Michigan

Ryan and I took a trip with our good friends, Eric and Jessica, to Boyne Falls, Michigan in June. (I know, a little late, but I've had computer problems lately.)

Anyway, on the way up there, we stopped in Indianapolis to eat at Fogo de Chao for lunch. The food was really good, but I think the best part of our experience there was when one of the waiters kept pressing me for what I wanted for my free birthday dessert. I kept telling him I'd like to think about it a minute. I don't know if he didn't hear me or couldn't understand, but he kept saying, "Cheesecake?...Chocolate cake?...Creme brulee?" Ryan, Eric and Jessica all started laughing, and it took everything I had to hold it together.

We then continued our trek up to northern Michigan. We were excited to see the place we were staying. The pictures of the place online looked great, but you never really know what you're going to get.

We were there for a week, which was absolutely wonderful. Praise the Lord for vacations!

Our days were filled with golf, tennis, hiking, biking, kayaking, paddleboating and swimming. The nights were filled with games--Rook, Settlers, Catch Phrase and Guesstures.

Some highlights from the trip:

•Lunch at Fogo de Chao in Indianapolis.
•The boys decided to each stuff a VERY large pancake into their mouths just to see if it would fit.
•Ryan chipped a golf ball at Eric and hit him in the ankle from about 30 yards away.
•Riding the ski lift up the mountain with our bikes.
•I busted on my bike while we were riding down a mountain. (I think my bike and I both did a front flip, which was pretty scary. Praise the Lord for bike helmets!)
•Eric fell backwards in his chair while we were playing Guesstures.
•Rocking out to Lionel Richie, Journey and some other great ones on the way home, all courtesy of Eric's iPod.
•Handstand contests in the pool--point those toes! :)

Of course there are too many wonderful memories to recount here, but thank you, Eric and Jessica, for a great time in Michigan!

Barbeque, Berries and Bonding

This is ridiculous how behind I am on blogging, but here's another attempt to catch up:

•In May, yes two months ago, we had a Memorial Day Cook-Out with our Sunday school class at the Wellums' home. There was lots of good food, not to mention Hillbilly Horseshoe, Cornhole, badminton and bubbles for the kids.

•A couple weeks later, we went with the Sosebees to Joe Huber Farm to pick some strawberries. Ryan and I had never picked anything out there, and I was so excited about fresh strawberries. My goodness they smelled so good! We then ate some good ole' Southern home cooked food--fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, the works.

We froze some of the strawberries when we got home and have almost finished all of them. We ate them plain, over ice cream and even made some absolutely delicious strawberry shortcake. The strawberry shortcake was so good that I think it now sits toward the top of both of our favorite desserts list.

•Our Sunday school class had a girls' night at our house a few weeks ago. It was wedding-themed so everyone brought their wedding albums to look through. We played fun little wedding games and ate some typical wedding food--cake, chocolate covered strawberries, after dinner mints, nuts and some punch.

Kristi gave a devotional emphasizing the importance of not letting our guards down in our marriage. Unfortunately, we know several Christian couples who have gotten a divorce, and it's such a good reminder that it can happen to anyone. We need to daily choose to love our spouse as Christ loved the church, and we have to seek to make God the center of our marriage.

Anyway, it was a great night hanging out with some beautiful godly women.

Celebrating and Planting

So, I've been really bad about blogging. Though I'm glad I did it, I think writing about Niger kind of zapped my blogging energy.

Anyway, there's probably lots to catch up on, but I'll save most of it until we find the cord to download the pictures off of our camera. Hopefully that won't take too long.

I did come across a few pictures I wanted to share.


We had our sixth anniversary in Niger, but we celebrated it again after Ryan finished his finals. We went out to eat at Del Frisco's, which, incidentally, is also where we ate for my birthday the first year we were married. The only difference was the location--Fort Worth vs. Louisville. Who would have guessed then how God would have worked things to bring us to Kentucky!? Praise the Lord that He is sovereign because I'm certain that my plans would not have turned out nearly as well. Anyway, dinner was fun and the free dessert afterward was even better! :)

In God's perfect timing, He brought a wonderful couple into our lives--Adam and Andi Graig. We met them right before we left for Niger, and they were definitely a Godsend in helping us (mainly me) deal with the reverse culture shock. They recently returned from China and were dealing with some of the same feelings we were having.

