party on ayorou, party on

We recently celebrated Thiago's birthday in Ayorou. Thiago is a Songhai team member from Brazil with the Radical Project. Apparently, birthdays are a big deal for them because he threw his own birthday party ... bonfire included (in 130 degree weather). He was going to make his own cake but Emily (another IMB missionary in Ayorou) and I decided we'd take care of the sweets. We had a great time of hanging out, eating cake, drinking cokes from a bottle and just enjoying the warm night air ... okay, so the first three are true!

Mark and Hugo keeping the neighbors entertained

Emily teaching me how to do the "Tuareg" dance. "Just move your arms like this ..."

Thiago with his personalized cookie cake and chocolate birthday cake. And, no, the candles are not fun, twisty candles. They have simply fallen over in the heat. So, yes, it's actually hot enough for candles to begin melting!

Mark chilling with his "fellas" (Faysal & Yacouba) after a game of American football

Me & Sakina. Another perk of the party ... hanging out with our favorite kiddos!

the heat is on

Well, we had an unseasonably cool and long "cool" season. Apparently in West Africa, temperatures below 80 degrees qualifies for cool. But the heat is on now and we've heard it will not let up until around October. Yes, the picture is right, that says 133 degrees! And this is just the start of the hot season. Our 8 hours of electricity are a little more precious now! We sweat a lot and drink a lot but we're making it. Thanks for your prayers for our bodies to adjust and for those of you planning to come see us one day...you might want to come in January!

out with the old, in with the new

Well, the big day finally came last week when our long anticipated crate arrived in Niamey. It didn't get here without a couple of glitches: the main one being another guy named Mark Phillips who serves with the IMB. They actually sent HIS crate towards West Africa and didn't realize it until the crate arrived in Belgium. However, in God's soverign plan, our crate came in the only 2 week language-free window we'll have in this first year on the field.

It was a blast going through all the boxes and a sort of surreal experience opening things that made our house a home in the states and will now do the same in Ayorou.

As you know, our house was fully furnished when we arrived but now that our stuff from the states has come, we had to either buy or give back everything. We're having some furniture made and it's not quite finished so our house looks a little bare. But we wanted you to see a couple pics of the transition process as you travel on this journey with us.

Here's the stuff the mission provided for us when we arrived.

We unloaded the truck and then sent back the furniture to Niamey. Not pictured here was the crowd of about 25 who were quite enthralled with the whole process.

Here's a pic of our stuff fresh off the crate.

Here's another picture about 15 seconds later when Parker left me alone and I wanted to find my Bo Jackson baseball cards.

C'est Fini!

As you can probably guess, that's French for "Hallelujah, French is finally over, woo hoo, yee haw, now I can have a normal night of sleep!!!!" Well, you know things don't always have a direct translation, but you get the point. Parker and I are both happy to be finished with our study of French. It's not that we have anything against the French or their language (in fact, we really like French fries). We have seen the importance of having a good base of French (like when I went to Dakar or our trip here to Bamako) but we're so excited to begin Songhai. There are so many people we are wanting to talk with. We'll be able to communicate with almost everyone in the village now including women and kids (two groups who don't speak alot of French).

Thanks again for your prayers during French study and especially this week for our exam. We both made it through okay, I think I only blacked out 3 times. We had a special treat after our exam when some of the journey girls we had went to training with took us out to eat at "Broadway." It's a restaurant in Bamako owned by a guy who lived in New York for a couple years. Their menu looks straight up like Denny's. The only problem is that half the pictures of are food they don't actually serve! Oh well, as you will see, Parker and I found some tasty little treats we can't find in Niger.


Yes sirree bob, that's a genuine Coke Float I'm sipping on! As my face shows, it's been a while!

Denny's in BG or Broadway in Bamako? Looks the same as Parker chomps down on some pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, and bacon!

It is finished!

thank you!

Parker and I want to take this blog to say thank you so much for your prayers. There is such encouragment knowing we are being prayed for by so many people. And we also wanted to tell you that God is answering your prayers. We are seeing God moving in Ayorou in amazing ways. Haiisa, Parker's language helper, has been reading John with Parker and Genesis on her own. She is asking Parker tons of questions as is Abdul Salem. Also, there are a few national believers we found out about this month living in Ayorou. We are working with the Brazillian missionaries as we realize that the first church in Ayorou will be planted in the next month! We really sense that when we return to Africa after our first term, we will no longer be needed in Ayorou!

Also, as many of you know, February was a pretty tough month for our health. However, again through your prayers and God's faithfulness, our health has been restored and our dependance of God is stronger. Parker especially wants to thank those who've been praying for her dealing with the heat. 2007 has had the coolest weather Niger has had in the last 15 years. Lastly, we both made it thorugh French with only a few battle scars.

Thank you for your prayers and your partnership with us and the Songhai! We will continue to post prayer requests and are excited how God is going to move among the Songhai!

Thanks again, here's some random pics of life in Ayorou.

Parker chillin with her friend "Z." They have become best of buds.

Z decided she wanted to try on my glasses.

Parker and some of her girls. She and I are both so excited about being able to talk to all these children in Songhai very soon.

Me with one of the many kids who love playing soccer and hanging with us.