Easter Blessings

Happy Easter everyone,
We are humbled and grateful
for the sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour.
We pray this Easter will be a special time to pause
and recognize this amazing gift we are offered.

CULTURE NOTE . . .
Tsoho = old man            Tsohowa = old man        
wife = uwargida         husband = miji or mai gida

Both expressions are a sign of respect here in Niger.

When we make inquiries as to the name of our students’ spouse it becomes interesting.  One man in language class could not remember his wife’s name, despite being married to her for 7 years.  One lady struggled to speak her husband’s name.

When teaching language, we need to be aware of these various cultural norms.   Here one never speaks their mother’s name.  And if a peer happens to have the same name as your mother, you would call her translated “like my mother” rather than call her by her proper name.

It is fun explaining that when we are speaking to one another and using the other person’s name, in our culture that is respect.  And to call a person in the English world, old man or old woman is also disrespectful.  We have these interesting discussions as we teach about our culture, not for them to necessarily use it, but for them to understand us when we interact with one another.

WEATHER . . .
It is warming up again.  The transition has happened quickly. Power outages are reoccurring now.  Once again no access to city water most of the day.  No problem, we have a well now.

HEALTH . . .
Praise that we are both feeling better.  Orest has removed bananas from his diet and he feels so much better. I saw a doctor in Galmi and received treatment for arthritis that I did not know I had.  Pain free is so nice after 8 months.  We are both able to sleep better and feel more productive.

SUMMER SCHOOL VACATION and DVB . . .
We are considering running a week-long DVBS program in English for the children attending our English classes, teaching songs, games and Bible lessons in English.  This is in the early development stage.  We are hoping to recruit the help of a number of young people to help us, who are excellent in Hausa and English.

APPROACHING EASTER . . .
Once again we are planning to host a Seder at our home for our missionary colleagues. The week prior to Easter is spring break from school. Due to the second run-off election, schools will be closed a few days sooner because the schools are the voting locations. Our children will come for Easter weekend.

ESL . . .
This morning one of our Hausa students (35 years old) stopped by the house to say she was off to the market to purchase food for the church celebration tomorrow.  Why would this be significant?  This is the first time she has been trusted with this task.  This is the first time she has been able to read the grocery list of items for the food preparation.  A moment of celebration occurred and giving God the praise.  She is so happy and proud of her achievement.  Thank you for participating in bring dignity to this woman.  A highlight in each lesson in the devotional Orest prepares.  He encourages the students to reflect and give responses.  The common practice is to be preach to and not to engage in individual reflection, so this is challenging and an enriching experience for them.

ANSWERED PRAYER . . .
When S. came to stay at the safe house, her sister in law removed her children from the private Christian school they had been attending for the past 3 years.  This happened on a Sunday morning.  The church was mobilized to pray for the situation. The next day her ex-husband told his sister to return the children to the school.  The place they were staying was under the supervision of a Pastor.   Having learnt that S. is now a sister in Christ, he has assured her that her children would now be considered his children since they are now brother and sister.  Praise God.

GETTING HELP . . .
We were happy to be able to hire two young men from the church to help around the house last Saturday afternoon.  The ceiling fans are positioned rather high up and beyond our reach with extension tools and step stool.  We were grateful to get the fans and windows all clean.  Windows need to be removed and cleaned very quickly then returned so that unwelcome critters don’t enter the house.  As it is we have been trying to catch 2 mice which took the opportunity to take up residence.  One down, one to go.

OUR FAMILY . . .
Our family has expanded to include a young girl call Barra.  She is about 11 years old.  Her family is of another faith mixed with other activities.  Barra was no longer wanted by this family, including grandparents, so she found her way into Sani and Saratou’s care.  She had been emotional and mentally scarred because of events when living with her family.  She has now had the opportunity to have access to some healing ministries and we are happy to report she is now peaceful and happy.  She has given her life to Christ and become part of the group of peers at church.  I have taken the time to make a few items of clothing for her, as her own clothes were in tatters.

WOMEN'S PRISON . . .
We continue to visit regularly. During this past week many of the children had a black streak of makeup on their foreheads.  During the visit they pulled out the eyeliner they use.  Putting eye liner on babies and young children is common practice to make them more attractive.  However, this eyeliner was a black dollop in plastic wrap with an application stick.  They explained this product was made from the residue of burnt car tire rubber. It’s cheap and it’s all they could afford.