Anyway, Andi spent many, many long hours helping me with our landscaping. She definitely has a green thumb, and well, I had never planted a thing in my life before moving into this house. Actually, I take that back, I think we planted a lima bean in a paper cup in elementary school, but that's been the extent of it.














The landscaping of our house had been neglected for some time, so there was quite a bit of work to do. We spent a long time just pulling out all the lava rock so we could plant more stuff. We even moved a Rhododendron (basically a small, flowering tree) from the front to backyard. I might post some before and after pictures later, but here's a picture of our Rhododendron before we moved it.

Niger: Day Seven

*Most of the pictures from today were taken with Dr. Martin’s camera so Brad and our guide didn’t have to take the same picture with 10 different cameras. I’ll post more pictures later when we get our CD compilation of all the pictures everyone took in Niger.

There was some confusion as to our flight schedule. I think we were originally scheduled to leave Niger Thursday evening or Friday morning, but it had been changed to where we left very late on Friday night. Brad was unaware of this change until we got there, so our Friday schedule was wide open. Brad suggested we go on a giraffe safari, which he said was one of his favorite things to do there.


We slept in a little bit that morning and left the guesthouse around 8. We then drove out to the place where the giraffes were. A giraffe guide got in our bus and we took off driving across the land. We were off-roading, which in terms of bumpiness really wasn’t much different from driving on the roads there.

We all kept watch to find some giraffes, and it didn’t take too long before we saw our first one. There were actually two giraffes, but one was a little farther away. We stopped the bus, all got out and slowly walked toward the closest giraffe. Brad told us that the closest we should get was about ten yards away. We walked up until that point and then stopped to take some pictures. I also got some great shots of the giraffe eating leaves off a tree. Check out that tongue!



























We saw a few more giraffes as we drove around, as well as these two kids leading a couple of cows pulling a cart. The kids let us pile around the cows and cart so we could take a picture. We also saw these three camels.


As we were leaving, we came across this massive rock-looking thing. Brad told us it was actually a termite mound. That’s right—an enormous termite mound! I even crawled up on it to get a picture, but I didn’t see any termites while I was up there.


We finished up with our safari and headed back to the guesthouse to pack and to do our debriefing for the trip. That night, we had dinner at the same restaurant as the night before but this time we had pizza! It was so good.

After dinner, we finished packing and just hung out until our flight late that evening. Our flight was originally scheduled to leave around 11pm, but it was delayed a few hours. The flights home were long and filled with delays, but we were so thankful to make it back to the U.S. By the time we got back to Louisville, it was about 2:30 on Sunday morning. We were completely exhausted from our long travels, but it was wonderful to climb into our big, comfy bed.

Niger: Day Six, Part Two

As we left the village for the last time, I was already starting to get sad about only getting to see Fati one more time. I was very excited, though, about the gift I had to give her.

Earlier that morning, I had brought some cards, with the intention of having everyone sign them to give to thank each of our translators. They were cards from Africa that were given to us by Southern before we came. I hadn't looked at them until we got on the bus that morning. There were four cards and envelopes in the pack we were given, with each card depicting a different scene or person from Africa. Well, as I was pulling the cards out, I saw that one of the cards had a big picture of Fati on it. I couldn't believe it! There are millions of people in Africa, and the one person I had developed a special bond with was now staring back at me. I was so excited!

I decided that I was going to write a note on the inside of it, have Cephas translate my note into Zerma (the language spoken by the Songhai people) on the other side and then give it to Fati. Cephas was so sweet for doing this for me. The excitement was building up inside of me as we came to the ferry. Kids there love digital cameras. They think it's so fun to see the pictures we take of them afterward. I would imagine that a lot of these kids haven't seen themselves too many times, if at all. I don't know that there are many (if any) mirrors there. So I could just imagine how special it would be for Fati to have this card--a picture of herself that she could keep.

My note to Fati read:

Fati,

I am so glad I got to meet you. I am thankful God brought us together. You are my friend, and I love you. God loves you more, though, and He wants you to know Him. I may not get to see you again, but if you trust in God and believe that Jesus died for your sins, then we will get to see each other again in heaven. I will miss you and will be praying for you.

