Travel Update

Our journey Aug 2 to Sep 11, 2012

We arrived in Winnipeg around 7 pm after 26 hours between flights and airport stays.  We were exhausted.  While in Winnipeg we had the opportunity to visit family and the GNM Church, which supports us.  We are so grateful to Orest’s sister who provided a place for us to stay, and to others who supplied meals and transportation.  We were able to do a presentation at the church and are grateful for the strong support we received.

After Winnipeg we travelled to Lloydminster with Grace’s brother.  While in Lloydminster we were blessed with the opportunity to stay at a beautiful cottage trailer in the country.  This was great because it truly gave a chance to rest after many hectic days.  After doing our presentation at our home church SCC we were overwhelmed by the response of people who wanted to spend time and visit.  We were totally booked during the week between dental, eye, and appointments with 54 people.

While we were tired we were also greatly encouraged and inspired by all the people we visited with and by the outstanding level of hospitality and fellowship we received.

We were blessed again as wonderful friends drove us from Lloydminster to Didsbury and even had the graciousness to let us have time to stop and visit with friends in Bashaw.  We spent a few days fellowshipping and  relaxing in Didsbury with the former pastor couple from our home church.  Again blessed by dear friends whose home is peaceful and hospitality is gracious and we are treated more like family then friends.

Our experience in Canada, seeing family, friends and supporters was amazing.  As missionaries going home for the first time we did not know what to expect.  What we received was an incredible gift from God in terms of hospitality, friendship, inspiration, encouragement and an overall sense of love.  We are eternally grateful to all who show so much support to us in this call we received to serve in Niger, Africa.  We are also grateful that SIM wanted Orest to go to the international Treasurers Conference in North Carolina and that we were able to add some holiday time to be able to do this trip.

Aug 21 we arrive in Charlotte, NC.  There we spend a few days at the Charlotte SIM guesthouse.  Most of our time is spent in actually shopping for needed items to ship to Galmi – for the guesthouse, for ourselves and gifts.  Amazing how much time can be spent on shopping when cost, practicality and weight are all important.

After Charlotte we would spend time in Charleston where we experienced hospitality of short term medical missionaries who come to Galmi on a regular basis.  We had the opportunity to visit some historical sites and experience directly the deluge of rain that was part of hurricane Isaac.  We valued the time with our hosts and with other missionaries who were also in the area.

The final leg of our journey was in Asheville where we would spend time at the Billy Graham Training Center.  Here Orest would attend the Treasurers Consultation for about 7 days and Grace would participate in a Stormie Omartian prayer conference.

Grace would experience the joy of meeting 11 new sisters of faith who continue in contact with each other.  She would also be able to tell about Galmi and enlist the interest of 2 potential new medical missionaries to Galmi.

Orest would be able to participate with an international team of financial missionaries with varied backgrounds and experiences.  He would hear many testimonies and would be enthralled by the complexities involved in maintaining an international organization where rules from various countries add a complicated and sometimes confusing set of operational rules for those involved.  It is this complexity that establishes the need for administrative strength in such an international organization.  Other organizations have faltered, not because of the strength of their ministries but because of the lack of organizational strength in their administrative bodies.   Orest feels that SIM has a solid strength in this area.

After many hours of travel we returned to Niger on September 12.  After waiting far too many days we received our driver’s licenses and returned to a Galmi that was much greener due to a good rainy season.  We also returned to a Galmi that was experiencing a dearth of deaths due to malaria and cholera.  A hospital that is overrun with patients and an extraordinary medical team that continues to endure despite the hardships.   There have been many rumblings about protests and other difficulties but we remain calm and safe.

It is a blessing to be home at Galmi.  To have our first meal at Galmi with Sani and Sara and to see that our porch had been completed.  For now our garden is green and lush – so far lots of green and not a lot of veggies, but we hope that will soon change.
We want to thank all of you for your support and your love.
Blessings
 
Orest and Grace

Puppet

July 15, 2012 we were resposnsible for the missionary Sunday service on the compound.  As part of the service Orest did a puppet presentation.  He did up a script to start with, Based on the first miracle of Jesus in John 2.  Grace helped with the skit.

After the skit he did a musical number that involved two young ladies dancing along to the song.  This was a true international routine as one of the ladies was from Nigeria and the other from the United States and we are, of course, from Canada.

