jeremyinafrica

BLOG CHANGE

2007-06-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. I changed my blog address. (This probably should've happened earlier, since I'm no longer in Africa...) It's hemustbecomegreater.blogspot.com. I've put a link on the right side of the screen if you want to just click on it. Hope you all have a SPLENDID day. God bless y'all and thanks for the prayers.

The Loft

2007-06-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

Once again, sorry for taking so long to write again...I'm really getting bad at this. Sorry about that.

We have moved in to our new apartment (aka The Loft) in downtown Jackson. It's quite the stellar place...just enough room for the 3 of us (Abe Janson, Jake Sinkovitz and I) to live in. We're living with Ben and Kristen Kriesch right off the corner of Francis and Morrell. And despite all the prejudices lined up against those two streets, our neighborhood is pretty safe. So for those of you terribly worried about our safety...well, you don't need to be. We'll be okay.

As far as plans for this summer...we're still trying to work that out. But here's the shake down. In fact, I think I'll go through the entire story so you get a feel for how God's been guiding us down this road. It started when I called Abe on day and both of us were tired of calling ourselves Christians and do nothing about it. We wondered what it would be like for a couple of guys to give up a summer to God and see what He wanted to do with it. Plans started forming up for going to Colorado or anywhere really (as long as it wasn't Jackson) and we were all set to go...until meetings with Rick and honestly thinking about our summer plans started to change our minds. To go to Colorado it would be A.)more expensive. B.)Not a long term thing C.) More like a missions trip than a life change. After realizing all this...we grudgingly agreed that we had to stay in Jackson. And as that shift took place, opportunities kept coming at me. I started working in the youth group with the new church, I went to a leadership meeting for the church, Ben told me we had a place to stay with them...and I started to get excited about living in Jackson. My plans for Jackson were still to do some crazy evangelism or something, but didn't know how that would work out. As with everything else, that has changed as well. For me, I'm looking to help change the community. I want to the people of Jackson to know Jesus Christ and to know this unbelievable love that the creator of the universe has for them. But honestly, I'm not the best one to bring it to them. I'm leaving in 3 months. I can't build a relationship, overcome the barriers, bring the love of Jesus and develop a worthy foundation in that time. Instead what I'm hoping to do is make the lives of the people already here a little easier...free up the schedule of the people who live here so they can do their thing. Of course, I will still be building relationships...but I don't think that will be my focus. I want this summer to have the most lasting change possible...and if that means that I'm behind the scenes and praying all summer...I'm all for it.

And yes, I fully expect God to radically change my life as well. I have no doubt that God has some great ways planned to rip my heart apart and put it back together a little more like His. I don't see all the ways I need to change, but God does, and I hope He holds nothing back.

So there you go...a brief synopsis of what I think God's up to in my life. Of course, I probably don't even know half of it...but these are just my general inklings.

-Seydou

Moon, stars, waves....

2007-05-27T11:05:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about our place at the Bahamas was our deck on the ocean. There was one night, when it a storm was just, that I just went outside and listened. Imagine...such strong winds that I was nearly knocked over, thunder, lightening. As everything was exploding around me...I stood amazed at the power of God. How peaceful and gentle He is...and yet when His fury is awakened, it's unstoppable. (Who can stop a storm?). Just like the God, the water can be the cause of great refreshment and purity and enjoyment...but it can also be a terrible and furious thing. And the crazy thing was...the sky above was perfectly clear. It felt like a private show of the Trinity. The wind (Spirit) blowing wherever it pleased, pushing me this way and that. The awesome power and grace of Jesus in the rain and the waves. And then the incomprehensible stars...too big and far to even come close to understanding. And the moon...untouchable, yet somehow a part of the action...pulling the tides in and out. All three so distinct, yet all three somehow connected. I know it's not a perfect image of what the Trinity really is...but I was excited to just see a part of it.

And just to finish out the Bahamas trip, we visited a monastery on the top of a hill on the island. I was told it was the highest point between Florida and Africa...it was a nice place to put a monastery. As we walked around the place, I just couldn't help but wonder...what would it be like to live your life SOLELY for God? To give up all your comforts and possessions and meditate on Him constantly? And then I thought...how cool would it be to live that kind of monkish life IN TODAY'S BUSY WORLD? Is it even possible? Could I reduce my comforts so that I remind myself that this isn't my real home? Could I give my time and energy into knowing God? I have to believe that I can. What an amazing testimony that would be to God. Even though all the world says, GO GO GO...I will wait on the Lord.

And the last piece of news...I'll be heading into Jackson this week. (Probably either Tuesday or Wednesday). I'm really excited to see what God does. Once again my main goal is to make friends (this seems to be what God has me doing a lot...Africa was the same thing). I'm going to play basketball...get to know some of the guys in the town, and hopefully live such a radically different life that they ask questions. It's a huge change for me...going from Africa, to Spring Arbor, to inner-city life. But I guess God's just building up experience for me...trying to shape me into the man he wants me to be. This is going to be absolutely crazy...and I'm sure we're going to need to rely on God a lot...just don't know what that is going to be like.

Well, I gotta get going. Have a wonderfully blessed memorial day!! Lata.

-Dabumba.

Long time...no write

2007-05-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

It's been such a long time...my bad. As I mentioned, we went to the Bahamas (Cat Island in particular) for a family vacation. It was absolutely great. Here's a picture of our house while we were there.
How can you NOT have a good time when you're in a house like that!? That deck actually we overlooking the ocean right there...and it was over a coral reef. The first day we got there, we looked over the edge and...oh, there's a shark. So we decided to go snorkeling.
Don't worry...we were all right. We survived. But it was really cool...right outside our house was a coral reef we could swim in and see all the fish. I loved it.

But the greatest part was hanging out with the family. I'm sure that no matter where we went, we would've had a great time. They're wonderful people! This one is on our deck right before a storm. The wind was so strong we were getting knocked around. The one flying through the air is my cousin Gavin. I'm not sure if it's a trick of the camera or what, but I've never seen him jump that high.
And here's my family all piled in there at the hermitage/monastery that's in Cat Island (I think I'll have to make another post including that and other things I did while I was there). I would name them all, but then again, that would take a long time and no one would really care anyways. If you're desperate to know, just ask.
Amazing place isn't it? I loved it. That's the basic overview of Cat Island. We went swimming, beaching, tanning, kayaking and all other "ing" things. Truly a great time. But now that I've returned to Michigan this is the attitude.
I want to go back...! Eh, I guess you can't have everything.

God bless ya.

_daaaaabumba

Slowing down.

2007-05-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't heard, our family is going on a vacation to the Bahamas (tough life, I tell you). It's a pretty special place. My great grandmother was a missionary here (Cat Island to be specific) and my Mom's family went there quite a bit to see her and have a vacation. But they haven't gone in 20+ years...and are really wanting to get back there! So my family, my aunts, cousins, grandparents, uncle, and other relatives are all renting a house so we can all experience it again! I'm REALLY excited to have a day start with nothing to do. (I'll leave tomorrow and be back the 22nd).

Which kind of brings me to the exciting goodness of today's blog. It has been a long time since I just listened. Not to music, or to someone talking, or anything in particular...but just to sit outside and listen. It sounds weird, I know, but I found it's remarkably enjoyable. The birds fluttering about singing at each other. The wind rustling through the trees. The cars driving past (I guess it can't all be perfect). I've missed so much rushing about, trying to get from here to there as fast as I can. Life gets monotonous when you never stop to catch a breath. So today, instead of driving or riding a bike, I walked. And I just watched and listened. It's incredible how quickly your thoughts clear, and how peaceful my mind becomes. I loved it.

After I'd written my previous blog, I went to cell group and had a good conversation with my friends about it. It's so easy to draw a line in the sand and say, "This is what my church believes in, this is what your church believes in...and they're different so we're different." Now, I don't care if there are denominations. I don't care if people group together based on beliefs...the problem comes when, "The Free Methodists aren't real Christians" or when "The Baptists don't have any clue about the real world" (no offense those denominations). We are all claiming to follow the same Christ and human barriers should be easy crossed over when compared to the magnitude of service to Him. And the church isn't limited to a building...it's in the people. And there are people out there who will never step inside of the building, and I applaud those people who step out and reach out to them. My point was this...just don't cut off the branch your standing on. We're all connected and we're all in this Christian journey together. We all do some things poorly, we all do some things well...can't we just forget what the world says about needing our own special divisions and compartments and be united?

-Seydou

"Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall."

-Jesus

Marriage

2007-05-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

(Sorry, not getting married yet. Might not get married at all...)

I just read Ephesians chapter 5...and something finally connected in my brain. Paul is writing about wives submitting to their husbands, and husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church. (To throw my opinion out there, wives have it easy. How hard can it be to submit to a guy who is loving you like Christ? The men have the challenging part...but also exciting part as well.) One verse at the end caught my attention... "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother to be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." (Okay so thats logical, guys leave their families to be with their special someone). "This is a profound mystery--I am talking about Christ and the church." HOLD UP! Wow. So this passage isn't about a man and woman, it's about Christ invading the world to be united with his bride, the church. Does that strike anyone else as amazing? Jesus tore himself away from the presence of God the Father, from his heavenly throne, from thousands of angels singing his praise...for what? The church? He did. He gave up everything he had so that he could be one with the church. Jesus=church. Church=Jesus. And so to take that a step further...what happens when I say something negative about the church? When I stereotype the church? I'm speaking against Jesus. And to be honest (just going to throw it out there) I'm getting tired of hearing about how bad the church is. It seems like every "post-modern" hippie website I go to, they're talking about how judgmental the church is, how we're (yes, we...not they.) doing everything wrong and how it's basically useless at reaching out. I don't think they understand who they're speaking against. We have problems, yes. We have fallen from the beauty and grace that Jesus once clothed us in, and desperately need reformation to become the bride Jesus made us to be. But instead of complaining about it, could we work to build it? Instead of calling for its destruction, could we give our lives to saving it? If the effort Christians put into criticizing the church was put into trying to find ways to make it better...we might be seeing some difference.

I apologize for the rant...but I feel it's needed. People everywhere need to be reached. There are some groups that the church is missing, yes. But I don't think that justifies criticizing the body of Christ...does it?

-Seydou

(Here's a thought. Could it be that God created woman and man...and the relationship of marriage so that we would understand why Jesus came to die? It's another one of those "stepping out of time" deals."

Prayer

2007-05-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

I just got off the phone with John and Nancy DeValve...and there are a lot of things that they need some prayer for! Here's a quick list:
*There was a new school that was started down the road, which is led by people who don't exactly have the same views and John and Nancy, and the kids are being sent there. The Sunday School numbers have gone down a LOT.

*The water situation. They're managing right now, but each day is a struggle. (They have about 15 gallons of water to live off of each day...including showers, washing dishes and clothes, drinking, cooking...everything).

*PRAISE THE LORD IT RAINED!!! So the water should be coming back soon...but they need another good one soon.

*They have almost gotten enough money for Daniel's schooling, but still need to finish it up.

*They're coming home for the summer, and are heading through areas that have been rather....volatile...lately.

*Speaking of volatile...Niamey has been a mess. There are a lot of riots by the students (one a day) and they're not happy. Apparently they want everyone in the country to pay taxes (including embassy and missionary people) and so they attack any car with a green license plate. A few embassy vehicles and missionary cars have been stoned. The people were injured, but thanks to God they're all still okay. (This is strange writing this, some of the missionaries were people that I KNEW AND REALLY LIKED. They are great people...and I can't imagine why someone would do such a thing). Pray for safety for the missionaries and Sahel Academy students...and pray that they would have a godly attitude and response to the violence.

I think that pretty much covers it. Life is difficult out there. I know it's hard to imagine it, but this really is happening. I only had a taste. I know just a piece of what it's like. So please pray!! They need the help.

-Jeremy

4 campuses...1 day.

2007-05-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was crazy. Jake, Danny and I all went down to Huntington to visit Abe for the weekend. As usual, we had nothing to do...so we made our own fun. We played 2 rounds of Frisbee golf (and Abe won every time). We ate at Ivanhoe's (the most delicious ice cream you could ever imagine...not kidding). Went to Taylor University and made idiots of ourselves with statues (nothing new). We then wanted to play some urban golf so we jetted over to Indiana Wesleyan (they have nice grass) and drew some confused stares there as well. The pictures pretty well explain it.
(Leave it to Abe to make politically inflammatory statements wherever he goes. And also to casually save some poor guy drowning in an empty pool).
(Of course, Danny is chasing down men dressed in towels. He can be quite ferocious when riled up...I learned that in foosball. Jake and I lost to Danny and Abe 3 times in a row.)
(Danny pondering the deep spiritual truths the book statue man has laid out before us.)
(Jake had never seen a cooler truck/school bus. Only one question remains...WHY!?!?)
(Doing my best imitation of John Wesley. Can you see the resemblance? Now if only my life resembled his....)(A little urban golf in action. My ball got stuck in the bush...so I hacked it out and actually landed it right next to the hole. We still unsure about how legal this game is. So far, we haven't been arrested. Although the security guard kept driving past us...)

One quick adjustment to the last blog...I described the situation as a hellish ordeal...and I think that might bring images to mind that aren't right. I sometimes forget that my writing doesn't come across as I always intend it to. To rephrase it...it's an incredibly frustrating time for the DeValves and I don't doubt that Satan has a hand in it. No one's Earthly lives are in danger, but the DeValves work is being...umm, counteracted...(I'm trying to dance around the issue since I still haven't asked them specifically about it).

A few minutes ago I read Ephesians 5...and loved it. It's about how as God's children we are to imitate Him. We are to walk as children of the light. And again, the coarse joking came up...but this time with a solution! Replace it with thanksgiving. Imagine how DIFFERENT that would be...instead of making fun of someone, you give thanks for them. If I did that, I would definitely draw some stares. But I believe people would notice a difference...and want that difference. As Paul continues, he tells us that we cannot live as children of darkness...because we are now children of the light and we cannot drag our darkness into the light. And here is what I love about this picture...darkness cannot exist unless we cover it. Can you hold up darkness and have it exist? In the same way, sin thrives when we hide it. But if we have the courage to take it out and tell somebody about it, and keep being honest about it...how long before the light will overcome? Isn't that AMAZING?

This morning Pastor Mark gave an incredible sermon. There was one verse that he gave...and after reading it, I couldn't really focus on the rest. It's 1 Corinthians 13:12-"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror (other translations...dark glass); then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." Here's the picture. Right now I'm trying to see Jesus, but I can't see him clearly. I can catch glimpses of him, but I can never see fully. But that glorious day will come when I die...when the cross shatters the glass separating me and my Savior. When my Earthly eyes are done away with and I know CHRIST FULLY. I finally see the richness of His love, the depth of His wisdom in my life...the perfect sculpting of every moment in time. We no longer have to strain to see Jesus! And here's the most beautiful part. Jesus already knows me fully. He knows every sinful thought. He knows every lustful desire...every fall into temptation. He knows the jokes I've made. He knows the sin that I've covered all my life...AND YET HE LOVES ME FULLY. Where on Earth can I find a love like that? (As Pastor Mark said, if I ever do...I'll marry her...HA! Like I'm gonna get married...) We're all SO afraid of being known. Of taking our darkness and holding it up to the light where everyone can see it. But Jesus already knows, and still loves. And I CANNOT wait until that day when the glass will be shattered, the curse will be broken, sin will be defeated, the cloud surrounding my eyes lifted and I see Jesus with new eyes and love Him even more. (Can I get an amen? I get all giddy thinking about it!)

-J. Rod (Abe's nickname for me)

A little late...

2007-05-02T12:50:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since the last post...my bad. Somehow life creeps up on you...and it becomes incredibly busy unbelievably fast. I don't know how this works, but it seems it always happens.

I don't have any more first hand news about the Tera situation...but from what I've heard in through the grapevine, Tera is under some Hellish assault (I don't know if I'm allowed to explain more...or even what's true...so I'll save the details until I have talked with the DeValves) and can definitely use your prayers. No news on Ibrahim...just keep praying.

THIS IS A POINTLESS PARAGRAPH...SKIP IT IF YOU ARE BUSY. Here's a thought for the day (it will make your head hurt, for sure). It's on prayer. In my opinion, God works prayer outside of time. Like, instead of hearing us pray and then changing things, he hears us pray, then goes back and reworks the past so that it does work. Does this make sense? Essentially, God exists outside of time. So instead of thinking of a timeline, think of a painting. He's not starting at point A and ending at point B, He's creating the entire masterpiece to bring Him glory. So I could pray right now for a open hearts at Youth Group tonight, and God could then work YESTERDAY in preparing. (This is kind of deep, and usually when I try to explain it...it comes out REALLY confusing). So here's the thought...how far back could it go? Try and step out of time for a second. Your prayer could be a guide point for God at any moment of history. You could pray for Abraham Lincoln to become president. Wouldn't that be strange...coming to heaven and God telling you that you caused Abraham Lincoln to become president because of your prayer 150 years later? Well, this is a rather dumb paragraph, but hey, maybe you'll find some use for it.

As I was doing devotions today, I came to Ephesians 4:20-"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs so that it may benefit those who listen." I must say, I do not measure up to this verse. Quite often I say things that tear others down SIMPLY SO THAT I SEEM COOLER. It's stupid and childish and yet I do it anyways. How much different would my relationships be if I NEVER tore someone down? What would that look like? Something to think about.

That's about all for today. I sure hope I'll be able to post more frequently, but I don't know if that's going to happen. (And I still need to change my blog address...) We'll see about that.

-Seydou

Ibrahim

2007-04-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

So I just wanted to make a little comparison here. The pictures describe it I guess.I see a touch of difference between the two.

Can you understand now why Africa seems like a dream? It's SO different! It's not like switching from Colorado to Michigan. It's like changing planets.

Something has been bothering me the past couple of days. And rightly so, for I never should have let it happen. My walk with God has fallen back. I keep explaining it away to myself, "I don't have the time," or "God understands," or "I'll pick it back up tomorrow." But those arguments hold no water against the God Almighty in heaven. How does anything become more valuable that my time with God? In Africa I needed Him. If I didn't come before God I would've collapsed under the pressure. But here, with all the support built around me...I can survive (in worldly terms) without God. But the question is this...does that make God any less valuable? No. God is God, no matter where I am. He deserves to be praised and loved. And honestly, for the past week I've forgotten how great God is. I can't do that any longer. He is Lord, and I am His slave. Where He directs I will go. (The key for me here is...LISTEN!) And if He tells me to stay right where I am, doing what I'm doing...I'm going to do it all for God.

And I have a prayer request for you (and I feel this is a little late in coming). Ibrahim needs our prayers. He's continued going to church, and it looks like he's still a Christian...but I have NO DOUBT that Satan is trying to break him down. (If there was EVER a time to take him away from Jesus Christ, it would be now. His mentor just left. He's nearly alone in his faith.) But I've seen the power of prayer...and I believe that through prayer we can protect him from Satan's attacks. Prayer is so much more powerful than we could possibly realize. It's shapes the future, the present, (and I believe the past {very weird, but I think it's true. I can explain later}). And so please, take a couple of minutes and lift Ibrahim up before God. He needs support. (And continue to pray for those around him who are his physical support: the DeValves, his church friend, and other Christians he may run into).

-Seydou
(Rather bitter about this one. That's one of my friends Abby Buter with David Crowder. Unbelievable. Photoshop must have been involved.)

Chicago

2007-04-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days my Dad and I went on a road trip. He had a business meeting in Chicago, and then wanted to go up too Madison to visit James and Liz and Joshua. So he caught a ride over Thursday morning and I went up Thursday afternoon. (Which, for those of you who are city savvy, know that this isn't the best time to arrive in Chicago. I was in downtown Chicago trying to find Dad's hotel at 5:30 on Friday...rush hour.) I eventually made it there (with only a few birds flown my way...). That night Dad had a business meeting and so I walked around town. It's a beautiful place.

I didn't really know where I was going, but then again, I didn't really care. I just walked around and smiled at people (one of my gifts from God!). I was actually surprised at how much people were willing to talk. I thought since it was a big city, people would just be in a huge rush (and for the most part, they were). But occasionally you find the guy who wants to teach you how to use a camera or a guy who wants to explain how they build skyscrapers. Well, I stumbled upon millenium park and had a blast using my newfound photographical skills. Check this thing out.

What sweet little thing. You can get some weird pictures off of that.

And as I'm walking around, I can't help but thinking...this is where I'm going to live in the fall. I'll be here. There will be people right outside my door who need Jesus. And the excitement just built. I can't wait to learn how to serve God in the classroom, and then have ample opportunity to put my learning into practice right where I am.

The next morning my dad and I went on our boat tour of the architecture of Chicago. Very informative, and many great photo opportunities (unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery half way through...sorry). This next one is the Chicago Trump Tower, and it's going to be massive. I believe it's supposed to be the second tallest....surpassed only by the Sears Tower. Wow.

As we were walking to our hotel that night...we passed by a homeless guy. And it hit me...why does this still happen HERE? There's plenty of money. There's plenty of food. And yet this guy (according to his sign) "Is tired of getting sick from eating out of garbage cans." And my thoughts were all nice and supportive...but I didn't do anything. I could've sat down and talked with him...I could've just smiled and waved. Instead, I avoided eye contact and went by as if he didn't exist (just as everyone else was doing). Why is that acceptable in my heart? It obviously wasn't acceptable to Jesus. I'm reading in the Screwtape Letters right now, (which I highly recommend, whether you've read it before or not...it's a great reminder) and this is a letter from one demon to another trying to cause a human to fall, "Let him do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened. The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to react, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel." It all seems so much clearer now. That's what has happened. I have seen the need so often, felt bad for the person and done nothing. And as I continued to do that, my feeling was deadened. So how do I reverse that? Simple. React. When I see a need, if I react to that need...my feeling will come back. I will start to be more aware of the people around me.

I'll write more tomorrow I believe...feel free to send an email!! mulletboy17@gmail.com!

Seydou

Humility

2007-04-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I've mentioned this before...but if you have a spare hour, or feel like getting your world turned upside down, you need to listen to a Francis Chan sermon. (www.cornerstonesimi.com, media, sermons, whichever sermon you like...). I'm not joking here. You'd think having been in Africa I would come back "uber-spiritual" and be above American sermons (snooty snobbish accent there). Didn't happen. I have listened to 2 sermons since I got back (makes sense...two weeks I've been back) and both times...I am done listening to his sermon, humbled before the awesomeness of God and encouraged by what He's doing in His people and inspired to give everything I have to my God. Humility was the subject of the sermon...and when I saw that, I honestly thought..."Oh good, I'm starting to get better at that." Let's just say, the first baby steps have been taken. I've gone a long ways in the area of boasting...but my heart is still obsessed with me. When I pray...what am I praying about? "God, what do I need to change about me? I'm struggling with this, how should I change?" This rubs the wrong way...isn't pray supposed to be about God? Isn't it communicating with God? Instead, I think I've turned it into a visit to the doctor's office. Check out what's wrong with me...then head out the door (and forget what the doctor said about fast food.) EVEN MY PRAYERS ARE FOCUSED ON ME! And then I go around throughout the day...and I'm constantly talking about what I did these past 6 months. Listen (actually, read carefully), I'm not saying that I should stop searching myself for sin, or stop sharing what God did in my life...the problem comes when I'm think so much about myself that I forget that others are in need as well. After listening to the sermon, I started praying, and this is actually what I prayed..."God, help me to be humble. I want people to see me and see a humble man..." after I said that I just stopped (laughed at my ridiculousness) and saw just how much I needed God's help on this one. We have so many misconceptions about what humility is...but I think Francis got it right. It's selflessness. It's being so consumed with God that we fall out of the picture. We forget our needs, our shortcomings, our strengths...because we know that the God of the universe loves us.

And here's one way God has been working on my humility (an attempt at a transition...but as usual, didn't QUITE work). Here was the original plan for the summer (I didn't put it up here before, because we weren't sure what we were doing exactly...which would lead to several questions we weren't ready to answer). Right before I left, Abe Janson and I had a conversation about how cool it would be if a bunch of people lived together completely sold out for God in the middle of a city. We were getting really excited about it, working with the homeless, loving people that had never been loved before...all of that. Things were starting to come into place, when I figured it would be a good idea to ask Rick for advice on what to do. (I should've seen this one coming). As usual, when I walked out of Rick's office my ideas were completely different than when I walked in. See, Abe and I were thinking of Denver or Seattle, or some sweet city with mountains around. But Rick, being the heavenly nuisance God called him to be, asked me why we couldn't go to Jackson. My response..."JACKSON!? Jackson's not a nice city. And we know Jackson (and we hate Jackson). And besides, all of our friends are here and it would be hard to step out from our comfortable lives and live for God." Rick: "Exactly." Me: (slumping of shoulders and deep sigh). It was a rough couple of days, all of my dreams shot down...but slowly, I started to see the reasons why God would have us in Jackson. SAFMC (my church) just started an inner city church IN JACKSON. They need help. I just met one of the leaders, he's been praying for some guys to help and just hang out with the people in Jackson. And there is so much more. Eventually I realize it came down to this. Colorado would be a great story and missions trip. We'd have fun, do great things, then come back to our lives. But if we stayed in Jackson, it wouldn't be like a missions trip (because every missions trip...you eventually have to come home from). We'd be making a change in our lives...saying that even when we're "at home", we live for God. And that I think is much more powerful in our lives and the lives around us then going away. Out West seemed so glamorous, and Jackson seemed so...normal. But I think it's all a part of what God is setting up for us. I can't wait to see what that is.

-Seydou Bumba

P.S. This was a long one...hope you didn't fall asleep!

Shake up

2007-04-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile...the weather hasn't changed much so I don't have much to write about...! There's been a lot of catching up to do...trying to reconnect with friends and family, trying to get my American life back in order (6 months throws it off for a bit) and stuff like that. Here's the gist.

Friday night I went to the Home School Prom (yeah...that's right. Only the coolest get to go.) It was a blast. The theme was supposedly foreign cultures...so I figured I'd throw out the African boubou (great excuse to wear it) and turban. I chickened out on the turban, however, while walking down the streets. I think it would make a convenient excuse for some "patriotic American" to swerve their car. I played it safe.

The homeschool prom is one of a kind. Instead of playing trashy music and trashy dancing, it's a mix of all genres. A little swing, a little rap, a little rock...and a lot of good times. Most of the time I was TRYING to dance with Julie...(she's going to be a ballet dancer in Mississippi for the next year)...but since my skills are lacking, I typically just stood there and let her do her thing. That's just the way it goes.

Then my family all went to the memorial service for Gertie Haight. This may sound strange...but I love funerals. When I sit there, hearing the impact one life made, I am in awe. All her life was devoted to her one love...Jesus Christ. She gave what she had and completed the task that God set before her. And even at the end of her life, she was making a difference. She was James' prayer partner for who knows how long. She didn't consider the end of Africa the end of her service to God (something to learn). From beginning to end, her life was devoted to Jesus. And it reaches the the human climax with one phrase, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." That's then kind of life I want to live. The kind of life where everything that I do is geared to that moment when Jesus looks me in the eye and says I did well. And when I die (as we all must) I want people to stand in awe of God. How cool would it be if in death, everyone turned in amazement toward the power of God? Or that everyone is REJOICING over the fact that the person is in heaven? (I couldn't shake that thought...Gertie is RIGHT NOW, in heaven, WITH JESUS, the love of her life. She is kneeling before His great throne and joining with the angels in a heavenly song of praise. And that moment is so tremendous and precious, that she will never leave or get tiredof it.) That's the kind of funeral I love.

Then James and Liz (and Joshua!) came over and spent the afternoon at our place. Absolutely wonderful time as always. Joshua won't quit smiling...he's awesome. And I haven't seen James and Liz in a LONG TIME and it's so good to see them again!

The next couple of days were just filled with getting ready to start classes (GRR) and get back into the swing of life. I realized how ridiculous I looked, so I made a little change.

Then I realized, this looks even more ridiculous than before (I just looked at what my beard looked like BEFORE...WHOA, it was like a bush on my face, or a dead animal, or those steel wool pads glued to my face.) So I just went the whole way. And I look like I'm 8 years old now. Oh well. (I forgot what my chin looked like. And I keep trying to stroke my beard, only to grasp the air.)

There's more to come tomorrow...but I see this is long already. Hope you're having a wonderful day...God bless ya.

-Seydou

P.S. Played basketball today, and got a head-butted on accident. Just thought I'd show it off.

(Okay, so it's small and pathetic. But I THINK IT'S COOL!!! It's my first split(ish) lip and I'm proud of it.)

Weather

2007-04-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

So I feel dumb...every time I write a blog I'm talking about the weather. How lame. It's simply just a filler...since there isn't as much cool stuff to write about. So, here's the weather. I think I've adjusted back to Michigan blood. Today it was warm, I loved it...it was 50. (Which, in Africa meant that everyone needed to grab the winter parkas and snow hats...light a fire and make sure you don't sit down for too long in case you get frost bite.) Enough of the weather.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life...and I'm pretty sure I'll never know. I'll be 80 years old and still asking what I'm going to do when I grow up. But since I have to pick a major...here's my leading two thoughts right now. First: Pastoral something or other. Here's my reasoning: how cool would it be, to wake up every morning and think...it is my JOB to strengthen people's relationship with Jesus. My job would be to counsel, to show Jesus to those who have never heard, strengthen those who are Christians, and to be so in love with God that people desire Him. How amazing would that be? I guess I've always thought...I don't want to be a pastor! (Like it was something bad...or embarrassing like that). The job description of a pastor is what I love to do. That's who I want to be. Second: Missions. I'm still not sure about that. I would love to be in the middle of nowhere teaching people who have never heard about Jesus. There's just a rush in missions that can't be found anywhere else...the exhilaration of preaching Jesus to new ears. Third: ??? (yes, THREE question marks. Normally, that would be overkill, but I think it's suitable for where I am right now.) So, there's a lot of small decisions to make, that will change my entire life...no pressure. And if you could pray, I'm still trying to work out plans for this summer, and am REALLY not sure what to do. I know God will be with me wherever I am, but I'm sure there's a best choice here. Thanks a lot! God bless ya.

-Seydou Bumba

P.S. I still have to make a new blog address...eh, I guess it can wait a little while longer!

Just gettin colder...