Love, Kelli

I was thankful to see Fati when we arrived at the ferry. As soon as she came over to our bus, I tucked a bag full of our leftover food from the trip onto her tray. Some of the guys distracted the other kids so they wouldn't see.

Ryan also bought some cola nuts from Fati, both to help her out but also so we would have some to remember her by. Ryan bought four, but she insisted on giving him seven. We were so sad when these cola nuts were later confiscated in New York. We declared them, and the first guy we came to verified that we just had nuts and said it was no big deal. We thought we were in the clear, but we later came to another man who asked to see them. Ryan got them out of my backpack and gave them to the man. He then motioned us to keep going. We asked if we were going to get the nuts back, and he said no. We were pretty disappointed, especially because we were led to believe we could keep them.

Anyway, Cephas then came over to the back of the bus so I could give Fati her card. It was so neat to see her face as she opened her card. Cephas told her about how I had received that card in America before I came to Niger. He pointed out to her the dress she was wearing so she could see that it was an old picture (not something I had taken while we were there). He then read to her in Zerma the note I had written.


Afterward, we just hung out as we waited for the ferry. I recorded a video of Ryan and Cephas singing and dancing to/acting out one of the worship songs we sang in the village. As I was recording, there were several kids standing around watching. When the guys finished the song, I filmed it again with the kids doing it as well. It was pretty cute.

We then walked back toward the bus. Fati disappeared for a few minutes, and when she came back, she had two bags of ice water. She gave one to me and the other to Ryan. It was so sweet, and it meant so much to me that she wanted to bless Ryan with one as well. I never ceased to be humbled by this sweet girl's generosity. We inconspicuously cleaned the bags off so we could drink them. Remember, our bodies can't handle the diseases that these people are constantly exposed to. We then tore a hole in them so we could drink them. Fati also found some chunks of ice to give me. For a moment, I was at a loss as to what I should do with the ice. I couldn't eat it or suck on it, but I didn't want her to think I didn't like this gift.

One of the guys let me borrow a handkerchief to put the ice in. I then made a game out of it by touching the children's cheeks and hands with the cold handkerchief. Some of them almost acted like it hurt in that they would reach out to touch it and then pull their hand back really fast. I don't know if this was part of the game to them or if it was just genuine shock from touching something so cold when they're not used to it. This little game continued throughout the ferry ride. The kids seemed to enjoy both the attention and how it cooled them off.

There were several times that I would look over at Fati and see her pulling out her card. She kept showing it to the other children--you could tell she was so excited about it.

We didn't get back on the bus in time to ride it off the ferry, so Fati and I held hands and walked off, toward our bus. I was so sad to leave her, and as I write this I am once again unsuccessfully fighting back tears. I leaned down and gave her a hug. We did our special little handshake that we had been doing all week, and then I climbed back into the bus. I reached out of the window and held her hand as we slowly started to drive off. A couple other kids grabbed onto my hand too. Fati was worried these kids were going to hurt me by not letting go when they needed to. She let go of my hand to push theirs away so I wouldn't get hurt. I kept waving to her until she was out of sight. I had kept a smile on my face the whole time, but as soon as she was out of view, I started crying. I was so sad knowing I may never see this sweet girl again. It was amazing how attached I had grown to Fati in such a short amount of time. We weren’t always able to talk (because there often wasn’t someone to translate for us), but it was always fun just sitting together.

I was left desperately hoping that the Holy Spirit would move in Fati's heart and cause her to trust in God. Even still I long to see this girl, and I pray that we will be reunited in heaven (if not before then).

Anyway, it was a difficult ride back to Niamey. When we arrived, we said our goodbyes to our translators and then dropped them off. That was pretty sad too.

That night we joined the Hurst team and the Wombles in going to a restaurant for dinner. This restaurant was pretty incredible. It was so clean and modern looking--it was like a whole other world. It was just like a restaurant you would find here in the States, but it was set in the middle of this really poor country. Ryan and I sat at a table with Eric (a guy from our trip) and Brad and Sally Womble. We really enjoyed our time getting to know them better.

We then headed back to the guesthouse, where we all prayed and said our goodbyes to the Hurst team, who was heading to the airport.





