Canyon's First Video

This was taken shortly after Lornel nursed him for the first time.

Canyon Paul Curey

We are so thankful for the safe birth of our first son. He was born December 27th at 11:16 PM. He weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce and was 22 3/4 inches long. He spent his first night under an oxygen hood, but they removed the hood by morning. Lornel went into the hospital on the 26th and started Petocin around 2:00. She labored for 33 hours pushing hard the last 4. Canyon came out head first in the posterior position. A vacuum extractor was used to help him out. God has been so good to us. Thank you for your prayer and encouragement.

Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas!
As you can see by the picture that we took tonight, we are still expectantly awaiting the birth of Canyon. Our bags packed by the door. Lornel has had some early labor symptoms but nothing to go to the hospital yet. On Wednesday, Lornel will be two weeks beyond her due date and will be induced. We are still hoping that labor will start naturally, but it is in the Lord's good hands :)

Psalm 130:5-6 (ESV)
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

We wish you a joyous celebration of one of the most important events in world history, the birth of Jesus the Messiah. Ponder the wonder of the incarnation. God becoming man in order to redeem His creation from sin and shame. Glory to God in the highest!

Rejoicing in the birth of God's son as we await the birth of ours,
Scott and Lornel

Ready For Canyon

Details
Bags packed
Baby's Room ready
Hearts full of JOY
Birth plan written
Trusting God to carry us through
Scott has cell phone on at all times
Pick up Lornel's Mom 12/8
We feel ready ... as much as you can be.

We will be in touch soon Lord willing.

Scott and Lornel
Picture taken on Thanksgiving day at the Tabbuts home
Thankful for...

• God's provision for all our needs and much more
• God's presence, promises, and plans- they are so good!
• A dishwasher (this will be very helpful when Canyon arrives!)
• Scott's shoulder is improving. (For those who don't know he dislocated it playing football last month. He has been going to PT and starting to see results from that. We are very thankful he is doing much better.)
  

Pray for...

• God to be glorified in our lives
  
• Strength
• Scott to have adequate bonding time before he has to go back to work.

Getting ready for Baby

Picture taken Sunday 11/4 Lornel at 35 weeks


Name Announcement
We would like to share our name before his arrival. Scott thought up the name Canyon Paul Curey. We both agree on the name and like it very much. Canyon meaning strong and rugged and Paul after one of the first missionaries in the Bible.

Visits
October was full of great times and visits from our best friends Peter and Elizabeth, and Lornel's Dad. Between the visits we took a weekend to get the nursery ready. We also took our final trip to MI before baby makes his arrival. We packed so much in this very special weekend.

Praises

• Pregnancy and health of baby
• Beautiful Fall season
• Mary Ellen's radiation treatments are going very well

Prayer Requests

• All the details of the birth, timing, safety, strength, and God's grace.
  

baby's heartbeat

This is a video of the baby's heartbeat! This was the first time Lornel got to hear the heartbeat! It sounds like interference, but it is Lornel laughing! It was a real sweet sound!

August & September Highlights

This is a picture of us on our Anniversary. We went about an hour drive away to the Starved Rock State Park area in IL. It was a wonderful time!

Camp in Wisconsin was INCREDIBLE.
We saw God use us in so many ways! Scott's missionary hour and Lornel's teaching and the 12 year olds went so well. Thank you for praying! We would absolutely LOVE to go back and serve at the camp again.

It is a BOY
We learned that we are having a Son! Scott said Praise the Lord, God is blessing us with a son. We are both so excited! We have a name picked out we plan to announce when he is born.

Mary Ellen (MOM)
Lornel's Mom is doing well with the treatments. We appreciate your prayers! She has begun the first of 6 weeks of radiation. Everything is going well. We are very thankful to the Lord for taking care of her. We see His hand in allowing the early detection of the cancer. It is a joy to trust our Heavenly Father.