2007-04-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

You would think that since Spring is here, we would be having warmer weather. Nope. Still more cold weather, and today it was actually SNOWING. The picture probably looks familiar...I took the same picture yesterday, but since it was snowing this morning, I figured I would try it again.Another interesting story. So I was wondering what I would be doing for the next couple of months. School doesn't start until May (Community College credits), and I don't have a job! Well, that changed! I talked to Walter Pettifor, my former employer (just to chat about Africa and such), and it turns out that he needed some help. So I suited up this morning (suited up=two layers of socks, boots, pajamas, Stain Defender jeans, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, hooded sweatshirt, jacket, liner gloves, work gloves, and a hat). I managed to stay warm. I'm pretty excited to have a job again, while it lasts. It will at least give me some productiveness each day!

Then this afternoon my little cousin Connor showed up at my house. Now, this little munchkin is pretty amazing. From what I gather (it may be slightly off), he is driving around Southern Michigan giving powerpoint presentations in churches and local businesses about his plan to ride his bike throughout Michigan, raising money to help find a cure for cancer. Sounds like a pretty sweet plan? Crazy think is, he's about 10 years old (give or take a couple). What a sweet little dude.
And just for fun, showed him what a turban looks like. (I pretty much make every excuse I can to wear a turban. That's just the way it goes.)
Thanks for your suggestions on what I should do with my life. I am STILL open to advice (and probably will be for a long time). Does anyone know what you can actually do with a communications major? When I think of a communications major, I think of a slightly weird guy sitting at a radio talking to a mystery audience. I'm not really feeling that...but if it's something else, then shoot, I'd love to check it out.

A thought for the day...remember a couple of days ago I was talking about how it wouldn't be easy to keep the change that happened in Africa? How it is hard to hold on to a change when everything seems to remain the same around me? Well here's a thought...I can't. There are two ways to go. Either I CONTINUE TO CHANGE, or I slide back. So either I can move forward, keep giving God more and more of my life...or I can take things back that I gave before. I can't stand still. And so if I am going to keep changing now...what does that look like? What does a life turned over to the will of God look like in Spring Arbor, MI? And yes, it is hard to change...but just like in Africa, God didn't call me to an easy life. Never has, never will. Life shouldn't be getting easier. It should be getting harder. As I give more and more to God, my life should be getting more difficult. More satisfying and fulfilling, but more difficult. That makes no human sense...but does it have to? I don't think so.

Hope you all are having a wonderful day, wherever you are. And I'm enjoying the weather...even though it's 35 and raining. I haven't seen rain in 6 months, and it's a wonderful thing.

-Seydou Bumba

A few pictures

2007-04-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would throw up a few pictures for everyone. For those who are wondering, yes, it is freezing cold in Michigan. I'm not kidding. I'm starting to get used to it...but honestly, after going for 6 months in scorching heat, freezing temperatures and snow doesn't jive well with my senses. Check it out.
Can you see the iced over look on my eyes? This stuff is just dreary. Fog and frost...whew.

Well, there's also a few pictures from Imaginon, the kid's library that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in at Charlotte. Here's Justin doing a handstand on a cement crayon. Yes, there were cement crayons on which you could do a handstand. Jake is pondering how he gets so high.
Then we've got Laura speaking the truth...she's the President and delivering a stunning speech. My Grandma is enthralled (that's a nice word...enthralled).
That's about it. I'm still trying to figure out what in the world God wants for me in life. It's getting to that time where I'm supposed to be figuring that sort of thing out. I'm planning on going to Moody Bible Institute (for those of you who didn't know) next year and studying Bible Something. As far as I can see it...studying the Bible is never going to hurt you. And as long as I'm not sure about what God has in store for me, I might as well find out a little more about who he is. (And if you have any ideas on what sort of occupation would suit me well, feel free to let me know. I'm still open to suggestions.) But in the end, I still know God has a plan for my life. He knows where I'm going, even if I don't. And He's shown me where the next step is, and I'm assuming (if the pattern continues), that I won't know anything until I've taken that step and preparing to move on. I think God's teaching me to trust in Him.

Well there's my thoughts for the day. Sorry my last few postings have been rather incoherent. For some reason, I don't feel like writing a blog until I'm dead tired. Maybe I should do something about that....

-Seydou Bumba

Long delay...

2007-04-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry for taking so long to make another post...I hope you understand! It's been a VERY fast paced few days. Let's try and recap it. Well, family (and Jake) showed up in Carolina early Friday morning. We played games all day and generally enjoyed ourselves. Seeing the family again was SUCH a wonderful time. I mean, I guess I'd always just taken my family for granted before now...but after 6 months away, I realize how important they are. The next day we went over to the flea market and to a kids library in Uptown Charlotte (that's right, we were completely amused in a library catered toward 6 year olds.) We made our own movie (plotline: Laura Hawkins in a witch and beats me and Justin up {nothing new!}. Then comes Dancing Jake, who leads her thoughts down happy paths where the nice woman played by my mother tells her to be nice. So then she is nice to me and Justin once again) "Fascinating and riveting...a classic of our time." -Ebert and Roeper (I always thought it was funny...Ebert and Roeper must watch movies ALL day long and have an optimistic view of everything since EVERY MOVIE THEY REVIEW is the best thing ever). Anyways, we had a lot of fun. We came back home and then we watched Blood Diamond. I didn't enjoy the movie...don't get me wrong, it was a very well done movie, I just hated it. I cringe seeing how deeply humanity can hate. I lose heart when I see the depths of Satans hold on our lives. It's hard to sit here, realizing that similar things are happening around the world as I speak.

Well, woke up the next morning bright and early for a morning jog...and about froze to death. It was 20 degrees Farenheit. That's killer. I survived...but wow, I forgot what it was like to have my lips so numb that when I speak, it just comes out mumbled. It's a wonderful feeling...but after 1 1/2 years without it, it comes as a shock.

Then we were off to church...to see the prayer warriors who've been there for me for so long. It was wonderful. Then we went to Watershed, then took off for HOME! 11 hours later we made it to Spring Arbor...where a few of my friends were waiting for me. We stayed up until 6 in the morning laughing and playing video games (which meant I'd been up for 24 hours). Then today I've been running around seeing my college friends who were about to leave. Again, it was absolutely wonderful. I can't really even describe it right now (both because words don't suffice, and because I'm exhausted and am in desperate need of sleep.)

I'm seeing that there will be a battle ahead of me. The life ahead of me for the next few months looks "easy." I'll be living at home, among people I know and trust, talking with Christians all the time...and as bad as it sounds, will have "no need of God." (And before you jump on me for that statement...let me explain). I'm back to a life I understand. I'm back to a community I know. Everything that surrounds me is familiar and I could go through the motions of life without thinking twice and in those motions, forget the God who brought me here. It feels like I'm in a bubble of calm, surrounded by the thrashing storm of the world. All around there is heartache and disaster...but here, in Spring Arbor, I feel safe. And that scares me. Because it's always when I feel safe and comfortable that I trust in myself and fall away from God. And so what do I do? When I can "manage life," how do I make myself need God? How do I fight for the kingdom while sitting in a castle? Prayer. That's the only way I can keep growing right now. Pray in the morning, pray at night. Pray while I go throughout my day. Never cease. I've tried for so long to do this...and failed every time. But now I've got a couple of months to work on it.

Well, sorry this post is so bland. Hopefully I'll be able to throw some pictures in tomorrow (I'm assuming I'll have some time to post tomorrow). God bless everyone.

-Dabumba

Happy Reunions...

2007-04-06T03:42:00.000-07:00

I'm back, and I'm enjoying it thoroughly. I can't believe that it was 6 months ago that I left. It's funny how time works...shortening the time away, while lengthening the time at home. (It seems like just yesterday I was working in Charlotte, and yet it seems like I was in Africa for my whole life). But really, it has been so good to see again such close friends who prayed to God for so long for me. I went out to lunch with my fellow co-workers and had a wonderful time. I went to have dinner at the Bakers (Gwen was my French teacher before I left) and again, had a splendid time. I was able to hang out with my wonderful grandparents. Every moment is treasured (I've waited 6 months for this day!!!).

And then this morning, my family showed up!! How amazing was that to see Justin, Laura, my Mom and Dad...(and Jake??). (For those of you who don't know, Justin is my brother, Laura is his girl friend...and Jake is one of my friends from Michigan who happened to hitch a ride). I'm really loving it.

One thing I'm starting to struggle with (and I assume I will struggle with for the rest of my life)...my opinions of Americans. I just want to get this out there as soon as possible...because I don't want to come back bitter towards America. There is a lot of waste, yea. We have a lot of money, yea. But I cannot become bitter. I can see those problems, do my best to change them, show the right way through my life...but that's it. My angry, resentful thoughts towards America will only poison my mind against those God wants to save. Every country has problems. I just need to accept that God is STILL in control, and He STILL has a plan for this country if it will turn back to Him.

That's about all I have for today...I'm sorry if this is incoherent, I woke up at 5 to see the family...and it's about 7 now. I doubt I'll be able to make another post today...there's too much fun to be had with the family!! Love you all, and hope you have a stellar Good Friday. (And smile some more...that's one thing we all can use some more of.)

-Seydou

America...

2007-04-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

I made it. Barely...but I made it. Of course the ride back had to be full of adventures and such...it was intense.

We left for the airport, and I said the last good-bye to my friends (which I still hate doing). Boarded the plane, and was ready to take off. But the plane was pitching a fit. The air conditioning didn't feel like working so it was about 100 degrees, and we were all jammed into the plane. We waited. And waited. Sometimes the lights would go off. Sometimes they'd flicker. Then they'd try and start the engine, and it wouldn't work. It doesn't give you a reassuring feeling when they can't get the engine to start. Well anyways, we got off an hour and a half late. I was already cutting Paris a little close...now it'd be a rush.

But thankfully, there was a decent tail wind for our voyage, so I was only an hour behind. Got out and tried to find my terminal (getting lost a few times along the way of course). Eventually, I was in the right section of the airport (which to the Charles De Gaulle veterans, you know this is not a simple task.) and was ready to go. But the security had a different opinion. They checked through everyone's bags and asked many questions. Luckily, no one thinks I look dangerous, so I always slide through (although one of my friends on the plane was a soldier in Iraq. The clerk asked where he'd come from, he said Iraq, so she asked what he did there, he replied, "I kill people." She was taken aback, and told him he had to wait for awhile.) Well, I did make it to my plane about half an hour before it took off.

But the real worry was Atlanta. I had 2 hours to get through customs (which always sounds nightmarish), grab my checked bag, get a ticket, find my gate and then make it there before they leave me in the dust. Fortunately again, the tailwind was favorable, and we arrived an hour early. I got off and went through customs simply. (Here's the conversation, "You got your passport...umm hmm, you lived in Nigeria? Oh, Niger....okay. Uhh, how long did it take you to grow your beard? 10 months? Oh, okay then, you can go.") Next came the baggage. Well, the absence of the baggage. Since our plane was late to Paris, the luggage didn't make it. Took a good half hour. Then I went to search for my gate (for that's where my ticket would be). Only problem, when I looked at the flight board, MY FLIGHT DIDN'T EXIST! It was nowhere! So I went to the nice Delta lady...and she was surprised too. Gone. Eventually they sorted it all out, got me on a different flight and I was on my way. I made it to the gate with about 45 minutes to spare. (Thankful for that tailwind again).

Well that's about all the eventfulness of the trip. I'm planning on putting up another post tomorrow...not sure how it will work out. I've got a lot of eating planned and meeting up with old friends. I can't wait.

(And by the way, it was an absolutely GORGEOUS DAY!!! Things are so bright and green, and it's warm and yet not hot, everything is clean {Nigeriens understand}...can you do anything but give God the glory?)

Thank you all for praying. Things just seeem to go that much better with prayer. Love everyone. God bless.

-Seydou

Mama, I'm coming home...maybe.

2007-04-03T03:56:00.000-07:00

Mama, I’m coming home…maybe. You see, in Niger, since we’re right next to the desert…we got a TON of dust. And for some reason, today is the worst it’s been in a few years. We don’t really know if the plane will be able to take off or not. I’m assuming I’ll be coming home today, but also get this excited/sinking feeling that there will be an adventure along the way! Well, either way, can’t wait. (This is what it looked like this morning, took it on the way to Niamey.)

My time in Tera is done. That still just sounds wrong! In case you didn’t know this, I stink at leaving. There always seems to be that awkward moment, when you usually say, “See you later!” but you realize halfway through that you won’t see them later, so you simply trail off and start mumbling. Then there’s that uncomfortable silence, where you just stare at each other, everyone at a loss for words. That’s pretty much where I’ve been the past few days.

The story with Ibrahim came to a pretty climactic end. For those of you who don’t know, he showed up in Niamey, and we were able to get a few more Bible studies in. Well, while we were in Tera we finished up the Old Testament!!! (Gloria Dios Aleluia! The last one was a stretch….from Solomon to the end.) But I’m so thankful I could give him a foundation from which to read the New Testament. And I also could give him a little pep talk…assuring him that he could overcome, the Spirit would help him understand, and that he had so many people praying for him from America (which he thought was pretty cool). I actually told him my story with him, how I kept wanting to leave, but God told me to stay. And that God must have a plan for his life…and I can’t wait to see what that is.

That was the high of my time with Ibrahim. See, a couple hours later I found out…the day before he was in prison! He rode a bush taxi home and assured the driver he had money in the house. But he didn’t. (Now understand, I have him money for the ride home that disappeared somewhere). So the taxi driver put him in prison, and his family came and paid to get him out. So I talked with him about it, and it didn’t go over real well. For most of Monday, he was in what I call his, “butthead mood.” We started my going away party…and it was frustrating. My best friend in Tera isn’t eating, he’s constantly telling me I’m doing it all wrong, and he won’t let me talk with the rest of my friends from Tera! Honestly, I was looking forward to the end, when I could just leave.

But something turned around. I’m not sure what it was…if he decided he was being a moron, or if something in my attitude changed, but he started to act normal again. And for that, I thank God. I can’t imagine going the rest of my life, knowing that when I left Ibrahim was angry with me. But instead, Ibrahim, Moussa, Soumaila and I went through all the old pictures I’ve taken, laughing and remembering…(and they picked the ones they wanted sent…50 of them). It ended well (very late…but well). And now I have that feeling again of being satisfied. I’ve done all I need to do, and I can go. I’ve said good-bye and I’m ready to go back home. (And this is the wonderful family that I'll be leaving. It's been a great six months. We finally got a picture of all of us...)

And I couldn't leave Africa without one last sequence of rhyming words....

Feet come together

As I peer into the black

Others have gone in

But no one has come back

Unwilling to move

As I stand before the wall of time

Wishing God would shine

His light on this path of mine

My mind is willing

But still my heart shies away

Seeing the next step

But never knowing the way

For no strength of heart

Can turn back the Father’s hands

The future keeps moving

No matter where I’ve made plans

I can see the end

Like my last page has been read

But the paths unwritten

Except for one step ahead

And that one step is...!!! (It's amazing, this has been in Tera since I got there, and I never noticed it until YESTERDAY!!!
Peace out y'all.

Last one...maybe

2007-03-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

I was just kidding about leaving today. We're actually leaving tomorrow. John and Nancy returned safely from their Thailand conference with no problems, except one. The bag full of gifts from Thailand went missing!! (NOOOO!!). So we're sticking around tomorrow to see if it arrives, then heading up to Tera around 3ish. So this will probably be my last posting from Africa! (I'll be in Tera for the next few days, then come back to Niamey Tuesday morning, then fly out Tuesday night...tentatively). Might have time to write one Tuesday, but no guarantees. If not, I'll throw one up in Charlotte. So what do I say in my last posting IN AFRICA?

First, my time with Ibrahim here in Niamey has been incredible. We've been able to study the Bible A LOT (Judges until 2 Kings). We've been able to talk about life, and he's given me his ideas for what he's going to do afterwards (that's right, he came up with the ideas). He's planning on visiting Pintu, one of the guys at our church to learn more of the Bible. I believe he's coming to the point where he can read it for himself, but having a little instruction can't hurt. And here's what REALLY excited me...he found a schoolmate in Tera who is a Christian as well. And not just that...he's planning on TEACHING HIM the Old Testament. Essentially he's doing what some who have been Christians for 20 years say they're not qualified for. He's stepping out and passing his flame on. And that is exciting.

So here's a couple of the answers to prayer in the past couple of days. First, my foot is still getting better. It looks real weird still, but it doesn't feel bad at all. Second, do you remember how I had trouble deciding who to spend time with? Like, I wanted to be with the Sahel people...but with Ibrahim here, I felt like I needed to be with him as well. Yesterday, he showed up early in the morning...and I didn't really know what to do. I had work to do. There were a lot of things planned for the day. And if Ibrahim was there...I wouldn't be able to do any of that. But when he saw that I was working, he said he would just go home and come back some other time. We had a quick Bible study and he left. I was able to have a wonderful day with all my friends here. Third: So Ibrahim came back that night and reminded me of earlier, when I told him we should go to a Idrissa's sometime(a spectacular restaurant...excellent food for minimal prices.) Well, as I thought about it...I realized it wasn't going to be possible. To walk to Idrissa's, eat, and come back takes about 4 hours. But then God provides. My friends were going to Idrissa's that night, and we were all able to go. I was able to keep my promise!! Then today, the Sahel guys and I went out swimming. Ibrahim showed up after I left. AND WAITED THE SIX HOURS UNTIL I GOT BACK. He needed money for a bush taxi to Tera...and it would've been trouble trying to find him tomorrow morning. Luckily, he stayed and we were able to work it all out. Again, praise God.

God has been faithful. Everything that I've needed, he has given me. Coming to Tera and Niger has been exactly what I needed. I had to learn how to depend on God alone. That if my friends all left, if my family disappeared, if everything I'd ever known deserted me...that God would still be there, and He would be enough for me. It has been difficult, yes. But God has been there, holding my hand and whispering in my ear. He won't lead me astray. Though I may never know fully what my purpose has been here...I can't thank God enough for letting me take part in His plan for Niger.

Not sure what else to say. I can't thank you enough. Take part in what has happened here...for it was your prayers that changed lives. I don't ever want to diminish the importance of prayer. It was like I had an army standing around me at all times...an army of angels, and an army of soldiers fighting on their knees. I definitely wasn't in Africa alone.

Now it's time to leave, and I think this expression pretty well captures it. Excited. Scared. Happy. Sad. Terrified. Overjoyed. (And not really sure what I'm feeling).

-Jeremy Seydou Bumba Dabumba Mulletboy Osama Bin Laden Genghis Khan Slager

P.S. Any ideas on what to do with the blog? Jeremy In Africa would be misleading, since I will no longer be in Africa. And then I would have to keep explaining why my URL is jeremyinafrica, when I'm not really in Africa. Which, then again, would give me a good opportunity for testimoniage. Well...ideas would be welcome.

Whew...

2007-03-27T14:46:00.001-07:00

I feel like I misinformed you all. I just reread my blog, and it sounded like I hacked open my foot with a scalpel. Sorry, I'm not that much of a man. In fact, I was too much of a girl to even get it on the first time. It took me awhile...and I got about a 1/4 inch of a cut...and just left it there. So moral of the story: I didn't perform surgery on my foot. But I've been amazed at how many people were worried about it!! And your prayers are being answered! I haven't felt it at all. Yesterday, the red rash was up to my ankle...today it's gone back down to the sole of my foot...so it's going away! (You guys are amazing, God is working through your prayers...and not just with my foot!). Foreshadowing...the suspense is a killer, isn't it??

So on Sunday, Ibrahim asked if we could do devotions twice a day until I leave. He asked what time I would be done working at Sahel so we could start. I told him 2 pm. So he said he would show up at 3. Around 5, he made it here (African time is wonderful). We had a LONG study session this time. Started with Judges, and I summarized most of the stories. He really seems to be understanding. I told him to go home and read the story of Gideon, and so he went home and read it twice. Today we read about Samuel and Saul and David (before he became king). It was really interesting. Sometimes the pieces don't quite click in...but most of the time they do. There was one story that he was having problems figuring out. It was when Saul went to battle, and God told him to kill everything except the king. So Saul went to battle, killed all the people except the king, and brought back the best animals to sacrifice to God. That doesn't sound too bad, does it? He brought back animals to sacrifice to God! He's not planning on keeping them...they're for God!! But Samuel is pretty upset, and tells Saul that because of this, God has rejected him as King of Israel. Then Saul apologizes...and GOD REJECTS IT. That's a theology smasher for you. Ever heard, "No matter how bad your sin is, God will always for give it...?" But God rejected Sauls. Ibrahim didn't understand (and if I hadn't gone over it before, I wouldn't either). Basically, if you read on...Saul says he want Samuel to restore him to honor before the elders of Israel. There's the problem. He is wanting to regain his exaltation by becoming "a better Christian." (I realize he wasn't a Christian...but it makes it a little more applicable.) So then I wonder...do I ever ask for forgiveness simply to regain my "moral standing?" Or when I ask for forgiveness, is it to destroy the sin that is in between God and me? If it's the first...good chance (I'm not sure about this yet) it will be rejected by God. You're not sorry about the sin, you're sorry about losing your standing. Well, back on the original track I was on...what Saul did SEEMED right. He was doing a good thing for God in the eyes of everyone...except God. God told him to kill everything...and so Saul should have done that. How often do I make compromises like that? For example, God says...you shouldn't play soccer. And I say, how about this? I play soccer and be a witness on my soccer team. God wants obedience...not compromises.

I just went on a little sermonizing run there...well, back on track here. Today Ibrahim and I went back to his house. I wasn't really looking forward to this. His mother has a brain tumor (I think) and she hasn't been doing to well. Yesterday, he was almost crying because of it. But apparently, she had her operation and it went well. (I think...sometimes the things he says and the things he means are quite different). But I was just thinking last night...what has to be going through his mind right now? He has just become a Christian...and he now knows the consequences of not following Christ. Then he sees his mother on teetering on the edge. He knows where she's going...what is going through his mind!? I cannot even imagine. And I tried to get him to talk about it today...but he wasn't too keen on it. I'm not real sure what to do about that. Well, after we visited his mother, we went to his brothers house to watch some TV. We watched NigeriAn rap videos (not too interesting, I slept)...and WWE Armageddon (which I've never seen before..."professional" wrestling. And never plan on watching again. It's absolutely awful. Poor acting...and absolutely disgusting morals twisted in. Ridiculous.) Funny thing was...Ibrahim knew all about it. I really wonder about that!

Seeing as how well this prayer thing has gone so far...I'll tack on one more prayer request. I'm feeling a burnout coming on pretty quickly. There is a lot of pulling going on inside of me. Ibrahim is here, and of course, I want to teach him as much as I can. But I have great friends here at Sahel too...and I really want to spend time with them as well. It's real hard for me...knowing that I probably won't see my friends here again! I've never had to go through this before. What do I say? ("See you later" just leaves you with an awkward silence). Where do I spend my time? And so I just need prayer for all of the above. I need to hold together, I want to enjoy my last days here, and not live in dread of the end. But I don't want to just get knocked in the face when I leave. I need God's help on this one to show me where to go. (And a little input from y'all wouldn't hurt).

Well, if I haven't said it before (I'm pretty sure I have). I love you all! You're absolutely wonderful! Thank you SO much for the prayers...they have changed lives. Keep up the fight!

-Seydou

Thanks

2007-03-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to thank you all for praying. The fever and headache are all gone...and my foot is feeling a little better (it was all swollen last night, so I cut it open...and I'll spare you the other details...all this to say, I can walk on it now). It still has about six different colors (red, white, blue, purple, tan, and black) but I'm on antibiotics now and taking good care of it...so I'm hoping for the best.

Ibrahim showed up again today...he came to the African church! Last time I was here (when he came up) I stayed at the guest house right across from the church. So Ibrahim showed up at 7 thinking I would be there. He kept knocking and knocking until he woke up some poor lady who told him she had no idea who I was and that I wasn't on the list. At about 8:30 he found me down the road at Sahel (I feel bad for that lady). Well, he said he enjoyed the church...and that he wants to have 2 Bible studies a day now!! (Isn't this incredible!?) He's excited...he wants to learn more. And as long as the Lord gives me strength...I want to teach him. I'm hoping there will be no more sicknesses...because I really want to use this last time to try and finish up the Old Testament and maybe get into the life of Jesus a little. I hope so. But as of right now...I need more strength for this one. I don't have enough. My mind is going crazy...just now grasping what will be happening in a week. Just starting to understand that I probably won't see any of my Niger friends again...and I don't want to accept that. Trying to enjoy the rest of my time here and make the most of it. Trying to figure out what I've learned through my time here. Trying to figure out what will happen when I get back. And trying to keep everyone updated back home. And I hope you will understand...but keeping everyone updated is lowest on the totem pole. I hate saying that...but there are other things for me to do here that are much more important. I'll still try to make a posting each night...but no guarantees. (I'm saying this so that you won't assume I've dropped of the face of the Earth...or that my foot has dropped off of my leg. If that happens...I'll let you know).

Well, I should probably get going. Thank you all so much for praying...you have all helped me so much! Each of you has a part with Ibrahim and with how God has changed my life. And for that, I can't thank you enough! God bless you all!!

-Seydou Bumba

Prayer!

2007-03-24T15:05:00.000-07:00

I need some prayer! See, for some reason, it's been the last month of my time in Niger that my body decided it didn't like it. Yesterday, my foot started to feel a little weird. Then today, it was swollen and infected! You know when your foot falls asleep, and then that horrid tingling as it comes back to life? That's basically what it feels like...all the time! And then I got a fever and a headache. I did something my body was NOT pleased with. Normally, I'd just wait a couple of days and move on...but I don't have a couple of days.

Here's the amazing part. Ibrahim just showed up in Niamey. It caught me by surprise! And tomorrow, we'll probably go on another walk around Niamey, and I need strength! (And a healed foot would be nice as well). It's crazy...Ibrahim is here again. And I have a half a week to read some more of the Bible and try and leave him with a good foundation of the Bible. I need prayer for this! God needs to speak through me, because if it's me speaking, then it will all be worthless. I figured this week would be boring and uneventful...looks like God had other plans. (Can't wait to see how they play out.)

Apart from that, awhile back I was reading from John, about how Jesus said that unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies, it grows back and produces a crop 10, 50 or 100 times what was sown (rough translation....). That is such a beautiful illustration. It's exactly what Jesus did. By his death, he produced so much more than he could have remaining alive. And the picture of a tree is beautiful too (another sequence of rhyming words transition). How the tree is grounded in, and because of those roots it is able to spread its leaves to the sky.

When it dies

And coldly falls to the ground

You see it rise

Without making a sound

Pushing slow

Working its way through the Earth

It doesn’t know

There is more to life than dirt

Surface breaks

As light and heat are first felt

It now wakes

As the frozen tombs melt

Broken free

It reaches high to the sky

Lost in glee

Leaving the foundation dry

It’s too tall

Too weak with no strength to stand

Down it falls

To the Earth where it began

Too feeble

To run toward something new

Not able

To support the height it grew

Forgot the roots

As it pushed away from Earth

Sending shoots

Away from life-saving dirt

Instead of down

Where water flows freely through

Should be round

A reflection of the two

High as deep

Digging down to be sustained

Growing peak

By the depth of root restrained

Spreading out

Into that from which it came

Into clouds

In hopes of heaven to gain

Haha!! You were probably expecting a nice sentimental tree poem. (And to be honest, when I started, that's what I was going for). But it just happened...BAM, the tree falls. And it's true...how if you don't have the root, you will fall. The growing peak by depth of root restrained. The thing is, you can't see the roots. By just looking at someone, you can't tell how much of a foundation they have. The roots dive down unseen...but are even more important than the branches reaching to heaven.

That's about all for today...God bless everyone. Hope you have a super day.

-Seydou

Hallelujah!

2007-03-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

I just read my comments...and saw that Aunt Connie is bringing some punch when I come back....and I'm SOOO excited. I might just chug the first one on the spot. It's the best stuff ever.

So I promised this one would be a little happier. I'll try and summarize the end of Ibrahim's story. Here's a little excerpt...
Right now, I’m pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. Could this really have happened? Do miracles really come true? Can God change hearts? Can prayer REALLY travel over 6000 miles and bend a heart to the will of God? From the first thoughts and prospects…yes. As I was walking around the city with Ibrahim today, he asked me when church was on Sunday. Huh? I gave him a quick look to see if he was just mocking me. But he was serious. I told him 9 o’clock. I asked him why he wanted to know. He asked if we were going to work there. Oh…so that’s why. He wants to help clear it out and get some food for it. I told him we weren’t going to work, we were going to have a church meeting. To pray to Jesus and study the Bible. I was expecting him to say, oh, when do you work again? But instead…he said, “Okay, it’s at 9 then?” WHAT!? Does he really mean that he wants to come to church? Not kidding? Serious? And so I told him it was at 9, and left it at that. Wow wow wow. Where did THIS come from? The only answer I can come up with is, “God alone.” I’m not messing around with God anymore, wondering what the purpose of things are. I’m praying for a profound change in his heart coming from feeble and meek words from John’s and my mouth. This is incredible. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions here, but if God has brought him this far, could he keep going? No doubts. No doubts.

It was out of nowhere! All of a sudden, Ibrahim asked to go to church...and he's gone every week since! We've had some frustrations...there is no doubt there. But as I look back on where we started...it's amazing. I have a hard time believing it. But here he is now...still a Christian, starting to try and correct character problems, and trying to understand the Bible. It's amazing. This God we serve is infinitely wise. Who else could've dreamed up this plan? Who else could've made this all come together? It was definitely beyond me.

Got a quick rhyming word sequence (in keeping with the trend...I've got quite a few here that I never actually posted).

What can I say to my Lord?

Shocked and amazed

Lost and dazed

Bending my knees to the floor

We prayed for a changed heart

But already?

My hands are not steady!

I cannot add to your work of art

I asked for the impossible

You simply said yes

Answered my distress

With you all is possible

For hearts have been changed

Faith has grown

Including my own

No one can be left the same

For the Lord alone is our God

Our shelter

Our helper

I see His hand and trust his rod

Also starting to realize...I'm leaving Niger in a week and a half (can you believe it?). All these friends that I've made...I'll be leaving them. It's hard to fully understand. So much of my life is here, and somehow it feels like I'll be losing a piece of it. It's hard for me to understand. When I left Spring Arbor...I knew I was going to see everyone again. Here...? I don't know. I hope so, but I don't know. And along these same lines (I'm transitioning so I can fit another sequence of rhyming words in here)...during my time here...I thought a lot about the past. About how much I loved my old life (and wished it could come back). But the more I thought about it, the more I realized...I can't get it back no matter how much I try. And by trying, I'm sacrificing the present. But when I live in the present...I get both. I can remember the past fondly, while still living in the present. Tried to tie all that in at the end...but it didn't QUITE work. So here's what I got.