We had one more day left in Niger, but in a sense, it felt like our trip was over. We wouldn't be going to the village the next day, Hurst had left, so we'd pretty much said all of our goodbyes.

Niger: Day Six, Part One

*I'm going to tell about Day Six in two parts because there is so much to tell about the day.

We woke up this morning excited about the day, but already sad that it would be our last day to go out to the village. It amazes me, as I think back, how easy it was to adapt to this completely different culture. It seems that within no time we had become accustomed to this way of life.

The drive that day was particularly dusty. Notice all the dust in the air in this picture. You're also able to see the bumpy dirt road we rode on each day (and bumpy is putting it mildly) and the typical scenery as we drove.


Anyway, I had asked Cephas the day before if he would translate so I could share the gospel with Fati. I wanted to talk to her about God during the morning ferry ride so that she could have time to think about it in case she had any questions.

When we arrived at the ferry, I was excited to talk to her about why we were there in Niger (to tell people about Jesus). When we got on the ferry, Cephas, Fati and I sat down to talk. Several kids crowded around and other people were listening, which I'm sure made shy little Fati nervous.


I told Fati about how God created the heavens and the earth and the first man and woman. I told about how Adam and Eve were close to God but after disobeying God and eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were separated from God and cast out of the Garden of Eden. Many men came after Adam and Eve, but all were separated from God. So God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to come into the world. I told about how Jesus was a very good teacher, even when he was Fati's age. I told about how Jesus calmed the storms with a word, about how he fed five thousand people with only five loaves of bread and two fish, how he cast the demon out of a man, how he raised Lazarus from the dead and how the religious leaders were afraid of his power and ordered him to be crucified on a cross. I also told about how Jesus bore the punishment for everything we have done and will do wrong. After three days, God raised Jesus from the dead, and as a result of Christ's sacrifice, we are able to have a relationship with God. If we just confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that he was raised from the dead, then we can be saved and will spend an eternity in heaven.

After I was finished, I asked Fati if she had any questions. She said she didn't, so I told her to think about what I said. I told her we would be back again that afternoon, but that would be the last time. I was so thankful to Cephas for his willingness to translate everything for me.

Just a sidenote, but Ryan and I were both amazed at how God is using these translators. God chose these men for a high purpose--to be His mouthpiece in spreading the gospel throughout Niger. These men survived their childhood (even though so many die) and some were even saved out of the Muslim faith. There are so few Christians in Niger, and they often encounter much spiritual attack. These men now serve God with their whole hearts and are committed to doing all they can to further His kingdom. It is truly remarkable how God uses each one of us for a different purpose. We are all members of the body, equal in importance, but different in function. How beautiful is God's plan!?

Anyway, we were eager to get to the village because we knew that this was the day we were going to witness the baptism of two of the new Songhai believers. One of the believers was the man who heard the gospel shared the first day we were there and came in right before Ryan taught his second lesson. The other was a woman who had been persecuted by her family for her beliefs and had previously said she wasn't ready to be baptized. Over the course of the week, she said she was ready, so this was going to be a huge day. When we arrived, we saw all the hard work that the Brazilians had done to prepare for the baptisms. They spent a lot of time the night before digging a huge hole in the ground and pumping lots of extra water to fill that hole. We had brought black tarp to line the hole with so the water didn't immediately soak into the dry ground.

We started off in prayer and worship. It was such a wonderful time, but I was sad knowing it would be our last time to worship with these people and in this way. My heart overflows as I think of the beauty of their worship and hearing it in so many different languages. This day of worship was particularly neat because as we sang a song, some of the kids outside the gate were repeating the lyrics. I can't remember now which song or what the words were, but they were all singing along about how wonderful our God is.

