Wordless Wednesday ~ Studio glimpses

August 2012 Prayer Update

Edited (Sat. evening, our time) to add: This prayer letter went out last week and with the craziness of this last week, I'm just now posting on our blog. Since this was written, the Niger River Basin Authority has told school administration that Sahel Academy is now considered part of the Niger River. Until the waters recede (March/April 2013), we will not be able to use the campus. Lots of work is happening to preserve school supplies and materials and to resume the school year in an alternate location. If you've already read this... still scroll to the bottom for some pictures of recovery operations going on @ Sahel Academy.

"There's fullness in every hunger and hunger in every fullness."

Kazakh proverb

Sometimes, life in a place like Niger breaks your heart. People, including Jesus-followers, do literally starve to death; they go without many basic needs our family easily takes for granted. And then we read verses like:

• O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing. (Psalm 34.9-11)
• …for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.... But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God…. my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (selected verses from Philippians 4.11-19)
• The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1)

How do you reconcile the truth of Scripture with the glaring reality of life evident everywhere we look?

Pastor Tim Challies recently wrote an article, “Can a Christian Starve to Death?” addressing those questions in the context of verses like the ones above, particularly Psalm 23. He concludes:

…The shepherd is leading his sheep through the dark valley because the sheep need to get to some place better than the place they have been. There’s no reason to go through a dark valley unless there is something better on the other side of it. You don’t leave green fields and go through a dark and dangerous valley so your sheep can pick over dried up tufts of grass and waste and wither away. You lead through the valley to take them to something beautiful beyond. It’s not the valley we need to look at, but the destination beyond it. That destination may be death, or that destination may be greater holiness. But whatever it is, that destination is not nothing, it is not meaningless. What this tells me is that any suffering we experience in this life is in some way under the sovereignty of God, in some way under the banner of “I shall not want…”

That idea challenges. Can we look at our apparent lack and recognize that we need exactly such lack? How do we support our believing brothers and sisters (and others) whose lack is immediate, life-threatening and overwhelming? Do we keep on trusting God to provide when we can’t humanly comprehend how another’s situation falls under that “I shall not want” banner? Philosophical belief that “not enough” opens hearts to God’s message while sufficiency stifles portending a greater danger is different than embracing those real and daily wants.



PICTURE CREDIT: www.actuniger.com



Photo by dorm parents, Andy and Nikki Gray:  the road & remains of a house right on the other side of the wall from the dorm.



The needs, physical and spiritual, in Niger are great. We are gearing up for a second grain distribution just as we mentioned in our last prayer letter, this year’s food insecurity a result of drought last year. This year, we are having an overabundance of rain, so much so that the dikes have burst, the low neighborhoods along the river have flooded, homes are crumbling, people who’ve escaped are seeking refuge in school buildings, unfinished constructions, even some mosques. As of Saturday (8/18) morning, local news agencies were reporting 94,000 people affected by flooding, 12,000 homes destroyed and at least 20 deaths as a result. And the rains are forecasted to continue, both locally and upstream. Please join with us in praying for this land and these people we’ve come to love and appreciate. We don’t understand how this magnitude of suffering can fall under the banner of “I shall not want…” but we cling to trust and pray that He uses us to minister grace and help encourage those suffering and losing so much… all around us.

Richelle and the children started back at Sahel Academy on August 8th. However, due to flooding in all of the neighborhoods surrounding the school campus, the campus has been evacuated and classes canceled this week. Flood waters have not actually entered the campus, except where they’ve leached up in the soccer field and around the walls, but continued rains, broken dikes and already saturated earth make us wonder if it is only a matter of time. We did see a catchy phrase, though: “Rain or no rain, God still reigns.” We trust in that truth and are enjoying some extra, unexpected time at home after a way-too-short summer. (Check here for the latest updates on the flooding in Niamey that is threatening the lives and homes of so many, including the Sahel campus and SIM Bible school properties, or here for UNICEF’s assessment of the food/refugee crisis playing out across the Sahel region.) Brendan is beginning his senior year! Rebekah is a sophomore; Nadia is an 8th grader while Anna has entered junior high – attending Sahel part-time and also home schooling. Tori is the “biggest of the littles,” or a 5th grader, Jonathan is delighted to be in second grade and Elsie Mae is finding the full days of school if first grade quite exhausting! Even Mary Michelle starts preschool work this year. Richelle continues with her work in Sahel’s Center for Academic Progress; everyone anticipates a great school year, so we hope school resumes soon.

