A well driller arrived at the house on June 10 with plans to drill 100 meters deep.  He still has not reached that depth because of various maladies with his equipment.  We have been 2 months and 10 days without water. On July 4 we had from the city water for 1 hour.  We were able to get water into the reservoir tank, amount unknown, since the tank is black and has no measuring device. On July 8, we had another hour of water from the city.  Well diggers still have not attained 100 meters.

Mama A’i has abdominal cancer, she has had surgery in Niamey and is currently receiving chemotherapy.  This is Saratou's maternal grandmother and a wonderful Christian woman.  Please pray for her. 

Pray that disciple classes in the local churches will strengthen the body of Christ.

Pray for our friendship and support of a local pastor’s family.  They face extraordinary challenges in their service, not just from outside forces, but from within their peer group.  They are deeply committed to operating with integrity and in obedience to God in all matters.

Sani and Samuel came and spent 10 days with us.  We had a great time.  We introduced Samuel to the washbasin pool.  What a delightfully bright child!  He has a very extensive vocabulary, and seems to learn very quickly.

Rain:  The first rain was early in June. Then no further rains in Maradi until this past weekend.  Saturday night we had a 4-hour rain.  We have never seen the likes of it before in Niger.  Rains generally last 1 hour, coming hard and fast.   The rain left us with some mop ups around the house.  Window systems could not handle the volume and spilt over into the house.  Entrances also could not manage the rain.  We are learning the uniquenesses of the house and adjusting.

The generator was purchased so there will be no more 3 days without power, creating a fridge and freezer crisis.  A very nice knowledgeable local friend came in and changed some of the wiring and lights in the house

Surprise, Grace has been writing Hausa children’s stories.  We purchased some plastic molded animals for Samuel's toy box here.  Because toys like this are not part of their normal experience she thought it would be nice to write some stories about each animal to help him understand what the animal is and general interesting child facts.  She was hoping this would also help give him the idea he can create his own stories for the animals.  We will wait and see. 

This has also become a language learning exercise with our language helper.  At first she did not get it, but now after 10 stories she is getting the process.  One of the first stories I wrote was about the camel that belonged to Souley's family and carried things on his back to take to market each week.  She struggled with why I would say he carried the things on his back, it was obvious to her that the camel did not carry it on his head or tail, everyone knew that.  Now she is understanding the concept and encouraging Grace to continue and publish so other Hausa children can enjoy the stories.  Currently, there are no books of this nature available in that language.  It had started as a love gift to Samuel and gives her great pleasure in the process and is a rich learning exercise

Interesting new development at the women’s prison. One of the team members, upon request from the ladies, has started literacy classes with the women.  They are eager, willing participants.  We hope this will be the beginning of literacy learning and the appreciation of education.  The literacy is being done in Hausa, not French, since these woman are Hausa speakers.  

Blessings to all,
Orest and Grace Pelech

Mailing address: B.P. 121, Maradi, Republic de Niger, West Africa
Canadian mailing address:
721 Swailes Avenue, Winnipeg, MB  R2V 4N6

Our updates are called blessings.  We want you to see how God blesses, provides, equips, goes before and is in every situation in our lives.  That is also our hope and prayer for your lives that you can see, feel, hear and experience God in your journey of life as well.  Sometimes remembering to be grateful and looking at past blessings can transform our present gloomy state of mind to that of praise and thanksgiving.

“The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him. Exodus 15:2” NIV

There is a song that comes back to memory, Count your blessings and name them one by one.

We are settling into the house in the city.  We understood this particular area of town has had a bad history of obtaining water during hot season.  Well, this was all true.  We have been over a month without water.  We have a few barrels which are filled on a regular basis.  Getting clothes washed has been a bit challenging.  PLEASE PRAY we can get water soon.  This past month has consistently been over 40 degrees.  We had been enjoying consistent power until the past two weeks.  Niger has been dependent on Nigeria for its sole source of power.  With political changes, the future of our power supply has become a point of interest in public debate.  Gratefully, we have purchased a generator with funds supplied by our church so we will not be subject to these problems.  

PRISON MINISTRY: A new team member, Faye, has joined us. We now split into two teams. One group works in discipleship of the new believers and the other group speaks with the general population. We have also been trying to give them things to occupy their hands. Our first hand sewing project demonstrated that this was a very new skill to many of the ladies. This time we are going in with a sampler with a few beginning stitches and will have them practice those before we start a new project. We have obtained some unique African artwork designs that should result in even more interest and enthusiasm. There is a variety of levels of difficulty in the artwork so they will progress through the projects as their skills improve.