We then headed into the village to evangelize. This was going to be an abbreviated time to share because of the baptisms, but it was wonderful, nonetheless. The first time we told the stories, I did the middle part, as I had done ever since the second day. It just turned out that almost all the people we shared with were women and children. The second time that day, though, there were a couple of men. The man I presumed to be the head of the house really seemed to take to Ryan. As soon as we came in, he reached out his hand to shake Ryan's, and when he spoke, he was mainly looking at Ryan. We both knew this was going to be a great opportunity for Ryan to tell our part instead. I was particularly proud of my husband as I listened to him share about Jesus. We have been so blessed by what God has taught us. I think back to just nine years ago, and Ryan wasn't even a Christian then (though he thought he was). God has grown Ryan so much in such a short amount of time. It amazes me that my husband is now almost done with his Masters of Divinity and is about to start applying for a PhD in Systematic Theology! I'm sorry to digress again, but I hope you're getting a glimpse of all the thoughts and emotions that I was experiencing during this last day.

On our way back, Ryan spotted this big container and pole that is used to pound the millet that the Songhai people eat. He asked someone nearby if they would mind if he gave it a try. Unfortunately, Ryan started pounding the millet before I was able to get the camera out of his pocket, but some of the other guys were taking pictures of it, so I'll post those later on. I then attempted to pound the millet. These women (and young girls) make it look so easy. They'll throw that pole into the container and throw it back up into the air with no problem. They'll often toss it higher in the air, let go of it, clap their hands and grab it with the other hand and not miss a beat. I was horrible at it, and I was surprised at how much strength it took just to throw that pole.


Some of the children there do have toys, but they're not like the toys we're used to. The people are very creative and resourceful and use pieces of trash, in this case an old bottle to make the body of a car. They then attached four bottle caps to make the wheels and used a strip of fabric to make a cord to pull the car.



















We returned to the Brazilians' home a little early and waited for the guys who were teaching the believers that day to finish. While we were waiting, we experienced something very sweet. There was a little boy who really took to Kyle, one of the guys on our team. They gave this little boy a cup filled with some of our cold water. He loved it. Keep in mind this child has probably never had cold (and/or clean) water in his life. Anyway, someone had one of those travel packages of Crystal Light--the kind you can poor in a single bottle of water. They mixed they Crystal Light in with some water and gave it to the little boy again. This kid absolutely loved it! It took him several minutes to finish this small cup because he was savoring it so much. It was so sweet.

We then began to prepare for the baptisms. The men lined the hole with the tarp we brought and then lugged these enormous tubs filled with water over to the hole. The woman to be baptized went first. We were all gathered around as she climbed in the hole with one of the female Brazilian missionaries, named Paula. As they stood in the hole, the men worked quickly to dump the tubs of water into the hole. Everything was spoken in Zerma, which was so neat. We've seen many, many baptisms but none that were anything like this. The significance of baptism was explained, and then Paula baptized this woman by completely immersing her into the rapidly diminishing water, which was quickly being soaked into the ground, despite the tarp.






































Next, Christiano, a male Brazilian missionary climbed in the hole with the man who was to be baptized. Everything was the same, but Christiano had to work a little harder to push down all the parts of the man's body since there wasn't much water left.














We were all so excited for these two new baptized believers. They took a huge step in the profession of their faith and will very likely be persecuted for it. Though I can't mention their names, please keep them in your prayers.


We took lots and lots of pictures afterward. The one above is a picture of all the believers, and the one to the left is a picture of us with our new friend, Cephas. It was sad to leave the Songhai believers, as well as the Brazilians, which made it very difficult to say goodbye.

We pray that our paths will cross again one day--maybe even next Spring Break, when Southern is planning their second trip to Niger.

Niger: Day Five

Ryan and I woke up feeling much better--almost back to normal, which was a huge praise! Thank you for all your prayers!

We headed to the ferry, where I was able to see Fati. It was always nice to have to wait for the ferry because it meant I was able to spend more time with my new friend. While we were standing around waiting, another little girl came up to Fati. Fati got something that was hidden on her tray of cola nuts and went over to this girl. It turns out that Fati was putting some makeup on this girl. It was really more like black paint or something, but Fati put a couple dots on this girl's forehead and then was painting some of it in her eyebrows. It was really neat to watch because it reminded me of how girls their age might enjoy playing and putting makeup on one another here in America.














I was able to give Fati a package of Pop Tarts by slipping it onto her tray when there weren't any other kids around. She seemed very thankful and after awhile, she sat down to hide it better on her tray so no one would find it when they were picking out cola nuts. Fati then walked off for a few minutes to sell someone some cola nuts and when she came back, she gave me a plastic bag that had three coconut slices in it. This was again such a sweet gift. I really felt bad and hoped she didn't feel like she had to give me something in return, but Cephas assured me that she didn't. These gifts from Fati meant so much to me. It reminds me of Mark 12:41-44, where Jesus told the story of the widow's offering:

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on."

