Dear Friends and Family,

Peace and grace be yours in the name of Jesus our Lord.

From the day we sent you the last letter I have been gathering tidbits to share with you.   Now I am faced with condensing them into a readable form. 

Last month we shared about classes and the various women at the safe house and gave you many prayer points.  God is faithful and trustworthy.  Immediately, we received answers to prayers.

S, the women with 2 children, has received her documents to resume work as a nurse.  She has found work in Dakoro, along with a place to stay.  However, her children remain at the safe house for now to attend school. 

We asked you to pray for A who had not returned.  Within a day or two of the letter she did return, very ill suffering from severe malaria and typhoid.  Because of her new faith in Christ her family and ex-husband refused to provide the basics of life to her, despite her late stage of pregnancy.  She was 9 month 13 days pregnant when she arrived back.  We immediately took her to get medical attention.  She was hospitalized, and once the medication for her urgent medical conditions were effective, the baby was taken caesarian.  Baby Moise arrived into the world October 17^th.  He has delicate features but he is healthy. 

Over the past month A’s elderly aunt has remained by her bedside as a helper.   To make things worse, A’s ex-husband has filed a lawsuit against her for ½ of the bride price.  If you remember, A’s step father demanded a divorce and sold all of A’s personal property to pay for her brother’s debt.  A is penniless except for the cloths on her back.  Pastor had a long encouraging talk with A telling her to speak boldly in the court about the events this past year.  Praise God A has received a kind defense attorney.  The final decision went in her favor: she does not have to repay the bride price and the father of the baby was ordered to pay for the medical treatment.  It is generally understood that by not providing her the needed medical attention his action demonstrated he was wanting her and the unborn baby dead.

On November 6^th the baby is being named Moses, or as in Niger Moise.  This was part of a church day service that included 11 baptisms and Pastor Appreciation.  The service was over 4 hours long and it included a hot meal at the end.  The pastor received many gifts including a live turkey.   Curiously the turkey was hobbled and sat quietly up front of the sanctuary for the last hour of service. 

The aunt briefly returned to the community telling people we Christians have treated A with much love and compassion.  They are astonished that we do not force people into our religion and that we are good and kind people.  She is interested in coming to our church and seeing more.  A cousin has come to visit and was glad to hear all the good reports and she too is interested in knowing more about this loving God.

 The young refugee girl at the safe house has begun her training to become a tailor.  She is excited and eager to learn this trade, it will give her an opportunity to provide for herself and her son in the future.  There had been a potential suitor, however, she put the matter before the Lord and as a result has ended the relationship.

I have been doing a ministry review of the safe house with Esther so we can understand each other’s expectations, and see how God is working through this ministry.

Thank you for your faithful prayers.

Good news from the women’s prison.  Two more women have turned their lives to Jesus.  One of the women was a part of a family that was involved in revenge killing.  She saw that hate and bitterness was killing her and her family and she wanted that to end in her life.  Pray for U and M and their new faith in Christ. 

With a full schedule, each week we have many opportunities to share the gospel with our students. Over the course of the week we are engaged in relationships with over 60 students and individuals. We rejoice that we are given this opportunity to speak into the lives of children, youth and adults in Niger. Grace was moved to tears this week during the beginners' literacy class. These individuals are making great progress in their writing skills. So proud of them, their persistence and perseverance is paying off. Please pray for one young woman A, she is 16 eyars old, and has failed out of the public school system. We have been working with her to teach her to read and write in Hausa, since this is the language she speaks. We had an educational consultant come in and provide us with suggestions. Sadly, she has profound learning disabilities that prevents her from being able to consistently read even 2 letter words. We are working with her mom, also a literacy student, to be her helper and make some special learning tools for them to work with at home. The English students are making great progress, so we are doing the occasional Thursday night English movie night at our home. We had a great response to the film "Season of Gray", an adaptation of the story of Joseph to modern times in rural U.S.

Oct 27^th we purchased plane tickets for home assignment next year.  We found an outstanding saving such that both of us are flying for the price of less than one ticket.  July 1^st 2017 we depart, and will be flying to Toronto first.  We will likely spend some time doing medical checkups in Ontario before heading west.  We are so excited, and look forward to seeing you all once again.

Are you considering missions?  Consider Niger or other countries where people have not had the opportunity to hear the gospel. Check out the www.joshuaproject.net.  Check out the prayer link and ask God how He wants you to respond.  

Blessings to you all,
Orest and Grace Pelech