are all looking forward to what the Lord has in store again this evening.

I am writing this blog before we leave this evening, so that I can actually get to bed before midnight tonight. So – it is rather brief. However, I’ve made up for that by sharing a group of photos … Many more to come.

Blessings,

Teri

P.S. Day 5 was posted on Day 8 due to no internet service. So more will follow as soon as possible.

Niger - Day 4

My kingdom for a pair of shorts and a tank top! Phewh - probably the hottest day so far. What a great day though. Colette and Maureen went to the Kamna Vocational School in the morning to teach the women how to make macaroons. One of the women pastors even suggested that making the macaroons would be a great way to raise money for their ministry.

The rest of us went to the Peniel School. Wow - what a gift this school must surely be to the community. Driving through incredible poverty and then on the other side of the wall, the school has sturdy walls, with multiple classrooms, desks, chairs, chalk boards, large meeting room and a huge playground. The children are all dressed in burgundy and black uniforms, and any time you enter a room, the whole class, in unison, says "Hello Auntie" or "Hello Uncle". They are absolutely adorable children; well behaved and full of enthusiasm to learn.

Cindy, Ann, Carol, Jana and Kaitin set up the clinic and began doing physical exams on every student there. They saw about 56 children today, so still about 150+ to go!! At one point, a little boy came in with cracked feet with sores. They soaked his feet in a tub and cleaned the wounds. Kaitlin got down on her knees and wiped his feet - the mirror picture of Christ's love for us.

The computer team took pictures all morning of each student. Later in the afternoon, they installed 10 computers and put in a wireless network. They also taught a computer class that afternoon to some pastors and missionaries.

The sports team had the kids running after frisbies and playing games in the sun. The best game was "Catch the white boy" and Cade and Cole would run as fast as they could while all the students chased after them!!

The music team taught recorder to all the students today. Lisa did a fine job showing all these little ones how to play a flute of sorts. Teaching the "blow it softly" technique, she used soap bubbles, which were a huge hit.

The evening was completed by all of us going back to a village and along with some of our pastor friends, we sang some songs, and preached a message in the dark, about the love of Jesus. Some men came forward and asked for prayer for a woman in their village who has not walked in six years. The men went to her and prayed for her. The pastor then told her that they have prayed for the Lord to heal her, and if she has the faith to believe this, she will be healed. She stood up and walked slowly at first, but then was walking around the hut several times, rejoicing and singing at her healing. God is good. Miracles still happen.

Correction from yesterday - It was Brian Decker not Brian Moe who sang Amazing Grace with the team at one of the churches, and there were nearly 1,000 people in attendance at the big concert last night, rather than 500. (I like to write, but anyone who knows me, knows math is not my thing!!)

Blessings,
Teri