Two weeks ago, there was a team doing Samaritan shoe box delivery in the prison. We were able to join this team and ensure that the women who had small children received a box for each child.

In the next few days we are expecting Saratou, Sani and Samuel to come and visit for two weeks. This is Sani's vacation time. On May 11th we were in Galmi to celebrate Samuel's second birthday. What a delightful time, lots of laughs and Samuel's reaction to chocolate cake was precious. Children are good medicine for the soul.

      Pray for:

• Our ongoing language learning.
• The grace to deal with the very hot temperatures.
• The church in Niger, that it would seek godly individuals to lead.
• The current leaders in the church to operate within God's purpose and with righteousness. 
• All believers to be salt and light to their family, friends, community and circles of influence.

Praise

For the wonderful relationships we have developed with godly individuals who wish to partner and minister alongside of us.

Blessings,

Orest & Grace Pelech

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

Canadian Mailing address:

721 Swailes Avenue, Winnipeg, MB  R2V 4N6

 

How good it is to greet you in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. We are blessed and thankful for God's constant goodness and provision in every circumstance.

We are happy to report that we have moved into the home that came to our attention back in December. We had the opportunity to get the help of several young men to move the heavy items. The first week was filled with various local trades person's finishing up small tasks throughout the house. We are busy resettling and unpacking all our personal effects this time. Orest is busy hanging drapes. With slight alterations we are able to make all the drapes from our home in Galmi, work for this house. We are grateful not to have the additional work and expenses to our move.

Orest has been doing regular work at the SIM office in Maradi one or two times a week depending on the needs.

Please pray for us as we travel about the city and country. We have experienced some very close calls. This week we both have had very uncomfortable experiences with very young children on the road. Today Orest missed a 2 year old child by just inches. The times Orest comes and goes from the SIM office is when children are going or leaving school.

We continue to work on our Hausa and are feeling more comfortable each time we explore new areas of town and try to engage people. People appreciate our efforts and we feel encouraged.

The country in general has quietened down, however, there is still incidents happening to individuals here and there. Rebecca is a young woman I am acquainted with. Her family compound was having water problems, so they needed to go to a community water fountain to obtain water. A dispute broke out between other individuals so they tried to bring peace to the situation, however, their intervention was responded to by hostility, and one of her sisters became a target of a severe beating including rocks to her head. One parent of the hostile child who kept picking fights told the offenders that since the little girl was Christian it would be alright to kill her. Thankfully, someone informed the Christian family as to what was happening and she was rescued from her attackers. The hospital would not treat the wounds without a police report, as a result the offending family members were all collected by police and held in custody. The Christian family pleaded with the police that they forgive the offenders and begged for their release. Again, the police were amazed by the forgiving nature of Christians to those who sought to harm them.

Continue to pray for Christians to remain unwavering and strong in their faith.

Pray they will be comforted and encouraged during these challenges.

Pray the people of God would be a light in this dark lost world.

 

For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.

Luke 21:36

 

Since our last newsletter, we had the opportunity to host 12 Canadian troops in our home. They happened to be participating in an international training exercise in the area where B.H. tried to make an insurgence into Niger. The government has been trying to identify B.H. sympathizers throughout the country. The Canadian troops were kind to leave us a gift of Canadian maple syrup . . . What a treasure!

PHOTO OF 9 OF OUR GUESTS

 

Esther, Rebecca and I have now made three visits to the woman's prison, with another scheduled this week. We are very encouraged by the response to our visits. We have certainly been made to feel that our visits are eagerly anticipated and welcome. We took some hand sewing material the past time to help them break up their time. It was good to see the guard participating as well. Please continue to pray that our words will be understood and life transformation and healing an take place. As of today please celebrate with us a new sister in the kingdom. Praise God. The needlework started last time was proudly displayed to us.

 

REBECCA, ESTHER AND GRACE

Pray that we will have opportunity to meet people in our new community and begin to develop relationships with them.

Thank you for your faithful prayers. We are so encouraged and delighted when we hear back from you when we send out a prayer letter. We would love it if you would share your news with us as well so we too can pray for you.

Blessings,
Grace and Orest Pelech

Mailing address:
BP 121, Maradi, Niger
Republic of Niger, West Africa

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