Praises

• For His care and for Lornel during pregnancy and baby's good health
• Enjoying getting more plugged in at our church in Warrenville. Click on link to visit our church website

Prayer Requests

• That we would have and take the opportunity to share the gospel
  
• As we prepare to enter the missions preparation program at the church
  

Trusting, August Plans, & Joys

Trusting our Father
This week we found out that Lornel's Mom, Mary Ellen, has been diagnosed with an early stage of Breast Cancer called Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS). She begins treatment on 8/13. Again, God has brought us to the place where we have to trust and wait on an all knowing and loving Father. It is a good place to be, not easy, but good. We know Mom and Rob would appreciate your prayers. She has a great attitude and said as I asked about writing about her situation on our blog, "The more prayer the better."
Photo above taken on their wedding day 6/10/06

We're Going to Summer Camp
We are going to be serving at a Northland Bible Camp North West Wisconsin Sunday 8/5 through Friday 8/10. Scott was asked by his Uncle and Aunt, who serve as missionaries in NW Wisconsin, to speak on the topic of missions. Lornel will also be helping out with the daily Bible stories to the 12 yr olds.

Six years on August 25
We are so thankful for the years as they fly by. Looking back it still amazes us how God gave us with one another and how He blessed us abundantly. We have not forgotten all that our loved ones gave to us to make our wedding day a dream come true.

Praises

• Lornel is feeling great! Also the baby is moving around and doing well! Ultrasound 8/15
  
• The opportunity work at the camp! Excited about sharing our passion for Missions.
• God working out a "mini honeymoon" get away with Scott's work schedule.
  

Prayer Requests

• Scott as he speaks to 9-17 year olds lessons on missions.
  
• Mary Ellen as she begins treatments 8/13. Also for her Husband Rob as they walk through this time together.
  

A New Job for Scott

We are praising the Lord for the Job that he has provided for Scott. He will be working at Avalon at Danada Farms, as a Maintenance Technician. After a 2 hour interview process on June 26, he was hired on the spot.

Vacation
We spent the next week Vacationing with Scott's family in Houghton Lake Michigan. We had a great time together and with our family. We kayaked the Cut, AuSable, and Muskegon Rivers. We had the biggest adventure on the cut river! The river is an ill maintained wilderness but we saw lots of wildlife and beauty in creation! The picture is of a dead tree on the cut river that fell on the Kayak while Scott was moving another dead tree out of our path in the river.

An amazing sound
This week we heard Baby's heart beat. It sounded so great! I wanted to listen all day. What a miracle! I think I have felt some movement too in the last couple days. God has been so good to us to bless us in this way! Little one is growing and we are so thankful! After seeing the Nurse Midwife, baby's due date has been adjusted to December 12.

Prayer Requests:

• That we would shine the love and grace of God to our neighbors and Scott's coworkers
• That we would be bold and sensitive to the Spirit's leading in our Witness

Praises:

• For God's provision for us by supplying a job for Scott
• The miracle of our Baby's heart beat!
  

In Our New Home!

We are praising God for his provision of a home for us. Lornel and I had been praying that we would be able to find an apartment by June 1. We came back from Michigan on May 29. On May 30th we signed our lease. We are now thankful residents of Warrenville, IL.

We had a great visit with my family and our friends in Michigan. The picture in this blog entry is of my nephew and nieces at Betsy Butterfield Park. One side of the teeter totter looks a lot heavier than the other! I think one of my legs ways nearly as much as my two nieces.

Prayer Requests:

• For Scott as he continues to look for a job
• For Lornel and baby's health
• For continued growth as we follow Christ

Praises:

• For God's direction in and provision of a new apartment
  
• For time to settle into our new home
  

Whirlwind across the U.S. and into Canada

We have had a very busy first three weeks back in the United States. We started our time debriefing at SIM headquarters in Charlotte NC. We drove from Charlotte to Philadelphia to meet the leadership of Cross World (another mission board that we are considering) and to stay in their guest house. We had a good time and were very impressed with their leadership and the mission as a whole. We then drove to Connecticut to visit with Lornel's family and the church that she grew up in. We got to help Lornel's mom move to New Hampshire. While in New Hampshire, we also got to see one of Lornel's roommates from Word of Life. We went back to CT and visited with more friends, and Lornel's brother and family. On Saturday of that week we were able to present our ministry in Niger at Eastford Baptist Church. The had a pizza party for us. It was great seeing and catching up with some friends. Sunday we drove to Maine and visited with friends in Maine for a couple days, and then continued our journey to Nova Scotia to visit some friends on their dairy farm. We were able to share about our ministry in Niger to their adult Sunday school class. We spent about a week in Nova Scotia and then visited some more friends in ME as we made our way back to CT and then on to Chicago. I turned in all my paperwork for my internship on Wednesday. Thursday I picked up my cap and gown, and today, we are in Colorado visiting more friends.

