Summer update Part 1

I realize that this year in Canada I have been horrible at updating the blog. What was normally once every 10 days or so in Niger have turned into once every three months. But since this in part was created to keep our family and friends updated while we were overseas, I guess during the time at home I have not felt inspired to write. In truth we have been quite busy. From September to July we had 70 separate speaking/preaching/teaching/meetings going on to do with our work in Niger, as well as a 10 day trip to Niger for Chantelle in June for graduation of the Girls School. Wow, no wonder we felt tired at the start of the summer! Since then we have tried to take it a little slower, with the kids being on summer break and all, to get some of that rest that is supposed to be associated with furlough year home!

So I thought i would put together a two part update with mostly photos to show you what we have been up to this summer. We are in Red Deer until mid Fall as we await the birth of our child in early October so there is still time to catch up face to face as well!

 

First of all, Paul and I went on a short little trip for our 13th wedding anniversary down to Florida. The time away together was priceless and relaxing and I am so thankful for the wonderful husband God has given me!

We rode bikes on the boardwalk

We took a tour of the Everglades

We went to the Seaquarium

And we just hung out and enjoyed the time together!

 

We also got to spend a lot of time this summer with our favourite dog Sanka. For those of you who don’t remember, Sanka spent the first 5 years of his life as our dog before going to join the family of our good friends when we went to Niger in an environment that would not be healthy for him. We love him dearly to this day and he is an old dog now, almost 10 years old!

 

We went to Invermere/ Radium for a week to relax and enjoy boating, swimming and exploring.

We also got to see my Niger teammate Lisa who has just arrived home for her own year of furlough. Yes these are wild big horn sheep behind us!

We got to be a part of Auntie Rebecca’s engagement scavenger hunt day!

Recreating the famous painting “American Gothic” in our own style.

We house-sat for friends out in the country and enjoyed the country life for a week

I am a huge fan of canola fields in the summer. My hard drive is full of photos of them. So beautiful!

 

And we also had the joy of spending an afternoon picnic with our teammates from Niger the Cheungs who were around for a brief vacation. I stayed with them while I was in Niger this June and we love them to bits! This is the “Tuareg team” of the larger Niger team!

 

 

 

Stay tuned for part two!

What gives my heart joy–a surprise trip to Niger

Each one of us is created differently, a masterpiece made unique by God. One of the most diverse things about us is found in our passions, our heart and our joys. There is such a great diversity about what brings people joy, gives them Goosebumps and stirs their passion. For those of you who know me or have read our blog you know that one of my greatest passions outside my family is the Girls we work with in Niger, Africa. It is a work that feels less like work and more like joy. Less like struggle and sacrifice (most days!) and more like a blessing and a gift. This year away in Canada has been wonderful for many reasons, but I have deeply missed my Girls and our teammates are our work at NVOC. (www.nvoc.ca)

Four years of work is just wrapping up this season of our ministry. We did a year of prep and planning and then spent the past three years working with the same group of amazing young Nigerien women as we took them through a three year program of Vocational Training coupled with life skills of health, hygiene, business, etc and a lot of mentoring. We walked a lot of tough roads with them in their times of crisis and deeply bonded and enjoyed these ladies. And now they graduate. We send them out back into their lives, with many shortly getting married, becoming mothers, and hopefully using their sewing machines as well as all they have learned to be the most successful wives, mothers and young women possible. I have seen the impossible occur with tribal/ethnic lines being broken, enemies becoming sisters, bonds being formed and horizons expanded. I am so proud of these girls. And it made me very sad to not be able to be present for their big graduation since it was our year in Canada on furlough.

But God knows the deep joys of our heart. Many of you know we are expecting our third child (a great joy in itself!) and that also means we are delayed returning to Niger another 4-5 or so months than planned. But I am also at the perfect middle spot of the pregnancy when I feel great and am out of the risk of miscarriage and before any risks of delivering in a place like Niger. And as my heart yearned to return I found great blessing from other people. My husband encouraged me with all his blessing (and money!) to come back to Niger to be there for this huge event in the life of my ministry and heart. My doctors gave me full medical permission to fly. My churches encouraged and prayed for me to go. And so….. I did.

I am writing you this blog post from Niamey, Niger. Literally the joy I had today and the tears that run down my face are a testament to God’s goodness in my life. This morning we had the first day of celebrations for the Girls School. When I drove into the courtyard and some of the girls started to see I was there , pandemonium broke out. We cried, there were huge group hugs and embraces and greetings for quite a while. Everyone was so happy I was there with them. In many ways I feel like a mother to these ladies and coming home for this was important to me. My best friend Miriama and I both broke down and cried too and stayed close all day. I felt so blessed to give each young lady their certificate from the Ministry who overseas Vocational schools and to give them their own sewing machine and a start-up kit consisting of items like thread, scissors, rulers, receipt books, and a variety of other start up supplies for their fledgling seamstress careers. Some of them have already taken the next step to start working as formal apprentices with tailor shops to learn more. And this is all the first group of girls who wrote the exam early. The girls who just wrote the exams last week will wait for the results and then we get to do this all again.