I’ve felt this before

My mind and body at war

My arms pulled apart

Splitting and tearing my heart

Lost in the middle

Seeing strength, feeling little

Off in the distance

Is my former existence

Across a divide

A chasm from heart to mind

A canyon of time

Growing further yet more mine

My heart longs for home

Where a brighter light has shone

But my mind steadfast

Through the dark until the last

That line divides me

And it is spreading quickly

I jump from the past

And am whole again at last

That's all for today. Hope you are having a SPLENDID day. I sure am. I need to go get some sleep! Love y'all. God bless.

-Seydou Bumba

Little dark today

2007-03-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a little short story I made. It was around the time of Ted Haggard...and just felt like writing a little something.

It wasn’t by his own choice. He never thought that he was good enough for such fame and glory. After all, he’s just a man. He was created by God in the same way that the crowds of people behind him were. He didn’t do anything special, he didn’t ask for anything extraordinary, it was given to him.

The crowds push him onto the stage. They want to be able to see him more clearly, they want to be able to follow him closer. They give him a crown from above. A token of appreciation for all the guidance he’s given them.

He catches the crown while it descends on his head. This isn’t his to keep. It belongs to God, and with his hands in the air he faithfully gives it back to him. As long as he keeps his hand in the air praising God, the crown never touches his head.

The people shout louder, begging him to accept their gift. He does deserve it after all. Look at all that he’s done for God! God owes him this one.

The man’s resistance wanes. His arms grow tired. In his weakened state, he’s losing the resolve to fight. Wouldn’t it be easier to just let his hands fall and leave the crown on his head? Wouldn’t that glorify God as well? All the people know that it’s God who he serves, and if he becomes greater, doesn’t God?

The crowd cheers, the man basks. He lowers his hands, placing the crown on his head. He finally feels relaxed. He can stop fretting about what people think of his raised hands. He can finally enjoy what his labor produced.

But the crown was made for a bigger man than he. It slips past his head and rests on his shoulders. The crowd looks in bewilderment, shocked that the man wasn’t as God like as they thought. They storm the steps and push him off the platform, and he’s left to swing by himself, wondering where he went wrong.

The people continue their search for a man great enough to bear their crown, leaving in their wake pendulums of past failures, landmarks of unheeded history.

What none of them realize is that the crown only fits Christ. There is only one man who has battled with temptation and emerged victorious every time. There is only one worthy of praise. There is only one who deserves to be on the stage. And in front of that one, every knee will bow. Blessed is the man who bends his knee, raises his hand and deflects all glory to God now, and forever.

The End.

The crown only fits Christ. None of us are big enough to handle it. The longer you hold your hands up, the bigger the temptation to let it down. But we can't. It will kill us. We'll be pushed into the noose by those we're trying to save...and they'll just keep repeating the process.

In addition, I wrote a little sequence of rhyming words...just for fun. It's pretty bleak, but then again, so is turning on God.

The faintest whisper

Inspires the masses

Every words spoken

For truth it passes

But inside there is turmoil

Their blind trust makes him recoil

This cannot be right

There should be a fight

When he spoke to them

And they trusted him

God was forgotten

And it became sin

He’s caught in a trap

His mind might snap

He’s lost all bearing

As the people keep staring

They hear his words

But now see the life behind

His words betray

And he’s been repaid in kind

As I said, it's pretty bleak. This has been a pretty depressing/inspiring type of blog, the next one I'm feeling will be a little more exciting. Don't worry. I'm not a "poet" (aka depressed with a HORRIBLE view of life) yet.

Can't wait to see you all again. Have a WONDERFULLY blessed Easter season. Later.

-Seydou Bumba

Uhh

2007-03-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to inform you of two things. The first, I am currently listening to Bob Marley. A friend bought a "best of" CD of his yesterday for about $2. I am assured that it is legal (there is a copyright on the back of the CD case. And the CD-R even has a picture of Bob on it). The copyright tells me it is illegal to play this music on oil rigs...so I'll have to avoid that (honestly...that was specifically mentioned. Oil rigs...who would ever have the desire to play Bob Marley on an oil rig?) The second, I actually finished a game of war that I played with myself. I can check that one off the New Year's resolution list.

So as I continued reading through old devotions, frustrations with myself swelled. I had been praying for Tera, but then just quit. Just ran out of energy at night and didn't pray anymore. I started reading a book about Nehemiah, and how he had to persevere SO MUCH, and everywhere he went he faced obstacles, but every time, he brought it before God. (And no surprise, every time God delivered him.)

I’ve come to the realization that I lack drive and follow through capabilities. Most everyone else already knows that, but I’ve been refusing to believe that it’s true. It is. With my prayers for revival, I had great dreams and visions of what Tera could be. I wanted it so badly. But the what happened? I got tired of it. I moved on. I began to see how difficult it would be and decided that life would be much easier if I didn’t fully expect something to happen. So, like most other things, I left it in search of some other great ideal I could hold on to when God’s sitting there wondering why I left.

The the problems with Ibrahim continue, and I'm REALLY wondering what in the world God is doing...but as often happens, while I write, God is changing my heart. He's teaching me to trust.

I started wondering if this is worth it. Do I really care that much? Is all this CRAP worth it? There are SO MANY PEOPLE here in Tera that really need the gospel and would be open to it!!!! There are so many meaningful conversations I could have with so many people instead of walking as the show thing for some guy who just “loves” girls. It’s not worth it, it’s really not. By all common sense I should ditch him and move on. But…God works in different ways. What did I say yesterday? I SUCK at sticking with something to the end. I come to a trial and I decide that it was just not to be. This could quite possibly one of those character building moments. As much as I want to, I can’t leave Ibrahim now. I started it, God told me to stick it through, and so I will through gritted teeth. And as long as I’m going to be doing this, I might as well pour everything I have into it. If God is really telling me to go through to the end, I will try as hard as I can to make this end well. But man, I am not looking forward to it. I’m having difficulty finding that GOOD that I can focus on. This has got to be one of those times I just fall on God.

Can you see it? How this is all so intricately woven together? Every single thread is important. I had stopped praying for Tera at the exact time I'd read the book on perseverance. This brought the whole perseverance thing to my mind. And realizing I didn't have perseverance, I looked for some way God was trying to teach me that. And what did I find? Ibrahim. Are you following all that? Basically, because I forgot to pray for Tera...I ended up having a drive to stick it out with Ibrahim. I can't even begin to comprehend how God planned that out. And to think...God has plans EVEN BIGGER right now, with more threads, woven even more intricately...I don't want to forget this. Sometimes, it's easy for me to just look at where we are now and not be amazed. Just to see one thread. But when I look at the entire picture, I can't help but stand in awe.

And here's a little bonus for you. Fits in.

When I first arrived

I couldn’t believe my eyes

He was so far gone

Simply America’s pawn

My hope went away

Even when God said to stay

So I put hope in Him

And left none for Ibrahim

I continued to love

But when push came to shove

I broke in despair

“I can’t love when I don’t care!”

But God held me fast

He knew the pain would not last

He sees when I’m blind

He knows when it’s the right time

And now it has come

Darkness breaks, I see the sun

Letting its light show

Revealing the narrow road

_Saamo Koyo

Ibrahim

2007-03-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

There is no other way to explain it. God did it all. The transformation in Ibrahim hasn't had anything to do with me...I couldn't possibly take credit (because half the time I didn't want to talk to him, and when I did, I was always frustrated with him). I would like to post a couple of my devos from the beginning...just to give you a flavor of where we've come from.

I don’t really know what to say. I used to think I could handle being used, but it’s a lot harder than I thought. Maybe I’m completely wrong on this, but it just seems like the only reason Ibrahim wants me around is to be a human trophy walking around with him. I haven’t seen him do ANYTHING that wasn’t about promoting his image. The people he hangs out with, the cigarettes he smokes, the white man he drags along…it just seems like it’s all about making himself look better. There has got to be a torture inside of him, worse than anything I’ve ever known. He must be desperate for a genuine love, he must hunger for acceptance. But I don’t know if I can give it to him. Everything he does drives me crazy. I know I said that I was used to holding hands, but holding his everywhere DROVE ME NUTS. I’m sitting there talking with someone at the rap concert tonight (yea, there was a rap concert), and he grabs my hand and drags me over to the side where we stand alone. (I think he was putting out the vibe). I don’t know if I have enough perseverance to continue to love him without exploding. Where did all the other Christians get their strength to love these people? I can’t really think of anything that would be harder. I would almost rather have someone that hated me and did horrible things to me and love them. That seems SO much easier than someone who wants to use me. Now that I think about it, this is an opportunity. IF (and it’s an if, not a when) I can love this guy, I’ll be able to love anyone. I was trying to think of if Jesus every let himself be used like that…and I couldn’t think of anything. But now I remember a verse from Galatians (I think) “To the Jews I became a Jew to win the Jews, to the weak I became weak to win the weak, I have become ALL things, to ALL men so that by all possible means, I might save SOME.” Whoa. As much as I’d like to just give up on Ibrahim and move on to “greener pastures,” I don’t think that’s what God would have me do. I don’t think God has given up on Ibrahim, I don’t think I should either. As much as I hate trying to love him, it’s what I have to do.

And here's another one. Can you believe...I wanted to quit. I honestly did. I would have, if God hadn't reminded me that He didn't quit on me.

? Ibrahim showed up. He wanted to use my camera. No big problem, just mildly annoyed at myself, realizing I should’ve just left it at home! So anyways, he asks for it…and I can’t lie and say no. So I let him look at the 300 pictures he took last night at my birthday party. We then promenaded to his friends house. Again, a girl. As we’re walking, I’m starting to wonder, will this kid EVER know what true love is? Will he ever see that blindly following his human passions will just leave him empty inside? I realize, if it doesn’t come from me, he will probably never know true love. So we arrive at the girls house, and he then goes through all 300 pictures with her, showing off his studly body. I was pretty much left out on this one. I just stood there praying for him, I didn’t know what else to do! As I was praying, I realized…now I have a partial understanding of God’s frustration for me. Here he is, standing around, waiting for me to talk to him. But every time I come to him, it’s with an agenda. I want to use him to make me look better. I want to take things that are rightly his, and show them off to everyone else like they’re mine. Basically, every motive coming from me is selfish. And if God hadn’t waited around for me, if he’d given in to the urge to just bolt for someone a little more receptive, I never would’ve been able to know the kind of true love that he has to offer. If God had left me, I would still be pursuing my human passions and getting every good thing torn away from me each time. Honestly, I have thought many times of just ditching my friendship with Ibrahim and moving on to greener pastures. It takes so much FREAKIN work to love this kid. How hard is it to love someone who just abuses your love…and never really realizes that there’s love there!!!! Is it REALLY possible for me to love him? Can I really do it? I have to!!!! If this kind of love didn’t exist, I would be eternally separated from God. It’s for relationships like Ibrahim’s that Christ died for. Would I die right now for Ibrahim? Would I endure torture and hardship for someone who can’t see past the bubble of self? Christ did for me. I follow Christ. Dang it.

Again, I was basically assuming that this was about me. God was just trying to shape my character...because it was OBVIOUSLY hopeless with Ibrahim. (Don't you just love God?)

There have been difficulties, yes. Even this past month I've wanted to quit. But looking back and seeing where we've come from...God has shut me up. I NEVER would have thought this would happen. I really would be less surprised if everyone in Tera was miraculously healed. I can understand that. But a hardened heart softened? Does that happen? I guess it does.

So this is really long now...even though it's only taken me 3 minutes to make. So I'll let you all go. Hope you have a SPLENDID day. God bless y'all.
(Ibrahim, "Everybody BOOM FIRE!! Everybody BOOM FIRE!!" It's amazing what a sparkler can do in the hands of a moron...haha. Yes, he did stick a sparkler in his hair and then run around and rap and dance. I have a video of it for those of you who want to see it when I get back.)

New style

2007-03-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

I keep seeing all the cool rappers and such with "bling ice" hanging from their ears, so I decided I'd try some. After all, what can a little piercing hurt? Looks pretty sweet huh???

If you haven't figured it out yet...I didn't actually pierce my ears. I just borrowed some of Ibrahim's magnetic earrings. Sorry, can't bring myself to stick a scalding hot rod of metal through my ear so I can put other pieces of metal that hole. Doesn't sound fun to me.

Today was a pretty relaxing day. Woke up around 8, and made it out to work about 9:30. I'm putting shatter proof coating on all the windows at Sahel. (That way, if terrorists attack and shoot at the windows, they'll come off in one big sheet instead of thousands of sharp projectiles). After that, ate a well balanced meal. (So I'm living with a 19 year old PE teacher at Sahel...and the food selection isn't real high. For the past 3-4 days, I've eaten bread and jam for every meal, with occasional restaurants thrown in), my meal was bread and mustard, bread and jam, bread and nutella. Desert was coconut and nutella. It was wonderful. (I went out and bought fruits and vegetables and other healthy food today MOM...I'll survive, don't worry. I'm looking forward to having a Mom cooked meal again though.) After that wonderful lunch (I really did enjoy it), went shopping for awhile. Then came back, watched a movie, at dinner, played street hockey (we had to stop because of the tear gas. Yup, tear gas. The university fellas decided they were upset, so they burnt a bunch of tires on the bridge and the police shot some tear gas at them. We happen to be downwind.) And now I'm here. Typing up a blog. Fun, eh?

In my previous devotions...I had a pretty common theme for about a month. It was at the same time as the Ted Haggard thing came out...and I was freaked out. Basically as I looked at it...how many leaders ENDED well? It seems like so many started out well, then when they got old, fell FLAT ON THEIR FACES. Or they started with an incredible love and passion for God, and then it turned into a love and passion for themselves. Solomon, David (sort of), Martin Luther and a lot of others too. For awhile, it seemed like people either were martyrs, or they eventually doubted their ministry. What hope do I have? When so many others fell apart...when so many have run the race and quit on the last leg, what can I do? The best example I can think of is Billy Graham. How long has he been in the ministry? And how many times has he been accused? None! What did he do? He went to ridiculous extremes to avoid TEMPTATIONS. (Notice...not to avoid sin, he went one step before, to avoid temptation). He realized mans desire for women...so he decided would NEVER be alone in a room with a woman besides his wife. He has a team of men who constantly question him about what he's doing and why. He realizes he's weak. And I think that's the key right there. He has no illusions about how big he is. I think the problem comes most often when we start BELIEVING WE ARE ABOVE SIN. When we start thinking, "Ah, there is no way I could fall back into that again..." we fall. We let down our defenses. Satan will wait patiently, assuring us we're strong enough. Then when we believe the lie, tear us down. I've had it happen so many times before. So another thing to remember, I am weak and I need to guard myself EVERY DAY. As soon as I feel strong, I'll find out that I'm weak. "For when I am weak, THEN I AM STRONG."

So I tried to find a rhyming word sequence that fit this one...I thought I made one. But I didn't find it...so here's a little bonus one.

Everything will fail

Like a ship without a sail

Driven by currents

No directed assurance

Cruel waves of the world

Will leave you broken and curled

Losing your breath

Against streams of worldly depth

Powerless alone

To move to paradise home

The strength to escape

Must come out of heavens gate

Pouring forth like wind

Unseen and yet felt within

The sails are raised high

Catching the wind from the sky

I am the vessel

And with prayer as my sail

Open to his prod

Pushed home by the voice of God

One of my favorites.

love y'all.

Got the pictures up on photobucket. Check em out.

Things to remember

2007-03-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

As I was going through my devotions last night I realized...for the past week (since I got sick), I haven't really spent much time in prayer. Sure, I've done my devotions, and I've been praying some...but it seems like I would rather read a book than spend time on my knees (and there is something wrong with that, very wrong). When did talking with the Creator of the universe start to bore me? What happened? Did God go away? No...I did. I slowly walked away. Step by step. Little mental battles being lost every step away from God, battles I didn't even know I was fighting. I need to start spending time with God again. If there isn't anything urgent to pray about (which there is), I should be content just to sit in the presence of God and enjoy it. I don't always have to be DOING something! I should be able to just sit in the presence of God and be perfectly content.

As I prayed last night and went through all devotions, two main problems popped up. The first one is that I still lack determination. I look through my devotions at things I was SO passionate about...and a week later, I'd forgotten all about them. I would pray hard for something for a day or two, then move on to the next. It seems like when things changed in the Bible, it was because people prayed for MONTHS. They were so broken that they continually were before God. I need a little bit of that determination.

Then I read in another devo about how when I write, I'm a lot more open about my feelings and my relationship with God. But when I'm face to face with someone...that courage melts away. It's so bizarre how I can open my heart up to the entire world through a blog...but when I'm actually there speaking...my heart closes instictively. It was true in America, it is true here. I am afraid to let people know how much I love God! (And by writing this now, I'm proving my point.) I don't know if this is a problem worldwide, or if it's just with me. But for some reason, I have no problem telling people how much I love soccer...but I feel ashamed telling people I love God. Something about that seems sick and twisted. So this is definitely something that I need to work on right now (and in America). Letting my love for God show.

I have several pictures to put up onto the Internet, but so far, have forgotten the memory stick while coming to the lab. Soooo, no luck so far. Hopefully sometime soon I'll get them up.

Love you all so much, thanks for your prayers...can't wait to see you all soon!

-Seydou

P.S. Went a real African service today, and it was wonderful. The choir shouting as loud as they could, swaying rhythmically to the music, people clapping, people smiling...it's a beautiful thing. I think there's a lot to learn from them!!

Remember

2007-03-17T03:45:00.000-07:00

As I'm going through my old devotions, it's really surprising me how often the SAME things are coming up. It's like, I go through a struggle and learn that God will always be there holding my hand. And then, a month later, I relearn that same thing. I have to keep relearning the same lessons over and over again. There are times, when I look back on my life, where if I'd REALLY learned the lessons God was teaching me, if I'd taken them to heart and followed through, making sure I didn't lose it...it would've saved me from a lot of trouble. Why do I forget so quickly? Why do I see something in my character that needs to change, then move on after a day? (Character doesn't change in a day!). I think learning the lesson of learning my lessons is important for me right now (try and figure that out!).

I've learned so much here in Africa. There are so many lessons that I've breezed through, not really taking them to heart. What would happen if I spent a week trying to pray constantly instead of just a day? What if I spent a week trying to do the things God would do, instead of just a day? How would my life change? (It would be a lot slower, but after a year, I'd be so much farther ahead). I'm tired of reading through my old devotions and thinking, "Man, if I had just taken the time to really learn that." So here's what I'm hoping to do...go through my Africa devos...write down lessons I need to learn, and keep thinking about them until I feel I've got them down. Sound good? Hope so.

-Seydou

P.S. I'm off for a very strenuous day of watching basketball and playing softball. It's going to be very tough.
P.P.S. And also had a very strange thought the other day. "Man, it's kind of cool out today, what's the temperature? Oh...103, is that it?" No joke. And in the morning, it's rather cool...about 70. That's just weird. I'm going to freeze in America.

Overview!!!

2007-03-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

It’s been a fast 3 weeks. Time flies.

So one day Ibrahim, Soumaila and Moussa (my three best friends here) all had a soccer match. It was against their biggest rivals, and everyone was really excited about it. The match got started and was a stalemate for the first half. The second half, the opponents scored against us…which royally chaffed my friends off. They fought hard, but with about 2 minutes left, hope was basically lost. One of the guys on Ibrahim’s team (guys name is toast) was particularly upset, so when the other team was dribbling the ball away from him, he slide tackled from behind trying to hurt the guy. That player wasn’t too pleased and tried to kick him in the head. (It was like watching high school soccer all over again!). So what do you think happened? Everybody watching is tightly wound, and a fight breaks out on the field. Both sides of fans decide to join in the fray. I thought it was hilarious, so I pulled out my camera and videotaped it. Then all of a sudden, I see this bright red shirt fly through the air. I’m thinking, “Huh, that looks like the shirt I bought for Ibrahim…oh CRAP!” Yep. Somehow, Ibrahim found his way into the middle of it all. Go figure. So being a gangster, he took off his shirt and threw it into the air (which doesn’t really bring out the desired effect. He’s built like a chicken.) So there he is, in the middle of a fight, and I’m thinking, “Maybe I should stop videotaping and stop him.” After awhile, the sides split apart, and I walked over to Ibrahim. He was fuming. So for the next half hour, I was holding him back and reminding him of the last time he got in a fight (he got beat by a girl). When he wouldn’t listen, I shouted, “GO HOME” gave a solid push and wouldn’t let him turn around. It was absolutely ridiculous. I was frustrated. It seemed like everything I’d ever taught him had been thrown out the window.

But God assured me, keep going. So a couple of nights later, we had another Bible Study. He keeps amazing me. He is understanding! When he prays, some of the things he says blow my mind. Yes, he is having letdowns (don’t we all), but overall, I think he’s moving forward in his walk. And all I can say to that is, AMEN!

It was a pretty normal week after that…walking around town, talking with people and just hanging out. It’s amazing, the people here are very open to talking about Jesus. They want to have a debate and it seems like they’re interested in what I have to say. For almost a week straight, every time I went out into the street, I had a conversation about God. (God’s answering prayers!).

Russell Moore (the guy I went to Galmi with) arrived last week, and it was nice to have someone to walk around with. It was also fun, because he knows Tae Kwon Do. And so when Ibrahim gets cocky (about every 10 minutes), he was able to bring him back down to a normal level. The first time they fought, Ibrahim was SURE he was going to win…I have a video of that too…lets just say, he was crawling around on the ground with his hand behind his back. After that, he referred to Russell as General. I laughed the ENTIRE time.

Sahel Academy’s work team came a few days after Russell. We had a great time. They gave me 12 people to help with Zai holes, and wow, they got a lot done. 500. That’s about…40 hours of work for me. Lets just say I was appreciative. But other than the Zai holes, we really did have a lot of fun. Tons of laughing and joking, it was an all around good time.

I got sick a few days ago (those of you who read my Grandma’s blog probably read that). Basically, my stomach staged a revolt. It decided it didn’t want anything and used every available exit. I was really tired and had a mild fever for a day. But after that day (and after Grandma’s prayer army prayed for me) I was feeling much better. The next day, I was able to go out and dig more holes. I was THAT close to making through Africa without getting sick…but I didn’t quite make it. Shoot.

There ya go, that’s the past 3 weeks in one page. The next two weeks I’m in Niamey (with Internet contact, but probably not wireless…so email and blogging once or twice day, but probably no AIM). They’ve got me doing a little bit of work here, but it’s going to be a pretty relaxing couple weeks. I’m planning on reviewing all the devotions I’ve had since I got here, and trying to think of ways to not slip back to my old life when I return to America. Suggestions will be welcome!!

Thank you all so much, love you all tons! Every single one of you, even the ones I’ve never met before. Feel free to write to me sometime, mulletboy17@gmail.com. God bless ya.

-Seydou Bumba

Unreal.

2007-03-15T03:54:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few stories to tell from the past 3 1/2 weeks...most hilarious, some horribly frustrating...but I'm still alive, so we'll call it good.

I don't really have enough time to write a long blog today, but I'm hoping tonight I'll be able to.

I just wanted to let you all know, in case you hadn't realized it yet, that I've been in Africa for 5 1/2 months already. Not kidding. That's true. That's a long time, but it feels like such a short time. I have 3 (count them, one, two, three) days in Tera. My box to leave is packed. Are you all shaking your heads and looking at your calendars too? That's pretty much what I'm going through here. It's unreal. Absolutely unreal.

And since I thought this picture was pretty sweet, I'll post it up here. I can actually see, which makes it even cooler. However, I think if I walked down the streets in America like this, I'd get shot. So I'll leave it to pictures in Africa.

(And getting shot isn't the best of ideas and generally should be avoided).

Heading to Tera...

2007-02-24T01:01:00.001-08:00

Can you believe it? I sure can't. This is my last real time in Tera. (The 3 days before I leave I'll be in Tera...but not long enough to count it). My time in Niger is nearly over. People have asked me if it has gone by quickly, and I'm not sure how to respond to that. It has gone by very fast. To think that it was a MONTH AGO that I was in Galmi, or 3 months ago that I was having my first Christmas away from home...it seems like it was just last week. The days go by without me noticing. It's like each day, I wake up 3 hours before I go to sleep! But at the same time, it feels like I've been here all my life. Is it strange that America seems foreign to me right now? If someone asked me if I grew up in Africa, I would almost say yes (in a way, I guess I did.) My life has changed in Africa. My heart has been twisted and removed. And it's been replaced stronger and healthier, with a dependence on Jesus. To leave Africa is like leaving a piece of who I am behind. This has been the hardest time of my life, and I've often wanted to just go home. But the struggles have become a part of who I am. This sounds weird to say, but I've enjoyed the struggles. All my life, I wondered if I would remain true to God when everything fell apart around me...and now I know the answer. God has built His foundation in my heart (which required some excavating and pounding), and soon, He'll build His temple with Jesus as the cornerstone (which is simply incredible to think about).

A fun picture from yesterday (I tried to show the picture to my Mom and Abe, but it didn't work. I thought this short was random and funny, so I bought it for $1.50.)
Honestly, who makes a shirt with a cow jumping over Austria...in the design of PUMA? That's incredible. The things you can find in Africa.

-Seydou Bumba

And for a little extra bonus, the rhyming word "masterpiece" I was working on when Ibrahim showed up. I am going to make a huge concession here, this one might qualify as a poem. (Man points falling quickly!) Not because of any particular goodness to it...just because I thought about it before I did it. I planned it out. I thought about rhyming orders. I thought about the feelings of certain words. (And I'm freaking myself out realizing I did all this). Essentially, I was bored and couldn't think of anything else to think about. Oh, and I sat sipping Coke while I did it, which is always a tip of to a poem. I just now finished the last line (without Coke, mind you).

Deadened darkness surrounds

Deafening silence sounds

Voice can’t shout, hands stretched out

Depressed into the ground

Gravity does not care

It’s weight too much to bear

Into Earth, losing worth

Through clenched teeth comes a prayer

My answer revealed

The sun escapes from its shield

Bringing peace, from the East

And gravity must yield

For this is the hour

Defying long held power

Breaking scales, gravity fails

As the darkness is devoured

Our chains untie

As our bodies rise

Soaring high, into sky

To our home we fly

Falling from its Earthly height

The sun removed from our sight

Into sleep, forever keep

For the One provides our light

And this is a picture of my "in progress" poem. Mind you, I've never done it like this before. Usually it's just whatever comes into my head. I just thought this looked funny enough for you to enjoy. My penmanship is of the highest quality, I know, you don't need to compliment me on it. (It's been compared to a chicken before, and also a child with a crayon. Its even been said that my right hand is more readable. I have no idea what they're talking about.)

Collective Sigh of Relief...ahhh.

2007-02-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

Ibrahim came. And honestly, this has been the most encouraging day I've had with Ibrahim. All the glory goes to God on this one...because when I arrived, I never thought this was remotely possible. It's amazing, how God can transform a willing life. And that is what I believe He's doing in Ibrahim right now.

Ibrahim showed up at 10 sharp African time (10:45 for those Western people). I was kind of rushing about in the morning...putting together the lesson and praying. I realized about 20 minutes before we started that I DIDN'T HAVE A FRENCH BIBLE!! So I scrambled onto the internet to try use a Bible online. What a wonderful idea...except African Internet will always let you down when you need it most (reference: earlier blog in December.) So up until he arrived I was trying to get an uncooperative Internet to pull up my verses. I was rather chaffed. But once he got there I had the sudden realization....there's an African church 100 yds (or meters) from where I was. So my problem wasn't really all that much of a problem after all.

The Bible study blew my mind. It seems like he REALLY DOES want to change his life. He knows he is doing wrong, and he is asking Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help him change his life (worldwide amen...do I hear it coming!? That's definitely the step he needed to take!). So as we worked through those passages, he was really picking it up. After going through all the verses, I asked him to recap it a bit. He told me that since he is a Christian, his life needs to change because people are watching and he needs to reflect Christ. Also, he's not against the Muslims, he's against Satan. He needs to fight Satan and NOT the Muslims. And that when he's attacked by Satan Jesus will help him through it. I was pretty amazed...he's understanding. And if he's REALLY trying to change, he will. It will take a long time, and he'll have struggles, but as God promised, he will bring to completion the work he has started.

The rest of the day we walked around Niamey (about 10 miles worth), ate a ton of food (Idrissa's...tons of food, little money), and had some good conversations. I don't ever want to lose this amazing sense of living in a miracle. Like, I guess this isn't NORMALLY classified as miraculous, but I would say it's better than a standard miracle. It's the desired result from a miracle, and therefore, miraculous (that doesn't make much sense...). It's just, it's so easy to forget that having Ibrahim want Jesus is miraculous. Having him become a devoted follower of Jesus is even more. And I don't want to forget that.
(I just thought this picture was comical. VIVE GANGSTARS!! {live gangsters!})

As I promised last week, I'm going to paste my devos from a couple of weeks ago. Here's the background: I was bored at night and decided to go out to the dam where there are no lights. The rest is explained.

"God knew what He was doing when He made the night sky. It’s too expansive to take in. It stretches too far for my mind to understand. And as I lay there, looking at an incredible display of wisdom and power…I slowly disappear. I can’t focus on myself in the presence of my Creator. When I see such unbelievable beauty and precision, I hold my breath…fearing that to let it out would somehow destroy this perfection. It seems like my very presence would disturb this display of God’s strength. Like it was His own private showing and I snuck in to catch a glimpse. And as I stood there gazing, absolutely lost in wonder…it was like God made it just for me. It’s like I walked in the back door to HIS theater and I realized that He’s looking straight at me, knowing that I would find His private display and has prepared it all ahead of me, FOR ME. Everything that I had viewed as random chance, I now see that God has had it planned since the beginning of the world. As if every single star was put in its exact place to night so that I would be humbled by the majesty of God. And with that thought, all pride melts away…and an absolute awe for the plan of God fills the vacant space left behind. "

I love God.

-Seydou

Prayer!

