Multitude Monday - 1000 Gifts ~ Translating Thankfulness

“Not what we say about our blessings,

but how we use them,

is the true measure of our thanksgiving.”
~  W. T. Purkiser

It is one thing for me to daily... deliberately...

...choose gratefulness to God.

It is a soul stretching regimen to look outside what I find comfortable and what I would prefer...

...to release those preferences and my expectations

for God's will and decisions and working in this life He has given.

However, choosing thankfulness becomes nothing more than an academic exercise if I don't allow... if I don't insist... that thankfulness

• for the infinte, immeasurable blessings both large and small that overflow each day;
• for every circumstance no matter how charming and enchanting... or confusing and mystifying;
• for each challenge regardless of size or difficulty;
• even for piercing pain  and suffering - whether physical, emotional or spiritual.

translate. 

Gratefulness must fill my heart with His great-ness. This indwelling can then motivate me, can change my attitudes and ideas, must influence my words and actions... and it must provoke me to sacrifice my comfort and convenience as I tangibly translate thankfulness by sharing, pouring out God's love and blessing with others.

Thankfulness must translate into the heart language of people around me... expressed in a way so that it meets needs and speaks to hurting, needy hearts. 

My sister was here just a few weeks ago - I always love having someone come to Niger for the first time - to meet our friends and neighbors - to see our lives - to experience first- hand a world that before, they could only imagine. As Julie went with me to visit some of my lady friends, one sentiment echoed each time I'd ask her what she thought:

"[Your friend] She laughs and smiles all of the time!"

It didn't matter... that comment was true of:

• my friend Mamata, a dear godly grandmother who's passionately working to learn to read God's Word, who's heart aches for so many in her family who won't even consider Jesus, who's cheerful welcome to all who pass by her door or through her concession is light and salt in her neighborhood;
• Mamata's daughter, physically handicapped by polio, does not know the Lord, but joyfully greets me every time I arrive, stops her work to visit as long as I will visit, sending her grandchildren to help Mamata, their "nya nya," pull out the nicest chair, spread a mat, clean the table - all to be prepared to welcome me and make me comfortable while I'm in their courtyard.
• Aichatou and Madinatou, little girls who have nothing more than the clothes on their back and for whom a bite of chocolate is a delight to satisfy and subsequently talk about for weeks at a time, who never fail to meet me at the door to carry my bag and hold my hand as they giggle and have finally become brave enough to actually converse a little bit with me.
• Safana, my first real friend in Niamey ~ even as, still recovering from a serious bout of malaria, she keeps the fast, walks through difficult times with her family and helps her widowed neighbor care for her three children.
• Zeinabou's mama as she serves her severely handicapped little girl and works selling food along the streets to try and provide for her family and all those medications Zeinabou needs to reduce chronic pain and prevent seizures; who chooses joy after each little forward step Zeinabou makes... or even the hope that she will someday meet yet another milestone... who chooses contentment in daily circumstances that would discourage and terrify me.
• Little Zeinabou, who always shares such lovely smiles and laughs... who delights in her mother's presence and people who will simply talk and smile with her, who is content with the simple comfort of another's presence.
• Rabi, a godly young woman, Christian school teacher, who so longs for a baby of her own but as God's answer to this point has been not yet, she "adopts" caring for her orphaned siblings as though they are her own with delight and joy... caring for the children of friends - she ALWAYS has someone's child on her lap at church!

I am continually amazed how people who have so little, who work so hard, who know life could be so different and so much more... and many of whom don't even yet know the Lord... emmanate spirits of joy chosen and finding contenment every place they can with and in the life they've been handed when I, who have so much, so often find that choice  a difficult one and sinfully, I confess there are many times I fail to make it.

As we live and work in W. Africa, our primary source of "news" in our home country is via the internet... and frankly, I'm saddened that most of what I see in news headlines reflects an ungrateful, egotistical and arrogant attitude: grasping to keep what the US defines as "ours" and "our entitlement because we've worked for it" and selective blindness towards the rest of the world and the immense suffering all around us.