May the blessings of the Lord guide you,
protect you and be with you on Easter and always.

Grace & Orest Pelech

Greetings Family & Friends,

PRISON MINISTRY

Please pray for the new believers in the women’s prison, that they would spend time in God’s Word and understand that God Almighty wants to have a personal relationship with them. 

Pray for J. and S. who have been released and unfortunately have returned to prostitution.  S. keeps visiting the prison and is frequently at the prison when we come to visit.  I believe these are God- appointed moments in which we can continue to show God’s love and compassion for her.

Last week was the trial for the first believers in prison, M. and S.  We full expected M. to be released, and to our astonishment she was given 10 years.  It is a long story.  However, there is a faint hope she could be released in 3 or 6 months for other reasons. Pray she will grow in faith and trust in God.   S. on the other hand was released from prison, which we give thanks for.  She will be our first woman in our safe house.  She is a trained nurse and will be looking for work and then her own place as finances will allow her.

Pray that Esther and I would be effective messengers of God’s love and hope, and that we communicate well His Word to these women.

Personally, the prison ministry has imparted on my heart the amazing glory of our Lord and Savior as I see His work and impact on the lives of the women in prison.  This ministry has been a wonderful blessing to me as well.

We have met with the court-appointed lawyer for M. and S., and Saturday we hosted him along with Pastor Benji and Esther to express our appreciation for his work.  He was put in a very difficult position and did his best under the circumstances.  He also happens to be the local regional Child Advocacy lawyer.  We are becoming increasingly aware of the need for safe places for unwanted children.  Currently, there is no services available in Maradi.  An orphanage is not a long-term solution.  The scriptures remind us again and again that it is the role of the church to care for the fatherless.  Pray the church will feel called to be an instrument of grace and mercy to the hundreds of unwanted children.  This whole matter grieves our souls and we seek prayer and wisdom on this potential ministry option.

Pray that Pastor Abdou would receive approval to minister in the men’s section of the prison.  Orest would then accompany Pastor Abdou on these visits.  There are many lost souls within the prison.

COMING ELECTION

We are approaching national election time in Niger.  There are 15 candidates running for president.  They all have a national agenda.  Each party is represented by a different color.  Currently the city is very colorful.  Light standards and every kind of moving vehicle are adorned with colored fabric for an individuals’ favorite candidate.  It kind of looks like there is a parade, every day.  Because of the large number of candidates there will likely be a number of run off votes.

Pray that peace remains in the country throughout this process.  Pray that an excellent leader would be elected, a leader that cares about the well-being of the people of Niger.

STRANGE HAPPENING

The lunar pull was so strong at the end of January that for several nights our water reservoir tank would refill to overflowing without the use of any power.  That means, the water traveled from the 100 meters depth to the top of the reservoir tank 9 meters above ground.  Strange but true.

ENGLISH AND LITERACY CLASSES

We are encouraged by our students bringing their friends to the English classes being held in our home.  Our range of contacts into the community is growing bigger and bigger.  We are very excited by the intelligence displayed by some of the students and the enthusiasm by our M student. 

Pray for us to express the message of God’s Word clearly in our Literacy and English classes.

TOMATO, ONION AND CARROT SEASON

It is peak season for tomatoes. Canning has been underway. Tomato soup, salsa, and sauce have all been made.  Glad it’s not hot season.

WEATHER

Niger has been experiencing an unusually long cold season.  We are grateful for the break from the heat and the break with lower power bills.

We remain excited and encouraged by the ministry opportunities we have in Maradi.  We are especially enthused about the local people God places in our lives.  We feel particularly blessed that God keeps us so occupied with these ministries and these wonderful people.  Praise God.

There is no doubt that we praise God for the faithfulness of all of you who so wonderfully support us and continue to support us.  Please know that we feel the blessings of your prayers in our lives in Niger.  Thank you all.

Faith does not make things easy, it makes them Possible.   Luke 1:37

Blessings to you all,

Grace & Orest Pelech

Greetings Dear Friends & Family,

We echo the message of the angel over 2000 years ago.

"Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom His favour rest."

Luke 2:14

GOOD NEWS

The prison ministry team have been burdened about the women being released from prison.  Most of the women have been divorced while in prison and returning to family is often not an option. Once again we see God’s hand at work. A place has been made available to start a safe house for women being released.  This will allow for ongoing discipleship to new believers and provides a safe environment to transition back into the community.

Pray this will be ready soon.