2007-02-22T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hey, so the most amazing thing happened today (and I’m hoping will continue into tomorrow). So I was just sitting out on our front porch, working on my latest rhyming word masterpiece (slight exaggeration)…and who appears? Ibrahim! (I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but we took him down to Niamey with us when I first arrived. Something about a dossier…). Well, I didn’t really know how to find him…but he found me! He came and we talked for awhile, then we walked to Sahel to pick up Daniel and Suzanne for dinner. On the way, we had an intense conversation. Basically he was telling me how he needs to change (HE said that). How his life is not what it needs to be, and he’s tired of being a bad person. He wants me to help him change. (I just want to throw up a big AMEN! to J.C. upstairs…I don’t doubt that this was a direct result from all of YOUR prayers!). He wants to read the Bible. He wants his life to turn around. I told him change wasn’t easy, that it would take a lot of work, he had to try very hard. (He said something about how when he lived in Maradi, he was different…and so he could change back to being good again). He wants me to help him change. Isn’t that amazing? (He also says he prays to Jesus, that Jesus will help him change.) The heart is there…now we just have to see if the determination is there. It’s going to be a lot harder than he thinks…he has so many things going against him right now…old life, spiritual forces, and peer pressure. But he has One God going for him, and I am fully convinced that the One God is more powerful than any opposition he may come up against. Tomorrow he’s coming back to my house around 10 am (4am East US), and we’re going to go around Niamey (hopefully most of the day). If you could PLEASE pray for me during that time…it would be much appreciated. I’m going to need a lot of wisdom and patience if this is going to work. And he needs an open heart and mind. I can’t wait to see what God’s planning to do tomorrow!!!

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, you are all absolutely wonderful (and good looking of course). I can’t even imagine going through Africa alone. I’m so thankful to have had a team behind me, praying to God on my behalf. I can’t know the extent those prayers have changed my life, but I know they have. Thank you.

-Seydou Bumba!!

I feel bad. There's not really any comic entertainment on this one. So I'll just post a nice little picture that you can all laugh at. (If there was ever a more redundant repetitive sentence phrase, I have never seen it ever not once.)

Zhai Holes

2007-02-22T02:03:00.000-08:00

There have been a lot of questions about these so called "Zhai holes" lately. So because of this, (and prodding from the mother and the mother of my mother) I'll explain what I've been doing.

Here in Niger, there is a big problem. There simply isn't enough food to feed the people (on a good year). The soil isn't exactly, ideal. (Ever tried growing something in clay mixed with sand?). But amazingly, millet will grow if the conditions are right, leading to another problem. The conditions aren't always right. The rain isn't very consistent, the heat is intense, and there is one beautiful looking purple flower that only grows in poor soil which kills the millet (John insists there is a lesson to learn from this, but I still can't see it). So how do we solve this problem? Is there something a farmer can do to produce millet consistently? Since you already know I've spent my mornings digging zhai holes, you can guess what the answers to those previous questions are.

Here's what I do. I dig a hole in the blasted clay (mixed with rocks) about a foot and a half deep (40-50 cm for those metric folk), with that same width. You space the holes about a meter apart (to avoid soil sharing), and then stagger each row (so there SHOULD BE rows diagonal as well as up and down...emphasis SHOULD BE). (Little help envisioning this....http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/IMGP4680.jpg)

The next stage is a little more interesting. We make compost. But since we don't exactly have vegetation here to let rot...we use what we have plenty of. Poo (manure to be politically correct). We head over to the dam and collect all the poo we can (a full truck load), and throw it into a big pit. We then look for some millet chaff (the women all pound the millet in the same spots), combine the two, and voila! Excellent compost. (It takes awhile to make the compost...there's something about it superheating and breaking down that I don't really understand, I just believe John when he tells me these things). (Pictures won't load...for visual aid...http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/IMGP4609.jpg or http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/IMGP4613.jpg)

The next step is to put about a shovel full of chaff manure stuff into the holes. After a couple of days, the holes are covering up with sand. This is a good thing, since manure is hot and would kill the seed (again, I don't understand. I thought seeds were already dead, and I didn't know manure was like fire).

So what does all this do? Well, since there's a hole in the ground, the rain will collect in it (same effect as potholes). This will give the millet more water to grow with. The manure also helps with this. Somehow it holds water in the holes. The manure enriches the soil for the millet as well. And since the soil is nice and rich, the millet grows like a charm. And with good soil to grow in, the evil weed has no strength to stand. The crop comes up and saves lives. (I still don't know what lesson John's talking about...I see nothing in here).

Now in our church property there's room for about 1600 of these such holes. I can do about...15 an hour. (Hence, lot of hours needed). (Pictures....http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/IMGP4816.jpg)

Several bonuses to this whole project:

1. I get a nice tan.

2. Working with a pick ax has a nice effect on muscular regions.

3. (And apart from personal bonuses) It will provide more food to people need it.

4. The DeValves will be able to sell the millet for a cheap price and then use the money for helping others.

5. It's something I can do now, that will have a lasting effect (these holes last for 3 years).

So there you go. That's what a zhai hole is. Now you can all go into your backyard and make your own. It's great fun. Try it.

This posting was rather devoid of spiritual material (unless you can somehow think of a lesson from a beautiful flower killing a live saving crop...) but I promise, more to come later.

In Christ Alone,

Seydou Bumba

P.S. If anyone is struggling for good things to give up for lent, I have great ideas.

1. Walking (my personal favorite. You MUST drive everywhere for God.)

2. Talking (comes in handy in tough situations)

3. Obeying speed limits (Sorry sir, I fasted speed limits for Lent. You pulling me over is religious discrimination.)

4. White pop (can't give up Coke, God would be demanding too much for that...)

5. Eating squirrel (just so you can say you're fasting for lent, but don't feel like giving up something real).

6. "I'm not telling." (Never understood people who did that one. It's not like the Bible ever said to be discrete in your fasting or anything.)

7. Fasting (Get your mind around that one. Fasting fasting. What would you do? Indulge in everything. Ha! Sounds good enough to me.)

Those are just 7 good ideas if you're struggling to find some. Sacrificing for Jesus.

(Just because it's a cool picture...http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/IMGP4714.jpg)

Photo Explanations....

2007-02-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

Explanations

I would suggest getting a comfortable chair for this one. There are a TON Of pictures from the past month. Grab a Coke. Make some food. Take a jog. Something. Cuz it's a doozy.

1. Yep. Those are two spitting cobra snakes that were freshly killed. They'd attacked a little boy earlier in the day, and so the village killed them. You can understand my terror. I hate snakes. I can't really explain to you why, but even little Garder snakes freak me out. I know, man points flying out the window as I speak. Photo by Joni Byker.

2. This is in a small village outside Tera. John is teaching them and I'm pretending to be interested. (The brutal truth.) It's in Songhay, so I have no hope of understanding. None at all. Again, photo by Joni.

3. Cute little kid with his dad. Stating the obvious here. Honestly I don't know this guys name, but he's been a Christian for awhile and I always see him. He wears that goofy hat all the time. PBJ (photo by Joni).

4. This is Goliath...he's huge. Like 6'5. He's the pastor for the village church. Amazingly nice guy. He comes to a lot of our prayer meetings in Tera and he's got an incredibly soft heart for the people here. PBJ.

5. There is a reason I was smiling here. I was actually laughing to myself. This kid had Donu in his bucket, and I remembered my former experience with this stuff (puke basically). My stomach revolted. PBJ (she's good, isn't she??)

6. Ahhh TO TO!!! (How I say her name everytime I see her. Amazing kid really. ADD to an extent, but a fun kid nonetheless.) PBJ.

7. Hamidou (Soumaila's brother). Looking intently as Nancy teaches. Another fun kid. He's a blast. Umm, not much more to say on that one. PBJ.

8. Hamidou (Atoutou's brother). He's an another amazing kid with an amazing heart. When Morgan Winsor came (little kid who's Dad repaired our house), Hamidou was the only kid Morgan wanted to play with. Everyone likes him. PBJ.

9. Anta FANTA! (Atoutou's sister). Great girl. Another winner. Whenever I walk past her she runs up to me and gives me a hug and we walk to my house together. She's a cute little kid. That whole family is really incredible. PbJ.

10. Anta Fanta pondering the complexities of flannel graph. I can't understand it either. How do they end up sticking on and yet come off so easily!? It's beyond comprehension. And I'll also give a shout out to Nancy on the flannel graph, she achieved what I previously thought impossible. Do you remember the story of Elisha when some kids made fun of him because he was bald...and so a bear came out and mauled them to pieces? (A nice happy story). I had assumed it was un-flannel graphable...but she pulled it off. The bears came out of the woods and mauled the little children. I was very impressed. PbJ

11. Nancy teaching the kids club. The kids here often misbehave...and so I get the privilege of holding the metal rod with which to punish them. Luckily, the kids are rather fast. So I don't often get a good whack. It's most unfortunate. PbJ.

12. Me and Ibrahim. Never a dull moment. At the moment we were in a heated debate over who was a bigger person. I said he was like a donkey. He said I was like sand. He then couldn't find me because I was so small...but I pretended to not hear him because his voice was so girly. Like I said, never dull. PbJ.

13. What a studly outfit. Turban, shades. Good to go. (And most likely get mugged in the US for being a terrorist.) PbJ.

14. Repeat.

15. This is a woman who comes to our prayer groups and bible studies a lot. She has a little girl about 2 years old who brings new definition to terrible twos. She's a handful. But it's all worth it, because little Ruuti is fun to watch as well. PbJ.

16. This is Maimouna our houselady (and neighborhood mom). She's always smiling just like that. She has like 3 of her own kids, and about 15 other ones she takes care of. Wonderfully lady. PbJ.

17. This is Howa, the mother of Atoutou, Anta and Hamidou. She must have done something right as a mother, because she has the best behaved most lovely children. Herself, she is the kindest person around...even though she's the poorest. We love her to death. PbJ.

18. This one is of the Niger river from the ferry. I just thought it was rather subtle and peaceful. Photo by ME!!!! (Haha, and now the quality drops drastically.....)

19. Pretty much the same thing as before.

20. Explained this on previous post. Abe sent me this shirt under the condition that I would get a picture of it in the African bush. It's a funny shirt too...."My Bad" -Eve.

21. Soumaila pondering why there isn't a decent sports complex in Tera (hint hint...the DeValves have a project to make one...sim.com)

22. Nice little action photo of soccer on their field.

23. Umm, pretty much different angle of the same thing.

24. hahaha....hilarious. There is actually a RAP REMIX entitled, Head Butt of Zidane. Absolutely amazing. If I ever see one to buy, I will buy it just for sheer comic value.

25. Stopped in Tachindi to pick up some millet chaff for the millet holes (explaining all that later). Some kids were there, so I just pulled out the camera and started taking pictures. A few of them turned out pretty well.

26. I thought this one was interesting...it's like she has no neck.

27. Interesting facial expression....

28. And the reason I pulled the camera out in the first place....50 Gent. Not 50 Cent, the rapper, but the cheap China remake of it...50 Gent.

29. One of my mosque friends. I love hanging out with these guys...even though they try to convert me to Islam each day. It's fun to debate with them all. We laugh and yell and generally make idiots of ourselves...great times.

30. Can't forget good ole Rambo. He's a wall decoration in a teenagers room. Right next to......

31. Osama Bin Laden!!

32. Enough said. (snicker).

33-35. Here's the story. This is Ibrahim, Soumaila's brothers son. He's a cool little guy. And so he went to feed the sheep, giving them some water. But apparently the sheep didn't like the water so its head popped up real quick, nailing Ibrahim in the face. So he started crying. That's what those pictures are about.

36. A little poetic artistic fanciness.

------Halfway. If you would like, take a break. Watch some TV. Relax. Take a walk. Talk to a friend. This is a hefty one. Don't try and take it all at once...it's huge.----

37. It's sick, I know. But I love it. I really do.

38. Zhai holes...again, I'll explain it all on a later day.

39. Feet after digging zhai holes. It's quite shocking whenever I take off my socks. Pure white against clay red.

40. Ibrahim, being a rapper. Enough said about that. (Look close Hawaiians...the CD player might look familiar!)

41. Argh...danger de mort (danger of death). I'm scared I might die every time I walk past...not really. It's just an abandoned school or something. But it looks pretty threatening.

42. Common sight. This is a herd of cows going through the street outside our gate. All the dust kicks up and we have to spend the rest of the day hacking it out of our throats (beautiful picture, I know).

43. Cool little picture of Hamidou. He went out with me to help dig the holes one morning, and I got his picture. I like this one quite a bit.

44. I'll try to describe the scene. This kid. No pants. Cartwheels. Falling on his head. (Fun combination...huh?)

45. Comic value: 10/10 Repetitive to the highest degree. No kidding, you love your lover??

46. Zhai holes. My tools of choice.

47. Hamidou (soumaila's bro) doing his karate for me.

48. Hamidou smiling at me.

49. A truck full of poo. Pretty sick...even more sick when you realize that we picked it all up by hand. But man does it make good compost...and if theres good compost, there's good millet. Explaining the process later!!

50-52. Picking poo. I'm so African. Don't even deny it. The skin will come later...the heart comes first.

53. African garb. After the heart comes the clothes...haha.

54. So African's like to celebrate more than anything. I don't think they really like soccer games, they just like acting like morons when a goal is scored. They all run out onto the field and do flips and just be weird. Ibrahim did a head spin (almost, ended up on his back).

55. That's right...reinventing history over in China. Funny, I thought they were named the Philadelphia 76ers for a reason....huh.

56. The team. As always, Ibrahim's upset. He's the stereotypical coach. Can't smile.

57. Morgan Winsor playing some soccer. We had a blast when their family came up for a few days.

58-62. The most beautiful sunset yet. Absolutely stunning, isn't it?? I still just sit and stare at the picture.

63. Joni with Atoutou and Anta Fanta.

64. We had a quick draw of cameras. I think she won...but she's had more practice with it. I mean, that's what she does for a living. I'm just an amateur.

65. Another turban and sunglasses picture. It's a good look.

66. Not an unusual sight. I try and take pictures of the ridiculous ones...but this one is just standard.

67. So they put up these new fancy barriers (usually its just a rope), and John bet me that before I left one would be smashed. I didn't believe him. Experience wins again.

68. Walter would be proud.

69-70. Dude...what just happened to my hair?? All of a sudden, I look like I'm NOT on drugs... Maybe people won't think I'm a crazy man anymore.

71. So Kabiru (Genghis Kahn) eats dirt. I previously thought this was not possible...but it turns out he does. He sticks his face in, chews and swallows. I gag. That can't be good coming out the other end. The kids ridiculous (but we love him anyways).

72. After our 2 week stint in Niamey, A LOT of dust got in. Tons. We're glad for windows that close. Very glad. This was just in the sill...imagine if we'd left it open. (You can start to imagine what it's like to breathe the air here. You can feel the dust coming in, and you can't do much about it. Now I realize it's not normal to admit it this, but I'm convinced everyone does it. I pick my nose. It's necessary here. There's just some that you can't get out any other way.)

On that happy note, we finish my pictures over the past 3 weeks. Tons of pictures. Tons. That'll keep you all busy for a long long time. God bless ya...I'm gonna go to sleep (it's 1 am again).

Seydou Bumba

Ibrahim

2007-02-20T01:31:00.001-08:00

How can we explain this? There's a lot that I can't put on the Internet for everyone in the world to see (which frustrates me to no end). But I'll do my best to subtly hint at what was happening for those who already know enough to put the pieces together.

Ibrahim and I had our first Bible study together shortly after I got back. It didn't go real well...not because he didn't understand, but because I had no idea what I was doing. I had read through the first chapter of Genesis on my own, and figured I could just wing it. (Not a good idea for those of you giving Bible studies in other languages). Needless to say, it was rather rough and boring.

The second one I went all out. I had questions written out, I had prayed through it all, I'd gotten conclusions and teachable points. I was ready. And amazingly, it went a lot better (funny how that works). We talked about the fall of mankind, and how Adam and Eve basically doomed us all. (Abe sent me a wonderful shirt depicting this fall. I'll try and put in the picture of it.) Things went well. (If you can't see it...the shirt has a picture of a half eaten apple, with the words below...My Bad -Eve)

So here is where I was on the silver lining. Things were great. I was getting along with everyone. I was enjoying life. Then Ibrahim started acting strangely (I'm pretty sure he'd been doing this all along, but I being dense, I didn't pick up on it). We would go walking around in the streets, and he wouldn't be able to stay out long because of the sunlight. He didn't want to eat at his house (and asked me for food.) I find out from his friends that he has a girlfriend. Then one day at school, he collapsed. They think he had a seizure. He'd been getting up at 4 in the morning to go study (they had exams, and basically, if he didn't pass, he was done with school forever). That night we went to a rap concert (yea, that's right. But it wasn't a typical concert...the "singers" didn't have microphones. They lip synced and danced in a language about 10 people understood), but somehow he didn't make it in for an hour and a half...and came back a little hazy and jittery. Needless to say, I was worried. Something was wrong.

I still don't know for sure what was the problem. I don't know if he's still struggling with it. (It's not exactly something I could just walk up and ask him about). But through all this, he kept coming to me...asking if we could do more Bible Studies. Isn't that amazing? When everything looks like it's falling apart, there's that faint light showing hope (happens quite a bit in life).

So then this weekend at the softball tournament I was reading a book on leadership, and there was one characteristic that really stuck out for me. A leader doesn't focus on the obstacles, he focuses on the objectives. He sees that faint light showing hope, and stares at it. Fixes his eyes on it so that all else becomes unimportant. And arriving at that objective is what's important, not the obstacles that appear to be blocking the way. (I think I need to have this mindset with Ibrahim...focus on the objective with him {mature Christian} and forget all the obstacles that lie in the way).

I think that's the basic gist of what's been going on between us. The amazing thing is, Ibrahim came with us to Niamey. So there's a definite possibility of a few bonus devos while we are here. (I've just got to find him...)

Hope you all have an absolutely wonderful day. God bless ya.

-Seydou Bumba

(Thought I'd throw this one in, just because he's the cutest kid ever.)

Whew.

2007-02-19T16:05:00.000-08:00

Made it. 8 hour van trip back to Niamey from Ouagadougou (wah, guh, doo, goo. Fun, eh?). Our softball tournament was...decent. We should've won, but we lost to the US Marines of Niamey. Shucks. Well, what can you do? (Play better for one). I was personally disappointed that I didn't get the MVP for the team (hint of sarcasm), I was a wonderful designated hitter (which means I didn't have to play defense, I just hit the ball). I hoped for the Golden Glove, but just got pine instead.

Sorry this one is so short, it's past 1 in the morning here. I'm tired. I need sleep. I put all my pictures (and some of Joni's as well!) up on my blog. You should be able to tell the difference just by looking at them (high quality=Joni, low quality and strange=me). But if you're confused, her's have the name of Tera something on them. Mine just have weird numbers after them. No worries.

Well, I'm off, hope you all have a super day. Peace out. Love ya.

-Seydou Bumba

Back in contact...

2007-02-15T03:30:00.002-08:00

Where to start? It’s been awhile. Many things have happened, both exciting and unbelievably frustrating.

Normally, I would just take you through piece by piece. One week at a time or something like that. But I think I’ll change things around a bit. Just for fun I’ll give a brief overview of everything and then fill in the gaps later. That way the anticipation will build and we can come to a very climactic ending and denouement (yep, we did have to learn about that in language class, about the only thing I DO remember).

Started off with Joni Byker coming to take a bunch of photographs of Tera. She’s got a website, if you want to check them out (www.bykerwoman.com). They’re absolutely terrific, stupendous, and all other affirmative words that could be attributed to pictures.

Then a few days after Joni left, Chad and Amanda Winsor came on over to help repair our dilapidated house (is dilapidated the right word? I have no clue. It seems to fit though). It’s amazing what an extra fluorescent light can do…we can actually see what we’re eating now. And when we’re playing board games, you don’t hear (okay, is that red or yellow? Shoot, I thought it was orange, take your pick. Umm…red.) Again, had a terrific time, and yes, it is strange having other white people in Tera. Just yesterday, I was sitting at my favorite shop (I get a Coke and biscuits {aka cookies} like every day) and lo and behold, driving past were four French girls in the back of a truck. Like everyone else in Tera, I stared (Not because they were girls, because they were white!) and said out loud…anasara’s? What are they doing here? (Forgetting momentarily that I was one). It kinda freaks me out that it’s strange to see white people…

After they left, I was able to resume the real reason I’m in Tera. Discipling Ibrahim. It’s hard, I tell ya. But more on that later. There’s a couple of days worth of writing on the way with that one.

I decided to wear my African clothes out into the street, and it was a blast. I guess I didn’t realize that what I thought of as “African” they thought of as “Muslim.” When I walked past my favorite mosque, they asked me to lead their prayers (laughingly). It was a hilarious time. Them telling me I was Muslim, me assuring them I was not.

(And as I’m writing this, I need to go have a Bible study with Ibrahim…be right back). False alarm, going to do it later tonight.

Well, at this point it seemed like I was riding the silver lining. Everything was wonderful. Nothing could shake me…or could it? {Insert foreshadowey dun dun dunnnnn music}

Yea, as usual, the inflated state of bliss popped and crashed to the ground. I guess this one wasn’t too bad, really. I could see it was coming. (Is that bad? When I’m overly happy…I start bracing for a fall?) Just kind of got tired of everything (real quick like). But got over it (not quite so quick like). But more to write on that for another time…and it’s kind of tied in with Ibrahim (as you might expect…it usually is).

One night, decided to head out to the dam for a little star gazing. I was overly excited that I saw the big dipper again…it’s been awhile. (Is it seem weird that I can see the exact same stars, in the same formation, as people in America, 6000 miles away?) When I feel lazy some day, I’ll post my devos from that night.

One little moment of ventilation here. I apologize to all of you who do not agree with my viewpoint on this one, because I’m not planning on holding anything back here. Just going to let it wind, and worry about responses afterwards. (And I reserve the right to take anything back as well, because I still haven’t worked through it all). I don’t know if any of you knew this, but Dr. Richard Roberts (son of Oral Roberts) has had healing rally planned for Niamey for awhile. It happened a couple of weeks ago. I was rather excited about this…I figured a few healed people couldn’t hurt much (and I now stand corrected). Here’s the story. So I was on my daily walk through the city when I stopped and talked with some guys on the street (about high school age). One of them was nearly blind. We had a pretty heavy debate on Jesus and Mohammed and what I believed. (Because of other circumstances, I was all ready a little…how shall we say…fired up.) So I laid it out for him straight. Then I found out the source of his beef with Christians. Apparently, he had gone to Niamey for this healing rally…and met Richard Roberts. What happened? Well, Roberts told him that if he became a Christian, he would be healed. Uhh, excuse me? So now becoming a Christian is basically the same as getting a prescription from the drug store? Eh, don’t worry about sacrificing your entire life for your Savior and Creator, the one who loved you so much that He willingly gave up his life, just become another tally mark and you will be healed. I don’t seem to remember Jesus saying, “Hey, if you’ll become my follower I’ll heal you, if not, enjoy your mat.” I am of the firm opinion that miracles are not great in and of themselves. They point to the creator. They bring him glory. I couldn’t give a rip if someone can do a miracles…show me a transformed life. In closing words, I wonder…how many of those who “believed” and were healed STILL BELIEVE? Again, I apologize for all the toes that I just jumped up and down on. But I really couldn’t restrain that for long. I’m sure Richard Roberts was doing what he thought best…I just have a different idea of what is best I guess.

Been working in the fields as well…but more on that later as well.

So I’d thought I was going to give a brief overview…not sure how well that worked. Tomorrow I’ll be heading off to Ouagadougou (such a good name) for a softball tournament. (Pray for me!) Back Monday, we hope.

Love y’all. You’re absolutely incredible and wonderful and more than likely, stunning and beautiful. Hope you have the kind of day you remember for the rest of your life thinking… “hmm, that was a good day.”

-Seydou Bumba

phone call ... by Mom

2007-01-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update ... managed to connect with jeremy by phone today so thought I would send out the latest news

He has had an eventful couple weeks since his return to Tera. Had Joni Byker there last week ... she's a photo journalist for SIM ... they had a couple fun days exploring and taking pictures. At some point some of the pictures will end up on her website ... http://bykerwoman.com/photogallery/ ...

He's had a couple bible studies with Ibrahiam (sorry dont know how to spell it) ... he said that the first he struggled with ... but it is getting smoother. His goal is to get thru the basic old testament stories before leaving in a couple months. A real answer to prayer ... also that family members are starting to notice a change in his behavior. PTL!

He's still running ... has received a couple care packages (thank you Hawaii and Mimi/Boppi) ... they are out of water ... but the cell phone works :) He's planting a millet patch (is that what you call it) that the DeValves can use for famine help after he has left. He's started thinking in French at times ...

He has a couple trips planned ... Feb 19 they are headed to "Wagadoogoo" (again ... spelling ???) for 4 days or so for a softball tourney ... then for a week or so in Niamey. March 19 the DeValves are going to Thailand ... and Jeremy will head for Niamey ... probably thru the completion of his time in Niger. While there he will make some plans for further excursions as possible.

We talked for 40+ minutes ... so I'm sure there was more news that i just neglecting to share right now ... but he sounds excited and encouraged ... still needing to decide a direction for college ... accepted at Moody & U of M ... but not sure what direction to head for course of study ... another prayer request!

Oh yes.

2007-01-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

So here's my ecstatic rock on mohawk/unicorn hair.

Then today, after getting de-dreaded, I went out with Russell to the Grand Marche (Big Market). We had a few items we needed to pick up (shown in the pictures). We haggled a bit...for the first item, our vendor told us 3500 cfa (7 dollars). We called him a thief. We offered a 1000. To which he clucked and told us that's ridiculous. We held our ground. He brought it down to 2500. We held fast. 2000, final offer. We told him we would give him 1500 for it, and that was all we would give. He clucked again. So we started walking away. He told us okay, fine, he'll give us a really good price for it. Victorious! Here's what I bought!! It's my first time ever tying one, and I did it on my own, but it has a nice look to it. It's definitely a new style.

So there you go. God bless ya.

Oh no!

2007-01-18T12:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm heading to Tera tomorrow...and am excited to go! Can't wait. Although there is some disappointing news. Brace yourselves, it's absolutely horrible (okay, slight exaggeration). So you remember how I got dread locks over Christmas break?? Well, turns out they weren't too popular with the nationals. They had to go (the dreads, that is). This picture is of me when I first heard (a dramatic reinterpretation).

Here was the problem. The only people in Africa who have dreads are the crazy men. Like the men that run around yelling at themselves and banging on everyones gates. I didn't see this as too much of a problem, I mean, they all know that I'm not possessed...so why would they care? Turns out, since I have dreadlocks that means that I am wild and uncontrolled. Because I'm wild and uncontrolled, that means I cannot possibly be a good Christian and that makes witnessing ineffective, and so I should naturally cut it all off. (The logic here is rather direct and not exactly flexible).

So after awhile it settled in, I'm gonna have to shave my head! My dreads FINALLY had locked together and I didn't think there was any chance they would actually come apart. And to rip them apart would be pretty long and tedious (and possibly painful, which I have an aversion to). I decided that to just try and pull them apart and see what happened. Put some shampoo in and started pulling. To my surprise, it didn't hurt much, and after about an hour, it actually came apart. But shock was setting in...my dreads were gone. (That's what the hazy look in my eyes is from.)

I figured, as long as I've got freakin long hair and it's really malleable (yea, that's actually a word), I might as well have some fun. I tried all sorts of positions. Mullets. Mohawks. Sideshow Bob (three groupings, one on the top and one on each side). If someone had been spying on me at the moment, they might've decided that the dreads would fit my personality. I was having way too much fun with it. I have a picture, but its not coming up. Maybe I"ll try again in a sec.

So there ya go. That's my disaster story for the day. I'm heading back to Tera tomorrow...and I'm definitely pumped about it. Can't wait. Your prayers are what's changing things, and I'm so blessed to have so many people petitioning to God for me. It's changing lives (not the least of which my own). So just wanted to say how much I appreciate every single one of your prayers. Can't wait to sit down with y'all and have a nice chat. It'll be great.

-Seydoubumba

And your favorite...

2007-01-17T00:57:00.000-08:00

Okay…a few pictures for you all. Once again, if you don’t know the address, it’s pasted below (I believe) with instructions. I’m trying to keep them in order…but not sure if it’s working.

1. Soccer in Galmi. This is the SIM airstrip. Had a blast playing with all the kids. I had no idea what they were saying…but you don’t need words to play soccer. The beauty of sports!

2. This is Becky Ardell…one of my friends from conference. Basically, Russell and I were with her and her sister the whole time here. She was trying to eat a lime…

3. Carla Ardell (Becky’s sister if you didn’t pick that up). First timer with sugar cane. It’s wonderful stuff…it really is.

4. Sugar high, anyone? Sugar cane and Fanta will do the trick every single time. Never fails.

5. This is Russell Moore. This little kid is one of the ones at school the day before. He just followed us down the road for awhile. We then got him to sing the song we taught him, “Head and shoulders knees and toes!” It was a precious moment.

6. Photo of kids at the school. Taken by Becky.

7. More photos of the kids by Becky.

8. This one was of duck duck goose. When in doubt for which game to play…always fall back on duck duck goose.

9. And when duck duck goose doesn’t work…go for bubbles. We would just blow bubbles and all the kids would run after them and try and pop them. We played that game for a half hour, and they never got bored of it.

10. A big ole snake skin.

11. This is a picture from the top of the water tower while we were making the tea. I just thought it looked cool. (And by the way, when I come home, I’m planning on bringing this tea with me…it’s some great stuff).

12. Our bus…I was expecting one of those bush taxis crazily loaded. Nicely surprised.

13. Yea…Russell wears a turban. They’re very handy…but they draw many stares. I wonder what people were thinking when a “Rasta man” and a white dude in a turban walked through their streets.

14. Impressive. All I can say…very impressive.

15. Nice shot of our fearless tour guide and the giraffes!

16. I know that I overdo this pose, but I can’t resist it.

17. This is Nathan (a youth pastor from Oregon…) seeing how close he can get to the giraffes. You can begin to understand how big these things are. It doesn’t look real. It really doesn’t.

18. “You’ve got to be kidding me…these are giraffes!”