By the way, the fellow in the first picture is called Douda which is Hausa for David.

Desk Building

Last Saturday Pastor John, from California, and Orest went to the local public school to start building desks.  Things started off slowly as there were several issues to deal with. 

The first problem was taking off the existing bolts so that the new desk tops and seats could be added.  Orest was happy that we had some DW40 to put on the bolts to loosen the screws.  However, when they went to take the bolts off they realized that the problem was the fact that the bolts were welded to the screws.  Feeling a bit discouraged they headed back to the compound and went to the shop.  There they found a bolt cutter and were able to obtain a box of replacement screws and nuts.

Pastor John had the job of cutting off the bolts, which first required ripping off some rather old and dilapitated pieces of wood first.

Orest set to measuring the wood to drill holes for placementt on the desks.  This led to the second problem as he could not create a template for the desks.  Each desk was slightly different as to where the holes were so it required measuring every desk to get the proper holes drilled.  Needless to say this was time consuming.

The third factor was the heat and humidity that just made work difficult.

Overall, however, the day was satisfactory as we did manage to complete 14 desks for the school.  There remains wood to complete another 18 desks and we hope to do more.  At least we now have the procedure set so future work should go more smoothly.

We found that with the humidity the varnish was not drying very well.  In the last couple of shots you see Orest with his hand on the desk which actually started to glue to the desktop.  Took a bit of effort to get his hand free.

The first picture shows Pastor John sitting in the first desk we completed.

We are very grateful to Pastor John and his assistance in this project.

School Work

Saturday, June 23, 2012 was a day to gather up the lumber we had been accumulating and start work on repairing desks for the local public school.  We were so grateful that we had access to a table saw that is used by the construction crews at Galmi.

Other than Grace and Orest we also had Pastor John from the California and our friend Ali who teaches at the school.  Pastor John is here with his wife and two other people for a few weeks.  We were glad that he was willing to pitch in and help.  He is going to continue varnishing the wood we cut for the rest of the week.  On Friday we are planning to head to the school and start putting together the desks.

We do not have the best quality lumber available but we were able to cut out enough pieces to do 32 desks.  According to Ali it is so much better than what they have and they will be happy.  We were so happy that Ali wanted to be included in the work.  He worked really hard at ensuring that the wood was well sanded with clean edges for the kids.

John and Orest were doing the cutting, and when they finished they set to helping with the sanding of the pieces.  Grace and Ali were sanding but after a while Grace started varnishing the wood.  It is a lot of work but it was enjoyable.

Kids Club

Every Wednesday we host a Kids Club for village children who come from non-christian homes.  We have anywhere from 6 to 11 children attend.  Grace prepares a story, with a book or a felt display board, and practices her French and Hausa.  Saratou provides more specific translation.  Currently they are studying the book of Daniel.  After class we serve them water and usually fruit for which they are very grateful.

They are very attentive during class and you can see this amazing gleam in their eyes as they watch the stories unfolding before them.

Please pray for this club, these children and their families.

June 3 Service

Here are some images from the June 3, 2012 EERN Church service.

The adult ladies group were all dressed in the same outfit.  The Church got worked up for the Sunday School class - there was lots of dancing through their presentation.

Biki

So on June 9 we celebrated a Biki which is a local baby naming ceremony.  The lady who had the baby delivers food to the compound and her husband works in the hospital.  The Biki started at 7:00 a.m. but when we get there, on time, the place is already filled with people.  The place is the home of the newborns parents.  Outside all the men are seated either in chairs or on the ground on mats.  The women go inside.  The preacher is already giving his sermon which he completes in about 20 minutes.  After that the baby is brought out, prayed over, and his name was announced – Elisha.  Then comes the food, brought out on large trays that look like garbage can lids.  They bring out pails of water so we can wash our hands and then we eat the food with our hands – the right hand only.  The meal is mostly rice, and Toro which is a corn pounded into flour and cooked to the consistence of very stiff cream of wheat and sauce, thickened with okra to make it stringy and sticky – quite hot.  The platters are placed on the ground and people gather around and dig in and eat together.  Then we simply wash our hands afterward.  As the meal was going on a ram was brought through the area and slaughtered right next to where the men were eating – ah Africa.

The Friday before the Biki Grace had the opportunity to go to a home in the village and help prepare food for the Biki. 

The first picture is Grace with the baby.