Sadly, most Americans... most westerners... are spoiled and we do not even know it. We fuss over what we don't have but think we should possess. We make decisions that allow our own continued hoarding as we fear for the future while others go without today, while others die with nothing, without Jesus, and we could have chosen to give... to share...

We complain about budget deficits and political manuvering, seeking to protect our own interests and forget that what God defines as pure and undefiled religion has absolutely nothing to do with balanced budgets, secure stocks and a nice-sized nest egg for retirement someday.

And I am convinced... by God's grace, in His wisdom and with His discernment, the thankfulness I profess each Monday needs to be more fully, more accurately, more vibrantly, more sacrificially translated.

True thankfulness will forfeit earthly comfort and security for radical obedience, sacrificial caring that costs while carving our hearts into Christ-likeness...

this week's gratitude list:

(#'s 1431 - 1460)

breakfast with a talkative little girl

Target-type store come to Niamey

conviction of sin, forgiveness from God

prayers of forgiveness

nights of sleep without waking

watching my niece catch the ball with her uncle's glove... and he was the batter!

friends returning

a new computer battery

lesson planning

just enough food in the fridge to feed the family tomorrow

little boys who don't want to show their belly buttons

protection from several possible or near accidents while out and about

meeting new colleagues

washing dishes... with HOT WATER!!!

listening to my school newbies singing Frère Jacques... perfect in every way

seeing Tori standing there in her swimsuit, hot pink capris and red cowgirl boots... after spending the night with friends, two nights in a row

little girl heartfelt prayers

french fries for breakfast

teens sacrificially serving by thoroughly scrubbing floors, unasked and unprompted

looking forward to another literacy lesson

meeting (and trying) a new tailor - she's the wife of a local pastor, too

sharp nails to scratch itchy backs

hugging my teen

tall boys becoming tall men

opposing views, differing viewpoints, non-traditional-for-me points of view challenging me to consider hard issues from a biblical perspective, even if that stand feels uncomfortable

working refrigerator

paint on the walls, tiling to begin soon

looking forward to moving day

laughter during a softball game

learning about the ladybird spider, another one of God's amazing creations... and how some scientists have exercised godly stewardship of this fascinating creature. It was formerly known as Eresus niger (hence part of the reason I stumbled across it - though I have no idea why it was originally given that name)... now it's scientific name is: Eresus cinnaberinus.

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

(Photos shared by recent short-term missos, Ben and Lindsey Britton. Thanks, guys!)

More photography by Anna

(with a few assorted photos from Nadia, too.)



So different and yet? ...He's not!

While their aunt was here, our kids decided they had to show her one of their favorite movies - I think they like it so much because it certainly provokes much laughter, but also because so much of  "African" realities resonate...

In the plot, a Kalahari bushman stumbles upon the other two main characters...

At first he thinks they are "gods..." because they are so different from anyone, anything he'd ever seen before. Their language is hard to understand and they are behaving in ways that make absolutely no sense to him.

It isn't long, however, before he begins to doubt their deity, and they certainly weren't trustworthy... for all of the very same reasons: they are so different, they don't respond to him in any language he understands and after watching, he can only classify their behavior as bizarre.

As I listened to my gang giggle, a grateful thought crossed my mind ~

My God knew we'd have those exact struggles - the very things which one moment convince us that He is the One and Only Almighty can, in the next, confuse us, tempting us to believe us that He can't be... He can't really be God or if He is, He doesn't care and isn't trustworthy. So He gave us this world - to reveal His awesome amazingness and holiness - how utterly far and beyond and different He is as God; and then He gave us Jesus, like us in all ways - a living, breathing, walking, eating, talking, working, laughing, crying man who understands us, knows us, was tempted as we are yet still chose to obey and thus won our salvation. He gave us His Word and His Spirit, to help us understand just what we need to understand. And in so doing, He has also given us Himself: ~

"Fear not...I am thy shield, and [I am] thy exceeding great reward."

There really is no One else like Him.

Mullings & Musings...

• The Empty Bowl (What does it mean to truly depend on God? Thought provoking post for those of us who have never really wondered if there would be a "next meal" or if, instead, we might wrestle with hunger.)