We would like to thank all of you that have been praying for us. God has been very good to us in our travels. We have driven over 3,200 miles since leaving Charlotte. Today we nearly missed our flight due to an error that I made, but God in His mercy helped us to make it just in time.

We will fly back to Chicago in time for my graduation next Saturday. Then we plan to visit my family in Michigan. Then we will begin the process of looking hard for a job and an apartment in the Warrenville, IL area. We are excited to get back to Grace Church of Dupage.

The above picture was taken in Nova Scotia

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for me to be sensitive to the LORD's leading as I look for a job
• For God to provide housing for us
• For continued safety as we travel

Praises

• God's enablement for us to travel to see family, friends, and to report on our ministry.
• For God's mercy to us as we have traveled

To Maradi and Back

Trip to Maradi
We are thankful for a good trip to Maradi. We got to SIM's Leprosy clinic in Danja. Leprosy is a disease that requires treatment over an extended period of time. The patients seemed very happy to see and greet us. Another highlight to our time in Maradi was seeing SIM's MIDP (Maradi Integrated Development Project). This project is multifaceted, including teaching people how to better farm the land, research as to what are the best methods of Farming in the Sahel, public health, and how to cook with some of the new ingredients produced by the new farming methods.
Another purpose for our trip to Maradi was to participate in SIM's orientation. It was neat to learn more about the culture here and learn about SIM's vision for Niger.
We saw rain for the first time here in Niger on Friday night. A nice thunderstorm came through Maradi. We went outside and got drenched. It was a lot of fun. We arrived back at 8:30 PM on Saturday night.
Easter in Africa
We went to an English Sunrise Service with a small breakfast afterward. We worshiped in a Zarma speaking church in the area and were invited to the home of another missionary family for lunch. It was a good day celebrating the Resurrection.

Prayer Requests:

• Safety as we travel home (we leave at 11:50 PM on Tuesday [April 10] and arrive at 4:10 PM Wednesday in Charlotte NC)
• A good re-entry into American culture and time zones

Praises:

• Safe travels to Maradi and back (we went via van with other SIM people, and Returned in a 70 passenger Bus. It was an 11 hour trip each way)
• For the hope of the Resurrection
  

PS We will plan to post an update later this week upon our arrival in Charlotte.

God's grace in Camels, Cars, and Colds

I (Scott) caught a bad cold on Monday and struggled with it all week. The temperatures continued to be 100 + this week. By God's grace we persevered and had a good week. Lornel help pick up some of the slack left by my illness. What a joy to serve with such a wonderful wife!

My highlight from this week came on Friday afternoon. We had part of the Fulani team over to our house and I taught them how to use the dictionary software. It was a joy to see their excitement about using this tool. I gave them the alpha version of the dictionary.

A second way that God showed his grace was Thursday while traveling to Torodi. Our driver was passing a large truck with another car coming head on the driver panicked and we nearly had a head on collision. Thank you all for your prayers this week. God has been very good to us.

A third way that God demonstrated his grace was in our camel riding experience. Lornel had heard true stories from missionaries about camels killing people by biting, stomping, and then listening to see if the person is still breathing. She became a little afraid, before remembering, that God is God over all of his creation. We went and rode camels. It was our recreational highlight of our time here in Niger.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for safety as we travel to Maradi Tuesday and return Saturday (we will be participation in a orientation and observation of SIM's ministries further into the heart of Niger)
  
• Pray for us as we say good buy to friends we have made (this is our last week in Niger)

Praises:

• God's protection
• God's Grace in trials
  

Nelly’s Niamey Niger News

Lornel is a difficult name for Nigerien's to pronounce so many just call me Nelly.

