prayers for 2007

As the new year is now in full swing we wanted to ask you to be praying for some specific people by name this year. I have put 5 names so that you might lift one name each day of the week up to the Father. Parker and I have already seen God working through your prayers since we've been here and feel that God is moving in these individuals' lives.

Monday - Abdul Salem
As mentioned a couple months ago, we feel that Abdul was and is our man of peace. He breaks all the rules for how we learned West Africans would treat us. From day one, he has truly been a friend. I am able to spend about 3-5 hours with him each week. He is a shop owner and his business stays open from 7 am to 10 pm and there is always a crew of guys hanging out at his shop. Abdul has been my bridge to these guys who are just now beginning to befriend me. I have shared the gospel with Adbul and he has a Bible now. Pray that God would convict him of his sin and need for a Savior. Pray that God would show him the emptiness of the religion he devotes himself to currently. Pray that God would build our friendship stronger each week. Abdul turned 30 on January 27th.

Tuesday- Abduli
Abduli is the head of the compound where many of our closest relationships live. He is father of Yacouba and Hilema. Chiddey and Z are not his children but live in the same compound. His wife and mother (we call her grandmother) love Parker despite not being able to communicate yet. Parker is counting down the days when she will be able to communicate with these women. Pray that Abduli, who is a devout Muslim but very friendly to us, will come to faith in Christ. Unless he accepts Christ, it will be almost culturally impossible for anyone else in his compound to follow after Christ. Abduli works at the radio station where we weekly broadcast a gospel message.


Wednesday - Haisa
Haisa is Parker's language helper. She comes over, or Parker goes to her house, 2 or 3 times a week to practice French. Haisa is very rare as most women in Ayorou don't speak any French. She speaks no English so her and Parker have no bridge language except for French. Even so, their friendship continues to grow. As she has helped Parker with some of our memorized French monologues, she has read and heard Parker read her testimony, a short gospel presentation, and several Scripture verses. Pray that God would speak to her through His Word and through Parker's witness.


Thursday - Abouba
Abouba brings our water every 2 days. He speaks no French, but again, thanks to your prayers and God's faithfulness, our friendship continues to grow. It's amazing how much we can communicate through actions. Abouba is not Songhai so he will not directly be targeted as we begin to focus our ministry but he will continue to have lots of contact with us. He does not have either parent living in his compound. Pray that God would give this water bearer the living water of Christ.







Friday - Hassane
Many of you have already been praying for our guard Hassane and we thank you. We have truly developed a great friendship with him. He has had several meals with us (he loves Parker's cooking - but who doesn't?) and we've had lots of card games. However, we sense as of late, that he is coming under attack either from physical or spiritual sources. He seems to be, in some ways, withdrawing from his closeness to us. We don't know if he has received pressure from friends who say he's getting too close to the Christians or if it's from the Enemy. Either way, we see it as spiritual warfare. Pray that God would open his eyes to the light of the Gospel which is Jesus Christ. Pray that he would see the truth of the gospel lived out in the way Parker and I show him the love of Christ.

no one else in the world

There is absolutely no one else in the world that I'd rather go on this journey with than my husband, Mark Carney Phillips. Statistics say that after three months on the field, culture shock sets in and your marraige will begin to suffer due to it. Well I have 2 things to say to that statistic: (1) culture shock set in when I stepped foot off the plane but quickly went away as I have grown more and more in love with the people of Africa, and (2) how can my marraige suffer with a wonderful man like Mr. Mark Phillips?!!

As most of you know, this man is 100% crazy. He makes life so much fun, especially life in Africa! We absolutely have a blast with each other and his goofy self keeps me sane ... most of the time. There is never a dull moment in the Phillips household. I just wanted to dedicate a blog to my husband and let you see that Africa has not taken any of his spastic ways out of him ... they might have made it worse, actually!! And life on the field has not strained our relationship. Serving the Lord together and following Him in obedience together has only made our marraige stronger. I am more in love with him today than ever!

And how can you not be in love with a crazy man like this ....

how funny went to scary

Have you ever prayed for something and then when God answered you say something to the effect of: "Oh, that's not how I was expecting it to go!" Well, that was the story of us a few weeks ago. Just before the new year, Parker sent one of our friends an email. Our friend had asked for specific prayer requests and Parker replied, "You know, things are going so well. We just want God to keep us humble ... whatever it takes." Boy, I wish she had left off that last part!

A few days later I began developing what I thought was constipation. Now, for all who know me, you immediately know 2 things: first of all, this is a first (all the medications we brought with us involve the other extreme); secondly, I was making jokes about this. I admit that I find a good chuckle in bathroom humor occassionaly ... okay, a lot! But my health grew less and less funny and more and more scary over the next few days.

After 8 days we decided to go to Niamey to get some medicine. The medicines didn't work as planned but instead put me in a ton of pain. For 2 days nothing was working and the pain was increasing (aka 8 rounds of laxatives & nada). A sonogram revealed I had some issues internally. The seriousness hit home when our leader told us to begin preparing ourselves mentally for having to go to South Africa by myself for surgery and Parker staying in Niger by herself.