Each weeks visit to the prison presents new and interesting experiences.  On one occasion we had been talking with the women about prayer when an inmate came in crying. The crying quickly turned to wailing, telling the women in the room, that we are messengers’ from God with the message of salvation for them. She was begging to leave the prison because of God’s presence there, which did not allow her to worship her idol.  She became very disruptive and like Acts16:18 we prayed over her to be silent.  She immediately became calm and fell asleep. In our subsequent visits she has been quietly attentive to what we had to say.  She was likely possessed by an evil spirit that controlled her.  Due to the nature of her crime she will likely be in prison a long time and this same evil spirit likely contributed to the events that brought her to this place.

Several to the woman have been released, we are happy to report one of the three returned to her father’s house, however, two others were claimed by the Madam from the prostitute camp.  We have gone to the camp this past week and were able to visit with one woman. The other one was out at the time.  It was bizarre to be greeted by name by one of the first men we encountered.   I mentioned him in a previous letter as K. who was causing problems at our home compound. He is the son of our guard and has caused them, A and S, much sorrow.  Pray for K. as it appears he seems to call the prostitute camp area home.

Interestingly, several of the same male inmates are always close to the entrance where we go into the women’s section.  They recently have asked us for a Bible and we were able to supply their request; they said that they had previously attended Church or raised by believers. Currently there is no one serving the men’s side of the prison.  We can only have brief conversation with these inmates, but the team is able to encourage them weekly.

Pray for return visits to the prostitution camp and opportunity to give the message of hope and freedom in Christ. Pray for all the people trapped in this life and the courage to start a new life.

Pray that a local Christian man would respond to the opportunity to go into the prison on a regular basis to minister.

Over the past month, both Orest and I have had malaria.  I did a course of treatment, Orest’s case was milder and the symptoms were treated as they appeared.

-Thank God, for He is the Great Physician and we have recovered.

At this time we have 11 ESL or literacy classes we are preparing for each week.  Every class involves using the scriptures.  Several have discipleship training as part of the program.  The classes are being well received and seem to be enjoyed by the participants.  We are enjoying making new relationships in the local community.  We are planning a Christmas party in two weeks, when we will invite everyone for an evening of watching the film “The Nativity”.

Pray for our Christmas party and that God’s Word will minister to the hearts of our students.

The first week of December is already gone and there is definitely a chill in the air here. Night time temps dip down to 15 degrees with daytime up to 30.  This is accompanied with strong winds, which means dust, and lots of it.  Daily the house needs to be wiped down because of the fine particles that settle on everything.  We look outside at the limited visibility, hear the wind howl, and we are reminded of snow storms.

On the 24^th and 25^th we will be preparing a large amount of food for the unbelieving neighbours of the church, as well as the entire prison.  We are hoping we will be able to have all the inmates come out to the common area, where Pastor Benji will give them the message of Christmas.  We will be in Galmi for the 26^th and 27^th to celebrate Christmas with our family.

Pray for many people to have the opportunity to hear God’s message over this Christmas season.

December 18^th is the celebration of independence in Niger, and this year’s celebration takes place in Maradi.  The city has been busy preparing for the past several months.  Road improvement, street lights, and general facelifts.  It has made movement about the city very crazy and new road closures happen daily without notification.  We look forward to the completion of work, but grateful that the city can benefit from these improvements.  We will be attending some events with a couple who are our ESL students so we can learn and understand the significance of the events.

Pray for peaceful joyful celebrations to take place.  This morning in church we were reminded by church leaders that the officials are concerned that people may try to take the opportunity during this celebration to be disruptive.

Pray for events the churches are hoping to host during this celebration to bring the Good News to the visitors of the city.

As rivers dry up in the east part of the country it will once again make it easier for the B. H. troublemakers to enter into Niger.

Pray for the military forces to be diligent and united in its resolve to keep such individuals from entering Niger.

Pray as Orest has contact with a man who may be able assist in setting up some men’s ministries in Maradi.

Blessings to You All,

Grace & Orest Pelech

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It has been a year since we have returned to Niger.  The year has been filled with lots of change from the previous term.  New city, several moves, new team, language learning, new dog, different ministry expectations, let’s not forget the horrific driving situation.  It should be a recipe for stress, but it is not.  We are thriving in our new environment.  We have felt the presence and abiding love of God throughout the year, and in all this we have continued to find healing and restoration from the past.  The scars are fading and we are grateful to our Lord and Maker who is our Great Physician.

