buck & pam come to ayorou

On December 14, Buck & Pam Hill graced the wonderful country of Niger for the 1st time. While we wish they came to spoil Mark & I, it's just not completely true. We all know the real reason they came ... Isabelle gets all the love nowadays!

They were able to stay in Niger for 19 days & 15 of those were spent in Ayorou! Our friends & neighbors loved getting to meet them & were so honored that my parents were able to spend so much time there. We had a lot of people to see, many things to do & build, and a few presents to open! Here are some pictures from their time with us.


After a long 6 month separation, Bebe & Isabelle are reunited. And GB gets to meet the Belle for the very 1st time!


Mom & I heading out to visit friends in our fancy African outfits. We left Izzy at home in her PJs.


Dad on a very angry camel.


With Hassane after hunting for hippos.


Dad playing with the kiddos. Check out Bandio's face ... classic!


All my neighbor ladies wanted to come visit Mom & Dad one night and, of course, get their picture taken.


Dad purchasing a 12 pack of his new favorite drink ... Citron Gingembre (or "Man Drink" as Mark & Dad liked to call it)


Of course, they squeezed in a little time to play with the Belle.


Mom eating an African meal with her right hand ... that's a huge thing for a left handed person. Way to go, Pammy!


The day before they left Ayorou we had a little picnic by the river under a gigantic mango tree.


We count it a HUGE blessing that both of our parents have now seen our home & our daughter. For most missionaries, visits to the field from family are more the exception than the rule. We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents (& family) who support us in what we do on this side of the world.

christmas parties

We had not one but TWO Christmas parties this year with the Songhai team. One was with everyone ... the IMB team plus the South American team and the kiddos, too. The other was just the IMB team & no kids. Both were great times of fellowship & yummy food. We love having times like these because it makes this African desert of a home feel a little more like Christmas back with our families.


The IMB team had a "Cracker Barrel" Christmas complete with biscuits & gravy, pancakes, bacon, sausage, cinnamon rolls & much more. This picture was taken after we dug in.


I don't know if you can tell but we even drank out of Mason jars to make it feel a little more like Cracker Barrel.


Izzy got to meet Santa for the first time. We'll put more pics of her & Santa on her blog.


Part of the festivities for our bigger Christmas party was helping Brad & Sally decorate their Christmas trees.


Isabelle got in on the fun, too.


I think we began running out of room for ornaments.


Look at all that food. Poor us ... suffering in Africa!! Teasing, teasing! You can still send us packages of goodies anytime you want! :)

Meet Ela

As our last newsletter explained, Ela is Ayorou's newest believer and is very excited about his newfound faith. While Parker's parents were here, we were able to baptize Ela. These pictures don't quite capture what a special moment this was. Ela and I had been talking about his new birth in Christ symbolized by his baptism. As he came up out of the water he took an enormous breath and with a huge smile said "that's my first breath of my new life!"
Thanks for your prayers for the Songhai of Ayorou!

November Newsletter