Other news? Thanks once again to our "radio preachers" Rabo Godi and Pastor Soumaila Laabo! These men diligently prepare programs week after week to air in the capital city and throughout Niger. They wonderfully touch on many themes and subjects, clearly demonstrating how the Bible addresses a rich wealth of subjects. Sometimes they ask a simple question such as "What does God's Word say about unemployment? or “Does God give specific instruction regarding the family?” Other times, they present Q&A roundtable discussions. Each theme is carefully chosen, prayed over and then prepared to present the Gospel, to advance God's kingdom here in Niger, and to edify the church. Please keep them in your prayers. This past month they presented a series on fasting, and true Christianity as a relationship with Jesus Christ instead of just another religion where man is seeking to please God.

In other activities, we have been recording the Gospel of Matthew in West Niger Fulfulde. One missionary friend shared that these scriptures will be used immediately to help disciple 19 new Jesus-followers out in one of the villages. Recordings are placed on SD cards or chips and then loaded into "Proclaimer" mp3-type players. Some of these players are powered by solar energy, which is usually quite abundant here in Niger. We also have been recording the book of Psalms in the Zarma language.

We have a number of film audio tracks in the works for this autumn. Please pray for a project to record a French language track for a film addressing the use of child soldiers (according to recent news reports, personal stories such as this one as well as this UNICEF publication, a now growing problem in our part of the world)…



Photo: H.Caux/UNHCR

Since January, the fighting has displaced some 95,000 people within Mali and has forced more than 100,000 to flee.

…as well as the testimony of how one young man came to make a commitment to Christ. Investigation and research (into the recording of a Tamajeq version of the film The Godman as well as a Tamajeq version of the More than Dreams short story on the life an Egyptian man named Khalil who came to know the Lord as a result of his study of the Bible) also continue. Thank you for your faithful prayers for wisdom, direction and God’s will to be done through this ministry and in this land.

All because of Jesus,

Tim, Richelle,

Brendan, Rebekah Joy, Nadia, Anna, Victoria, Jonathan, Elsie Mae and Mary Michelle Wright

Edited (Sat. evening, our time) to add: This prayer letter went out last week and I'm just today posting on our blog. Since this was written, the Niger River Basin Authority has told school administration that Sahel Academy is now considered part of the Niger River. Until the waters recede (March/April 2013), we will not be able to use the campus. Lots of work is happening to preserve school supplies and materials and to resume the school year in an alternate location. Below are a few pictures of those recovery efforts:



Photo - Lisa Rohrick
Only very large construction/military trucks can drive into the campus.



Photo - Lisa Rohrick

Computer equipment was one of the first "rescued" loads.
Photo - Nancy Devalve

Not many get to "canoe" down the halls of their high school.
Photo - Lisa Rohrick

Photo - Lisa Rohrick
"Ichabod" was rescued from the science lab. Last photo I saw of him, he was missing his lower jaw and his knee cap was cracked... but still mostly intact.

 

How many of you have ever moved a piano by canoe?
Photo - Lisa Rohrick



Photo - Nancy Devalve
Lunch break?



Photo - Lisa Rohrick
Since "rescued" materials are coming to our mission compound for either long or short-term storage, we can't be @ Sahel, helping there. When I hear there are lots of snakes swimming around (among unimaginable floaties), I'm thankful that our part is here, but I also pray nonstop for those who are sacrificing to be there. 



Photo - Lisa Rohrick
Wonder when the water will start obeying the traffic signs...???

Join with us in praying that the Lord give wisdom, health and stamina
as well as protection during these recovery efforts.

To see some "Before and After" photos, as well as a slide show with many pictures of Sahel Academy students (You can see if you can spot any Wrightlings!) doing what they do, click on over to my friend's blog, The Bee in Beth's Bonnet.

Wordless Wednesday - Recently... @ the studio!

Spring, 2011 Prayer Letter

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all,
in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now.
For I am confident of this very thing,
that He who began a good work in you
will perfect it
until the day of Christ Jesus.
(Phil 1:3-6)

As we sit down to write this letter, our hearts are filled with praise and thanksgiving!

We are thanking God for additional space that so many of you helped to make possible! We wait only on the arrival of a few cartons of sound isolation tile as the final detail for the recording booth; even so, the studio addition is in use, recording radio programs.

