Niger: Day Four

On the night of our third day in Niger, Ryan and I started to have some stomach problems, but when we woke up the next morning, it had definitely gotten worse. Several others were starting to feel sick as well. Brad got us some Cipro, an antibiotic, which we started taking that morning.

We missed the first ferry of the morning due to road construction. That meant we had to wait another hour for the next one to come again. I never minded waiting at the ferry because it meant I was able to spend more time with Fati. I wanted to make the most of my time with her, but it was difficult when I felt so bad.

Just like the two days before, when we arrived at the village, we all gathered together for worship and prayer. Ryan and I then joined our group in walking through the streets of the village to share the good news about God. Let me take just a second here to say that we are so blessed to live in a place where we can hear about Jesus just about any time we want. It’s on TV, the radio, we can listen to sermons online, books and not to mention the ability to read God’s word whenever we please. We live in a place where most people have heard about God and yet they are bored with it. There are so many people in this world, though, who would absolutely love to hear about God, to hear that there is hope, that Jesus came to bring us eternal life, that if we just believe that Jesus is Lord and that He died for our sins, that we can spend forever in heaven. It’s such wonderful news, and yet I so very often keep it contained inside instead of sharing this gift with those around me.

Anyway, we didn’t get to share the gospel as much that day because we arrived at the village later than normal. We headed back to the Brazilian’s home and I laid down inside while we waited for the rest to return. On the way home, we hung out with the kids while we waited for the ferry. It was always fun to spend time with the children in Niger, but it was also difficult because they were constantly hoping we were going to give them something. Keep in mind that these people are extremely poor and have very little. They associate us with money. They were often begging for stuff, which just broke my heart. I mean, to see these small children holding out their open hands, then reaching their hand up to their mouth and then grabbing their stomach. It’s so hard.

We had been instructed, though, that we couldn't just hand people stuff. One of the reasons was because it could cause a riot. A girl on the Hurst team experienced this firsthand. The children had been begging her for stuff and finally she just gave them a completely empty fruit cup, so basically a piece of trash. These two boys started fighting over it and were trying to strangle each other.

Another reason we weren’t to give them anything was because we were there to give people the gift of life—to tell them about God and show them how to know Him. This gift is obviously so much more important than any material thing we could offer, and we didn’t want them to miss that.

Their physical needs are very real, but in order to give to them in that way, it would be much better through an organization, such as Compassion, or something that can give on a much larger scale.

So all of these children were begging us for stuff while we waited for the ferry, and then something remarkable happened. Fati came over and gave me a bag of ice water, which she had bought for me. This little girl didn’t have much, and she sure didn’t get to taste much (if any) cold water herself, but yet she so unselfishly spent her money to buy some for me. It absolutely broke my heart and even still brings tears to my eyes. Before we left that day, I was able to slip Fati a granola bar without any of the other children seeing. I had Bilo translate to Fati that her gift touched my heart, and she told him that my gift touched her heart too.

I was so humbled as we drove back to Niamey. I couldn’t believe the thoughtfulness and unselfishness of this sweet girl. I was so thankful to God for her and for that gift, especially on a day when I wasn’t feeling well.

By that night, Ryan and I were feeling considerably better. We even managed to play some Bo Bo, where Ryan and I both spent some time in the King’s seat.