"...I watch respectfully from my window in the early morning light, and I witness the curbside ceremony of giving, recieving, and blessing from a religion so new to my observation. And I am handed a beautiful picture of practical trust and simple dependence, played out by shorn-headed men and pajama-clad women.

But I wonder about another scenario, too – one I’ve never witnessed by these monastic men on Sunday mornings, but one I’ve seen played out a million times and lived a million more. What if the monk were to walk down the street pushing a cart-full? Of grocery bags stuffed with food, bank account statements with positive balances, extra pairs of shoes, wallets crammed with cash?  What if he carried all of that and the empty bowl, held up to the Universe.  What if the mass of all he already possessed made it physically difficult to hold up the bowl in the first place, and harder-still to wait with baited-breath expectancy for it to be filled?

The monk would then be meeting the world with competency, not dependence.

Enough-already, not desperate-for-just-enough....

And a religion of luck and flower-offerings on altars, teaches me leagues about a Relationship of redemption and life-offerings on crosses."

• "Intention" (The author says that intention described her dad... I'm so thankful that intention, not random, describes our God.)

"It was a perfect July day at a lake in Minnesota. Out on a boat, smooth water and soft breeze was made better only by the company. A spouse, siblings, in-laws – best friends all of them – laughing and having deep conversations and just enough fun to not tell the kids about.

The only thing that marred the day in any way was a simple bee sting on his toe. And that random act is the thing that killed my Dad. A farmer, who was never allergic to any sting before, randomly died of anaphylactic shock.

That one word haunted me then and has been haunting me again.

Random."

• "When you're finding it hard to be patient" (I probably need to read, reread and rereread every day for the next 20 years at least...)

“ 'Love is only patient if it’s first grateful for what is.'

When I am not patient? My failure to love is first a failure to be grateful for who people are right now.

And my impatience is a result of my unthankfulness..."

• "7 things beginning photographers need to know" (Just discovered this blog/web site... photography is amazing and not so artsy I can't relate... and I've also enjoyed reading through several of her posts.)

..."Remember that the camera is just a machine, and you are in charge of it. The real fun is discovering the world you see through the viewfinder. Sometimes it’s a heart-breaking privilege, what we see through that window in the machine when we really look. I can’t give my students that experience tonight, but really hope my students find it for themselves."

• "Read only 5 books to call yourself an expert" (Even as I read, hoping to learn some things/get some ideas to help me with my photography efforts... I stumbled across a few lines... and the Holy Spirit promptly pointed out a spiritual application. Do you see it, too?)

"...Don’t get me wrong: reading those five books about goats was a good start. But ground-truthing written words transforms information into knowledge. And having someone who has actually done the job is even more valuable. Making friends and collecting mentors who can show me how and answer questions about what to do next is going to help more than reading another book."

She's Chosen to Follow Jesus

Our sweet Elsie Mae understands that
Jesus had to die on the cross as the payment for her sins...

...she's prayed,

asking Him to forgive her,

to become the Lord of her life,

and to take her to Heaven some day when she dies.

She's so excited.

So are we.

So thankful for God's grace

and His working in the hearts of the little ones He's loaned us.

Wordless Wednesday

Just too cute!

Smile!

Multitude Monday - 1000 Gifts ~ Setting My Mind

Set your hearts on things above,

where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your minds on things above,

not on earthly things."

~ Colossians 3:1,2 ~

I've been reading the book Heaven, (Randy Alcorn) this summer, slowly "cud-munching" my way through this challenging and encouraging look at Jesus-followers' eternal future in Heaven and a "resurrected, renewed and restored universe." In recent days, I've particularly been meditating on these paragraphs, these verses:

Asaph says, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you" (Psalm 73:25) This may seem an overstatement - there's nothing on Earth this man desires but God? But he's affirming that the central desires of our heart are for God. Yes, we desire many other things -- but in the desiring them, it is really God we desire. Augustine called God "the end of our desires." He prayed, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

Suppose you are sick. Your friend brings a meal. What meets your needs -- the meal or the friend? Both. Of course, without your friend, there would be no meal; but even without a meal, you would still treasure your friendship. Hence your friend is both your higher pleasure and the source of your secondary pleasure (the meal). Likewise, god is the source of all lesser goods, so that when they satisfy us, it's God himself who satisfies us. (In fact, it's God who satisfies you by giving you the friend who gives you the meal.)