We had a full and blessed week. The hot season has begun. Each day the temperature seems to climb a little higher. It cools off to a brisk 87 F at night and warms to over 100 each day. Scott's Fulfulde dictionary is progressing well. This week will be Scott's last week to work on it, as the following week we are taking a trip to Maradi. We are planning a get together with the Fulani missionaries this Friday to give them the dictionary software and the most updated dictionary file available. Scott would like to teach the missionaries how to use the dictionary program and of the importance of using the correct Unicode characters. We are going to Torodi on Thursday- Friday for a quick trip. We will be observing a Literacy class and staying with the Kaspers. We hope to visit with Hamsatou and Her husband. Also hope to ride a camel.

As we mentioned last week we were able to visit with some missionaries and nationals this week. One highlight from those visits was getting to know a missionary named Lisa. She is beginning to teach the Bible chronologically in a couple of Fulani villages. She is also the author of one of the dictionaries that Scott is working to combine.

Canadian Team in Town AIDS presentation and Orphanage visit
The team of 12 teens and adult leaders were from Alberta, Canada (Western). I spent the day with the team on Wednesday. In the morning they went to a near by school and did an AIDS presentation for a large group (maybe 150) of 7-10th grade students. The presentation was in English, then translated to French. The students were very attentive and knew many of the answers to the questions about HIV and AIDS.
In the afternoon they went to an orphanage run by Believers. The team brought balloons, bubbles, inflatable beach balls, and some candy for the kids. The children just loved playing! There are about 30 children who live in the orphanage. Usually the reason the children are there is if a parent has died. The children can live in the orphanage until they are 18. I enjoyed playing balloon games with the children, seeing their smiles, and taking their pictures. We also accompanied this team on a picnic at a plateau overlooking the Niger River.

Exploration one of our joys in life
Saturday Scotty and I decided to try out the city’s transportation system, so for 400 CFA (.40 cents /person) we asked in French to be taken to the Petite Market! It was great to get out and just explore! We found we really enjoy exploring together! The Market, wow, what a life here! It is just crowds, veggies, meat, fish, fresh peanut butter, spices, people asking you to buy from them, people asking for a “cado”, a gift of money, people trying to carry your bags, just about anything you can imagine to use for cooking, it is there, African Style!

Praises

• God answers our prayers
• God provided flour for me on Friday when I needed it! (I was making bread, ran out of flour, when all stores were closed, a missionary helped me out!)
• For our safety, health, and our time here in Niger.
• We have been learning much and have seen so much about translation work.
• Last meeting of God’s Girls was on Thursday. Praise the Lord for the encouragement that being a part of that group was to me personally.
• For the numerous opportunities to be a blessing. I taught the memory verse 2 times, and got to teach the story of Ruth.
• For the way God has directed us to different Nationals here. Without us knowing the language, he has provided English speakers to help us learn language, and make friends, it has been so incredible!

Prayer

• As we wrap up the internship requirements this week
• Scott to finish his part in the dictionary and other assignments due
• Trip to Torodi Thursday night to Friday morning safe travels
• As we prepare to say goodbye. (This won’t be easy.)

An Insider's Perspective

Making New Friends
About a week ago, I met a gentleman on the street as I was walking home from work. His name is Omar. He could not speak much English, and I can't speak too much French or Zarma, so we had difficulty communicating. After trying for about 15 minutes, our guard told him of the other Omar who might be able to translate for us. Omar was not home so he told me he would come back the following day at 4:00. He did come back but Omar was sleeping. He came back another day with a gentleman named Adama. Adama speaks fairly good English so we were able to communicate through him a little. This past Wednesday they came again and we talked on our porch for a couple hours. Lornel made Oatmeal Apple Cinnamon Muffins for us to share. I told them of my desire to learn to make green tea the way they make it. Omar told me that he would bring his materials and make tea with me the next time they visited. We also got talking about the poverty that abounds in Niger. I discovered that Omar is unemployed. They told me that it is extremely difficult to find jobs. The jobs usually go to someone in the family of the owner of the business. If you do not come from the right family, it can be nearly impossible to find a job. Adama is working as a French tutor and barber to help put himself through the university. Adama told me that he believes that Polygamy plays a big part in the poverty cycle here in Niger. He comes from a family of 16 children and his father has 3 wives. Niger is an extremely poor country to begin with, but by men taking multiple wives it makes for too many children to be provided for. The children are not able to get an education and often do not get the nutrition that they need. He told how many of the children that do go to school do not get any lunch to eat, which makes it extremely difficult for them to concentrate and there learning suffers. Many end up dropping out of school.