Launching into Year #2. God works in mysterious ways, His ways are higher than our ways.

Literacy

Due to a new believer wanting to be able to read the Scriptures for herself, literacy began in the prison.  Now it would seem that literacy is in demand in our local community. Not everyone has the opportunity to go to school.  The tribal heart language is Hausa and church is done in the heart language, so we have begun a literacy class in our home. We thought 3 people were coming, however 8 came and we just got news that more may be coming.  We are grateful for this challenge.  It will also be a challenge to our Hausa knowledge.  Pray for us and the students that God will use each of us to become more knowledgeable and bold in our faith. 

It has been interesting to see the change of heart in the students.  I was introducing numbers and they thought that it was irrelevant to reading, so I asked how they planned to find anything in the Scriptures without understanding the chapter and verse numbers. The transformation was instantaneous in their desire to learn numbers. Literate adults are more passionate in helping the next generation to get educated.

 

English as a Foreign (Second) Language - EFL

Since most people already speak 2 or more languages it is better to refer to English as a foreign language. The public school system here does teach English, as English is the language of science, medicine, and technology worldwide.  However, EFL classes are still in high demand for those who want to advance their current knowledge or for those whose previous school did not provide this option.

We collected many resources while in Canada and look forward to putting them into use starting today.  The program uses God’s word as our text book.  It’s a program developed by a godly woman and educator that can meet the needs of all levels of language learning.

Pray that God will use us in this endeavour to demonstrate and share His word with others, and that we can foster respect and friendship with our students.

Women’s Prison Ministry

I stand amazed.  Nothing is too great or small for the Lord we serve.

God had put a burden on Esther’s and my heart for the women in the sex trade in the city of Maradi.  We wanted to be able to tell them that they are loved by God and by us.  As you know, several months ago 6 had been brought into prison, however their ongoing drug use rendered them inattentive, with some unusual behaviour.  The warden discovered what was happening and did a lock down in the women’s section of the prison.  Therefore last week when we arrived the women were drug free, peaceful and attentive.  Instead of the literacy class we had planned we took the opportunity to speak with these ladies about what God was speaking to each of our hearts.  God also used that moment to speak to them and each came to know Jesus that day.  One of our secret believers also made her new faith known to everyone.  Last Friday Esther received a call from one of the ladies in prison with two stories to share.  First, one was faced with the choice of sleeping with someone in authority in the system and in turn obtain release.  She said no because she wished to follow her new nature in Christ. The second story was of another woman having seen the transformation in the other women and wished to follow Jesus.  Presently 11 of the 18 woman in the compound are now Christians. They are encouraging and looking out for one another. When we returned a week later, the first question they asked was “How do we pray?” They have only known rote prayers.  I was really pleased with the community that is developing between the women within the prison.

Additional Points of Prayer

Sani and Saratou’s house has deteriorated considerably during rainy season.  Sani owns other land and they wish to build. Pray for them to have resources and wisdom in construction.

Mama A’i, Saratou’s maternal grandmother is battling cancer. 

Pray for the church and its leaders to be people of righteousness and integrity

Pray that appropriate opportunities for employment and housing would become available for women being discharged from prison.

Since 2012 there have been dialogues taking place in most major centers in Niger, including Maradi. These discussions bring Christian and Muslim leaders together with the goal of fostering mutual respect and understanding between these two groups. The hope is that the dialogues they participate in will be an avenue to peace, cooperation and resistance to radicalism in the country, particularly to help stem violence and intolerance like we witnessed this past January.  Our local pastor and friend Pastor B. has been an active participant in this process, and has been the executive secretary .  He has won the respect and friendship within the M. community leadership.  However, he feels his time is now better served returning to his first passion, that of teaching at the Bible school and leading the church.  Pray for Pastor B to endeavour to answer God’s call to equip and educate people so they can serve Niger and the church well.  Pray that the above mentioned dialogues will continue in a constructive manner.

Pray with us that God will use us, and that we would be willing workers in each opportunity that presents itself.

Be Joyful in hope, Patient in affliction, Faithful in prayer.

Romans 12:12

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Blessings to you all,

Grace and Orest Pelech

August 24th was close to the 3-month mark since the drilling of a well in our backyard began, and today for the first time we have pumped well water into the holding tank.  We have continued to have city water on a regular basis, as it is rainy season, but we know this is only a temporary situation.  The other good thing about having the back yard cleaned up of well-drilling equipment and various things is that the cockroach problem seems to have dissipated.