You see, there is no Urgent Care here in Niger. While most of the world has grown in technology and advancments in medicine, West Africa has remained pretty primitive. A friend told me that people don't go to the hospital here to get better, they go there to die. However,
I ended up being able to be treated in Niamey at a clinic by nurses with good reputations.

The cool (or scary) thing about health care here is that if you know what you are doing (or at least as much or more than the doctors) you can provide all the treatment yourself. You can go to the pharmacy, buy the needles and the IV bags and then have at it. So with a choice of who got to do the administration of my "medicines," I chose Parker to be my nurse for most of the process.

Well, my health has been restored and we've learned a new level of humility and dependence. We understand, first of all, that God is faithful. It's not because my health was restored, it's not because I didn't have to leave Parker and go to South Africa, and it's not because it all worked out so well. God's faithfulness is not just about health and happiness. Parker and I are learning to trust God in all circumstances. While we are confronted daily by conditional relationships and our own fluctuating emotions, it is so good to have a covenant God who keeps His Word. Our position in Christ will never change. Sickness, health, freedom, persecution, life or death or nothing can change the fact that God has taken sinful rebels and declared them righteous sons and daughters. I hope and pray that God continues to answer prayers in ways that we can't always understand.

meet Z

Meet "Z." (I don't know how to spell her name but it's pronounced Zee-lee-ay-too.)

As you can see, "Z" has grabbed our heart. She is a vivacious 2 year old who can go through 8 different emotions in the span of about 2 seconds. Two months ago, when she first met us, she cried everytime she saw us and had to be coerced to shake our hands. Now, when she sees us, she runs into the street yelling "Mark ... Parker!"

She is a typical 2 year old, who loves getting her way and lets you know (in a very loud & sassy way) when she doesn't. And sass is what she has! She makes us laugh so hard sometimes when she gets going on her tangents. Unlike most 2 year olds you know, Z wanders her streets freely, goes from house to house to visit neighbors, is sent to local vendors to get items for her house and does it all by herself. But this is the life of an African child from when they can walk and talk.

We love the spunk Z has now but what she doesn't know is that her "spunk" will soon not be tolerated as a woman in a Muslim society. Her sassy ways will soon be replaced by the toil and work she will have to do. She will soon no longer be running the streets, visiting freely as her responsibilities increase. Her chances for attending school are dim. Most likely she will attend school only when there is no work for her to do. As the only girl in her family, there will be no one else to help bear the load of her work and her window of freedom will slowly come to a close. She will be married at a young age, possibly as a multiple wife and be responsible for taking care of and feeding her family by working from sun up to sun down.

Please pray for Z. Pray that as she grows up, she will not be entrapped by the slavery of a Muslim society. Pray that she will find freedom and joy in the Lord, where the sass & spunk that He's gifted her with will be used to bring glory to Him. Pray that she would come to know the one true God and be consumed with the love He has for her.

a day in the life of ....

After spending 6 years serving in the local church I realized that in ministry there was (no matter what the calendar said) a typical day. Ministry and life overseas is not too different. Many have asked us what a typical day looks like and so this is our best attempt to give you a glimpse into what our day contains:

Almost every day involves language study with Cephas. We are rapidly approaching the end of our French study. Please pray that these last weeks will give us a solid foundation not just for the exit exam we'll take in March but for communication in West Africa. We usually spend about 4 hours with Cephas and then Parker and I both have people in Ayorou we practice with. We'll soon begin our study of Songhai - the much more commonly spoken and understood language. We are anxiously awaiting this study as the majority of people and especially the women and children don't speak French.

Almost every day will at some point involve hanging with kids (every day DOES involve kids coming by our house). We feel so blessed for the relationships we are building with these kids. With most kids here there is a simple conversation they have with white people. It goes like this: "Anasada (white man) cuado (gift)." Parker and I (or Kadija and Douda - our African names) are now greeted everywhere we go by our names and a handshake. The only thing we're petitioned for is our time. Each day more and more people (many who we don't think we know) shout out "Douda Mega" or "Kadija Mega" as we walk to the market. Pray for these children. Pray that Parker and I will be able to communicate the love of Christ with them. Pray that God will save them from generations and generations of following after false gods.

Our days also include aiding in the ministry here. This is from the Radio Station in Ayorou last week. We were promoting free immunizations that will be going on this week. We will be giving out 1500 meningitis vaccinations at the schools. The leaders of the community are very happy about this. Pray that God will continue to allow us to work and minister in Ayorou as we keep favor with the government. Pray that God would work in the hearts of people with influence. Also pray that there will be no reactions to these vaccines.

There is one thing that is included in every single day: FUN! Parker and I are having such a blast. We love laughing, we love being around each other, and we love the joy of serving Christ together! Pray for our relationship to continue to grow. Pray for our marriage. Pray for our lives to continue to be transformed to the image of Christ. Pray that we can laugh...alot.

So there is at least a glimpse of our days in Ayorou. There are trips to the market and the post office. There are dealings with keeping water in our tank. There is cards and tea. There is lots going on but underscoring it all is God drawing the Songhai people to himself. This is why we're here! Thank you for praying for us and the Songhai!