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