When I speak... of the multifaceted joys of the resurrected life in the new universe, some readers may think, But our eyes should be on the giver, no the gift; we must focus on God, not on Heaven. This approach sounds spiritual, but it erroneouslydivorces our experience of God from life, relationships, and the world -- all of which God graciously gives us. It sees the material realm and other people as God's competitors rather than instruments that communicate his love and character. It fails to recognize that because God is the ultimate source of joy, and all secondary joys emanate from him, to love secondary joys on Earth can be -- and in Heaven always will be -- to love God, their source....

All secondary joys are derivative in nature. They cannot be separated from God. Flowers are beautiful for one reason -- God is beautiful. Rainbows are stunning because God is stunning. Puppies are delightful because God is delightful. Sportsa re fun because God is fun. Study is rewarding because God is rewarding. Work is fulfilling because God is fulfilling.

Ironically, some people who are the most determined to avoid the sacrilege of putting things before God miss a thousand daily opportunities to thank him, praise him, and draw near to him, because they imagine they shouldn't enjoy the very things he made to help us know him and love him.

God is a lavish giver. "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all -- how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). The God who gave us his Son delights to graciously give us "all things." These "all things" are in addition to Christ, but they are never instead of him -- they come, Scripture tells us, "along with him." If we didn't have Christ, we would have nothing. But because we have Christ, we have everything. Hence we can enjoy the people and things God has made, and in the process enjoy the God who designed and provided them for his pleasure and ours.

God welcomes prayers of thanksgiving for meals, warm fires, games books, relationships, and every other good thing. When we fail to acknowledge God as the source of all good things, we fail to give him the recognition and glory he deserves. We separate joy from God, which is like trying to separate heat from fire or wetness from rain....

Every day we should see God in his creation: in the food we eat, the air we breathe, the friendships we enjoy, and the pleasures of family, work, adn hobbies. Yes, we must sometimes forego secondary pleasures, and we should never let them eclipse God. And we should avoid opulence and waste when others are needy. But we should thank God for all of life's joys, large and small, adn allow them to draw us to him.

That's exactly what we'll do in Heaven . . . so why not start now?

God doesn't want to be replaced or depreciated. He wants to be recognized as the source of all our joys, and he wants us to draw closer to him through partaking of his creation. My taking pleasure in a good meal or a good book is taking pleasure in God. It's not a substitute for God, nor is it a diestraction from himn. In the words of the Wesminster Shorter Catechism, it's what I was made for: "Man's chief end is to glorfy God, and to enjoy him forever."

this week's gratitude list:
(#s 1390 - 1430)

sadness because her visit is over and she's gone

looking forward to finding a routine again

snuggly babies at naptime

singing songs I love

listening to girls singing songs I love

meditating on Moses

blooming trees

onion rings

hearing her laughter in the midst of frustration... "kala suru"

walking for exercise

dreaming of the future

aloneness and quietness

picking friends up at the airport

little hands learning to wash dishes

pony tails on the top of the head

bargaining at the market

shopping after a rainstorm

organized bookselves

icy breezes after a stifling hot nigh

playing word games

gusty wind one night while walking

having my girl asking to walk with me

watching him singing songs, reading the words from the overhead for the first time

questions about baptism

his first celebration of the Lord's Table... and his excitement to be a part of it

several cooler days

imagining Heaven

wondering what this week will bring

a cup of hot tea, sweetened with honey, and a favorite friend

lessons learned from failure

questions but no answers teaching me to trust

loneliness when I let it drive me to the most important One

summer school coming to an end

puppies learning

our cat regaining her health

hoping to be in our house by the end of the month, maybe...

little girls starting school last week - and doing so well with it

lots of tanties oohing and aahhing over my sweet ones

going to see Safana... it had been too long... I must go visit again, soon

sharing with my friends that "Thru the Bible" really is on the air, every week night, here in Niamey

homemade cough medicine

End of the Year Program @ École Alliance

Wright's Broadcasting Truth to Niger, August 2011 Prayer Letter

“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You;

My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”

~ Psalm 63:1 ~

“I shall rise from the dead…

I shall see the Son of God, the Sun of Glory, and shine myself as that sun shines.