We owe a HUGE debt of thanks to Larry and Pam Macklin from Calvary Baptist Church in Midland, Michigan. Larry has a background in IT and electrical engineering. They traveled out for a week, braving heat, disease, dust and threats of political instability to finish wiring the new studio sound panel. Pam helped Richelle tremendously in her daily activities around the house and also in ministry at Sahel Academy.

The large studio has likewise seen lots of recent activity. This room, usually reserved for recording choirs and live music groups, this past month hosted a seminary module from the Tri-M ministry and 2 modules of the Evening Bible Institute. These classes are normally held in our mission office, but while our new office is “under construction,” we are delighted to see the room used in this way, and we are eternally grateful to Steve and Julie Nunemaker for their continued commitment to Niger and the training of godly men and women to lead the church in this land. By the way, builders placed the trusses on the office this week! Next fall, Tri-M and IBBS classes should take place in our new and improved field office!

We’ve also been thankful for a visit from Tim’s dad, Gene Wright. He spent most of the month of March with us, getting a taste of life in Niger, visiting the different ministries with which we are involved, enjoying and entertaining his grandchildren and working in the studio finishing details on several projects for Tim. He left this past week, and it just hasn’t been the same place since. If you doubt the truth of that, just ask Elsie Mae and Mary Michelle!

Current studio projects include language tracks for the evangelistic film “The Godman” in Zarma (99% done) and Fulfulde (recording begins soon). Please pray, in particular, for the Fulfulde version, for the revision of the script and the recording process. The Fulfulde Christian community in Niger is not very large. We need God’s guidance, directing the producers to the right people and the right voices for this film. These films have the potential to reach thousands with the clear message of the Gospel in their mother tongue and heart language.

We do have a few financial needs related directly to the studio. Ministry funds raised as a part of our support provide for a percentage of studio operating expenses. We receive funds from the EBM Niger field and charge minimal studio fees for outside projects. With these monies, it is a challenge every month to keep the books in the black. Typically, we have to bring out extra funds from our personal support account to finance any special needs.

With that said, we have two programs available to the studio for which we will soon need to purchase airtime:

• One of these programs is Thru the Bible, a French version of the well-known radio program by Dr. James Vernon McGee. Several years ago, we tried to receive this program via satellite, but due to our location relative to the transmitter, never met with success. We can now download it directly via internet and then prepare it for airing on local stations. It is a Monday thru Friday, half-hour program which takes the listener through the Bible in 5 years. With minimal production costs (primarily audio CD purchase), we are convinced it would be an effective investment in both time and money to air on one of our local radio stations. Stations here in Niamey have the potential of reaching at least a million listeners! However, before we decide to engage in the distribution of this program, we need to know that others will be behind it with their prayers and giving. A tremendous and serious need in Niger and particularly within the church is consistent, comprehensive and reliable Bible teaching. This program is be an effective tool, providing teaching and access to the Bible that many in this largely illiterate country do not have. Not only is Thru the Bible readily available, we believe it is the right program. Purchasing ½ hour of airtime per day, five days a week, will cost approximately $300 a month or $3,600 per year. Would you or your church consider undertaking this project with the Niger Radio ministry?
• The second program is Sheep Tales. Sheep Tales is a series of 36 ½ hour radio programs that will air once a month as a feature of our regular French program called “Words of Life” Scripts are now in their final revision, and we would like to soon begin recording this program in collaboration with a local Christian radio theater group. Financing is required to help with the actors’ honorariums and taxi fares. We are still in the budgeting phase, and will try to have some firm numbers available by our next prayer letter. We ask all of you who read this letter to take these two programs before the Lord in prayer. Pray that His name and His Word would be lifted up here in Niger, and that many would hear, believe and accept His plan of salvation.

“I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat;

I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink;

I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;

naked, and you clothed Me;

I was sick, and you visited Me;

I was in prison, and you came to Me…

Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine,

even the least of them, you did it to Me...

[and] to the extent that you did not do it

to one of the least of these,

you did not do it to Me.”

(Matt 25:35, 36, 40, 45)

The Goumanche village of Pencangu is located approximately 15 kilometers east of Makalondi (the last city before leaving southwest Niger and entering Burkina Faso). It has a population of close to 450 living in several family compounds. Most are farmers raising millet, sorghum, corn, beans and peanuts during the July-October rainy season. Some have goats or sheep which they raise to sell for family needs during the “famine season,” which comes after their food stock has been depleted.

After the rains end, they draw their water from small, muddy pools that collect during the rains and/or from shallow 3-5 meters deep ground wells that they regularly dig. Both sources of water are unclean and unhealthy, leading to dysentery, worms and sometimes, for the young and weak, death.