Now of course Fati's gift to me is not the same as the widow's gift to Jesus, but there was certainly a similar sacrifice involved, which made it all that much more meaningful. Brad was with us again that day, and I asked him after we left the ferry if it was alright for me to eat the coconut. Unfortunately, he said I couldn't. Because they were slices of coconut (as opposed to a whole one), they had been exposed to the water there, which would make me really sick. So, I gave one slice to each of our translators, which they were excited about since their bodies are accustomed to the water there.

As we stood there, Fati had her tray on her head, and so I asked her if I could try putting it on my head. I was able to do it, but man, I sure felt like I had to be so still and make very slow movements. She thought it was pretty funny. They make it look so easy there. They do it so often and are able to move around without any problems. You may notice in the picture above where Fati is putting the makeup on the other girl that they both had their trays on their heads. I was surprised at how heavy that tray was, and Cephas told me that people often carry up to 30 pounds that way. I can't even imagine!

As always, I was sad to leave Fati for the morning, but I was excited to get to see her later that afternoon on our way home.

Worship in the village was wonderful, and it became evident throughout the day how we were all becoming more comfortable with one another. As we walked around the village, we were able to share the gospel with several more groups of people. It was neat because sometimes the same people would follow us around and hear us tell the stories two or three times.

After evangelizing in the village, we all gathered at the Brazilians’ home and hung out for a little bit. Ryan even got a brief lesson from Issa (our translator) on how to play a jimbay (drum). He and Dr. Martin also got a lesson in Songhai dancing from one of the men who had started coming to hear the lessons that week. Anyway, my husband, as I’ve mentioned many times before, is seriously so good at everything he does. Playing a jimbay and Songhai dancing are no exceptions. He did such a great job! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of Ryan dancing, but I did get some videos of both him playing a jimbay and him dancing.

There were often children who gathered outside of the doors that enclosed the Brazilian's property. I was able to get this really cute picture of them when the door was opened at one point.

Our time with the Brazilians and new believers was really fun, but we eventually had to pile back into the bus to start our three hour trip back home. Fati was working at the ferry when we got there. I knew she worked there all day each day, but I was always a little worried that for some reason she wouldn't be there. Sweet Fati bought me another bag of ice water that afternoon, and I gave her my bag of trail mix.

While at the ferry, I also took a picture of two really cute, young children. The little boy looked so happy just walking along with his mom. Both kids were so precious!














On our way home, that day, we stopped at another market to look at some jimbays and swords. Ryan was so cute and excited to see both of them.

That night, our routine was slightly different. We all headed over to the Wombles' house earlier than normal for dinner. This was so we could go with our translators to Wednesday night church, which was such a neat experience. The service was held in this area that was up against two buildings, so these buildings made up two of the walls, and the other two were open to the outside. There was a roof overhead, but the night air was able to flow through. There was a prayer time going on at a nearby mosque, so there was a regular hum of one of the Muslims crying out in prayer over the loud speaker. We began the service with prayer. The pastor, who was from Ghana and spoke English, assigned us topics to pray about and would give us a few minutes to pray on our own. Everyone prayed on their own out loud, and it was really cool to hear all those prayers going up to God in different languages, knowing that He hears them all. We all sat in lawn chairs as the pastor preached. The service was to start at 7 that night, but people trickled in for the next hour or so. The concept of time is so different in Niger, which we learned starting our first day there. People aren't really as concerned about schedules, which may be largely due to the fact that there are so many circumstances that you can't control and may keep you from staying on schedule.

Anyway, the pastor did a great job. He taught his lesson in English, and then one of the translators who was working with the Hurst team translated it all into Zerma. Afterward, we all said our goodbyes and headed back to the guesthouse.

There was quite a bit of work to do each night to prepare for the next day--mainly disinfecting all the water bottles and jugs and preparing lots of ice. Everyone worked to get it all done, so it didn't take too long, which was good because I think we were all pretty tired by that point.