I shall be united to the Ancient of Days to God Himself,
who had no morning, never began….

No man ever saw God and lived.

And yet, I shall not live till I see God; and when I have seen Him, I shall never die.”

~ John Donne ~

There is so much we could share in this letter… seems like a lot of “wonderful” has happened… and in that wonderful we see God’s grace and His hand so unmistakably, making us long for His Presence all the more. To be honest, there are times when this life is such a wonderful gift it is easy to wish it could go on forever. Remembering that this life is, however, only a foretaste of all that the Almighty has for our forever future, helps keep our eyes and thoughts continually heaven-bound.

One of the wonderful parts of this past month has been receiving visitors. First, Pastor David Warren, from our home church (Calvary Baptist, Midland, Michigan) spent a week with us, teaching an acting seminar that has greatly challenged and encouraged a local Christian acting group to consider the impact their ministry will have as they focus not only on material but on technique and presentation. The acting seminar followed a script writing seminar that Richelle was privileged to teach. While Pastor David was here, we also welcomed Richelle’s sister Julie and her daughter Leandra. Leandra will be spending the next 11 months with us in Niger and it has been a joy to share our ministry and home with them the past few weeks.

We also want to share a “finally!” wonderful: “Thru the Bible” is finally on the air in Niger. The possibility of airing this classic radio program (30 minutes a day, five days a week of systematic Bible teaching), was first presented to us back in 2002. We encountered problem after problem… difficulty after difficulty… yet by God’s grace Tim persisted and continued to look at opportunities and other avenues to broadcast this series. Last Friday completed the second full week of radio programs. After a long spiritual battle characterized by so many technological difficulties, it is a fabulous feeling to tune into the radio station every weekday evenings and hear solid Bible teaching floating out over the airwaves.

Radio ministry in a mostly illiterate country is an interesting paradox: We know intuitively... studies show... research "proves..." that radio is the most effective and efficient way to communicate crucial, life impacting messages to majority illiterate people groups, particularly when they are scattered over a large geographical area. And those words describe Niger to a tee.

The irony in this paradox is that the very illiteracy emphasizing the importance of radio often prevents us from receiving feedback from listeners, letting us know that programs, songs, or truths communicated through the programs we produce are touching lives, have been fruitful and result in God's name glorified.

Just this week, however, we received an awesome bit of encouragement...

Folks working in another W. African country (and not one just next door) contacted us via our web page, Wrights Broadcasting Truth to Niger. They explained that they had a Zarma man working for them and he was a recent believer, therefore could we send them a Zarma Bible, Zarma "gospel" music with parables and stories ("Trust" and "Choose" are the names of the two we sent) on cassette, and some literacy materials so they could teach him to read and truly begin discipling him. We gladly collected materials... then they had to be hand carried back to the States where they were mailed back to a W. African postal box and this family then came in from their place of work to pick them up there.

This past week, we received the following letter:

Dear Tim & Richelle,

Thank you for mailing the Bible and other Zarma items. We have received them.

I've started teaching him the letters and sounds, and he is excited that he will soon be able to read and write. He wants to read the whole Bible for himself.... I was surprised that he was singing along with some of the songs [on the cassette tapes]. He later explained to me that he had heard some of the stories while he was growing up. His father would turn on the radio in the AM to listen to news, then leave it on all day. He and his brothers would change the radio channels, looking for music. He had heard some of the stories told in parables (like the tiger wanting to be as powerful as the lion). He had also memorized some of the songs.

At that time he was a Moslem in a Moslem family. Only one of his brothers is... [a] believer at this time. His father would often leave the radio on and then leave for the day. The children would... change the channel to look for music and ended up hearing Christian programs and learning the songs.

Thanks for all your help!

R-

Isn't God amazing? The father in this family turned on the radio hoping to hear the news... and his children ended up hearing the best and most important "news" of all, and for at least two of his children, it has changed their eternity.