One of the bush churches where Tim regularly teaches is in Pencangu. Recently having called a pastor (who is shared with other nearby Baptist churches), it is growing in both number and maturity. Church services take place on Sunday morning and three evenings throughout the week. Although most of the people in the church are illiterate, the pastor and elders teach them from the Bible and other Christian literature available in their language.

Shortly before our family began our year of home assignment in July, 2009, the church leadership approached us about helping them finance the drilling of a well for the village. A deep, drilled well would provide a clean source of water for the people of Pencangu, as well as others in the area. It would eliminate the need to haul water by bicycle and donkey carts from other wells many kilometers away. And it would allow the church to demonstrate tangibly to her neighbors that God is concerned about the real physical needs of men, and that He empowers His church to help address and meet those needs. Please contact us if you would like to participate in the provision of a well for this village.

Thankful to be serving our Lord together with you,

Tim, Richelle,

Brendan, Rebekah Joy, Nadia, Anna, Victoria, Jonathan,

Elsie Mae & Mary Michelle Wright

 

Just before goodbyes...

...we snapped these photos.

We're super thankful we've got Dad here with us for at least 3 more weeks or so

(the munchkin squad is heavinly lobbying for longer)!

We have had a wonderful and wonderfully busy week with Larry and Pam Macklin. We are overwhelmed and so thankful for their sacrifice of time, money and comfort (and for sharing the photos from their cameras). Their visit has been delightful and a huge encouragement to us!

And I can't forget to mention this little detail:

The new studio is now being used!!!!

Sometimes, when you wonder if what you are doing makes any difference at all...

...you hear a testimony like this one ~

When Jesus saw the crowds he was moved with compassion because they were harassed and helpless as sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 9:36

"His Father sent Jesus and He came into the world, 'entered our world His glory veiled.' He was sent and He arrived in the Jewish culture in Bethlehem. He left via a cross and the resurrection. In between, He entered the lives of a Peter, Matthew, a leper, a Bartimaeus, a Samaritan woman…

We’ve been sent by Jesus, just like His Father sent him. But have we really arrived? Have we entered the lives of people around us?

I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, thirsty and you gave me a drink, in prison and you visited me...

I can leave Australia, be sent to Niger, and never really enter into the lives of the people around me……….. [I can] be more like a tourist!

Every day, on behalf of Jesus, we have the privilege and honour of entering the lives of people we live among.

Three years ago, we went out to stay the night at a Wodaabe camp. It was Christmas Eve, and under the stars around the campfire we sang and then read the Christmas story, reflecting on God’s amazing love.

The next morning, while visiting with the king of this Wodaabe clan, three Muslim mallams rode up on horses. After greeting the king, they said, 'You must do something about the deranged woman of yours who is cursing our people and frightening them with her bizarre behaviour, even sometimes killing our goats and sheep. She is crazy.'

The king sighed, and said, 'We’ve done everything that we can. We’ve spent a lot of money on medicine and sorcerers, but nothing has worked.'

They hesitated, and then said, 'Well then, you must tie her up and beat her.'

After mallams had gone, we asked if we could help: "Would it be possible for us to go with a few men to talk with her?" He [the chief] seemed surprised and pleased with this suggestion. So we set out to find her. At about midday we saw her in the distance following her donkey. We stopped under the shade of a tree while her son went to talk with her. Y agreed to come into the shade to meet us. We told her that we were concerned for her and wondered if we could help in some way. I asked her when her sickness began, and if she was troubled by evil spirits. She said she wasn’t sure, but that she was often troubled by terrifying dreams and sometimes heard voices.

We shared with her about God and His love, about Jesus and why He was sent, about His compassion and power. 'Jesus is the good shepherd who gave his life for his sheep.' I asked her if she would like to change and to be freed from her bizarre behaviour, to go back to live with her family instead of being alone under a tree in a thorn enclosure. We prayed for her and encouraged her to trust Jesus, to call out to Him in her need.

As we left her, we asked her what she was going to do. 'I’m going back to live with my son and his family,' she replied.

About a month later, we were surprised one morning when Y appeared at our door. She had never visited us before. She said, "I’ve come to see you because I remember how kind you were to me." We discovered that she had a hunger to know more about Jesus. We’d heard reports that her health seemed to be better but we were keen for her to see a doctor at the town hospital while she was with us. The doctor prescribed a daily medication.