We have been also been having an array of electrical and plumbing problems within the house, typical because there are no construction codes in this country.   We have had some "interesting" experiences in working with tradesmen, some trained and some less trained.

We had a grand time with the plumber fixing things in the house.  It is quite interesting when the plumber brings his supplies then goes outside looking for a tin can and some paper.  He then sits on the floor in the bathroom, lights the paper in the tin can and uses the subsequent flames to melt some of the ends of the pipes to use as a method of gluing.  So far it seems to have worked well.  We were glad the windows were open. We also had clogged pipes for him to work on.  It seems that when the house was being built contractors just shoved large stones down the drain.  The plumber took some rebar and just rammed the drain and started pulling out all these rocks.  No more plugged drain.

To get the drilling equipment into the yard a hole had to be made into the existing wall around the house.  This has now been replaced with a new metal car door.  The guy who made the door actually had that completed in a couple of days. It took longer to get a mason in to do the concrete work and install the door.

All of this has been a good learning experience for us.

Grace just had a session with the women in prison about the character of God.  They had good discussion with the ladies.  There is a lady who has been released from prison who came back on Wednesday to participate in the devotion time.  There are also women telling us that they are praying to Jesus during their typical M prayer time.  Hallelujah for these secret believers!  Please pray for them.  Our last visit revealed a significant change in the population because it included a fair number of prostitutes, which has not been typical in the past.  Pray as we seek to serve these new women with love and compassion.

Rebecca, who participates in the women's ministry had a sprained ankle.  We are grateful the situation was not too severe.  We have now decided to support her as she returns to nursing school.  She had started the program about a year ago but had to quit due to a lack of funds.  We believe that being able to obtain a good career education will be transforming for her and her family, especially since Rebecca is one of the oldest in a family of 17 siblings.  When we got her enrolled in the program again, she actually started the term 2 weeks late and had a lot of catching up to do in her studies, but seems to be doing well.  Pray that she would be successful in her nurses training.  She is in a three-year program. 

August 13 was a rather tense day for us.  We received a call late in the evening that our grandson Samuel was in the Galmi Hospital.  We went early Friday and spent that weekend with the family.  The Galmi doctors told us that the situation Thursday night was critical and they were worried about losing Samuel.  When we got to the hospital on Friday Samuel was on oxygen and sleeping.  When he woke he gave us a big smile and he just seemed to get better and better.  One of the first things he did was reach for grandma and contentedly crawled into her arms.  At one point they took the oxygen off so they could check him after an hour.  Samuel went for a walk with grandpa and eventually looked up at grandpa, gave a big smile, and still clutching grandpa's hand he started running.  Samuel got better all that day and was released Saturday morning.  Sara and Samuel spent the day with us at the Galmi guest house.  Praise God that Samuel got better and also for the great medical treatment he received at Galmi Hospital.  We are especially grateful for Dr. Matt.

We are anticipating having Sara and Samuel come to our place when Sara takes her holiday.  In preparation for this Grace has taken a refrigerator carton and made a car for Samuel.  It looks really cool -  grandmas!!!!

We also had the chance to go visit the local Church's regional kids camp for a couple of days.  Went to see what was happening, listen to the language and visit Sara and Samuel.  The camp was in a village close to Maradi.

Orest is having opportunities to engage with the local Christian businessmen for prayer.  Pray that this will develop as a method to encourage local Christian businessmen in their work in a very tough environment.  Again we see how God has set up these unique situations and we are grateful to respond to His leading.

Continue to pray for the local church.  Pray that the church will mature in the Word and transform hearts and attitudes to develop Christian character.  Pray for church leadership to demonstrate godly behaviour.

Pray for us as we transition from language learning to more ministry activity as God leads us. Pray that we would seek His purpose and will and not our own, and that we would be bold.

Pray that Esther, our language nurturer, will become more of a ministry partner.

Pray for A and S and they face the challenges of an unemployed capable son (K) who does not share their faith.  Pray that they would be firm and fair while showing Christ's love to him.   K. has also been using drugs, and his behaviour was becoming harmful to A and S.

Blessings to All,
Orest and Grace Pelech

Mailing address: B.P. 121, Maradi
Republic de Niger, West Africa

Canadian mailing address:
c/o 721 Swailes Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R2V 4N6