Please pray with us as we learn to choose to continually trust our God's faithfulness in cultivating the seeds that He allows us to sow, whether in person or via broadcast mediums and audio-visual tools... whether or not we hear of results this side of eternity… and that we keep our eyes fixed towards that goal.

All because of Jesus,

Tim, Richelle,

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

Mullings & Musings...

• "Unfinished Projects" (I'm so glad I'm still an "unfinished project... and studying my way through Randy Alcorn's Heaven helps me imagine and even dream of who God just might be renewing, reclaiming me to be... some day, and I can't wait!)

"...Do ya' feel my pain? Seriously? Am I the only one who has something like 27 different projects up in the air at any given time?

There are days, when I just wanna give up and never get outta bed. Then there are days when I launch myself into fifty different things, like Superwoman-Elastagirl on steroids, and work myself into a frustrated frenzy. Neither extreme is workin' for me, y'know.

So my artist friend Adina says to me -

'Well, Teri, isn't that what our life in Christ is all about?
Aren't we all just unfinished projects?' "

• "Police Nab Runaway Elephants at Bus Stop" (Seriously! Can you just imagine? My kids would've gone cuckoo!)

"Two runaway circus elephants in Germany surprised passersby and police by showing up at a bus stop during a brief bid for freedom..."

• "Afghanistan: The Worst Place to be a Mother" (I just read a book, The Breadwinner, about some of the struggles that Afghanistani women face... my heart breaks... Another difficult, but worthwhile read that deals with some of these same issues is A Thousand Splendid Suns.)

"...50 women die in childbirth each day in Afghanistan. One in three is physically or sexually abused and the average life expectancy of women is 44.

It said that more than 85 percent of Afghan women are illiterate, while 70 percent of school-age girls do not attend school for various reasons - conservative parents, lack of security, or fear for their lives.

Taking all indicators into consideration, 'Afghanistan is the worst country' to be a mother, concluded the report, which assessed 164 countries."

• "How to Plan Home Activities for Your Summer Guests" (Good reminder, from a surprising source - at least I thought so - about another aspect of practicing hospitality.)

"Tailor house activities to your guests: Consider what type of guests you are entertaining while choosing activities. For parents with children, consider what activities will be fun for parents and kids... Your home can be a more exciting destination spot than you ever realized. Take the time before your guests arrive to determine their interests, as well as the amenities of your home. Summer guests want to enjoy their home, but also spend quality time with you and your family. Make this a summer to remember and to form vacation memories to last for a lifetime..."

• "Losing Hope: Women in Afghanistan" (A sobering video...)

"...for every 100 000 babies born alive here, 6500 of their mothers will die in the process. It is the highest rate of maternal mortality in the world... [As one interviewee says] 'A child without a mother is a big problem.' His loss reveals the impact that the death of a mother has, not just on the family, but on a small community governed by the strong belief in family unity. [He says,] 'When my wife died, everyone was sad. But now that's gone and no one cares. No one cares about other people in this world.' "

Individual medleys...

Tim took the following video at the elementary swim competition back in June... just now, finally, posting it.

I do particularly enjoy watching this... just because I competed in the the IM (one of my better events so many moons ago) so frequently. Seeing the stroke improvement in these kids who only get a week of formal swimming lessons each year delights me; I find it hilarious that Nadia (touches second) and her friend Heidi (touches first) are "featured" in the video, making this the perfect follow-up to yesterday's Wordless Wednesday.

 

These two gals discovered last weekend, with a little help from their mamas,  that they will be classmates at Sahel Academy in just a few weeks... you should have seen the smiles!

Wordless Wednesday - Such Good Buddies

Super yummy AND relatively easy... go ahead and give it a try!

I tried this recipe the other day... swirled pumpkin yeast bread...

and it was a hit!

Not only that, it was easy as far as bread recipes go - and easy to adapt when I found that I didn't have all of the ingredients - at least the amounts called for in the recipe.

I've also been soaking grains before I use them, at least most of the time. Sometimes that takes too much forethought and planning (i.e. knowing I want to make pancakes for lunch the next day so mixing up the batter minus the baking soda before I go to bed...), but when I remember, it is super convenient to only have to add the leavening ingredients the next morning and voilà, the dough is in the oven rising... or baking (depending on the recipe).