19. And a cleverly composed picture…

20. This is a well…sometimes hand drawn, sometimes drawn by oxen. Just thought it’d be a cool culture picture.

21. Okay, so the Rec Center (hang out place for all the white people in Niamey) has their own desert tortoise. It just walks around the place and hangs out. When there’s a softball game…he plays. He’s gotten hit a few times. And yes, he’s even been victim to a few hand stands.

22. Daniel shot a lizard. This is what we do for fun when there is nothing else to do…find some unwanted animal and turn it into cat food.

There you go…hope you enjoy them! God bless ya.

Galmi

2007-01-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

So I guess it seems like I dropped off the face of the Earth…and in a way, I guess I did. Haven’t had the time to make a posting lately, I’ve been having just too much fun!

So for those of you who don’t know, I’m in Galmi right now (as of Wednesday morning). Galmi is an SIM hospital in a town about 6 hours east of Niamey. I had some money set aside for a mission exposure trip, and so I figured…hey, why not? During conference I made some friends from there, and so I thought it’d be a fun place to go. I told Russell Moore (another friend out here, MK who graduated from Sahel Academy) that I was going, and so he went with me.

After many difficulties trying to get here (which consists of missed buses, full buses, keys locked in a car with my travel stuff, and crazy bus drivers), we finally got here. (It almost seemed like something was against us coming here. It was the strangest thing…there were so many strange obstacles to getting here). We arrived with no plan, and I was completely pumped about that. I’ve got three days in a city with a few good friends and nothing much to do. Sounds fun!

So in the past few days, we’ve had several interesting excursions. We’ve walked around through the onion fields (which are internationally famous…the onions here are absolutely incredible). Walked through the market and Carla Ardell (one of the friends from conference) was proposed to. However, we had to turn down the offer because he only was offering 200 dollars for the bride price. We told him that was insulting (with a laugh) and walked away. We’ve played many board games, played pictionary in the dust (there’s plenty of it), played lots of soccer on the SIM airstrip, toured the hospital and visited the CREN (Infant nutrition clinic). I had a wonderful time at the Christian school teaching 8 year olds duck duck goose and British Bulldogs (Sharks and Minnows). And my favorite, made Tuareg (or Fulani, or African in general) tea on the top of a water tower in the middle of the night under an absolutely crystal clear starry sky (how many of you can say you’ve done that!?). It’s been simply stellar.

These past two weeks have been incredible. This is what I had always imagined Africa to be. A close-knit group of people loving each other and loving all the people around them. Lots of laughing and random excursions, lots of strange food and experiences. But all of it being centered around God. This is the recharge I needed before going into the last half of my time in Niger. I’m ready to head back to Tera, to see what God has in store for me. To paint a little picture for you, this was like a deep breath before going underwater. Or like lemonade in the hot summer. Or sunshine on your face when you wake up. It’s refreshing, it’s energizing. It’s addicting. Once you get a taste of this life, this incredible feeling of contentment…I don’t think you can ever forget it. You may not need to return to Africa to find it. It’s everywhere. It’s in America, it’s in Africa. It’s in the poorest family to the richest nation. It’s joy, it’s unity. It’s love. It’s God.

(So I just went off on an authorish frenzy. Oh well.)

I think that’s about it for now…I’ll try and put pictures up on photobucket…and if I’m feeling overly ambitious, maybe here too. Don’t know. We’ll see. Hope you all have as wonderful a week as I had.

-Seydou Bumba

Halfway!

2007-01-12T02:05:00.000-08:00

Crazy to think, that I'm already halfway done with my time in Africa! 3 months I've been here already. Seems like 3 weeks. But at the same time, it feels like I've been here forever. Living in Carolina seems so long ago! Living in Spring Arbor seems like a lifetime ago. And when I come back, what will I find? Will it be pretty much the way it was when I left, or will everyone have changed? What will I be like? Will the change in me be easy to see? Or will it be something deep beneath the surface that doesn't come out until a trial? Will life become easier? Or will it become harder? Is it harder to follow Jesus when my old life is there tempting me, or does it become simpler when I have friends to hold me up? These are just a few of the questions that float around inside of my head.

But in the end, it's all not important. Whatever happens when I come home, I will need to fall back on God. It won't always be out of necessity like it is here, but it will have to come from a deep desire in me to know God better. And if I'm trusting in God and coming to Him for instruction, how can I go wrong? I can't! And that is a beautiful thing!

That's about all for today. Hope you have a splendid day! If I go to Galmi tomorrow, I'll try and write a quick post before I head out, but if not...have a wonderful week!

-Jeremy

Again, sorry!

2007-01-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

So I once again need to apologize for not writing. I've been really busy with the SIM conference here. It's been wonderful. There are a lot of wonderful people here, and it's amazing just to sit down and hear their stories.

You all wouldn't believe what I did today. So this guy I met from Oregon (he's a youth pastor and is helping out with conference) asked me to go out on a safari today. Since I had absolutely nothing better to do than write emails and such, I happily agreed (I love writing emails, but...Safaris are so much cooler). And guess what we found (with the help of a guide)? A herd (flock, gaggle, pack...??) of giraffes! And contrary to my former thinking, they actually are real. I had a hard time believing there could be such a funny looking animal. I mean really, how do those legs hold up such a big head? But it's true. And I have pictures, and I'm hoping to put them up later. (Hope).

I'll just have to give you a very brief overview of what happened with Ibrahim after he told me he was a Christian. He started coming over and we would read the Bible together a little bit. We sang some songs together, and all was wonderful. But lives don't change right away. All those previous frustrations I had with him are still there. And so even though he's a Christian, it still was hard for me to be with him. But once again, God gave me the strength to stay. And I'm excited to go back and see what happens.

Another very crazy thing that happened in Tera these past weeks was that a group of evangelists came to Tera to witness and spread the good news. 200 of them! Ibrahim and I ran into them on accident one night, and right when I saw them, I could see something different. They were there for three days and had the most brilliant evangelism strategy in the world. A MARCHING BAND! So they blare all their horns and run around with drums, and whoever comes out they hand out tracts and invite to their sessions. BRILLIANT! How sweet is that? Loved it.

So back to the present...after the giraffe safari we went to the museum to see some other animals. Saw some lions, some hippos, hyenas..and various other African animals. And after that, one of the STRANGEST things happened. I was walking out of the zoo, and a guy walked past with an, "I love Jesus" hat. So naturally, I said hello. Then he said, "JEREMY!?" This threw me off, not kidding. So some random African knows who I am? So after awhile I realized, this was one of the evangelists from Tera! AMAZING! Talk about random coincidences. Love it.

Once again, I'm not sure how many posts I'll be able to make. The opportunity has been presented for me to go to Galmi soon. (Galmi is the SIM Hospital about 8 hours away). And since I have nothing much to do this week, I think I'm going to see if I can. A few of the friends I made here at conference were from there, so it would be tons of fun.

I think that's about all for now...Ill try and write more later! (Sorry this isn't very in depth about anything...hopefully next time. See, I'm writing on a different computer, so I don't have my devotions to work off of...again, hopefully later.) Love you all, God bless ya.

-Seydoubumba

No title

2007-01-08T10:16:00.000-08:00

Today was pretty much like yesterday...simply wonderful. I'm amazed once again at the wondrous expanse of who God is. If you're not, try and understand the stars. Once you stop trying to get your mind around it, you'll understand...God is huge. And then I'm astounded at how intricate God is. If you're not, try and understand the atom...and when you're just shaking your head in wonder, you'll get it. God's creation is perfect to the smallest detail. And if you really want to be blown away, then try and understand why God has made a plan for your life. Why this expansively intricate (making up words again) God would care so much about you that he would guide your steps. And to continue down the path of knowledge destruction...try and figure out why, when we turned our backs on our Creator, he sent his perfect son to be tortured by us, to take our punishment for us, so that we might spend eternity with him. Does this make sense? I hope not.

Sorry this is so short, but dinner calls. Hopefully soon I can fill everyone in on the life in Tera. Peace.

-Seydou

sorry!

2007-01-07T14:14:00.000-08:00

so i realize that most of you were probably expecting quite a few posts these past few days...and i haven't really been able to deliver. and also, the shift key is difficultly placed on this keyboard, so i'm not going to worry about it.

well, right now in niger is the big sim conference. all the sim missionaries come together for a time of learning and enjoying each other. to be honest, when i first was here, my attitude was rather questionable. sure i was enjoying everything, but my thoughts were very negative! i was criticizing everything and expecting it all to just be good. well what did i learn in youth group? it is what you make it. and i found out today, that is very true. i sat down and ate dinner with a couple of great couples. one is an older guy who worked for 30 years with the fulani, and the other is a couple that just arrived. it is sooo refreshing to hear people, both new and old, taht are excited about jesus and what god is doing in their lives. but would that have happened if i'd remained in my shell? nope. i need to get out more!

one of the things i'm trying to work on right now is being humble. i'm still not real sure how to go about that. so if you're just looking for prayer requests, that'd be a good one. that god would pulverize my pride while saving self-esteem (which i hear is rather important).

still need everyone to pray for ibrahim. there's going to be a ton of pressure on him while i'm gone to fall back. he's almost left alone back there. i say almost because there's a couple of christians there, and more importantly, god is still there. and so we're praying he continues to read his bible and that he continues to become more like jesus everyday.

so because of this conference, i'm rather busy until wednesday. there's no guarantees on any more postings. sorry. but after that i'll have a little over a week just hanging out, so i should be able to catch you all up then. there's still quite a bit to tell. things are about to get exciting. (i say that as if it hasn't been already!) well, i appreciate everyone SOOOO much and can't wait to catch up with everyone. feel free to write me an email...mulletboy17@gmail.com . i may be a little late on sending it back, but i'll do my best. love y'all.

-seydoubumba

Pictures!

2007-01-05T05:21:00.000-08:00

For some reason, I took a TON of pictures this time in Tera. Once again, they're over on photobucket (I'm done with trying to post pictures on Blogger, it's too much trouble...this is much easier). I'll put the explanations here, and hopefully you can follow along all right. Website: http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/

1. Sometimes what you find halfway across the world shocks you. Yes, that is a University of Michigan Basketball Jersey, and a nice one too. WHAT!?

2. Umm, I was an angry reindeer. Not real sure why I included this one. You can just feel the Christmas spirit, can't ya?

3. TWISTER! This is the Africans favorite game, they love it. Oh, and Samayla cheats. He wins every time, partly because he's more flexible than Gumby, and also because he grabs you when he's going to fall.

4. I thought I had him with that one, but he found a way to stick his foot all the way across the board. Grr.

5. Masa here. It was freezing cold that day. Like, unbearable. The low was like 55 or something. (The strange thing is, that actually does sound cold to me right now...strange, isn't it?)

6. This is Cader. He saw everyone else getting their picture taken and wanted a piece of the action. So he was prepping himself for the photo...but I thought this would be a great one. I love it.

7. A little Niger scenery. Pleasant, isn't it? This is at the foot of Picnic Rock. It's so peacefuly and quiet out there! Wonderful.

8. Haha. Little Atutu found my shoes and thought they looked wonderful on her as well. It was a funny time.

9. So when we were working at the church we caught a field mouse and played with it for awhile before we let it go. It was a fun little mouse, it kept trying to dig holes in the ground.

10. The view from below. He actually looks kinda cute and cuddly on this one.

11. So this is our friend who got beat up. Looks nice, doesn't it? I cringe every time I see it. It was gross.

12. Just after getting patched up. It didn't sound very pleasant. (And the hospital here was...well, different from America. Very different.)

13. I tried to take a picture of the sunset, but the kids thought I was taking a picture of them. I think it turned out pretty cool.

14. Haha, this was a fun night. So we were all just chilling out side, and somehow, water from the wash tub got thrown. Then it all broke loose. Water was flying everywhere. So being the prudent man I was, I got an umbrella. Unfortunately it didn't stop much. That water was gross. Cold, soapy water filled with the scum from all our clothes. I took a shower afterwards....

15. Samayla getting in on the action. (I think he started it actually).

16. I thought it was a cool picture...

17. This is Pintu, one of the guys who comes to church with us. He was helping us clear the property of all the weeds. He's got some talent with a machete...

18. I have a striking resemblance to a goat. The chin scraggle might have something to do with it.

19. Buck buck number 2!

20. This was Christmas day. I still can't decide if I like the picture or not. That's Atutu in the middle, and I don't know the other kids. During the Christmas celebration, the kids here were not behaving. They just kept talking and talking, and we couldn't do anything to stop them. What can you do?

21. A little closer up picture. Atutu is the coolest little girl...she is so nice and helpful. Whenever I need a door opened or something, she just comes up running and opens it. Their whole family is really that way. They're great.

22. Daniel and Samayla eating on Christmas. In case you didn't know, in Africa you just eat with your hands. They're very good at it, it takes a little practice. Me on the other hand....

23. I am not good at eating with my hands. They always make fun of me. I'll just blame it on my Mom...she always made me eat with silverware and stuff like that...I would've been happy to practice eating with my hands if she would've let me. But nope! She wouldn't. Argh.

24. Again, not real sure about this one. Daniel and I had sweet headbands before we went out and played soccer. All the kids wanted one.

25. Me with my head band. (In case you haven't noticed, I take a lot of pictures of myself. When I'm bored, I just try and make up a new face.)

26. Ah yes! Abe and Bob sent me a package with some wonderful music and various other luxuries. Abe drew this picture for me and told me to put it somewhere I could wake up to it each morning. So I pinned it to my mosquito net, because yes, I do sleep outside and I love it. The artwork is stunning.

27. Sunset in Tera...normally the sunset is rather disappointing because there are no clouds and there's a ton of dust. But this night it was wonderful.

28. Again, same thing.

29. And one more for good measure.

30. I combed my hair, and I ended up with a fro. That was going to change soon...

31. So if you haven't heard by now, I have dreadlocks. (Rasta is what they call it here). It took close to 4 hours to do...(I appreciate Nancy and Suzanne's patience..). It looked kind of goofy at first, but first impression's often lie. It takes awhile, but it grows on ya (at least it did for me.)

32. The finished product.

33. Love silhouettes. And I love pretending to be thinking. Combination of the two...

34. Those crazy African hops...yea, Samayla can jump.

35. No I can't.

36. Two women pounding some grain. It's fun to watch actually, they throw the pounders (??) into the air, clap and then slam it down into the grain. After awhile, you've got a nice powder to cook with.

37. A camel! This one went running down our street. It's not too often that camels come through...

38. The family and I went out to sanddunes to relax and recoup. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of kids who were fascinated with white people that wouldn't leave us alone. Daniel stood up and tried to look intimidating.

39. I put on my game face, this was war.

40. We chased them down. The kid that Daniels closest to we could've caught. But we didn't really know what we would do with him then...so we just let him run away. After that, they kept their distance. We were victorious.

41. Eh, we all thought it was a cool picture.

42. Ibrahim felt like taking pictures. I thought it gave a pretty good picture of my dreads for ya. Behind me is a picture of Thierry Henry (the best playa you even gonna see...a French soccer player).

43. I climbed on top of the house and I was stuck!!!

44. So I ran down the house. (I don't really know what Atutu was doing here...)

45. Just for all of you with a weak stomach or arachnophobia...this spider was about 6 inches wide and could jump about 4 feet. I woke up with it in my bed and was kind of nervous since one sting can make you go numb for a day. So I threw it off of me then took a picture. And I just lied. It was actually about 2 inches wide and rather harmless, and we found it in a hole.

46. So this is our neighbor, but this is very typical. The babies are terrified of us. They haven't seen white people before, so they start bawling and run away. But for some reason, EVERYONE ELSE THINKS ITS HILARIOUS and so they grab the kid and bring him real close to me. The kids wailing and crying, but they just keep laughing. I don't really understand it.

47. The feast of the Ram. The Muslims each have to kill a ram for each of the wives they have in celebration of Abraham being provided the ram instead of his son. It was delicious. We celebrate it with them...and yes, we ate a LOT of meat. I think I had every possible piece of meat off of this animal.

48. Here Ibrahim is holding the liver and some other meat. The liver wasn't too bad. Besides the liver, I had throat, stomach, intestine, lung, vocal box, neck, and yes, testicle (which is particularly good...believe it or not). After eating so much meat, I felt rather sick!

49. Masa chewing on a bit of sugar cane...

50. Genghis Kahn (my name for Kabiru...it fits him, it really does) trying to take some of that same sugar cane. I don't know how he does it, but he ALWAYS has snot all over his face. It's a special talent of his.

SKIP THREE (it did it twice somehow)

51. Fun with sparklers...suzanne tried to write her name.

52. I made a cross.

53. Daniel made a double-heart. Stunning stuff.

54. We went climbling in the "mountains" out in the bush, and we found a little cave.

55. Daniel pondering the terrain. You'll notice the fog looking stuff all around us. That's not fog, that's harmattan. It was THICK that day...as you can see. It was like eating dirt every time you breathed. It was gross.

56. So there are big rocks on the top of these hills that aren't exactly set into place. So we pushed them, and the rolled all the way down the hill. It was really really fun to do. Try it sometime the next time you are on the top of a mountain. (Just make sure no one is below you...we almost got Suzanne once.)

57. And the last one, Samayla and I. Pretty self-explanatory. I was bored and I had a camera.

That's all. If you want any of them larger, just let me know and I can try and put them up in a bigger version. Make a comment on here...or write me an email at mulletboy17@gmail.com whatever works for you. God bless y'all.

Seydou

P.S. By the way, I just read all the comments from the past month...wow. I'm humbled. There are people from around the world praying for me...people I've never even met? I'm honored, to be sure. I appreciate your prayers, they're what's changing things here in Tera, not me. When I think about the things I've done here, it seems like there's more wrong than right than I've done. So it's God working with your prayers and it's just going through me. Thanks again.

Back again!

2007-01-04T11:43:00.001-08:00

Hey all!
So I’m back, and this time for quite awhile. I think that I’m leaving January 18, but I don’t really know. Conference starts Saturday, and judging by the general buzz around town, it sounds like a pretty fun time. (All the SIM Niger missionaries meet together in Niamey for a little recharge time). Can’t wait.

So here’s my problem (and it seems like it’s happened every time). I have way too much to tell, and not enough attention span to write it all. So I’m going to try and condense it all into quickly (sort of) readable segments each day. Not sure how it’s going to work.

So by FAR AND AWAY the most exciting thing that happened this past week, happened in the first couple days since I got back. It was nuts. Here’s the story: So we went to work at the church that morning, and had a wonderful time cutting up shrubs with machetes. I was rather bored that afternoon when Ibrahim came around. He asked if he could sleep in the office for awhile. I was about to give him the key, when Nancy said that they were just about to lock the gate for lunch. (I didn’t notice the huge welt on Ibrahim’s head.) Well, at lunch, Nancy told me about it. Turns out, he’d had a little skirmish that afternoon. They were eating their afternoon meal, and Ibrahim wanted more. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much left. When the girl serving him told him he couldn’t have more, he got up and tried to beat her. Unfortunately for him, there was a large stick right by her, with which she clubbed him on the head. Angry, he went out and went to our compound to sleep (but wasn’t able to because we locked up), so he went back…and when he did decided he’d try again to beat her, but her brother was there, and he got another thrashing. This happened the third time, and he got a knee in the face, which split his lip. When I heard about this, I went over to see how he was doing. Not real good. He was in a pretty low state. He kept talking about being a kamikaze and other nonsense like that. I realized that I probably shouldn’t leave him until he settles down. So when he went to the hospital to get some stitches, I went with him. When he was yelled at by the father of his compound, I was with him. When he wanted to go tell his teachers why he wasn’t at school, I went with him. And the conversation we had on the way was mind-blowing. I kept telling him NOT to kill himself, because I wouldn’t want that. Then I told him what would happen to me when I die (and threw in a little bit about how it’s only Christians that get that). And he just nodded in agreement. Finally, at the end of the day, I just asked him…do you believe in Jesus? I was expecting a little dance of words around the issue…but he just said, “Yes.” I couldn’t believe it. When we got back to my compound I gave him my French Bible, and was still trying to pick my jaw up off of the ground. “Can this really be happening? Should I be skeptical? WHAT!?” I just couldn’t get over the fact that this kid was a Christian. I had no hope in him. The only thing I’d done right with him was just that I kept going back. And yet God worked through that. And I was floored.

I hope that’s enough for now. More to come later. (If the Internet will cooperate). And of course, I’ve got a gazillion pictures to upload…and one little surprise in them. I love it.

And for good measure, a sequence of rhyming words.
When I first arrived
I couldn’t believe my eyes
He was so far gone
Simply America’s pawn
My hope went away
Even when God said to stay
So I put hope in Him
And left none for Ibrahim
I continued to love
But when push came to shove
I broke in despair
I can’t love when I don’t care!
But God held me fast
He knew the pain would not last
He sees when I’m blind
He knows when it’s the right time
And now it has come
Darkness breaks, I see the sun
Letting its light show
Revealing the narrow road

Amusing Pictures

2006-12-16T04:49:00.000-08:00

My favorite thing in Africa. Honestly, I am in awe. How do these drivers put SO MUCH STUFF on top of their vehicles, drive them around like maniacs AND STILL FIND ROOM FOR PEOPLE TO RIDE IN THE BACK!! It's incredible. Wonderful. And often, quite hilarious.

Common occurence here. Herds of animals think roads are convienent as well as trucks. So you just have to be patient and share the road. And take pictures too!

They made an attempt at English, but basically just shot themselves in the foot. At least they got BigMac right!

I'm not sure what happened. One day, my hair turned straight. The next day, it was curly. Okay...whatever.

This is our dear friend Hamidou. He found a really nice shirt one day and wore it. Unfortunately, it is very feminine, but I don't think he noticed or cared!

Surprised by Pain!

2006-12-15T04:49:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I was basically saying how I wanted to be joyful no matter what the circumstances. Why? Because God doesn't change, because He still loves me and because it doesn't seem like my joy should depend on my circumstances. Well, I guess God thought that it would be a good time to test my commitment to that.

So last night my friends had all planned to call me on Skype (Internet phone service). I've been looking forward to this night since, oh, I came to Niger. Being able to talk to almost all of my friends back home at the same time! How exciting! We'd planned it for 10 o'clock my time. At 9 o'clock I got on the Internet and just surfed until 10. Sounds like fun, huh?

I'm still not sure what happened. At 10, the Internet just ceased to exist. It just stopped...nothing. This one thing that I'd been looking forward to for so long...gone. And I'm left wondering, "Why God?"

(I realize now that this doesn't sound like a really big deal. I can't really explain how much I was looking forward to this.)

So as I sat staring at my computer for an hour, wondering what went wrong, a story was brought to mind. One day, a long time ago, Johnathan Edwards was preaching. As he was preaching someone burst into the room shouting, Mr. Edwards, your home is on fire! His answer (blows my mind), "I guess I was holding on to it too tightly and God needed to take it away." (Slight paraphrase...I can't find the story for exact words. I'm actually not sure if it was Johnathon Edwards...it might've been John Wesley. But either way, the story is moving, no matter who it was). Could God be telling me that I am STILL holding my friends too closely? Could he be showing me that I've left my hope and comfort back home, and not given it to God? I have the feeling, the answer is yes. (Okay, side note. This is really weird writing this, because those friends that I missed last night will probably read this. So um, now you know what happened. Sorry! Maybe now I've learned my lesson and African internet will cooperate next time.)

So now I went home, feeling terrible. All the pressures and problems of Niger came crashing down on me, and I really just wanted to tell God to fix it and let me be normal again. Then I remembered the words I'd written that day...about how powerful joy can be. And honestly, I felt like a hypocrite. Here I was, telling everyone to be joyful in their trials...and then I have one, and I just want to leave. So I just prayed, laid my heart before God, and then debated on whether it was worth it to praise God. It was a pretty one sided argument. Here's the reasons for pouting: I can make myself feel more miserable, I can pay God back for earlier (worthless gesture), I can turn my nose up at the God of the universe because I believe that my plans are better than His and let Satan claim victory because I didn't follow through on my own ideas. OR I can: turn the focus off myself and onto the goodness of God, tell God once again that His plans are best and that I trust those plans, bring God more glory by praising Him through the storm, and start to deal with the problems I have instead of supressing them. Tough choice. But honestly, the words were not easy coming out. It was like a whisper through clenched teeth. Like the words were reluctant to come out. But out the came, and it was like a breath of fresh air. The more I praised, the easier it became. It turned from a crummy night into a wonderful experience. Amazing that God can work like that!

Just another day in the life. Hope you all have a crummy day too...so you can turn back the praise to God! Love y'all.

-Balunga

Surprised by Joy

2006-12-14T04:31:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest things God's been teach me lately is, "BE JOYFUL!" When things are going great, praise God. When things aren't going at all, praise God. When everything's falling apart, praise God. After all, God hasn't changed. His overwhelming goodness is still there. Jesus still died and rose again. And He still has a plan for my life. And which one gives God more glory? Giving Him praise when He's given me everything? Or giving him praise when He's taken it back?

So I was going to try and live in obedience to Paul's command to rejoice always. When I went out and talked with people I was going to be rejoicing and just generally happy. And do you know what I found out? People are powerless against joy. Is there anything more infectious than a smile? Is there anything that makes someone wonder more than a TRULY joyous person? The vision I have is a person so glowing with joy they radiate, that everywhere they go they just shine and darkness is powerless against it. What can Satan do to a truly joyous person? If he cannot crush the joy, he cannot crush the soul. Joy is a wonderful thing!

Guess what I found out? It's stinking hard to have joy for an extended period of time! So I figured this would be great, that having joy all the time would be real exciting. But I quickly ran into a wall...what do I do when I don't FEEL like praising God? What do I do when I don't feel happy? Do I pretend to be happy and put up that deceitful front? Do I let my true feelings show, even when they aren't joyous? Is it even possible to have joy in the middle of struggles?

Two nights ago I realized my error. I'm confusing joy and happiness. Honestly, right now as I'm writing this, I still don't understand the difference. My vague idea is that happiness is fleeting...it goes in and out with emotions. Joy is more solid...it comes out of the well of the heart. It doesn't change quickly. I can be joyful and unhappy at the same time (does this help you understand it? It's not helping me, I'm just as lost as when I started).

So joy (whatever it is) is infectious, right? And so, the forces for evil are going to do whatever they can to cover my joy. They don't want a hint of it to penetrate these desert sands. So what do I do? How do I overcome? Here's the picture I have of it...joy is like a lightbulb. And now the evil forces want to cover that light bulb in a blanket so that it's light won't shine. What do I do? Shine brighter, burn hotter. Set that blanket on fire! That'd be ironic...take the very thing that Satan intended for evil, and let it give more light on the room (I think that concept MIGHT be in the Bible somewhere.) Fall more in love with God each day, and the joy will come with it.

There's a little more food for thought for y'all. If you can help explain the difference between happiness and joy, feel free to post a comment. If you just want to say hi, post a comment. That's all for today...peace and JOY to all!

-Namuba (Abe decided that if I could make up names for myself, so could he. Which reminds me...my last day in Tera I received two new names. I'm not exactly sure how I got them, or why...I don't think they really even fit. Osama bin Laden and Genghis Kahn. What!?)

Un pose pour moi!!!

2006-12-14T02:10:00.000-08:00

This is a common phrase here...I pull out the camera...and everyone starts screaming...TAKE A PICTURE OF ME TOO!!!! So since I've gotten here, I've taken 2 gigabytes worth of pictures (which is around 800 pictures). Yea, that's a lot. Most of them are rather boring, so I tried to filter the dumb ones out. I really liked the system last time of writing an explanation for the pictures on here while leaving the pictures on photobucket. See, I've never had much luck with putting pictures up on Blogger. And it takes a lot of time. Soo...this is what you've got. Here's how you get to the site. Copy this, http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/ and paste it in the URL bar at the top. That should work. If not, go to www.photobucket.com and in the search box search for mulletboy17. That should bring you to the same place.

1. Grandma wanted a bigger version of this picture in case the magazine wanted to use it. This is Anta...the lovely daughter of Howa. Anta's about 7-8, and we always play jokes on each other. It's a blast.

2. The High School soccer team. You may recognize Samayla and Ibrahim. I lent Ibrahim my t-shirt for the match, he didn't have a yellow shirt. The game ended in a tie (if I remember correctly).

3. This is Gizmo and I after our work at the church. This is the specialest (new word I think) kid I've met here. I'll just copy my devo's from that night to give you a flavor.
My mind has been blasted to pieces…by the most unassuming of people. The smallest of children is the one with the biggest heart. We went to work at the church today, cutting down thorn bushes and burning them. As I was on my way, Gizmo (I don’t know his real name) just walked beside me and helped me carry the tools out there. I was amazed. All the other children were running ahead and wanting to play with things. But Gizmo just walked silently behind me, doing his “job” and smiling all the way. He doesn’t speak French, so I couldn’t really tell him how much I appreciated it. We then came to the rocky part before the church, and Gizmo only has one old flip flop. He carefully picked his way through the rocks (they hurt my feet, and I wore shoes). We finally made it to the church and I assumed he would then head home. But he stayed. There were a bunch of other children there, and essentially, they were useless in the work. They would come up and ask to use my machete, take two swipes then start playing around with it. But not Gizmo…throughout the 3 hours, he never stopped. He would just smile, pick up the brush that I’d cut off, then carry it over to the fire. All the other kids are goofing off, but he just keeps pulling out a dorky little smile as he takes another load to the fire. He never said a word. This is where I finally realized how amazing this kid was. When I was a kid, would I have just kept working when all my friend were off laughing and playing? Would I even have tried to cross the rocks to get there? But the story doesn’t end there. Remember Gizmo only had one flip-flop? Well, we were cleaning an area with thorns all over the ground. They were getting all over my shorts and hands and I had to keep stopping to pick them off. Then I saw Gizmo, he was just hobbling along, touching his un-sandaled foot to the ground as slightly as possible (because it had a bunch of thorns in it). Yet he just kept working. I couldn’t handle it, anymore. What was with this kid? Why was he going through obvious pain just to help me clean up some weeds? Eventually it got to the point where he was just jumping on one foot. It was then I just stopped, went over to him and picked the 6 thorns out of his foot. And he just kept working! I couldn’t believe it. I tried as hard as I could to think of a way to pay him back for this…and all I could come up with was to give him a ride back home on my shoulders. It hardly even shows how much I appreciated his painful work. Where does this devotion come from? There is so much to learn here from the little child…I don’t even know where to start. My goodness. I don’t know if I’ve ever had this much respect for anyone…and he’s only about 7!

