Yesterday morning it was 25 degrees. When I was a child in the prairies of Canada this is the temperature I could start wearing shorts. Yesterday I put on a shawl to stay warm. Surprised myself as well as the local workers. It will be the flannels soon. Find the situation hilarious. Grace
The locals make a lttle round dough donut. Not much to it but when you have it with coffee it can bring back memories of timbits. These are actually better. The coffee here is better too. Orest
We are celebrating international thanks-giving this Saturday with a potluck dinner. We will have a large group because we have the LIFT Team here from the UK. Something like 52 people for dinner at the CC. People are excited because we were able to get turkey pieces for dinner - as in wings. Grace will be making the stuffing. Grace makes great stuffing. So who has the rest of the turkey? Orest prefers white meat but will be thankful for what we have.
We are believing that a vegetable garden is pretty much a waste of time and water. We were happy with what we had but the results were very limited. Our squash is plentiful and will be something we can joyfully share with many others. We have decided that we will support the local markets and buy our vegetables there and just plant trees. The goal is to plant trees that are more native and need much less water.
Right now there is a distinct drop in the bug population. Not that long ago we could not walk without keeping a hand over our mouths. Grasshoppers were everywhere and the results of their feeding were very evident. Do not know how long this respite from bugs will last but it is nice.
Orest and Grace Pelech, serving in Niger, Africa. We will be involved in the local community through ministries such as: Hausa literacy education, English Language Ministry, kids ministry, computer literacy, youth art classes and community outreach. Because our mission is funded primarily by individual donations, support in this way is always appreciated. See sidebar for donation information.
John 3: 16 (NIV)
John 3:16 (NIV)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Angels at Work
The other day Grace left for Niamey to do some guesthouse shopping. She travelled with another couple. Her return was to be Friday via SIMAIR along with another missionary returning from holidays.
As the time for the return flight arrives I head out to the airstrip to greet my favorite person. As we stand there we watch the airplane circling the airstrip and find out that they are having problems. The throttle was not functioning properly. The pilot could go full throttle or half throttle. I guess he did not have the throttle control he needed to land.
There was someone on the ground relaying messages from the airplane back to Niamey for assistance on what to do. He could not land at Galmi because the airstrip was too short for what was happening. He had concern about going into a manual mode and being able to have enough control to land at Galmi.
While they were circling there was a lot of prayer going on.
Finally the decision was made to send the plane back to Niamey where there was a much larger airstrip to land on. So off they went.
For myself I could not handle just going to the office so I went home and prayed and prayed. After about an hour and a half I received a call that as they got towards Niamey the throttle was better and shortly thereafter they landed safely. I am so grateful that God hears our prayers.
As soon as the plane went back to Niamey a decision was made to send someone, via truck, to Niamey to pick everyone up and to get one short term missionary, heading home, to the Niamey airport. So now Grace and the others will be returning by truck tommorow. I pray they have a safe journey.
This whole scenario was obviously the result of the other passenger on the flight who has a penchant for getting into situations that do nothing but create news foder for her blogsite. This is the same person, who while in France (lotty datty da), would not bring me back fresh salmon because her mother would probably eat it before it got to Galmi. I gave her a perfectly good solution to the problem (duct tape) but she seemed not to want to abide by my advice.
Setting aside my fun poke at DB, I am ever so grateful to God for His wonderous provisions. I find it a great joy that I can serve Him.
Blessings to all.
As the time for the return flight arrives I head out to the airstrip to greet my favorite person. As we stand there we watch the airplane circling the airstrip and find out that they are having problems. The throttle was not functioning properly. The pilot could go full throttle or half throttle. I guess he did not have the throttle control he needed to land.
There was someone on the ground relaying messages from the airplane back to Niamey for assistance on what to do. He could not land at Galmi because the airstrip was too short for what was happening. He had concern about going into a manual mode and being able to have enough control to land at Galmi.
While they were circling there was a lot of prayer going on.
Finally the decision was made to send the plane back to Niamey where there was a much larger airstrip to land on. So off they went.
For myself I could not handle just going to the office so I went home and prayed and prayed. After about an hour and a half I received a call that as they got towards Niamey the throttle was better and shortly thereafter they landed safely. I am so grateful that God hears our prayers.
As soon as the plane went back to Niamey a decision was made to send someone, via truck, to Niamey to pick everyone up and to get one short term missionary, heading home, to the Niamey airport. So now Grace and the others will be returning by truck tommorow. I pray they have a safe journey.
This whole scenario was obviously the result of the other passenger on the flight who has a penchant for getting into situations that do nothing but create news foder for her blogsite. This is the same person, who while in France (lotty datty da), would not bring me back fresh salmon because her mother would probably eat it before it got to Galmi. I gave her a perfectly good solution to the problem (duct tape) but she seemed not to want to abide by my advice.
Setting aside my fun poke at DB, I am ever so grateful to God for His wonderous provisions. I find it a great joy that I can serve Him.
Blessings to all.
Changing Seasons
Well it is happening. The days are getting shorter, not by a lot but shorter none the less. There really is not a huge fluctuation in day light hours like there is in Canada but the sun does set a bit earlier than the norm.
There are even a few trees where the leaves are falling.
The big change is the temperature. It can be quite bone chilling in the morning. The other day we had the morning prayer inside because the temperature dropped to a bone chilling 20 degrees celcius.
It may sound crazy but that does actually feel quite cool.
Our garden has not been able to produce much like we had hoped it would. Lots of plant but little yield. So much time and effort for so little results. We do have a good crop of squash. Our first squash was huge, so we sliced it up and handed it out to some of the local workers. They were absolutely ecstatic over receiving this. Hopefully the rest of the squash will ripen soon so we can spread it around to others.
We have planted 2 banana trees and are in the process of planting mango and papaya trees. Hope these will turn out better than the vegetables do. Very poor soil quality.
This weekend will be our first experience with Tabaski so it will be intersting to see how the locals celebrate this Muslim holiday.
Blessings to all
There are even a few trees where the leaves are falling.
The big change is the temperature. It can be quite bone chilling in the morning. The other day we had the morning prayer inside because the temperature dropped to a bone chilling 20 degrees celcius.
It may sound crazy but that does actually feel quite cool.
Our garden has not been able to produce much like we had hoped it would. Lots of plant but little yield. So much time and effort for so little results. We do have a good crop of squash. Our first squash was huge, so we sliced it up and handed it out to some of the local workers. They were absolutely ecstatic over receiving this. Hopefully the rest of the squash will ripen soon so we can spread it around to others.
We have planted 2 banana trees and are in the process of planting mango and papaya trees. Hope these will turn out better than the vegetables do. Very poor soil quality.
This weekend will be our first experience with Tabaski so it will be intersting to see how the locals celebrate this Muslim holiday.
Blessings to all
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