I'm also finding that my whole wheat recipes are softer and lighter when I soak the grains, a definite taste benefit...

Have any of you tried soaking your grains? What have you noticed?

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

Photo from Taste of Home.

Multitude Monday - 1000 Gifts ~ Emails that Encourage

Radio ministry in a mostly illiterate country is an interesting paradox: We know intuitively... studies show... research "proves..." that radio is the most effective and efficient way to communicate crucial, life impacting messages to majority illiterate people groups, particularly when they are scattered over a large geographical area. Those words describe Niger to a tee.

The irony in this paradox is that while we know this, the very illiteracy that emphasizes the importance of this type of ministry prevents us from ever (or often) receiving letters or communication from listeners, letting us know for sure and consistently that programs, songs, words or verses or truths communicated through the programs we produce are touching lives, have been fruitful and that the result is God's name glorified in this spiritually dark place.

Just this week, however, we received an awesome piece of encouragement...

Folks working in another W. African country (and not one just next door) contacted Tim and I via our web page, Wrights Broadcasting Truth to Niger. They explained that they had a Zarma man working for them and he was a recent believer, therefore could we send them a Zarma Bible, Zarma "gospel" music with parables and stories ("Trust" and "Choose" are the names of the two we sent) on cassette, and some literacy materials so they could teach him to read and truly begin discipling him. We gladly collected materials... then they had to be hand carried back to the States where they were mailed back to a W. African postal box and this family then came in from their place of work to pick them up there.

This past week, we received the following letter:

 

Dear Tim & Richelle,

Thank you for mailing the Bible and other Zarma items.  We have received them.

I've started teaching him the letters and sounds, and he is excited that he will soon be able to read and write.  He wants to read the whole Bible for himself.... I was surprised that he was singing along with some of the songs [on the cassette tapes].  He later explained to me that he had heard some of the stories while he was growing up.  His father would turn on the radio in the AM to listen to news, then leave it on all day. He and his brothers would change the radio channels, looking for music.  He had heard some of the stories told in parables (like the tiger wanting to be as powerful as the lion).  He had also memorized some of the songs.

At that time he was a Moslem in a Moslem family.  Only one of his brothers is... [a] believer at this time. His father would often leave the radio on and then leave for the day.  The children would... change the channel to look for music and ended up hearing Christian programs and learning the songs.

Thanks for all your help!

R-

Isn't God amazing? The daddy in this family turned on the radio hoping to hear the news... and his children ended up hearing the best and most important "news" of all, and for at least two of them, it has changed their eternity.

Please pray with us as we learn to choose to continually trust our God's faithfulness in cultivating the seeds that He allows us to sow, whether in person or via broadcast mediums and audio-visual tools... whether or not we hear of results this side of eternity.

this week's gratitude list:

(#'s 1372 - 1389)

letters that encourage

God's faithfulness, even when I doubt because I do not see... just like Thomas

sisters and nieces

the reminder of God's power as we took time to observe many amazing parts of His creation this week - hippos, powerful waves and rapids on the river, giraffes, dust storm, thunder and lightening,... 

boston creme donuts (again)

safe plane travels

new arrivals, new colleagues

listening, reading stories of how God is providing for Sahel's most recent graduates

mornings chez Mamata and our literacy class

restored health for my friend and her newborn Noé

two delightful and new young friends, Aichatou and Madinatou - their smiles every time I come to visit just make my day!

having the policeman stop me, for no real reason, and allowing my sister to see that little but sometimes very frustrating aspect of our lives here... and how cheerful politeness (and a few strategic Zarma words thrown in at just the right time, thanks to Holy Spirit prompting) allowed everyone to "save face" and no ticket

brochettes, frites, playground, bats and a setting sun

having Tim walk into a local grocery store where one of our friends was showing some some newly arrived folks around... and one of the new arrivals said to him, "I know you! We follow your family's blog!" =D

sharing with friends

cameras to capture, and later treasure, special memories

guitars, flutes and voices... singing praises to our God for several hours one evening

looking forward to pizza, cookies and creme ice cream and a movie with friends