4. I couldn't resist the artistic picture. There's really no story behind it, I just thought it looked cool. Yes, this is the skull of dead animal, and yes, it is sweet.

5. This one was an accident. I didn't notice until a few days ago that MY SHADOW IS IN THE PICTURE!! How amazing is that? If I would've seen that before, I would've taken even more until I got a good one. Oh well.

6. These kids will do anything for a picture. Even stand on their heads.

7. I forget this ones name, even though I see him everyday. He's the one that seems so nice and cute, but there's mischief inside him. I just call him Buckwheat. It's easy for me to remember, and fits him well.

8. Oumadou (I call him Ougabougou now...I like making up names for the kids)...another fun pose for the camera. He liked his little green plastic bike.

9. The three doing their karate poses. Whenever I tell them to do something funny for the picture, this is what comes out. Needless to say, I have a LOT of karate pose pictures.

10. I can't resist the thinkers pose...especially in combination with a silhouette picture. Winning combination in my mind. (Ibrahims picture taking skills are improving!)

11. Ibrahim in his past rapper pose. Looks pretty good...

12. Nice little sunset. This was at the soccer field, where the whole young crowd comes out to cheer and yell and run around like maniacs when there's a goal. There's nothing really to compare it to in America. Possibly like a swarm of girls around the latest boy band. But that only scratches the surface.

13. GIZMO!! We were playing duck duck goose...which they really enjoyed. I tried my best to capture it, not sure if that happened real well.

14. This is Cader watching the game of duck duck goose. He was obviously enjoying it.

15. Another one of the duck duck goose.

16. TIME FOR COLORING!!! MAD RUSH!! PUSH AND SHOVE!! TRAMPLE ANYONE INBETWEEN YOU AND YOUR PICTURE OF JESUS!! It's crazy.

17. Cader watching and waiting to see if he's going to get tagged.

18. Samayla chillin out by the dam. Nice little picture...

19. This one (who's name I couldn't remember so I just called Dingleberry) is the little brother of Balkisa...who's the girl Ibrahim and I go to visit and study with a lot. I have fun with this kid...he teaches me songhay and I try and remember them. Every time I see him I shout in Songhay, SAND! STARS! MOON!! and since that's the end of my vocabulary...our conversation pretty well ends.

20. The girl next to Ibrahim is Balkisa. This is her compound. Many stories from here. First, the donu. Absolutely disgusting stuff. It's a staple dish here in Niger...and one night this is what they offered us. It's rude to decline. So I had to try a few sips. It's like a yogurtish thing. Except, it's about as sour as milk you've left outside for a week. A nice vapor hits you when you bring the ladel to your lips. Then as you drink you are shocked by the nice chunks. This would be millet. The closest thing it tasted like was honestly puke. I wanted just a couple sips...but Ibrahim insisted we finish it off. The ever famous, "Lord, I'll put it down, you keep it down" was said over and over.

21. I think I already had this one in there.

22. A stunning picture really. I've been working hard at finding new ways to twist my face. I'm a big fan of this one.

I think that covers them all. Hope you enjoy...!! Have a wonderfully blessed day..! It's a beautiful day, sometimes you just have to find the beauty.

-Seydoubumba

Picnic Rock

2006-12-13T04:24:00.001-08:00

Picnic Rock is the place where the DeValve family goes when they just want to get away from the noise of the city for awhile. It’s just a hill in the middle of the African bush about 3 ½ miles away from our home. When I realized that my attitude had fallen to an all new low, I decided to take a jog out there. Have you ever just spent an hour, in the middle of the African bush, sitting on top of a big hill, voicing your problems and requests to God? If not, I highly recommend it. Not sure what the difference is, but God’s voice seems clearer there.

I started off asking God… “What is the world is wrong with me!? I’m annoyed at EVERYTHING! Why!?” And like I said, it was largely due to the complaining. I still have been catching myself complaining, but I can tell the difference in the way I view people.

My next question for God was the ever famous, “God…why am I here?” It sounds nice and pretty, doesn’t it? Here’s what I wanted to know…where do I devote most of my time? Is it in Ibrahim, or in the old guys that hang out at the mosque? I didn’t really know. As I continued to think about it, I realized there is one of two reasons I’m here. I’m here for my growth, or I’m here for evangelism in Tera. If I’m here for my growth, I will stick it out with Ibrahim. Build character, build trust in God no matter what the circumstances. If I’m here for Tera, I would go to the mosque. Imagine the impact an entire mosque of Christians would have on Tera! Essentially God’s answer to me was to do both. It will take a lot of time and I will end each day exhausted…but in the end, sleep is not the most important part of my life (which I am not happy about, I enjoy sleep very much). I will have to rely on God for strength. (And I realize that in the past week, I hadn’t relied on God for strength. In my efforts to do everything, I dropped God. I can still feel the effects of that…I’m tired!).

After I’d figured this out I had a startling realization. When I go back to America…I will have changed. Even now, just two months into my time in Niger, my former way of life seems strange and foreign. It won’t be possible for me to go back. I know too much about who God is to live as if He didn’t exist. And I figure, if I can’t go back…I might as well go forward as fast as I can.

And now, the last of my startling revelations about who I am and how God wants to work through me. I am a myriad leechameleon. Yes, that’s right. Here’s the explanation. Nothing about who I am is really my own. For the most part, all of my personality is just taken from others. I see a piece of someone else’s personality that I like, and I imitate that. My personality is just a myriad of other people’s personalities (I’m not 100% sure I know a myriad is, but that’s what I think it is.) I leech those traits off of other people, and because of that, I just blend in with the crowd that I’m in. I’ve done this my entire life really. It’s kind of crazy, most parts of my personality I could actually tell you the person I took it from. Weird, huh?

And so spawning of my leechameleon situation, I want to find out all I can about people who have lived this Christian life before me. I want to take pieces of their personality and meld it into mine. The boldness of Bonhoeffer, the reckless abandon of Antony, the faith of Brother Yun, the perseverance of Nehemiah and the dedication of Billy Graham. The list just keeps going.

Well anyways, that’s more than enough to write today. I hope you are having an absolutely incredible day…may God bless ya.

-Myriad (it’s just a cool word)

Slight Changes.

2006-12-12T06:56:00.000-08:00

If the title isn't an understatement, I don't know what is. Life is STILL a roller coaster ride, except this one, every time I just end up a little higher than before. God's definitely working in me and through me right now...it's intense.

There's plenty to tell of the past week, but I think I'll just start with the most exciting. You all remember Ibrahim right? You remember how I was basically just wanting to give up on him because this all was useless? Remember God wanted me to keep loving him? Turns out, God has a reason for everything. (This would be a good time to finish and leave you all hanging, but I'm not that mean.)

So when I got back to Tera, I had a renewed passion for talking to Ibrahim. I was preparing myself for some more battles of my mind. I was ready to face the "not girlfriends" and all that. What happened caught me square in the face. We were walking along the road and he asked me... "What time is church tomorrow?" Hang on, what? My minds flying at a million miles an hour. I realized then he was probably just joking, so I looked at him...and was shocked at the dead serious face. "Umm, 9 o'clock, why?" He responds, "Are you working there again?" Then it all clicked into place. He wants to come work and make some money. So I said, "Oh no, we're not going to work, we're going to pray and study about Jesus." So he replied, "Okay, so it's 9 o'clock?" WHAT!? So he wants to come and learn about Jesus? Okay....

So the next morning came, and 9:05 rolled around and he hadn't shown up. Shoot. So we left for the church and had a nice little service there. When I came back, he was upset! "I came to the house, but you weren't there! Why'd you leave?" He came at 9:30, which is very much on time in Africa. I was rather upset...I'd missed a divine opportunity.

That night we went around walking. I asked him again why he wanted to come to church (I still had my doubts). He said, "I want to read the Bible and hear the lessons about Jesus." Wow. Okay then. So we kept talking, and he started to go on about how he doesn't fear death. I asked him why. He said because he has nothing to live for here on Earth. He is poor and wouldn't mind if he died and went to heaven. (I could see an opportunity floating right in front of me here). I told him that I would care if he died. I explained to him that I feared death, but in the end it would be okay because I would be with Jesus in heaven. Even though my life on Earth is wonderful, I can't wait to spend eternity with JESUS in heaven. And also how Christians believe that Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven. At this point our conversation switched to something a little more trivial, and our walk was over.

The next day I talked with Ibrahim some more, and it was plainly obvious there was a battle in his mind. He was starting to question thing things that he's always done. He was starting to wonder who this Jesus guy was and why was I following him. I think he was seeing a piece of God's love and wanting that. This was overly exciting!

The day after that we had a really good discussion. We didn’t talk about a whole lot for the first 2 hours, I just helped him learn English. It was good fun, lots of laughing (which is always a good thing). On the way home got to have a quick little shot in. Somehow I said that I am a son of God (which is blasphemous to a Muslim) because I am a friend of Jesus Christ. He asked (in French), Who is Jesus? I told him (French again), Jesus is the Son of God. He said (French), oh, I thought he was a prophet. Is that true? I said (French), “He is the Son of God.” He said, “Oh.” Long pause. Longer pause. (I was getting excited, he’s really thinking about it. Then he tries to explain himself in English, Za mahn goes repanse wan zay are yell oh. Huh? I couldn’t figure it out. He repeated himself…and let me tell you, it’s profound. “The mangoes ripen when they are yellow.” So much for deep thought.

So now we're too...Wednesday. I'm not sure what was going on in my mind, but I was just off. I was irritated and edgey. I was inwardly angry at everything. Even though Ibrahim was trying to be nice that night, I just wasn't having any of it. As I wrote in my devos, "Ever feel like throwing yourself off a cliff? Yea, me too." That pretty well sums it up.

Thursday wasn't looking to be much better. Everything was still annoying me. So I decided, enough of this, I'm going running. I ran 3 1/2 miles out to a little hill in the middle of the bush and just sat and prayed for an hour. There is something about being absolutely alone on a hilltop that is just therapeutic for the soul. I can understand Jesus a lot better now. I could try to explain all that changed in my heart during that hour, but I'll save it for later. Basically I realized...I am not treating him with respect in my mind. When I think about him, I complain to myself (and even to John and Nancy occasionally). How can I love him when I am constantly thinking of him negatively? Why would he change when I don't expect him to? This was a pretty big revelation for me. Even my thoughts must be controlled!

Friday and Saturday...didn't have anything huge happen with Ibrahim. Just the standard walk and talk stuff.

Sunday he came to church! He'd said he would come, so this time I waited for him. During the time we had studying the Bible, it really looked like he understood a lot of it. He understood the concept of Jesus being the Lamb of God, taking away our sins. After the service, we stayed to work at the church for awhile. He said he liked church and would like to come more. I've been noticing lately that he hasn't been going to the Muslim prayers and such (which is a huge step), and so I asked him why. He said, "Don't ask me that question. I can't answer it." Okay, I'll leave it be for now.

I'm sorry this is so long, I just didn't want to leave out any of the amazing details! I am sooo excited about where God is taking this. It still looks impossible for him to become a strong Christian, but so far God's track record with impossible has been perfect. So we're just going to trust in Him to bring it about! Keep praying!!!

-Seydoubumba

P.S. There's a lot more to write about, but since I've written a ton already, I'll leave it be for now. I'll be in Niamey until Saturday!

One more...

2006-12-02T02:39:00.001-08:00

So I thought yesterday was my last day for a post...but I managed to sneak into the SIM office for another quick posting. Hooray!

First, I just wanted to let you all know I am soooo incredibly blessed. I just can't get over it. After reading all the emails I've gotten over the past 3 weeks, talking with you and hearing how much you're praying for me...I am humbled. I wish I could just fly home for a week, give you all a hug and a big thank you and then come back! If only that were possible! Thanks so much for all that you mean to me and for all the prayers that are undoubtedly keeping my mind and heart ready for the changes ahead of me. It's wonderful to know.

This morning I realized, you all have no idea what the pictures up on photobucket are. There's good storeis behind most of them. So, I just made a little reference sheet and I'm going to post it here. Just copy and paste this website into that little white bar at the top of your screen and you should go write to the page. http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/

1. Me and Frank. His name is actually the French version of Frank. He’s a Christian that I met last week. I think he’s going to come to church with us on Sunday. He wants to learn English and wants to help me with my Zarma. He taught me how to say, tun (stand up) and goru (sit down). I used that often. Kids would walk past me in the street and I’d yell, GORU!!! And they’d sit down in the street. Then I’d say, TUN! And they’d stand up. Then Koy hu! (go home) and they’d leave. It was a blast.
2. Haha. This one is Samayla Moussa and Ibrahim all dressed up with they’re doorags. We were on our way to buy my sword like machete. I forgot to get a picture of it. It’s wonderful to look at, although, I don’t know how much use I’ll be with it.
3. This is a sunset. Umm, not a whole lot more to say. It’s pretty. It’s between two trees. It’s in Tera…
4. This one is of the kids eating. This is how food is consumed in Tera. You have a big platter with a bunch rice. They pick it up with their hands and then eat it. I’ve tried it a few times, but my pants get fed more than my mouth. I’m not talented with finger food.
5. This is a locust. Oh, and John. I had other pictures of locusts to, but this one looked cooler than the others. Locusts are nasty little creatures that eat all the plants and crops. We don’t like them very much.
6. John and Nancy doing their best imitation of the most famous American portrait ever. Pretty good, except for the SIM skirt, I don’t recall that in the portrait.
7. Some studly guy displaying his abnormally large tongue. And yes, he does love David Crowder. And yes, the E and the D are backwards on the shirt.
8. Kids playing in the tree at our house. Kids are the same no matter what country they come from. I wanted to join them…but I’m getting to old for that. I’m 19…I’m ancient. I hear that at 19 you’re supposed to be a responsible adult….uh oh.
9. This is Anta. She’s middle daughter of Howa Hama, the nice lady that lives behind our compound. This girl is…9 I think. We’ve got an interesting friendship. She makes funny faces at me and I make funny faces back.
10. This is Atutu…my favorite little African girl. She’s so funny. I can’t really explain it, she’s just fun to play with.
11. This one is from atop a big hill in Tera. It’s overlooking the dam-made lake of Tera. Just to brag a little bit, our house is on the other side of that lake…and I ran to that hill. Oh yea. (You’d be surprised how pleasant it is to run in the African bush…I now understand why Africans run so much)
12. ARGH!! So John and I have been working on a puzzle since I arrived. This puzzle was nuts! All the pieces were shaped almost exactly alike. Some fit into places where they shouldn’t, and thus confused us royally. And then there was a sky that we had to piece together, where all the colors are the same! Well, we got to the end, and had one piece left to put in. AND THE ONE PIECE DIDN’T FIT!! WHAT!?? It’s the last piece, how does it not freakin fit? It baffled me. Still does.
13. Twister at my birthday party! It’s a new favorite for the Africans.
14. The guys who came to my birthday party…the typical three. Samayla, Ibrahim and Moussa. They all had cool glasses to wear, so I threw on my swimming goggles to complete the picture.
15. This is our compound, a view from above. It’s a lovely place. Now on the left of the gate theres a big blue streak. One of the kids found some paint and thought our gate was a perfect drawing board. Adds to the flavor a bit, I think.
16. Hamidou and Masa and some other kid giving a pose for me. Lovely.
17. Maybe one of my favorite pictures. This is Atutu…and for some reason, I just love this one!
18. I told the kids to give me a funny face. This happened. It’s funny, I’ll give them that.
19. I let the kids practice taking pictures…and one actually turned out well. You should see some of the other ones that didn’t turn out so well. Wow. It takes talent to take some of those pictures.
20. They thought hiding in the bush would make a good picture. In a way…yea, it does!
21. Atutu again! She’s just a little cutie, isn’t she?? She was helping us clean up after church on Sunday, picking up all our materials for us.
22. Just taking random pictures…the old one in back is Bedi, one of my friends in Tera. He’s a Fulan, and he’s also real nice. He’ll be in Niamey over Christmas nad he promised to show me around the markets here…can’t wait!!
23. This was during the game called, “Tete” (head). I think someone tried to hit the ball and fell over, so this kid just couldn’t handle it anymore and busted up laughing. I was pretty pumped that I captured the moment!
24. I forget this kids name…Hamidou maybe? He’s a cute kid. But he’s got a little rascal inside of him. Wow. Any possibility of causing trouble, and he wastes no time in joining in. You look at him and think he’s a little angel…and that’s part of his plan. He’ll turn it on you quicker than anything!!!
25. Lovely shot. This is Yao. He practices his karate on the back of my legs when I’m not looking. I practice knocking little kids to the ground on him.
26. Again, Hamidou (I think). He looks so nice….don’t be deceived.

Well, that’s a little explanation for all the pictures. Hope it helps!!

I'll be back in town Dec. 12. I'd love to get a phone call (the numbers on some other previous posting, I don't have it on hand). We only have service every other day...who knows why. So far, I think it's even days that we have service...but who knows how long that will last. Maybe it will soon become multiples of the three. It's Africa baby.

Love y'all. God bless.

-Seydoubumba

Back for a day!!

2006-12-01T07:10:00.000-08:00

I’m back!! (But not for long)

John had to come up to Niamey for a night so that he could have a music practice before conference (if that doesn’t make any sense, don’t worry. It’s missionary stuff and relatively unimportant to people living in America). Nevertheless, I have about 6 hours of Internet time!

The Internet is already being a little finicky, and so I’m pretty sure no pictures will be uploaded to blogger. However, I’m going to make an effort to put them up on photobucket.com. If you forgot how to get there, look at previous posts and there should be some indications somewhere. I’ve got a bunch of them…26 to be exact. Enjoy!

Now, as for life in Tera…wow, there’s a lot to say. God’s changed me in so many profound ways, there’s no way I’ll be able to tell you of all of them. (Most, I probably don’t know either). To pick up where I was when I left Niamey 3 weeks ago, I was praying for God to pour out His Spirit on the people of Tera. Essentially, I was figuring, since I was here, I might as well go for the gold. But when I came to Tera, I hit a roadblock. (Me + Waiting + Continued passion = Nothing). When I got back to Tera and nothing was different, and nothing looked like it was going to change…the time I spent in prayer took a sharp decline. Did God change? No. Did the situation change? No. Do the people still need God?? YES! Then WHY DIDN’T I KEEP PRAYING? Because it wasn’t exciting anymore. This hit right at the very core of who I am. This laid bare some very fundamental weaknesses in my personality. I’m a dreamer. I have grand visions and ideas and am very passionate about them at the beginning. But as time passes, so does my dream. At this point I was reading about Nehemiah, the man who rebuilt the walls around Jerusalem. For 4 months he fasted and prayed that God would let him restore Jerusalem. I barely lasted 4 days and wondered why God hadn’t moved. I realized that my perseverance has to be worked on, and that’s exactly where God was headed.

You all remember Ibrahim? The rap-loving, America-imitation friend who loves the chicas? Well, we were together a lot more. And I nearly blew a gasket. To put things bluntly, I was his American show-thing status symbol. He would drag me around from place to place (place= “not” girlfriends house) and him flirting with the girl for an hour while I stand by idling wondering what in the world is going on. It even came to the point where I would see him walking towards me in the street and a sinking feeling in my stomach would come with him. I hated walking around with him. I hated being used and abused. I hated having him try and coerce me into things I didn’t want to do (I didn’t do them, but the fight is not fun). I couldn’t handle it anymore, I was about ready to give up.

But once again, God stepped in. Remember my previous problem? Well, this was a way of God giving me an opportunity to grow. Does Ibrahim still need God’s love? Yes. Can I still give it to him? Yes (through gritted teeth). What should I do? Show him love (barely a whisper now). And here was the clincher for me from God, “Did I leave you?” (Now really, did he have to throw that one in there?) When I used and abused God, he remained faithful to me. When I put him in the passenger seat to show off to my friends, he waited patiently for me to come around. If I leave Ibrahim now, he will NEVER know what love is, even the faintest whisper of it. Can I condemn him to a live of blindly following human passions and each time finding he’s been stripped a little further? No…I cannot.

And so then comes the amazing part of the story. After this, the next day when I saw him coming down the street, I was excited to show him God’s love. I was excited to pray for him while he used me as a trophy. I didn’t mind being lied to, deceived, (sitting outside the mosque while he tried to achieve eternal salvation in the same way a car can drive across the ocean). When I got home, I was shocked. What happened??? I still am not really sure!!!

That’s the BIGGEST thing that’s been going on in my life the past three weeks…but there’s about a hundred smaller things also going on. But I think I’d put you all to sleep telling you about it all!! So I’ll leave you with a sequence of rhyming of words and call it a posting. It doesn’t go with the theme, but I don’t care. After all, it’s my blog…I do what I want….

Do you remember?
When we would walk hand in hand?
Can you still recall?
When I gave you strength to stand?
Ev’rything was good
Why did you just run away?
Did I betray you?
Was there something I could say?
But you turned your back
Ran with the legs I gave you
And did not return
Even though I called for you
I sent messengers
Prophets to show you the path
But you killed them all
You’re treason required my wrath
Because you ran away
There had to be something done
Someone must atone
And so I gave you my Son.
For I dream of Eden
I long to hold your hand once more
I want you to trust me
In the same way you did before
But Eden has passed
And cannot be brought to life
It’s gone forever
But our future is still bright
For soon I will come
And will restore everything
Sin will be broken
And then I will be your King
You will look to me
And I’ll show you all I am
All I have is yours
In the New Jerusalem
I will be your God
And by my side you will stand
In Jerusalem
Where we will walk hand in hand

There ya go. Hope you get to experience God in just as amazing ways!! There's nothing better that can me done with your time...and you don't have to be in Africa to change!! (A little inspirational message...thought it would be a nice touch.)

-Seydoubumba

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEREMY ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEREMY!!!!!

2006-11-19T05:39:00.000-08:00

This is mom ... but thought since I was able to connect with him by phone yesterday, that I'd give you faithful readers an update. Yes, it's his birthday today ... but no Momma can't talk to him today ... apparently they don't have the bandwidth or something to support all the phones in Tera ... so each phone is on an alternating days schedule ... today is "off".

It sounds like he is having a wonderful time. He is getting out walking the neighborhoods and just chatting with people. He said his language skills are to the point that he can get his message across most of the time. He was invited by Ibrahim to a street dance a couple nights ago ... part of a wedding ceremony ... but for the revelers, not the new couple. He said it was interesting to be included & invited (apparently if you tried to get in without being invited ... you were asking to be beat off with sticks!! Ouch!!)

Another time, at full moon Nancy made him aware of the ceremonies going on down the street inviting satanic possession ... the drums persisting thru the night. It became a good time to pray, and be reminded of the battle they are against ... true spiritual oppression!

We will be sending him a copy of the UofM v. Ohio game ... his one request for a birthday present ... so please don't tell him the results :) He would really appreciate hearing from any of you though ... phones and mail work pretty well!

Thanks for your continued prayers on his behalf. His faith is being stretched ... his eyes are being opened.

Sue

Last word

2006-11-11T04:22:00.000-08:00

Hey all!

Well, this is my last posting for quite awhile now! We're heading back to Tera in a couple of hours, for 4 weeks! I'm excited though, as much as I love coming back and reconnecting with you all, I think it's time for me to be fully devoted to Tera. It's time for me to really work on this French thing and to really deepen my relationships there.

If you've been keeping up with my blog, you will see that I have no idea what God's going to do with my time in Tera. For awhile, I believed there was going to be "a great harvest" while I am here. Then, I figured we needed to have all the people ready to properly train all the people coming to Jesus. Now, I'm praying for the harvest, but having no idea when that will come or even what it will look like. The cycle never stops, does it? Extreme to extreme, settle back in the middle, but a little wiser. I wonder if that's part of the journey, to keep probing in every direction and trusting in God to bring me to rest where He wants me. I hope so...because that's what I'm doing!!

I believe that God had a hand in bringing me the book I've been reading this week. It's pretty much changed my world around. It's about revivals and such. Now, most revival books are super motivating and exciting and telling you to just get out there and go because God's Spirit is there and it's SOOO cool to do miracles. And...I think most of those books should be burned (to put it lightly...). This book was the opposite. It was more of a revival warning. He's Charimatic...and he was talking about the Charismatic revival, and why it fizzled out. He was talking about how they became so focused on signs and miracles and gifting, it turned into a race to see who was most gifted and who had the most people in their congregation (sounds familiar). And when the motivation became selfish, when the people turned from following God alone to wanting their own fame and glory, things became hollow and fell apart. But what's most terrifying to me, is that I'm pretty sure that through this entire time, the leaders never thought, "I think I'll stop giving God all the glory and take it all for myself." They still THOUGHT they were doing what God wanted, but somehow, they became deaf to God's true voice. Does that give you the chills too? Does it scare you to think how SIMPLE it is to fall away from purely following God, WITHOUT EVER KNOWING IT? So if you could pray for me, (and pray for yourselves as well...we're ALL in danger of slipping) just to have the strength and humility to come before God EACH NIGHT and honestly examine my motives. Pray that He will spare no thought, spare no subconscious desire.

And on this subject, I think it's necessary to share about Pastor Ted. It's painful to think about, really. The image of the Christian church is dropped considerably, I'm sure. But honestly, I'm glad. I'm not glad that he fell, I'm glad that he was exposed. I pray that all the leaders who lead impure lives will be exposed. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, that they are restored. See, I'm not condemning them. I just don't want our Christian leadership to be hollow. Do you remember David? He was called, "A man after God's own heart." And yet he committed adultery and murder. But what happened? HE WAS RESTORED! With Ted, and with all others who are "found out," I sincerely hope that God will restore them. And also, what God restores, who are we to reject? If some of these men want to become leaders again...do we have the right to stop them? Did David lose his kingdom? Nope. Hope all that makes sense and isn't taken the wrong way!

Since I'm going to be gone for 4 weeks, some contact would be greatly appreciated! In case you want to contact me (send me goodies, postcards, tons of money) while I’m in Tera…the address is S.I.M., B.P. 31 6005 Tera, NIGER. The fastest I've gotten mail was 8 days...the slowest, well I've heard horror stories of 6 weeks. And remember, Christmas is slow! But hey, the cards will be treasured no matter when they get here! Our phone number is 011-227-96-47-75-39. The cheapest way we've found is Skype (Internet phone, so easy my Grandparent can use it {love you both}). Or just grab a calling card. If you need anything else, my Momma would probably be able to help! Love you all, hope you have an absolutely WONDERFUL 4 weeks!!

-Jeremy, Seydou, Dabumba, Anasara

Camels!

2006-11-10T16:02:00.000-08:00

I LOVE HARVESTFEST! Sahel put on a little shindig for the community of Niamey...a classic American celebration with bobbing for apples, junk food, and oh yea, camels. How sweet is that? I can now check "ride a camel" off of the list of life goals. I was a natural at the camel riding. First and foremost, I didn't fall off. Second, I was able to get on all by myself (they kneel down, that helps some). Third, I can even do fancy tricks like the no-hander/no-footer WHILE staying on. I'm thinking they need to make camel riding an extreme-sport. Gold medal, here we come.

Another view of my camel riding. I've come to the realization, camels are probably the coolest form of transportation in the world. They can cross the desert. Land Rovers have difficulty. And just look at the thing! You wouldn't think it could even walk...but let me tell you, those things can move. We went around that basketball court in like, 8 minutes. We were moving (slowly).

Comical Amusement

2006-11-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I realize this isn't the most flattering picture. You really don't have to laugh THAT hard. Really, it's okay. I just figured it was unfair to only show the BEST pictures...like I was hiding something. I was trying to show the fear of being hurtled along the streets of Niamey in the back of a truck. But it came out looking more like I'd just knocked down a few and then had to sneeze. Oh well.

Now, the reason why I'm taking pictures is because my Mom wanted me to take pictures of Niamey. I have difficulty taking normal pictures. I figured why not sit in the back of a truck and take pictures of me making faces AND get the scenery of Niamey at the same time. My experiment had mixed results.

Arrr, the menacing face. Now those of you who are safety conscious and approve of the seatbelt law in the States are asking, why am I sitting in the back of a truck while driving in Niamey?? Isn't that illegal? HA! That idea would be laughed at here. The bed of a truck is the best place to cram people! And besides, why would the government make a law to protect you from hurting yourself, is that REALLY their job? (Darn good question). And besides, the wind blown hair is just delightful. (If you don't believe me about the fact that it's the best place for passengers, look in the background).

You may wonder why I'm laughing. Well, remember the guys in the truck? Well, as they drove past us they shouted at me, ANASARA!! (Which by now you all know means WHITE MAN!). They wanted me to take their picture. I did, and it didn't turn out. But we kept shouting back and forth for awhile. I still get a kick out of being a "white man." Try and imagine this in the States. Walk around the streets, and when you see an African-American, go up to him and say, "Hey black man (a stronger word could be used here as well), take my picture." What's gonna happen? See why I laugh?

And as usual, I'm still laughing. I also threw this one in because I thought the wind swept hair was particularly stunning. Okay, so I look like a dufus. And really, the first picture wasn't all THAT funny, was it?

Boring Pictures

2006-11-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm sorry, but my Mom asked what Niamey looked like. So I took a couple of pictures in the streets. This one is from the bridge, overlooking the "downtown." As you can see, a thriving metropolis with huge skyscrapers and lots of fancy architecture. Honestly though, it's got a very distict beauty to it. It's a lovely little city.

This is what most of the streets in Niamey look like. This one is the main road outside of the SIM office in Niamey. The mud brick walls, the bright teal gates, the guards sitting outside the gates...this is all Niger.

Okay, so this one's not quite scenery. This is David You, one of my friends at Sahel Academy (the Missionary Kid school here in Niamey). Over Christmas break, I'm hoping to go to live with him and his family in Cote D'Ivoire. Not sure if that's gonna work out or not, but I'm hoping it will! As you can see, my hat has somehow made it's way off my head onto anothers...again.

Curveball...

2006-11-10T00:51:00.000-08:00

Just to keep the trend going, I've got a funny story for you. A few of them, actually. During my first week in Tera, there were a lot of new experiences for me. One of them, I never expected. We were eating dinner, and I was sipping down a cold glass of water. It was about halfway gone when I looked down and realized...there's something in one of the ice cubes! I look closer, and it's a fly! I said, "That's unbelievable!" out of pure wonder at how a FLY got into an ice cube! I thought it was pretty cool. So I finished drinking my glass of water (the fly was in the ice cube after all, NOT my drink. And I'd already drank half the glass, what's the other half gonna hurt?) and then noticed the DeValves laughing at me. It was a prank. Grr. In the lingo of the youth, "I got served."