I will be writing more this week about the celebrations and reunions here in Niger. We have surprised most everyone and I am enjoying every moment with all these people who are dear to me. If it seems like a surprise to you reading this, be assured it is to most everyone It only happened in the past few weeks to make it happen and we kept it quiet as we waited to see, even at the last minute, if there was any issue at all with the pregnancy and then we would cancel without hesitation. And yes I bought extra medical insurance.

But God is good. I feel great. I was plagued by headaches in Canada and I am headache free here and the heat is not bothering me. My husband is an amazing blessing and has given me a great gift in this and I can’t thank him enough. And my heart is full joy. Rejoice with me this week as we celebrate together all that these Girls have achieved.

When I first arrived to surprise all the Girls.

A huge wave of crushing hugs, being embraced by love.

My best African friend Miriama shows up and sees me.

Lots of hugs all day long

The girls and many parents sitting to hear speeches as we tell the parents all they have achieved.

Our teammate Ace gave a great speech and story and a challenge to the Girls to remember God’s love for them and to use the skills they have acquired.

Posing with their certificates

Posing with her certificate and her own sewing machine and a bag full of sewing supplies to get her business going.

I love all the Girls and I am so happy to be surrounded by them. I told my teammates after, it feels like coming home.

Why we do Justice and Compassion

reposted from my friend and co-worker Curtis Doell. He also works for the C&MA and he is the Regional Leader for Justice and Compassion in the Sun region, whereas I am the leader for the Sand (Africa) region.You can check out his ministry at http://livepassion.ca.  I am always so encouraged by him and his wife Linda and he answers the question so well- Why do we do Justice and Compassion? This really is just the beginning of an important conversation but I think that this is a great start for getting us all to think and re-think!

What is Justice and Compassion?

“ I think it’d be good to have some sort of discussion, theological or otherwise, as to what “justice and compassion” means in God’s eyes.  I find that these are topics that most people haven’t considered theologically.  We know we’re supposed to have compassion and seek justice, but that’s about all we know.  The question of ‘why it’s important to God’ doesn’t get much play in Christian circles… “

The Problem

The problem is that public service is becoming “in-thing” to do all across North America. Our good intentions have unintended, negative repercussions. “Our free food and clothing distribution encourages ever-growing handout lines, diminishing the dignity of the poor while increasing their dependency. We converge on inner-city neighborhoods to plant flowers and pick up trash, battering the pride of residents who have the capacity (and responsibility)  to beautify their own environment. We fly off on missions trips to poverty-stricken villages, hearts full of pity and suitcases bulging with giveaways – trips that one Nicaraguan leader describes as effective only in “turning my people into beggars“ ” Excerpt from Toxic Charity ©2011.

The stories go on and on. A church in Mexico painted 6 times by 6 different groups in ONE summer. Villages that have frequent teams visiting having pre-planning meetings about who is going to “go forward” this time. Entire wardrobes are thrown out knowing that there is another team coming with “new” clothes. And the kicker, people heading back to suburbia or their city or their country feeling blessed by being able to help someone who is “less fortunate”.

Biblically…

God reveals himself as compassionate and just towards the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, the fatherless, and the widow. Throughout Scripture God instructs His people to be a community that reflects his nature; a people of compassion, justice, and mercy. Thus, acts of compassion and generosity are important spiritual disciplines that we must cultivate in our life; to care for the poor and oppressed; to live generously toward others’ needs.  In doing so, we carry on the ministry of Jesus and reflect an accurate image of God to the world.

Justice ensures that all people are valued and treated with dignity and fairness because all are loved by God and made in his image. Sin causes humans to have a distorted worldview that allows for prejudices that devalue others. As a result, people suffer injustice. Jesus came to redeem our relationships with God, one another and his creation. We are called to be ministers of this message of reconciliation and serve people, releasing them from spiritual, physical, social and economic bondages.

How Do We Move Forward?

So how do we become ministers of reconciliation and serve people to release them? How do we do this so our helping does not hurt? How can we build steps to sustainability and support?  I encourage you to comment.

I leave you with The Oath for Compassionate Service by Robert Lupton

1. Never do for the poor what they have (or could have) the capacity to do for themselves.
2. Limit one-way giving to emergency situations.
3. Strive to empower the poor through employment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements.
4. Subordinate self-interests to the needs of those being served.
5. Listen closely to those you seek to help, especially to what is not being said – unspoken feelings may contain essential clues to effective service.
6. Above all, do no harm.