About six weeks ago, when we were visiting at her son’s camp, we were amazed to see how passionately he shares the Gospel message. He has come to understand it by listening to the cassettes we had placed into his hands two years ago.

On this last Christmas day [December, 2010], Y was our first visitor, arriving early at our door. She had returned from visiting relatives, and asked if we had any news about where her nomadic family might have moved to. She enquired if her cassette player was repaired, and then asked us to pray for her safety as she prepared to travel on. She left soon afterwards, with new cassettes for her family.

She is a different person today. Many people have been impacted by the way Jesus has changed her life.



Every day, you and I have the opportunity to enter people’s lives, to feed the hungry, give to the thirsty, and to visit. It is so important that we feed them with the 'bread of life,' that we offer them the 'living water.'

We can bring Jesus near to people so that they can believe. But it takes more than being sent. We have to arrive and to enter their lives...

We are reminded of the lyrics of a song, 'I won’t just stand outside the door and never enter in. I won’t turn away and go my way again.'

Jesus said, "As the Father has sent me I am sending you."

You and I are sent, but have we arrived and entered in... or are we still on the way?

The above testimony was given by an Australian missionary working with SIM in a desolate, lonely part of Niger. He and his wife have faithfully served the Lord for many years and in the past 5 or 6 years, Tim has been able to come alongside them, using the studio to duplicate Bible cassettes, evangelistic and discipleship stories and Bible teaching which this couple has then distributed to many nomadic groups and encampments throughout Niger. When I asked this missionary last weekend how many people he thought were listening to these cassettes, he said it now had to number in the thousands. And, he testified that for those listening, lives ARE changing, groups ARE passing different cassettes around much as the early church passed around the epistles of Paul - people are seeking and hungry for living water and the bread of life! Even more exciting, many are recognizing and accepting the truth when they hear it.

Sometimes, we wonder if what we are doing here is making a difference... God gives glimpses and then He gives us a grand, wide open view like the above testimony. We have no way to know what sort of effect the cassettes Tim helps produce or the radio programs he records and then distributes to the government and local stations will have on the hearts and lives of people, but we do trust the promise that God's Word does not go out in vain. It is for that reason that we are still here...

...even when things seem less than secure ~

...when we can't be with the people we love when they are sick ~

...when we can't be with the people we love when they hurt ~

...when we are sick and lonely and tired and discouraged ~

God [is] faithful, by whom ye were called

unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

I Cor 1.9

Faithful [is] He that calleth you, Who also will do [it].

I Thess 5.24

Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering;

(for he [is] faithful that promised;)

Heb 10.23

Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, [and] his Holy One,

 to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth,

to a servant of rulers, "Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship,

because of the LORD that is faithful,

[and] the Holy One of Israel,

and He shall choose thee."

Is 49.7

So pray with us: We have been sent, we have arrived... by the Lord's strength and His grace, we continue to seek to enter into the lives of the people in this land around us, ministering to and with, serving, loving, remaining faithful to Him Who is faithful...

--------------------------------------------------------

(Testimony used with permission; some names and details have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.)

Just for Fun... Work on the Studio Addition

* * * O * R * * *

HIDDEN TREASURES PRESCHOOL

Program for Study Abroad

Video shot, edited and produced by Tim Wright, starring Jonathan, of course!

When your Daddy Works in a Recording Studio...

...sometimes you get volunteered to help: carrying and setting up equipment, long car rides, watching, playing with and coralling little kids that often don't speak the same language... Fortunately for Anna and Victoria, this was a FUN helping project: "C'est pour toi que je chante!"

This young man, a choir director in town, has been working with Tim for many months to complete and music album project. For one of his songs, actually sung in English, he wanted a young child to recite a prayer ~ in English. So the mama came up with a prayer which Tori and Anna memorized then recited while Tim recorded. The result? Their little voices are now "available on CD!" in Niger. =D They finished this project the last full week we were there and we snapped these photos when our friend came over for lunch.

Often, it is the older kids who have opportunities to volunteer their time and to minister in this way... I love the fact that our little girls had this opportunity and I think they had fun and were excited to contribute to the work in the studio in this way!

Ministry Update

We just posted our most recent prayer letter. Please take a few minutes to head over to Wrights Broadcasting Truth to Niger- July, 2008 to read about what is happening on the ministry side of things.

Wordless Wednesday - Cassette Tape Distribution

Studio Business

Tim has been busy at the studio this week - check out our ministry blog page for more pictures, music and video.