Another interesting point. I have earned the name, "Cockroach slayer." (Okay, so I've killed two. That's ALMOST a slayer.) A couple of nights ago, I had an itch on my leg, so naturally, I scratched it. However, it was some spiky creature the size of a quarter crawling up my shorts. I don't know how quick it was, but before I knew it I had grabbed the little bugger (pun!) and thrown whatever it was against the wall. I then promptly went back to sleep...wrapped a little tighter in the sheets this time. In the morning I found the dead cockroach lying next to my bed. The cockroach slayer strikes again.

So by now, you've probably guessed by now what I am going to say in this post. That there are people in Tera that God loves and that need to be saved. That God is ready to pour out His Spirit and Tera is set for a revival. And honestly, that's what I was going to say. I was expecting the fastball from God's pitching mound, and I got the change up. (I don't play baseball, so if that analogy doesn't actually work, my apologies. It seems right though.) I've been reading a book called, "The River of God," by Dutch Sheets. It's about a revival he sees coming to the world. Now, I've read so many of these books lately that I'm pretty skeptical. Because they all say there's going to be a revival soon...some said it 10 years ago, some 20, some today. But here's what I read that shook my resolve. God's curveball caught me square in the face (I'm on a roll with the baseball analogies today). He was talking about Luke 14:28-33, how if someone's going to start to build a tower, he will FIRST see if he has enough money to complete it. As I thought about that, I realized...right now, there are not enough "resources" in Tera to be able to effectively train and teach a bunch of converts. In essence, if my request was answered...we'd have a ton of people who believe in Christ because of visions and miracles, and we would have just 2 men and a woman to teach and disciple all of these. Is that enough? Or do we need God to send more? Or do we need God to grant us superhuman strength and endurance? See, I'm kind of new to all this, but it seems that we fall far short of being prepared. I don't know what would happen if we had a sudden wave of infant Christians.

Then this morning, I was thinking about all this, and this verse came across my mind. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." Amen to that. This goes right along with all that I've been thinking. But then the curveball that hits me in the gut..."Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Wait, WHAT!? Try and figure out how those two come together and make sense. There's not very many workers (same thing as in Tera), so what should we do? Ask for more workers? Nope. Ask for a harvest. Huh? So what God's telling me here is that I have to step out on a limb of faith and TRUST that the people will come? So I don't get to have all the workers lined up before the harvest? Ooookay. Actually, I enjoy not knowing what's going to happen. For me, it just takes away all the stress. I think it would be more stressful waiting for the harvest than waiting for the workers to show up anyways.

So, I have no idea what to pray for. Sorry. I hope you can figure it out. You could pray for a harvest, because that is definitely needed. You can pray for John and Nancy and me that we would be prepared. You can pray for the workers to come. I'm about to give up on guessing what God's pitch is going to be. I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing right now. So I'm just going to keep praying and asking God for daily guidance. That's about all I can do!

There still is more to say...but I think I've bitten off more than I can chew already. So we'll call it a day. Hope you have the absolute best day of your life.

-D(uhh...)b(ummmm?)b(ugh!)

So you want some pictures??

2006-11-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

Like always, start with some humor. This little girl is wonderful. She's the daughter of one of the Christian ladies here...and she was all bundled up because it was WAY TOO COLD outside. I mean, you wouldn't believe how cold it can get here. That night, it was 70 degrees! When I took the picture, it was only 90. If this keeps up, the Eskimo salesman is gonna be in business here.

As I was walking around town with Samayla, Ibrahim and Moussa, we came to a group of guys just hanging out, listening to music and drinking tea. Right when we showed up, they offered me a seat. I'm not exactly sure WHY I'm always offered a seat...but it happens. Luckily, we had to leave before they offered us tea. Besides the fact that I don't like tea very much, African tea has a tendency to cause everything inside of me to want to come out. I've never actually tried it, but I think it could be compared to drinking gasoline (at least to me)...who knows, maybe I'll enjoy it someday.

Yep. If you look closely enough, there IS a monkey chillin by the tires. This isn't a real uncommon scene in Niamey. It's just life here.

Yes, I know. I look like a moron. I've been recently compared to Tumnus, the Faun. Laugh all you want, the goat chin scraggle is stayin until I get sick of it!! (Which might well be tomorrow...never know). As the Lord says in Psalm 115:3-I do what I want. (Slight paraphrase)

2006-11-09T12:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, am I the only one still laughing at this? Cuz I can't get over it.

If you can't pick it up from the picture...he's thinking, "I am so "guetto" and all the chicks are gonna go for me when they see this." I'm thinking, "He just took my hat! How is that going to make him ghetto? I'm sure ALL the rappers have Biblical slogans plastered on their foreheads."

A picture of the ferry leaving the dock. It's quite the dock, I tell you. As you can see it as all the standard equipment that most docks have. Vendors, trash, and the essential, hordes of children.

Never can hurt to throw a little scenery in the mix. This is off of the ferry going to cross the mighty Niger river. It was pretty mighty that day. There were choppy waves all around us...and the ferry was about 20 years old. Nevertheless, we made it. That'd be another cool way to go out (besides getting eaten by a lion), "God, I died on a sinking FERRY? Nice touch. Hope they find as much humor in it as I do."

And some pictures.

2006-11-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

As always, like to lead it off with a little comic entertainment. I have NO clue what that thing is. All I know is that it took up a LOT of the road. And you may notice in the background the car passing the slightly overloaded van (that is not bad at all) which is passing the people. Keep in mind, this is NOT a one-way road...and there are probably cars about to use that fill that space in the road. While they don't REQUIRE you to wear seatbelts here...I usually do it anyways out of fear.

This is Samayla on the right, Moussa on the left (he helps with the yard and is often around the house) and Ibrahim behind them. They had the clever criss crossed idea for the picture. I kinda like it. Good to see a little creativity!

This is a close up of Samayla, my best friend out in Tera. He's a bright kid and really wants to go to the University of Niamey. He knows English about as well as I know French, so we have fun trying to speak back and forth. Yes, those are swimming goggles on his head. He thought they looked cool. Can't deny him...

This is a picture of us changing a tire on the truck. We didn't have a flat...but we realized that the lug nuts had come very loose on the wheel...which meant we might have become a tricycle if we went much further. I'd much rather stay on 4 wheels.

I don't know if these will all load...we hope so!

A little more info...

2006-11-09T02:07:00.000-08:00

(I just tried posting, and I wasn't surprised when it didn't work. All that I'd written was lost. But thankfully, I've learned to ALWAYS save it before you publish, otherwise it will be lost!)

(Third time now)

Well, there's more pictures loaded onto photobucket.com. Once again, a combination of Blogger and Africa won't let me post the pictures. I'll try to put them on later, with a little story explaining them...but who knows??

But here's a funny story, so that in case your having a really crummy day, you can just picture it in your head and laugh. There's this little kid there, Oumadou, who's not exactly all there. He's a really fun kid, but the thinking process isn't his strongest point. We were just kicking the soccer ball around in the yard, and eventually I had to stop and show him how to kick the ball. See, he would go running up to the ball and hit it as hard as he could with his toes. He'd then fall on the ground holding his smashed toes. When the ball came back to him, he'd get up and repeat the process. I know, I know. It shouldn't be funny. (But for some reason, I got a kick out of it.)

So now to pick up from where I left off yesterday. Right at this time I was just overcome with how good God is. I couldn't handle it! To think that God in heaven, the creator of our universe, loved ME so much that when HIS son was crying out to Him in the garden to take away the cup, He didn't. He wanted to be with us THAT badly. And who would refuse a love like that? If they even PARTIALLY understood what God did for them...they would give their lives to Him. And as my love for God is rising, I can feel it's need to boil over and spill out.

I was wanting to tell Samayla and Ibrahim so badly about how much God loves them, but never really got the opportunity. (It's hard with another language...I can't exactly "guide" the conversation. I float where it goes.) Then I started thinking, why are there no Songhay believers here? What makes these people so hardened to the gospel? I thought about it for awhile, but couldn't come up with an answer. Then I realized, "Ah ha! I think I know a guy who's been living here for 20 years...he'd probably know."

Here's some of the reasons:

1. The prevalence of Islam. It's a very visible religion. You pray together several times each day. You are told to stay in line and follow orders. Those that get out of order are shunned.

2. Combine Islam with the community aspect of the Songhay and you have a dead lock. Their entire lives are centered around people and relationships. Those that don't have friends probably won't live very long when a famine comes. And when you break the mold, you are cast out. Now you can see that accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior isn't as free as in America.

3. They don't like change.

4. The children are taught to learn by memorization, it's an oral culture. They are taught to copy and repeat. So when there are Christians who want to learn about the gospel for themselves...as Westerners, we don't know how to teach them to teach themselves.

5. Even their LANGUAGE is against us. They don't have a very descriptive language. They only have 5 colors! (Black, white and the 3 primaries). They don't describe how the feel. It's another barrier in our way.

Looks pretty bleak, doesn't it? No hope at all. There is nothing HERE that is going for us. But THERE IS a God in heaven who is crazy about His kids and wants to love them eternally in heaven. And that same God who loves them, is powerful enough to overcome any barrier ever set up by Satan. He is powerful enough to change time and culture and reveal Himself to a community of His lost children. To me, in my finite wisdom, the most effective way for Him to be revealed would be through signs and miracles. To show up in their dreams and terrify the willies out of them. To point them to Christians...whether it's us, or someone else, it doesn't matter. So that's what I've been praying for lately, since Jesus told us to bring our requests before God. But I also am trying to keep in mind that God is more than enough for me. It's a tough balance! Wanting to DO a lot for God, while remaining willing to just BE with God.

Well, there's still more to tell...but again, I don't want to come to Saturday and have nothing left to tell ya! Hope you have an absolutely splendid day! God bless ya...

-Anasara

Rantings...and praises

2006-11-07T23:58:00.000-08:00

Ah ha! So it worked! I think I should expect nothing more often...maybe a little reverse psychology would work on Blogger! This is the sign they made. As you can see, they're not very "guetto," but I'll give them a B+ for effort. And for comical value, I give them an A+. Good work. I'm not really sure what they were trying to accomplish with this one. Maybe trying to become "American," maybe trying to express themselves creatively...either way, it made me laugh. Oh, and check out the hat he's wearing (it's mine). "Give what you can't keep, Gain what you can't lose." Oh yea, covertly throwin in a little gospel message.

All right, so moving on in the story of last week. That next night I read John 3:16. I'll just copy my devotions over so you get the full brunt of my thoughts. "To be completely honest, I have a hard time reading this with excitement. All of it’s goodness and truth have been stripped away by banners at baseball games and stupid T-shirt slogans. John 3:16 this!! John 3:16 that!! When most people have no idea what it means. To me, it seems like that is just another badge of courage for people…look at me, I PUT A BANNER AT A GAME!! Think of how much Jesus’ name is spread!" (Or wearing a hat with a Christian slogan...huh, who would do that?). And then I wrote this, and I think it pretty much sums up WHY I don't like fads that include Jesus. "I hate to see Jesus become a cultural icon…because cultural icons all fall away." And Jesus doesn't fall away. He's always there and he's always the same. I don't think when Jesus told us to go and make disciples of all nations, he meant that we should put up an advertisement and call it done. We have to get out there and BE WITH THE PEOPLE WE'RE TRYING TO LOVE. That doesn't have to be across the world. That can be the across the street, across the parking lot, across the cubicle. People need Jesus everywhere, people don't need another advertising scheme shoved at them.

The next day in Tera was wonderful. For the first time, possibly ever, my mind was worked to overload. Studying French, speaking French, and hearing French. And I LOVED IT. I was in the office (library) studying French when Ibrahim and Samayla came in and wanted to talk. We just talked and practiced English and French for about 2 hours! It turns out that they want to learn English, and I want to learn French. There is a wonderful opportunity for me here to show them God's love (and to learn French in the process). Then, later that night, I went out to speak to a guy named Adamu across town. On the way over I shouted the Songhay greetings at everyone (it's rude not to greet someone you pass in the street) and even played a little soccer with some kids. I told Adamu about my life, about America, and explained why I have never had a girlfriend (1. Didn't want one. 2. When I did, no one wanted me. 3. They take too much time. 4. They take too much money. 5. I have neither 3 nor 4.) It was a wonderful time. On the way back, I just smiled from the overwhelming goodness of it all. I'd forgotten how refreshing it is to just smile because things are just good. And there is a lot more to smile about...! But I'll have to keep you waiting (or else I'd run out of things to say while in Niamey, and that would be just too bad).

Story and a few pictures.

2006-11-07T11:25:00.000-08:00

Whoa, there's a lot of stories to tell. I think I'll break them up between my days here in Niamey so that I don't overwhelm you (and so that you don't get bored and quit reading!) To lighten up the mood a little bit, I'll start of with some humor. Last night, Samayla and Ibrahim were studying in the DeValves library right outside our house, at least that's what they said they were doing! They asked me to come over and take a few pictures. When I walked in the door and saw them, I fell over laughing. The pictures explain it so much better than I can. I couldn't stop laughing.

(Okay, so since I relied on Blogger to put up a picture...of course, it failed me once again. Why do I keep expecting things to work? I don't know...I really shouldn't. Based off past experience...I should knwo what if I need to put a picture up, it won't work. Sooo, the guys had all dressed up in their African American clothing styled after rappers and had made a sign that said, Welcome to my Guetto. Yes, in English. I have no idea how they found that phrase, or how they knew what it meant. But either way, I died laughing. The picture made it onto photobucket, so just copy this and paste it onto the little white bar at the top of the screen http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/ if you're dying to see it.)

Then all the little kids come up to me saying, "Whazzup ma nigga?" (Jesus walks;)) and of course they have absolutely NO idea what they're saying, they're just copying whatever the rappers are saying. If they did know what they were saying, they probably wouldn't be saying it to me. Needless to say, I've been laughing a lot these past few days.

Right before I left Niamey last week, I was able to download Francis Chan's latest sermon. I think I've mentioned him before (winky face/sarcastic bent). This sermon made me laugh, almost got a tear, and challenged me to the core...all in one sermon. Incredible really. It was about sin and temptation. He explained how when we sin, according to Jeremiah, we're trading God, the spring of living water, for broken cisterns. Instead of just trusting in that spring, we think that it'd be better to dig our own wells, with cisterns that don't even hold water! That's what our sin is. We're trading the eternal God because we think that something outside of him will bring us more happiness. AND IT NEVER WORKS. And what makes sin so disgusting to God, is not just that we're doing something wrong, but that we're choosing that sin OVER GOD. By sinning we are saying that we would rather have our sin over God. That's why James says DO NOT BE DECEIVED! We can NEVER trade God for something better...don't even try it. In James 1:15 he says, "And desire, after it has conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death." He's comparing sin to a still born child. How there is so much expectation and hope...and then you realize, nothing. That's what sin does. Let me just say, I never want to sin again. Now that I see what it really is, that it's turning my back on God. Especially the small sins! I mean, by committing "small" sins I'm turning my back on God over something that I don't really even care about!

I mind was so wired over this sermon...I had to write a series of rhyming words on it. Once again, I asked God for the words...and once again, he delivered. I think this is one of the best so far. (Hush hush, it's actually rather poetical.)

In blind passion conceived
With hope of greater love received
Held close and concealed
For fear my true love revealed
Nurtured with a parent’s pride
Feeding on the darkness inside
Hope slowly grows within
And I see in Hope fulfillment
Then the day arrives
When my Hope is brought to life
The seed I had sown
Is born when it has fully grown
Yet it comes without breath
For my desire has conceived death
My heart fell from my chest
For all Hope left was emptiness
That space numbs my soul
How can I ever be made whole!?
Left void and broken
Just like the cycle of sin

James 1:15
Written under the influence

Well, there's a lot more to tell, but I'll save it for a later day. I've spent about 5 hours today typing and writing...and to be honest, I'm getting rather tired of computer screens. Soo, I hope you all have a wonderful day/evening/morning and I'll get back to you tomorrow!!

Anasara

P.S. I'll explain Anasara real quick. It means white man (with a slightly derisive lean) in Songhay. Basically, whenever I'm walking in the streets that's what people that I don't know call me. They murmur it and stare as I walk around. So when they call me anasara, I just call them bori bee...black man. They think it's hilarious. I did this to a group of teenagers, and they roared with laughter. The next day, EVERYONE was yelling it out at me, just waiting to be called a bori bee. Soo...it looks like this one has stuck.

Last posting for a week!

2006-10-31T01:16:00.000-08:00

So another week has passed in Africa. I have now been here for 25 days. It seems like I’ve been here my whole life…and yet at the same time, only an instant. It seems like a year ago that I was living in North Carolina with my Grandparents, but at the same time…everything has gone by so fast. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but I think that most of you understand what I’m saying!

I’m headed back to Tera today, so I’ll be incommunicado for a week or so (these frequent trips to Niamey aren’t normal!! After next week I’ll have only one more time in Niamey until the beginning of January). I’m ready to head back. I think my heads back on straight and my focus is now on finding out who God is and becoming like Him. It doesn’t matter whether that’s in my room or playing soccer with the kids…I want to be content either way.

There has been so much that I’ve been learning lately…both about myself and who God is. I don’t want to lose sight of that. For some reason, I keep forgetting that I am right in the centre (thought I’d throw some Brit in) of God’s will. I have to keep telling myself over and over again that this is exactly where He wants me for reasons that only He knows. What looks like foolishness to me is probably the most brilliant part of God’s plan!

Last night I had the pleasure of eating dinner with Joseph Cail and David Yu. Joseph went through SIMCO with me and is now a PE teacher at Sahel. David is a student at Sahel. David decided to treat us to dinner, since that is what Koreans do with their friends. It was a great time of eating and relaxing. David also said that if I ever wanted to go to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, I would be welcome. I’m thinking that sounds pretty good…! Who knows, maybe I could make it my ministry exposure trip!

Funny story. I don’t know how many of you heard about the sports field project that has been started in Tera. The DeValve’s were hoping to construct a soccer field and a few basketball/volleyball courts to help with outreach and to give the youth something constructive to do. Here’s the funny part…you wouldn’t believe who is thinking about providing the funds for this project. The United States Department of Defense. Yes, the DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. I’m not complaining, this is a great way for tax money to be spent…and it will do a great deal of good in the community…but DEFENSE? In a long, roundabout way I guess it’s defending the United States. I guess they’re trying to win over the Terarists (sorry, bad joke)!

Well, sorry this posting is so choppy and doesn’t make any sense at all. No real explanation why…I guess it’s just an off day. Thank you so much for your prayers and support! You all are a wonderful blessing to me and I cannot say enough about how much it means to me that I have so many people praying for me. Hope you all have an absolutely splendid week, wherever you are!!

-Saadu (I really don’t know how to spell my name…I think I had this problem in 3rd grade. As long as I don’t start wetting the bed again…)

Saturday in Niamey

2006-10-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

There's not a whole lot to write about today. Went to a French church this morning, which had a lively African style acapella choir (I just spelled choir, quire...thank you inventer of English). I didn't quite understand the message...but I'm sure it was great.

I had a pretty stressful day yesterday. I HAD to play tennis and softball. They forced me. It was horrible, getting all the exercise and such. (There's a little sarcasm there for those who didn't pick that up). It was tons of fun. I've never played a real softball game in my life. I've played in PE and a little hitting around with some friends, but never actually with teams and a scoreboard. But somehow, but several amazing stokes of luck...I got on base and scored each time! Kinda strange, since I never hit it out of the infield...but oh well. It was still fun.

I got an email from Stuart and Donna Baliles yesterday (I hope they don't mind my sharing!)...and they said they really liked my question, "Will I be satisfied if I come back to the States and all I have to tell my friends about is how much more I know about God?" They thought that would be so powerful for me to come back and tell all my friends about how much I've learned about God...and be more excited about that than what "happened." To be honest, that question was the worst case scenario. As in, "I did so little in Africa, this is all I found out." But after the Baliles email, and some of my own pondering, I realized...shouldn't learning more about God be the #1 goal in my life, no matter where I am? Is there any better way to spend my time? The reason I have always shied away from this is because I didn't want to spend my life sitting in my room praying and reading the Bible! That's what I thought was meant by finding out who God is. But I see now that God is everywhere...and I cannot learn all about Him sitting in my room! He's in nature, He's in people, in relationships. He's there through the strong times, through the weak times when I want to give up. He's there when I succeed, and He's there when I fall on my face. And the only way I will ever have a complete picture of God is to go out and live life. So that's where I'm headed...living life for the sake of knowing God.

That's about all for today. It's amazing how "not having anything to write about for today" quickly turns into a book!!

-Seydou!

Frustration Released

2006-10-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

I hope that all the pictures I've put up have worked! I don't really know.

I've debated about whether or not to write about what I'm going through right now on my blog. But as I thought about it, I realized that being open about my life and what I'm feeling has really helped me overcome problems in the past. And to be honest, I think I'm starting to come to grips with this one.

Here's where it all started. I went "out on the town" with all the Tera friends for awhile. I couldn't help thinking that they were mimicking American culture. We had watched an African rapper music video...and it had shocking resemblances with American ones. Guys running around throwing their money at people and dancing with scantily clad women. I was pretty shocked. And meanwhile, their eyes are glued to the TV and readily accepting the subliminal messages of image and materialism. This is what I was so excited to leave behind!

This festered inside of me. God showed me that this was an opportunity for me to show them the way, but I took it bitterly. I didn't want to deal with materialism and image anymore! Why did He have to put me here? This kept growing until it came to the point where I started wondering why I was even here at all. And unfortunately, I then had a day where I had nothing to do. So I had plenty of time to dwell on it. (Not a good combination...misconceptions and time to make them bigger). So it kept growing.

After watching a movie with "the guys" on Tuesday night, I caught a glimpse of the stars. There is something about the stars that shuts me up every time. All the junk I had against God at that moment was knocked off with a healthy slap of humility. The God of the universe is standing right next to me. He's guiding my steps. If I have "nothing" to do during the day but talk with Him and get to know Him more...is that a bad thing? Can I be completely satisfied if all I have is Him? Or does my love and trust in Him rely on the material and emotional blessings that He gives me? Will I be satisfied if I come back to the States and all I have to tell my friends about is how much more I know about God? In essence, is God enough?

So this is what I was battling with when I came to Niamey. And what is the first question I am asked by everyone at home? "How are you?" As some of you may no, I'm a horrible liar. Also, I can't give the simple answer. So here I am, trying to explain what I feel when I have no idea what I feel. So it came out pretty bitter I think. I was trying to explain a frustration inside of me, that I couldn't quite understand.

But I think I'm starting to come to grips with the problems surrounding me. I have been overly preoccupied with what I'm going to tell people back home. I want to come back with great stories of how fun and exciting Africa is...but right now, it has been more frustrating than exciting. I've been unsatisfied with simply God. I've been finding deeply rooted expectations and desires that I never knew I had.

So there you go...that's what has been floating around in my mind for the past couple of days. I think that pretty much covers it. The past couple of nights I've written rhythmic word sequences in a vain attempt at explaining the churning inside of me.

Everything is changing
Nothing remains the same
I’m lost and confused
I’ve even lost my name
I am no longer a boy
But I don’t feel like a man
I still cling to the past
I no longer know who I am
All friendships are torn away
Everything that I once knew
I now only have one hope
Expectations abound
And even if none of them are met
Let me know You more
And it will be a successAnd that’s to rely on You
Tell me that you love me
Remind me of your touch
Hold me ever closer

And let that be enough

That was last night. For those of you who didn't listen to Switchfoot before they went mainstream, the song Let That Be Enough off of A New Way To Be Human is incredible. This is kind of a take off of that. This next one came out of just feeling down about things. I couldn't put a finger on what it was...spiritual warfare, culture shock or just a simple lack of sleep. Also, to those of you who are LOTR nuts...the order of this one is suprisingly similar to that of the dwarvish songs. (You can stop laughing at my nerdiness now...really, you can. Get some air).

Held down and suppressed
I press forward only to regress
Pushed back, into black
How will I make progress!?
I desperately try and take flight
And even though I use all my might
I am on the ground, starting to drown
There’s no end in sight
My soul can feel the heavy hand
It takes all I have just to stand
Buckling, Crumpling
Oppressed by Satan’s Land
All hope is fading to nothing
I look around to hold something
Despair, echoing air
I feel like I’m drowning
But the a voice calls my name
The clouds part all the same
It’s too bright, it’s too light
It pierces through the rain
As my lungs burn from despair
A hand lifts me into the air
A touch so soft holds me aloft
Revives me with the greatest care
He whispers the words in my ear
Exactly what I need to hear
“I’ve got you, I love you.
You never again need to fear.”

I think that pretty much covers it. Any questions, comments, concerns? You can either post a comment or shoot me an email at mulletboy17@gmail.com . Whatever suits your fancy. Have a wonderfully blessed day!

-Dabumba

Pictures, oh yea.

2006-10-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

I've decided to cut my losses and just post these. I have a couple more, but I'm scared to try and put more on. You never know with blogger!!

Culture day!

2006-10-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was the Islam "fete." (Fete just means holiday). It was the first day out of Ramadan and the entire country of Niger, Christians and Muslims alike, gave a collective sigh of relief. They could not eat or drink during the day. Remember, it's over 100 degrees every day...rather rough on the body. So it's logical that when this torture ends, there would be an extensive festival. I was invited to take part!

Sunday afternoon John and I went to Samayla's home (Samayla is Daniel DeValve's best friend) for a meal. We went over and talked with the men of the house for quite awhile. They asked what my name was, and we told them Seydou. Turns out, that was the name of half of their fathers. In Muslim culture, they cannot say their fathers name...so they had to pick a new one. I quickly offered Dabumba. After laughing at it for a few minutes, they told me they loved it. Meanwhile, the women prepared the feast!

When it was ready, we all sat in a circle around the main dish. It was rice, covered with a delicious spicy sauce and meat of some sort (I don't ask...). Now, the Western concept of silverware hasn't exactly caught on here yet...so you just grab it with your hands and shovel it in. Personally, I prefer this method. The food feels so much more filling that way. Needless to say, I covered myself in rice and sauce. And another thing, you don't talk while you eat. I'm not sure why that custom arose...but for the most part, you eat your food, belch if possible, then talk. It was delicious. I found out later that it was a real honor for the older men to invite me to eat with them. I was oblivious while it was happening!

After the meal, the older men were making tea. I was going to stay around for this, but Samayla and Ibrahim asked me to go watch a movie with them. So we went and enjoyed a little Hollywood. It was now time for a little rest and relaxation. (Another big part of the African culture, the siesta. Siesta is a Spanish word...I don't know how it got here!). That night Ibrahim came over and asked me to go around town with him. Of course, being the city photographer, he asked me to bring my camera. I don't know what it is about a camera here, but its like a flourescent light (another big thing in Africa, they're EVERYWHERE!) to insects. It comes out, there's a swarm of potential models. As we left our house, there was a big commotion outside our gate. We stopped for awhile to see a "demon possessed" man (he claimed...don't know if I believe it or not) dancing around. He had a big machete, which he proved was sharp by cutting through twigs, and then "cut" his neck. It looked like a circus gimmick to me...but all the kids were very impressed. I got a picture of him...but it's not a very good one. Samayla said it was okay...but I was a little nervous taking a picture of a demons possessed man waving a machete around. So I kept it low and not too obvious. I didn't get hacked, but I also didn't get a stellar picture.

Then Ibrahim and his friends went over to the dam in Tera for a photo shoot.

I took probably around 30 pictures. It was nuts. Everytime I take a picture, everyone starts shouting, 'imdi!' (show me!). The sun set in the process in its typical display of beauty and precision.

We kept going at this for quite awhile until it was too dark to take pictures. It was quite a bit of fun. Then we went back home. On the way, Ibrahim said he was my very friend. I told him he was my good friend too. It was an amazing time! I still haven't gotten used to the fact that good friends hold hands...maybe I never will!

-Dabumba.

P.S. The pictures AGAIN stubbornly refuse to go up. Sorry. Once again, go to http://s56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/mulletboy17/ if you want to check them out. Some of them are up on yesterday's posting...the other ones were reserved for my culture day, but Blogger didn't feel like complying. Oh well.

I'm back!

2006-10-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hey there!
I'm back in Niamey for a week. I'm a little tired and lazy tonight, so I'm not going to have any profound insights. Sorry. But I have pictures!! (Which you are probably infinitesimally more interested in anyways). '

Well, for some reason...I can't type next to these pictures. SOOOOOO....

The first picture is on the back road to Tera. It looks nice and pretty here...but there were several knee deep potholes that jostled our bodies to the core. It was fun at first...but after an hour...well, you can imagine.

The second picture is my favorite one!! I have no idea what this kids name is. But he's a cute one, eh? If you look close enough, in his eyes, you will see my reflection. When I saw that, I was ecstatic. How sweet is that!?

The third picture is for your comic entertainment. Yes, that is real. Yes, that was running. And yes, it was full of people. I couldn't stop laughing when we went past. That's the highest I've seen...but this is a common practice in Niger. Don't have room inside?? Throw it on top! It doesn't matter how little room you have or what you're throwing up there. Not kidding, there have been GOATS strapped to the top of vans like this. In America, you'd be arrested for animal cruelty and dangerous driving. In Africa, you get a round of applause for your packing skills.

The fourth picture is in Tera at the dam. I would like to thank Abe Janson for the inspiration on the photo technique. I love the silhouette pictures. It was a national who took this picture (and he did very well, I was surprised)...but when he saw it, he told me it didn't work at all. He didn't quite understand this is what I was GOING FOR. Oh well. Pretty cool though, huh?

The guy on the left is Ibrahim. Next to him is Samayla. These are the two guys I hang out with the most. I'll be telling you more about both of these guys in later posts this week.

Sorry this doesn't have a whole lot of content, but like I said, I'm a procrastinator. Sooo, I'll do it tomorrow. Hope you can wait until then!!

