Our First Mission Trip, Part I: Casablanca

As many of you know, Ryan and I recently went on a 10-day mission trip through Southern Seminary to Niger, West Africa. This was the first mission trip that either of us had been on, and we are so thankful that we were able to experience it together.

There were 11 of us who went, and I was the only girl. (There was another girl who signed up to go, but she dropped out fairly early into the process.) I was anxious about going to the other side of the world with a bunch of guys, but everything worked out fine. While we were there, the guys discipled a handful of new believers by teaching foundational truths from the Scriptures, and the rest of the time was spent sharing the Gospel with people in the village we went to.

Niger is reportedly the poorest (or second poorest) country in the world. Physically influenced by the French, the people of the Songhai tribe, more importantly, have been enslaved to sin, blinded by Satan, and have rejected Christ. The people of Niger are dominated by Islam and animism. You can learn more about the West Africa Region, and specifically about the Songhai people.

Below are some prayer requests that Ryan sent out in an email before our trip:

•"The Lord would soften the hearts of the people with whom we will share the Gospel (that they may see Jesus and believe and repent)
•The Lord would grow the faith of the believers in Niger (that they may be found faithful, even in the face of persecution)
•The Lord would use us to encourage the missionaries on the field
•In all that we say, think, and do, Christ would be glorified
•Strengthened faith, for greater belief in the One who is Lord over all people
•(For Kelli) Confidence as the only girl on the team, that the Lord would use her in ministry
•(For Ryan) Illumination and faithfulness to teach the Word to the believers (I’m teaching on our first day in Niger, which may have the added challenge of recovering from travel. My first lesson is on God’s Holy Word, and we’ll be looking at Genesis 1-3; my second lesson is on Assurance of Salvation, and we’ll be studying the early chapters of Hebrews)
•Our marriage would rightly exalt Christ and his church (especially in a place where men have multiple wives, whom they also abuse physically)
•Trust in the Lord in response to demonic attack"

I listed all of these prayer requests because God answered every single one of them, and we are so grateful to those of you who were praying for us. We certainly felt covered in prayer.

On the way to Niger, we had a 12 hour layover in Casablanca. By the time we arrived in Casablanca, we had already been traveling for almost 24 hours (1.5 hour drive to Cincinnati, flight to New York and then flight to Casablanca), so we were pretty exhausted.

Because our layover was so long, the airline put us up in a hotel so that we could shower, rest and eat. After doing all of the above, we headed out on a tour of the city. We were all excited about the opportunity to see Casablanca, but it wasn't quite what we had expected. The coast was pretty, though there wasn't really any beach where we were, and there were some really beautiful houses. Much of the city, though, was dirty (as in lots of trash everywhere) and very low income. It was strange to me to see opulent houses right next to run-down subsidized housing projects.

Mohammed, the guy driving us around, claimed that this was the hotel was where Churchill, Eisenhower and some other big names gathered to plan D-Day. It was known as the Casablanca Conference. (Some of you history buffs may be able to verify that.)

It was nice to see another part of the world, but we had all had our fill of Casablanca by the time it was ready to leave. We were all eager to finally arrive in Niger.