songhai retreat 08

This past week we had our 2nd annual Songhai retreat hosted by FBC Friendswood, TX. It is the only time of the year when we get together as an entire team. In case you didn't know, our entire team not only consists of us IMB missionaries but also missionaries that we partner with from South America. Four of those missionaries from South America live in Timbuktu & this is the only chance we get to see them.

The team from TX led us in 4 days of worship & Bible study. We had a great time of catching up as 5 of the 6 team members were returning volunteers. We also had great times of fellowship & relaxation as they treated us to 5 nights in Niamey with 3 meals a day (including dinners out every night)! They also brought yummy treats from America for us to indulge in (M&M's, Oreos, & peanut butter just to name a few). Let me tell you, we've had it good the past few weeks (with the vacation & the retreat) & it's going to be a wee bit hard to transition back into life in Ayorou!

So here's a HUGE "Thank You" to the team from Texas & to all of those at FBC Friendswood that helped make this retreat a reality!! Thanks to Dr David Belk for leading us in the Word each day. Thank you to Scott for helping me with Mark's birthday presents (I'm forever grateful)! Thanks to Matt for leading us in times of worship each morning! Thank you Moe for helping to do childcare even when it wasn't your job! Thanks to Angela & Sherry for leading the women's Bible study each day & sharing with us from the depths of your hearts. And thank you all for loving on Izzy & doing whatever it took to make her smile!

Here's a few pictures to introduce you to some of the others on our Songhai Team ...


Diego (Brazil) & Jorgelina (Argentina) - single missionaries serving in Dargol, Niger


Lewally (Niger) - national partner working with the Songhai in Tessa, Niger


Adrianna (Brazil) & Paula (Brazil) - single missionaries serving in Dargol, Niger (also pictured is Mary Womble - Brad & Sally's daughter)


Paolo & Mariam (Brazil) - newleywed couple serving in Timbuktu, Mali


Roberto, Telma, Deborah & Joseph (Brazil) - serving in Timbuktu, Mali


I think you know this handsome family!


Joseph was born 6 days after Izzy. Before they were even born, their was rumor that we should go ahead & arrange their marriage. We wanted to see if their was a connection first before we did that. As you can tell, sparks were flying! Izzy couldn't keep her hands off him!


The Songhai team (missing Susan & Lewally)


The team from FBC Friendswood. Thanks to Angela, Scott, Moe, Sherry, Matt & David!!

30 is the new 20

Mark Carney Phillips turned 30 years old this year! Birthdays are always a little harder to celebrate overseas & I really wanted to do something special for the big 3-0 but could not come up with anything. Well, leave it to Mrs Sally Womble to pull out the big guns for Mark.

His birthday fell on the last night of our Songhai retreat. We had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants with one of Mark's favorite meals. Sally said she had also ordered a cake for Mark's birthday. The restaurant said that they had a little surprise in store for when they were going to bring out the cake. Well a surprise it was ... they not only brought out a gorgeous chocolate cake, they also lit sparklers on it & turned on a CD of someone singing "Happy Birthday" in English while they flipped the lights on & off in the restaurant (mind you, there were many other diners there besides us). They also brought out some fancy fruit carvings to go along with his cake.

So here I was thinking that all I could do for him was give him a few presents & sing an off key "Happy Birthday" to him. But low & behold, his day of turning the big 3-0 turned out to be pretty good after all!

vay-K-shun

"Where have we been?" you might ask. Well, not in Niger is one answer! We spent 3 weeks in a training for church planters in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The day after that ended, Mark's parents flew in & met their grandbaby for the first time! Tears were shed would be an understatement. After a few days in the capital city, we headed to the beach for a vacation! We had a wonderful time; it really couldn't have gone any better!

We are now back in Niger and hopefully heading back to Ayorou (which we haven't seen in over 5 weeks) on Tuesday. We will be spending a few days settling back into life & planning how to implement all the things we learned at our training. But for now, here are a few pics from our vacation. Check out Izzy's blog for more.


Family picture at sunset. Classic!


Daddy/daughter moment!


Izzy meeting her Gaga & Papa for the first time. It was all smiles from the get-go!


We also celebrated Mark's birthday (Oct 22).


And his favorite cake - yellow cake from a box with chocolate frosting from a can. Yum!!


Still at the end of the vacation, she's all smiles with her grandparents!


Don & Janis tried to pack her up, but we wouldn't have any of that!