-Seydou & Dabumba (depending on who you ask...again, explained later)

My Jesus

2006-10-18T03:17:00.000-07:00

After reading my story about being called a terrorist, my Grandma asked me what David Crowder would do? Now for those of you who have just taken your head out of a very deep hole...David Crowder is a modern worship artist. His lyrics are penetrating and his music is beautiful. He also has a rather large mass of hair hanging from his chin (wonder where I got the idea??). After thinking about it for a very long time (about 5 seconds, actually), I realize now that David Crowder is a terrorist. How could I not have seen it before? He's got the facial hair for it, and he's dead set on bringing America to it's knees by putting the fear of God into them. (So many puns on so many levels).

Last night I was listening to Todd Agnew's cd, Reflections of Something. I was reading and listening at the same time. But one song, My Jesus, stopped me dead in my tracks. I couldn't help it. I'll post the lyrics here for you...but if you ever have the chance to listen to the song, I would highly suggest it.

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ
Why do you look so much the world?

Cuz my Jesus bled and died
Spent his time with thieves and liars
Loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit
But do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
But do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand

Cuz my Jesus bled and died for my sins
Spent his time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?

Who is this that you follow?
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at his holy feet
Holy, yea

Pretty blue eyes, and curly brown hair, and a clear complexion
Is how you see the man who died for your sins
But the Word says he was battered and scarred did you miss that part?
Sometimes I doubt we would recognize him

Cuz my Jesus bled and died
He spent his time with the thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

Cuz my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
Blood and dirt on his feet might stain the carpet (ouch...that was a cheap shot)
But he reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
And I think he’d prefer Peel Street to the stained glass crowd
And I know that he’d hear me if I cried out loud

I WANT TO BE LIKE MY JESUS
I WANT TO BE LIKE MY JESUS
I WANT TO BE LIKE MY JESUS
I WANT TO BE LIKE MY JESUS

Not a poster child for American prosperity, like my Jesus
See I’m tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus
But I’m not sure what that means
To be like you Jesus
Cuz you said to live like you, love like you
Then you died…for me
Can I be like you Jesus?
I want to be like you Jesus
I want to be like my Jesus

Powerful words, isn't it? Jesus wasn't a clean cut, beautiful guy carrying lambs around on his back...was he? He was a friend of the poor. He was a friend of broken. He spoke out against the rich and arrogant. He spoke against the COMFORTABLE. I realize that this is a tough song to swallow, it is for me. It challenges me to go out, away from comfort and success, and just be with the hurting.

I was reading this morning from 2 Timothy 4. I read this verse, "In fact, if everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." It doesn't become any clearer than that. Now, I've always known that following Jesus will bring persecution, and I'm fine with that. I do not care what people can do to my body...it doesn't matter. I still am with God. But here's what hit me this morning. Where does this persecution come from? It comes from people that are angry at me (obvious, I know). Why are they mad at me? Because I have challenged them with the gospel. Because I've said something that they do not like. This may not be hard for many of you, but for me, making someone angry is pretty much at the bottom of my list of things I enjoy doing. I hate it. If someone's angry with me, it tears me apart. I avoid situations that would cause trouble...but Paul is saying that living a godly life will put you in those situations regardless. If I truly follow Christ, I will make people angry. I am not too happy about that. I wish I could go and be friends with everyone and avoid conflicts completely. But...it's not going to happen. Not if I'm following Christ.

I'll be back next Wednesday. Hope you all have a stunning week. God bless ya.

-Jeremy

Petite Marche

2006-10-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

This is my third time trying to make these pictures work...so my explanations are brief.
Senior picturesque. Nice Africa backdrop...

I can't resist this pose. I look wise (sort of). I think every time I'm asked to pose for a picture, this one comes out.

Look Mom, AFRICA!

Today was interesting. We went to the Petite Marche (Small Market) to buy a few things. It was hilarious, some guy kept laughing at me and pointing to my "beard" and saying C'est bon!! Then he pointed to John and said that mine was better than his. Beards are a sign of age...so we both thought it was pretty funny. We kept driving around, and someone rolled into the back of our truck (I was drinking water at the time, went everywhere.) We didn't even get out...it's becoming normal! Yesterday a motorcycle hit the DeValves. It was funny. So we kept going, and we went to a little store. The guy at the counter also pointed to my beard and said something in Songhai...and then it all clicked. He said I was a conservative Muslim (also known as a terrorist). So that other guy in the market was saying he liked my terrorist beard more than John's. Great. I might have to get this thing trimmed down a bit....it won't do anyone good if I'm thought of as a terrorist.

more pictures

2006-10-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

John DeValve doing his best to balance on the pedestal on top of the hill at (DeValve dubbed) Picnic rock. Why they would put a concrete pedestal there, nobody really knows. But it creates some good picture opportunities.

Samayla trying to explain the whole ring game to me. You push it with a little metal wire around the whole place. Well, that's the idea. I think the game was rigged against foreigners. They all could do it perfectly, but whenever I tried, it just fell right over. We all had a good laugh at it.

Our biking squad. We were quite a force. (Only about half of us actually went, the others just got on bikes for the pictures). You may notice the bike I'm on...the AntiChrist I'll call it. (For those of you who have seen the God's must be crazy, you may understand that. We watched it on the way to Niamey).

Still trying to explain that darn game to me.
I may never get it.

Petite Marche

2006-10-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

Ah ha, some picture at last. Here to the left is Dimasi....but everyone calls him Masa now. When I first got there I went outside and tried learning all their names...as a joke someone said his name was Masa, which means gateau in French, when means cake in English. So I just call him "cake" now. He's an interesting kid. Ball of energy, I tell ya. And he loves to dance....everytime there's music he starts to imitate Michael Jackson. Funny stuff...

I haven't gotten to know these kids really well yet. It's hard for a guy to get to know the girls in Muslim culture. Soo, mostly Suzanne has been talking with them. But they're cute whether I talk to them or not.

Again, I don't remember this kids name. He isn't REALLY regular around the house (Masa is there every morning, every day). I can't wait to get to know him though!

That's Masa in the headband again. Never stops, I tell ya. The kid in the blue next to him is Yao. He's my karate kid. Every time I walk past him he tries to kick me or give some fierce pose. Mike Murphy had something to do with this I think!

I thought that going from behind the tree was a clever idea. I did take a college photography class ya know. Haha...whatever.

Grr.

2006-10-17T01:49:00.000-07:00

I just made a post with quite a few of the pictures from Niger with witty comments below them...and then the posting process failed. Sorry! The pictures are all uploaded to photobucket again. Go to www.photobucket.com then search for mulletboy17, you should find them all there. Just imagine witty comments are there and pretend that they actually were funny.

Tera

2006-10-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

All last week was spent in Tera, my hometown for the next 6 months. It’s a pleasant little town of about 20,000. It’s hard to describe, really. It has a couple of paved roads…but for the most part they are covered in sand. The people are warm and friendly (and most of the town is out the in the street talking and selling). The temperature is…well, scorching. The average high has been about 105 F with 30% humidity. At night it cools off to a pleasant 85 or so. I’m getting used to the steady stream of sweat…it’s just a fact of life here. When I come back to Michigan beginning of April…I might just freeze. I’ll have lived in 100 degree weather for about 9 months (Charlotte was pretty warm as well), then I’ll be tossed into the frozen tundra of Michigan!

Here’s a little glimpse of what life in Africa is like. Last Friday, some of the African natives and I all went for a bike ride. Since no one had a bike, we had to rent from the local shop. Now, bikes in America are wonderful. They have nice, padded seats and generally work. But, I’m in Africa. I paid an extra 50 francs (about 10 cents) so that I COULD HAVE A SEAT. The other kids took the mountain bikes and were ready to go. I got the last one left, the road bike. This bike had two gears…but only one worked. Road bikes are wonderful…they can just float on the pavement. However, we weren’t on pavement! Ever tried biking on sand? It’s tricky, very tricky…especially on a road bike. I then realized that the seat I paid for had two metal bars running on top of it. (My derriere is still a little sore!). So needless to say I at the back most of the time…until they stopped of course. I couldn’t stop. My piece of machinery was also lacking brakes. I did the best I could with my flip-flops! When all was said and done, as I was limping home with a stupid grin pasted on my face, I realized that I love this. Being the laughingstock of a town, trying to communicate with my minimal French skills…I love it. It’s hard and there are times when I wish I was home again…but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ll be in Niamey until Wednesday, so I’ll be able to post more later. Maybe a little more on the spiritual side of my life in Africa (which is very different!!). Hope all’s well where you are. God bless ya!

-Saidu (The name African’s call me. Doesn’t mean anything. Dabumba just didn’t fly…I can’t figure out why!)

(This is FAINTLY reminiscent of "A Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes. I realized that AFTER I wrote it).

What happens to a soul?
When it’s no longer whole?
When it’s been torn apart?
When the beauty leaves the art?
When everything falls around?
Left in a deafening sound,
When all it once knew,
Left when the wind blew?
Does it slowly fade to dust?
In what does it trust?
When the walls are broken,
And the voice has spoken,
Does the soul cry?
Or does it fly?

Sin always wins
Every time I fall through
What a mess I’m in
(My child, I still love you)
Why do I always forget?
The grace God showed me!
My worst needs met
(My son, you’re set free)
I’ll cleansed through my shame
I should feel guilt for my pride
If I feel my pain, I will see my gain
(My beloved, that’s a lie!)
No guilt, no repentance
I took what was forbidden
I’ve lost my acceptance
(My friend, you’re forgiven)
So I will beat my body down
Over all my failures
To show my heavy crown
(My love, I’m your Savior)
(I redeemed you from the pit)
(I set you free from Hell)
(And now you wallow in it)
(Locked in your own shell)
(I broke every chain)
(Yet you carry them still)
(Weighed down in pain)
(As you struggle uphill)
(My son, let them go)
(Stop basking in shame)
(There’s more than you know)
(Than pretending to be lame)
(Get up on your feet)
(Walk away from your despair)
(There is life after defeat)
(You’re my child, you’re my heir)
I’m forgiven.
Not guilt ridden
I’m saved
Not blamed
He loves me
Not who I pretend to be
I’m forgiven
Forgiven.

Jeremy In Africa

2006-10-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

I made it. No problems on the flights here, God answered the constant prayer for safety. Thanks.

Niger is hard to describe. My very first impression was, “Wow, I think Kansas had more hills.” (I’m not kidding, that was it). There’s a few sparse bushes scattered here and there, and the occasional Baobab tree…but apart from that, it reminded me of a parking lot, just with a rust colored sand.

So far, I’ve already gone through the typical African experience. I’ve been attacked by lions. Of course, it’s just a metaphor for a beggar, but I wanted so desperately to be attacked by lions, I couldn’t resist making it. They were desperate for a morsel of food because the rain has been inconsistent. I’ve had to pretend to be blind because the blind have no food. I’ve had to answer the question, “What do you do when each choice leads to destruction?” What to do when I can give, but my giving would only cause problems, when a woman brings her child before me with a rotting wound on his chin begging for prescriptions…but realizing that prescriptions are probably the last things she’ll buy. I’ve watched the gruesome hacking of a once living, breathing pieces of creation (which also would later become dinner). But through all this, I felt…nothing. I wasn’t broken over the poverty, I wasn’t excited about the opportunity…there was nothing. This may be surprising to some of you (to some of it, it’s not), but when forced to make these brutal decisions, I had a reassuring calm. No peak in my emotions, just calm. Honestly, I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It’s one of those moments in my life where I know I SHOULD feel something, but down deep inside, I just don’t. It may be that I’ve hidden my emotions from myself…I don’t know. As unexciting as that is, it’s what I’m going through right now.

I am becoming a true African. I've learned about the Nim tree...the African toothbrush. Yes, there is a tree, that if you chew on its branches, it cleans your teeth. Go figure. It tastes horrible....about like you would expect a tree to taste, but oh the fresh feeling in your mouth is incredible.

So apart from the hour that I was in the African market, I had a very strenuous day. I wasn’t ready for the striking contrast of life in America and Africa. Most of the day today, I sat on a bench, hung out with high schoolers and watched slow-pitch softball (didn’t get to play, however). After all of this, I was able to go and relax in a pool. I know, none of you have any idea what a day like this could possibly be like, but believe me, it’s stressful. (There was a steady stream of sarcasm flowing throughout the last paragraph, didn’t know if you’d caught that or not. It’s a difficult task to convey sarcasm through a blog.)

After swimming I was on my own (I had the choice of dinner with the DeValve’s, or swimming. After 105 degrees, the choice was obvious). I’m staying at the SIM guest house in Niamey, and still have no francs (=money). So, to revert to American lingo, I was up a crick. My dinner tonight consisted of two power bars (thanks for throwing those in Grandma), an orange, and some Mike & Ike’s. I’m competing against Abe Janson for the worst nutritional value for a meal…his record=mashed potatoes and ice cream. Nearly unbeatable. I’m going to have to resort to fried mice on a stick washed down with some Nigerien water to compete with that.

I’ve been reading David Crowder’s book, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” Essentially, he describes how the soul has been forgotten by our western culture (apologies to readers outside of Western culture), how bluegrass music was formed, and how he grieved the death of his pastor friend who died of electrocution while baptizing someone. Amazingly, they all tie together in the end. He’s penetratingly (new word I think) honest and shows with incredible talent the grief of death. Intermingled among the these pages of brilliance are hilarious comments. Typical David Crowder. He was talking about how we have so many different rituals when someone dies. And they all originated with the spirits. We put a tombstone over them to hold them away. We spoke nicely so they wouldn’t be angry. We leave a seat open so they feel welcome. We wear black so the spirits of the deceased won’t notice us. I’ll quote his footnote, “We know this little fact will come as a great disappointment to all the goth kids hanging out at Hot Topic. Guess what, kiddies? Apparently all that black is a concealing deterrent rather than an enticement to the dead. The authors would suggest wearing bright pink and orange or holding a kitten and a balloon on newly instigated visits to The Gap. It seems the possibilities of a haunting should then increase greatly.” Needless to say, I laughed for a long time.

As far as my spiritual life is going…it’s difficult to explain (but I’m going to try nonetheless). There is a consistent butterfly feeling in my stomach when I think of God. When I remember all that He has done for me, when I see how much He cares about my life, I can’t help but be excited. But at the same time, it’s hard. When I think of all the relationships that I left back home, it does hurt. There are times when I think of something funny, and then realize that no one will understand. Speaking of understanding, that’s also frustrating. I want to talk to these people so badly, but I can’t. I have to rely on everyone around me (which is quite possibly the most frustrating thing for an American {again apologies to all those outside America}…EVER!). So if I could describe my feeling, it’s like…grape cough medicine. Sometimes, it tastes good. Other times, it’s disgusting. Either way, it feels heavy inside, weighing down my soul, whether for good or bad...and no matter what, it’s the best thing for me right now. (I’m really beginning to question my analogy making process. COUGH MEDICINE? The mefloquine must be taking effect. When in doubt, blame mefloquine).

So please, continue to pray for me. They have protected and guided me through airports, they will continue to protect and guide me through Satan’s land. Love you all very much.

-……- (That’s my African name so far, since I CAN’T SPEAK ANY OF THEIR LANGUAGES!!)

P.S. I tried to upload pictures, but blogger has failed me once again. So if you REALLY want to see the pictures...go to photobucket.com and search for mulletboy17. It should bring up all of mine. The first few are from Africa. (Sorry about not being able to take too many pictures...it's either illegal, rude, or very expensive. I'll have to figure out ways to take some!!)

Jeremy Has Arrived in Niger

2006-10-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hi. This is Jeremy's grandmother. I just spoke with him by phone, and he sounds great. The entire flight went smoothly, and he says he got about six hours of sleep--which sounds about normal for him. It's 96 degrees there, and he says it feels fine. It's already 6:00 pm there.

I'm sure he'll put up a new blog as soon as he can get access to the internet. Meanwhile, I thought you'd be happy to know that all is well.

Keep on praying.
Carol Wilson, aka Gma

One MORE last time.

2006-10-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

This is probably my last one in awhile. Weird to think, isn’t it? The next time I write on here, I will be in Africa. I’m leaving in 9 hours, and I still haven’t comprehended it. This dream of mine will soon be a reality.

I just wanted to tell everyone how amazing you have been. There are so many people that I’ve known my whole life, or only known for a month, that truly care about me. I don’t think I can really express how much that means to me. Everywhere I’ve gone today, there have been people telling me they will be praying for me. How can I fail? I have a shield surrounding me, a host of angels, called to my defense by your prayers. No matter what Satan may through at me, I cannot fall with that kind of support around me. I absolutely love it. Your prayers mean a lot to me.

Speaking of prayer (clever transition, wasn’t it?), I figured I could come up with a list of ways to pray for me over the next 6 months. These may be a little vague, but I do not know what I will be doing while I am there!
-Pray that I will listen to the voice of God, that I will be quiet enough to hear that whisper. And when I hear that whisper, to do what it says.
-Pray for my humility and sense of humor in Niger (the two fit together believe it or not). I need humility to accept the fact that I make mistakes, and I need humor to get over it. I want to learn from the people of Niger, I don’t want to come with the answers.
-Pray for the people of Niger. Satan has had Niger in his grips for a long time, and it will not be easy to take people from his grip. Pray that they may have an open heart to Jesus.
-Pray that God will go ahead of me. That I will no longer rely on myself to do work, but on God alone. That Christ will be so evident in my life that demons shriek and run.
-Speaking of demons (another smooth transition), they are very real. Pray that I will not be afraid. Pray that God will give me the strength to stand against the power of Satan.
-Pray for John and Nancy DeValve (the couple I’m living with). Eh, you know why ;).
-Pray for my family. It can’t be easy to see the “baby” (I object to the term, but I prefer it to Jeremiah the Bullfrog….shudder) leave the home for 6 months. If you could lift them up, pray that God will give them peace and comfort.
-Pray that I will learn what God has to teach me. There is a reason why He is sending me to Niger, pray that I don’t miss it.
-I guess you could pray for safety, but seeing that I am young and invincible anyways, it might not mean a whole lot (snarky grin).

I asked earlier if anyone knew how to make it so that an email could be sent when I post. I was told to go to this website, www.travelblog.org/Admin/join.html , and put in this
Blog: jeremyinafrica
Post: Change
Link: http://jeremyinafrica.blogspot.com/2006/10/change.html
Sorry, I didn’t look into it. It seems easy enough…I think you have to make an account (it’s free) and after that you’ll be able to do it. Hope so!

In case you want to contact me (send me goodies) while I’m in Niger…the address is S.I.M., B.P. 31 6005 Tera, NIGER. I was going to give you that cell phone number…but then I remembered that some pretty strange people are on the Internet. Do you even understand how upset I would be to get a telemarketing call in Tera, Niger? After I got done laughing at the irony, I would be pretty angry. So, you can either call my Mom (I would give you HER phone number for all the telemarketers to call, but my conscience tells me not to), my Grandparents, or send a lovely email to mulletboy17@gmail.com . My Mom will be checking that periodically, so she can get back to you. I’m not usually this cautious, in fact, my mom’s jaw is probably on the floor because I actually thought about something before I did it. It’s okay mom, you can close your mouth, I might actually be turning into a responsible person (wait, who am I kidding??). Feel free to write, feel free to send something, feel free to call. I’d love it.

From now on, it’s mostly going to be my mom making updates. So the posts will be a little more frequent that we previously thought! How cool is that?

Well, I think this is end of my post. But it’s just the beginning, the start of my journey with God. (This is sounding too much like a sappy novel, I’m sorry. I must be getting sentimental in my newfound maturity). I can’t wait to see what God is going to do. He’s going to rip apart parts of me, and replace them with pieces of Him. I can’t wait to get back and tell you all about it.

-Dabumba

P.S. I once heard that happiness is like peeing your pants, everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth. I now have a newfound appreciation for happiness.

One last time.

2006-10-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to realize how hard it is to leave. It cuts pretty deep, knowing that I will not be a part of so many of my friends lives for the next 6 months. I hate that. I want to be there for them still. I want to hear of their problems and tell them mine. But it's not going to happen anymore. For some reason unknown to me, God called me to Niger. At every fork in the road He gave me a nudge toward Niger. And every time I broke down, unable to keep moving forward, He picked me up, brushed me off and gave me the strength for one more day. I have no doubts that this is where God wants me, and in this my comfort and hope are beginning to rest. There is an amazing peace that comes with knowing that I am in the center of God's will. Inexplicable. But it comes with trials too...but I am trying to learn to "consider it pure joy...when I face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." Slow road, but I'm on it. I asked God to help me write tonight, to try and convey what I'm actually feeling right now. I'm not sure if I did or not. I wrote another rhythmically sound piece of literature, hope it sheds a little more light on what's going through my mind. (If you can figure it out, tell me. I'd like to know what in the world I'm thinking right now. All I see is a blur.)

What was Peter thinking?
When he stepped on the water?
Away from his support
His friends, mother and father?
He wasn’t told to leave
The idea was his own
But God blessed him for it
And in him His glory was shown
And when the waves crashed
What was Peter thinking?
Did he understand God’s plan
As he slowly started sinking?
When he left that boat
Did he understand the pain
Of leaving his comfort
And to never be the same?
But he reached out his hand
And grasped for the Lord
Who gently raised him up
And pulled him to shore
And on this rock is built
The foundation of the church
And it is for that faith
That I will continue to search

What am I thinking?

I promised everyone that I would go to bed early tonight. Turns out, I failed. It's 1 am. I'm dead tired. I've got to get some sleep here. God bless ya.

--Jerabumba

More change

2006-10-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

Had a good flight down here...no problems. Also had a nice conversation with my Dad on the way to the airport. He seems incredibly aware of "marquis moments" in life and is very good at making me keenly aware of them. "You've now passed into adulthood. Things won't be the same once you leave." I was oblivious. Good thing he's there to pick up on the things I miss...well, I guess that he WAS there! I'll have to figure out these stepping stones in life on my own now. Argh!

The Eckerts are in Carolina! This is a missionary family from Niger that I've been in contact with for close to a year now actually. We were going to have dinner at our home tonight, but that didn't work so I went and had dinner with them. It was wonderful, just great. They have quite the large family...seven in all if I remember correctly. Let's just say they have a big van. I was able to talk with Tabitha and Peter (the two oldest children) for a couple of hours, and it was very helpful. I think God had a hand in this one! They had so much advice about Niger, about it's spiritual climate and the attitudes of the people there, that I would wouldn't have been able to figure out otherwise (that was a horribly constructed sentence, I hope you can get over it. I refuse to edit). It was a great blessing to be able to talk and pray together.

After talking with Tabitha and Peter, I feel grossly inadequate for what God has called me into. There is too much evil presence there for me to overcome. No matter how hard I try, I won't make a dent in the lives of people there. But I am not afraid. There is a shield that goes before me, and armor that surrounds me...and in that God I trust. If I do anything, I will fail. That is why I am trusting everything to Him. In the wise words of Aragorn, "I give you all hope, I reserve none for myself." I'm putting all my trust in God, and in His ability to change lives, and putting no hope in myself. That is the only way I can be used. So I am not afraid of the evil in Niger. I am not afraid of Satan and his demons. To quote my hero, Aragorn, again, "I do not fear death." Satan has lost all of his power when I lose my fear of death. His biggest weapon has just been eliminated. I will avoid death to the best of my abilities, but I will not fear Satan's power, I will fear God alone...the only one who will judge me in the last day.

I can already feel your prayers surrounding me. They're much appreciated. I'm floored by the foundation that God has laid around me. A man is only as strong as the support under him. Love you all!

-Dabumbalumba

Change

2006-10-01T14:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't made a post in a couple of days...sorry! I'm not used to getting home at 1 am anymore. I don't really have much gas left in the tank, and if I did write something, it wouldn't make any sense at all!

Coming home this time has been a big change. Each of the previous times, life was pretty much as it had always been. Hanging out with friends all day, relaxing, almost as life had been when I left. But this time, every one has gone off to school. It's different...very different. I know it was pretty dumb of me, but I had this idea that time would just stop when I left. That I could come back whenever I wanted and see the same people, be connected just as I had when I left, and resume life as it had been. But people move on. People change for better or worse. Life keeps going when I am not there. I can see that I cannot go back to the life I used to have...it simply doesn't exist anymore and no matter how hard I try, it never will. The memories are wonderful, the people are great, but there is another life ahead of me now. I won't forget the people here, but I won't "live" here either. I want to focus on the present, not the past. It's a tough lesson to learn!

Another thing, I've been trying to figure out a way that every time I make a blog, it would send an email to your email address (you would sign up for it)...but I can't find anything. Are there any technologically savvy people who know what to do? That'd be wonderful if you'd be able to do that!

That's about all for now...I'm sure there will be more soon! God bless you all. G'day.

-Dabumba

The moon...

2006-09-28T20:31:00.001-07:00

First, I just wanted to reply to Rick's comment about where the rantings about the church came from. The biggest problem was that I bought into the general stereotype that I kept "hearing" of other churches. I am so thankful for our church and youth group, it has made me who I am today. All I was doing was voicing my initial thoughts, which is sometimes true, sometimes not. I had looked at the church in Acts, and looked at our church now...and they didn't fit together well. There are flaws, as in everything that has been and will be until He comes back. But if I never ask the question, I'll never have the answer.

I was just reading through some old devos I'd written, and I REALLY like one of them. I'd taken some time at night to just walk around. I was peppering God with questions, seeking answers. And I got an answer, but not in the form I was expecting. Disclaimer: I don't know if the next part was God's voice, His leading, or simply a connection made my head by some stroke of luck. I looked at the moon. It has no light that it gives on it's own, it's merely a reflection of a far greater power. By itself it is worthless, just a floating piece of rock. But when it begins to rely on the sun, it can shine it's light on a very dark place. If it is in the right position, it has NO CHOICE but to shine. I'm sure you've heard of the saying that we must be in the world but not of it. Here's a perfect example. The moon has a very real presence on our earth. It effects so many of our daily functions. And even while it is an integral part of the earth, it is not of it. When the earth is in upheaval, the moon remains the same. It isn't effected by the pollution...all it does is reflects the light of the sun. And I believe that this is what God wants me to be. A pure reflection of Him. I'm coming into the place where His light can shine on me and reflect into a dark place. And here's what amazed me about the whole deal. There was a rainbow around the moon. Now, maybe this happens every night, I don't know. But it felt like God was promising me that if I am in the right position, I will have no choice but to shine.

And on top of all this, I had written a little verse about the whole ordeal.

Treading over damp grass

I exhale with a sigh

How do I live a Christian life?

God points my eye to the sky

"Do you see the moon?

It has no light of it's own

Yet in shine on you

And makes the narrow path known

It's a reflection of the sun

A display of its power

It gives a light to the world

In its darkest hour

That is what you are to be

If the race is well run

A light in a dark place

A reflection of the Son

When the time comes

The choice won't be up to you

You will be ready

You have one thing to do

The Son must become greater

You must become less

Leave it all to God

And you'll pass the test

You'll be a part of the world

But free from its pollution

You'll fight for the Earth

And take part in the resolution."

I take God at His Word

But if that's not enough

A rainbow now rings the moon

A covenant of His love.

Could I have read this at a better time? It's encouraging to see what I felt that night is starting to come true. I hate writing God's words in, since it doesn't do them justice. But I think that one picked up on the general idea. I hope it blesses you as much as it has me.

--D-ahhhh-bumba

Mama, I'm coming home

2006-09-27T20:23:00.001-07:00

I'm coming home! As much as I love the Queen City, I'm sorry, it's tough to compare to the pure innocence of small town Spring Arbor. I can't wait to get back there (even though I'll only have 3 days.)

Let me run this by you and just to see if I'm right. In one week I'll be getting on a plane that's headed for Africa. Does that sound right? It's kind of a blur to me right now. When I was 4, I wanted to go to Africa (to be a missionary soccer player no less). And now, in a week, I'll be there. I wonder what it will be like...? I guess I'll be able to tell you in a week, won't I?

These past few days have been incredible. I'm not sure what happened, but for some reason I've felt very close to God these past few days. I know it's just a feeling, and it will come and go...but I really want to take a hold of it while it lasts! I'm coming to understand once again how unbelievable that God loves me. It doesn't make any sense. It'd be like...loving a computer. Sure, it's cool when it's new. But then it gets older and keeps messing up and crashing. When it keeps screwing up, I want to throw it into the ground and just start over. But God loves us as children, not as computers (I don't know where that analogy came from, it's pretty weak. I apologize). And then I think about God, and how perfect everything He has made is...and I think of the love that He has for me (even when I screw up), and I am just humbled. I don't deserve it. I never have, never will. Because of this amazing grace, I don't consider it a sacrifice to go to Africa...it's an honor. I'm so excited to get to experience God in a new way. It'll be great!

I'll keep things short tonight. I've got to wake up in 7 hours to FLY HOME! Hope you have such a mind-bending day that you have no doubt that God's hand was involved in it.

--Dabumufasa

Gloria Dios, Alleluia!!

2006-09-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

Praise God!
By a miracle of modern technology, I talked to John DeValve this morning. They had no power last night, and their water is delivered on a mule (running water...haha). They have a hole of a bathroom and dirt roads. And yet I had crystal clear reception on HIS CELLPHONE. Strange, strange. But what was really amazing was what he told me. They have rain in Niger! Answer to prayer?? Hmm?? It sure is. As of now, the rain has been good enough that 50-80% of the farmers will have a typical crop. If there is another good rain, almost all of them will. It turns out Bobby Ganton's raindance paid off (if you didn't get to witness it, you have missed out on a special moment in my life). And your prayers as well.

Amazing how God works it all out isn't it? Like the story of Gina Mitchell (who was a short term missionary for SIM). She tore her ACL and had a bad intestinal disease while she was in Africa. By some strange circumstance, insurance didn't cover much. She was going to have to pay for all the surgery herself. (Her sister and father aren't believers, and used this to prove that missions is a bad idea). She went to the doctor to get tests done on the intestine, and the Indian doctor suggested several. When she explained why she couldn't get pay, the Indian doctor told her that he grew up in abject poverty in India, and if it wasn't for missionaries like her, he would still be there. He provided for ALL OF THE BILLS FOR HER INTESTINAL PROBLEMS. She had deep lesions in her intestine! All covered by God. She still had to have surgery though. She talked to a surgeon about a cheap way to do it, and he told her he would work on it. The surgeon called her insurance company and convinced them to pay for ALL OF IT. She has paid nothing...and she's been very vocal about it to her father and sister. God works in amazing ways, no?

There's so much more I could tell you...but I have to go for now. Have a terrific day!

~Dabumba