Hamsatou's Wedding
We attended Hamsatou's wedding on Saturday or at least part of it. The portion that we were invited to, I would describe as Henna Ceremony and reception for the bride. We never saw Boubakar. We visited for about 3 or 4 hours. They wanted me to take some pictures of the guests. Many of the women including Lornel were decorated with Henna. As we walked home from the wedding, God directed our steps to come across the home of a man we had been praying for at SIL. He is the father of the receptionist here. He is dying of cancer. We visited with him for a few minutes and gave them some dates that we had bought as we were walking. A couple hundred meters after we left that home, we met two women who talked to us for awhile. One of the ladies is a Christian. She invited us to her home. We went and met her family and visited with her for a few minutes. We invited her to our house tonight. So by the time we arrived home we were very tired, but thankful to the Lord for directing our steps.

Our calender here is quickly filling up. We are having several missionaries and nationals in our home this week. Lornel keeps saying how hard it will be to leave Niger and I have to agree with her.


Prayer Requests:

• For Hamsatou and Boubakar as they begin married life together
• For God to work out all the details of putting the dictionary together

Praises:

• For continued good health
• For God's Sovereignty in all things

A Heart for Africa

Highlights from week 6!

This week has gone fast like all the others! Hamsatou came Monday to teach language to Lornel, and cooking lessons. For our cooking lesson we made rice and sauce, and she shared with us she is engaged to be married, Saturday March 17.
Wednesday we invited Hamma over for dinner. He is part of the Fulfulde translation team. We enjoyed hearing his testimony, and sharing a meal with him. Lornel made her famous chocolate cake for dessert! She made it two layers and in the shape of a heart. Lornel had given a section of one of the layers of cake to Hamsatou earlier that day. Lornel told Hamma the the cake was missing a piece because we are leaving a piece of our heart in Africa. At which time I noticed that the top layer of the heart cake resembled the shape of Africa. Take a look at our web album and see what you think.

Language Bloopers…
Monday night we ran into a man who greeted us, and said hello Madame and Mousier, and we had no clue what he said as his accent was thick, and we didn’t know if we should repeat the phrase as it could be a new Zarma night greeting. Finally, the lights went on in Scott’s head, but not mine, then he had to tell me what he said, then, the lights went on, and the man said in French, it’s good! We laughed as we walked home.

…earlier that day I had another blooper in my language lesson. Hamsatou has been teaching me the names for all the parts of the face, eyes, nose, mouth, head etc. In a sentence pointed to my head and said, Dum wanni Hordema. I said, that doesn’t sound quite right what is the name for head? We discovered I had said, “this is my big spoon” We both laughed really hard!

Praises

• We had a refreshing safe time in Torodi.
• We have observed many aspects of translation, ministry, and Niger.
• God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think!
• For YOU! We cannot say it enough! We are so thankful for your prayers and encouragement!
• The dictionary is progressing well at 3500 of 6000 complete.
  
• Scott's finger is doing better. This week he alternated using the mouse with his left hand and right hand.
  

Prayer requests

• Pray for safety as we will be taking a ministry exposure trip to Marodi on April 3rd – April 7th. We will share more on this in the weeks to come.
• The Dictionary project ½ way done! Pray God will help Scott as he works on this task!
• For Hamsatou as she Marries Boubakar, a Muslim man who proposed to her about a year ago.

Breaking in a new pair of sandals

Hello from warm and sunny Niger! We have been so encouraged in our time here! I am titling this weeks blog entry as breaking in a new pair of sandals. Just before we left Chicago, we went to an REI garage sale and found some cheap sandals for me (Lornel) to wear in Niger. We found some that were super cheap, but they were a bit small. We thought they would work, and 5 weeks into our trip, the sandals are starting to feel comfortable! I really like Africa! It is such a needy place, and we have not scratched the surface of the needs, but we are making friends. Language has been an important relationship building tool. No matter what mission field God calls us to full time, we likely will have to learn 2 languages, so this is really good practice!

Trip to Torodi
This morning we are taking a long weekend trip to a town about an hour away from Niamey. It likely won't be an hour drive, as we are getting ready to board a "bush taxi" within an hour.

We are visiting a missionary family that works in literacy among the Fulani.

1. Praising God for his steadfast love and faithfulness in our lives.
2. Praising God for you! When I miss home and friends, I look at the refrigerator, and read the names of people who are praying for us! Many of you said, that our picture is posted on your refrigerator, so I thought it would be appropriate to put you on ours! You encourage us, and we cannot state that enough!
3. Praising God for his good plan He has, and that He will show us all the unknowns!
   
4. We are still very healthy

Please pray for safety as we travel today Thursday- Sunday
Scott's Dictionary project progressing, he is having alittle pain in his finger due to use of it on the project.


We love you all!

Language Learning Joys

Dictionary Progressing and a Boy Named Omar
It is hard to believe that we have already completed our fourth week. We are busy in the work that God has called us to for this time. I am about 1500 words into the dictionary. I have at least 6000 words to work through. I had some internet problems this week and began to get a little behind. Lornel helped with some data entry in the evenings which allowed me to get caught up. Omar is the name of the boy that I mentioned in our last blog entry who is teaching me some Zarma. This week we had him in our home, he taught me some Zarma and then I taught him to play Phase 10. He seemed to enjoy his time with us. I would like to continue to meet with Omar for language learning and to build a relationship with him.

Lornel's Highlight
Lornel has been getting African cooking lessons from a lady named Hamsatou. Hamsatou is also teaching Lornel some Western Fulfulde. Lornel has immensely enjoyed her time with Hamsatou. Hamsatou is a fairly new believer. One highlight to their time together was when Hamsatou saw Lornel's copy of Philippians 2 on the table. Lornel and I have been working on memorizing this chapter during this trip. Hamsatou asked Lornel what it was. Lornel explained to her what we are working on, and some of what is in the chapter. Hamsatou told Lornel that she too wants to memorize this chapter in Fulfulde. I checked with Milton, and found out that Philippians has already been completed and consultant checked, so we will get Hamsatou a copy this week.

The picture in this week's blog is of Lornel with a Tomacheq lady that we see and greet almost every day. We see her as we walk to SIL each day.

Prayer Requests:

• For God to continue to bless and work in our times with Omar and Hamsatou
• For much to get done in the dictionary as this is a short work week for us (see next request for reason).
• For a safe trip to Torodi (We are traveling to Torodi to visit a family that is working in Literacy in this village. We leave on Thursday morning and return on Sunday afternoon. We will travel via bush taxi.)

Praises:

• For good meetings with Omar and Hamsatou this week.
• For all the encouragement and support that each of you have been to us during this trip.
• For a good day of prayer yesterday (SIM dedicates the last Friday of the month for a half day prayer meeting 8AM until noon)
  

Settling In

Week 3 Summary

This past week was relatively uneventful. We have grown in our comfort level here and time has begun to fly. I worked hard on the dictionary, while Lornel continued her work in the SIL financial office, working with the girls club at Sahel, and helping with a children’s club in our neighborhood. Our neighborhood has mostly Zarma speakers so the children’s club is in Zarma. The guard at our house is a Zarma speaker, he introduced us to a boy in the neighborhood who speaks English that is willing to teach me some Zarma. We learned some Zarma greetings and basic questions Friday night. This coming Monday we are getting some African cooking lessons from a Fulani woman; she will also be teaching us some Fulfulde. This past week my mentor here, Milton Watt was having his Joseph story, and the Pastoral Epistles checked by a language consultant who has had a lot of experience with Fulfulde. I was able to observe some of the checking sessions, which was great exposure to some of the practical elements of Bible translation. Lornel and I celebrated Valentines day on Wednesday. We cooked up some fillet of beef and had a nice romantic evening together. This week's picture is of me serving up the beef.

Highlight of the week

The highlight of our third week here in Niger was definitely the Fulani prayer meeting that we attended on Wednesday from 9:30-1:00. We got to meet church planters from four different missions who are living in Fulani villages. We had some time of singing, a devotional, and a meal; but the largest chunk of time was devoted to letting each missionary family share about their work and giving specific prayer requests. They gave Lornel and I a chance to share as well. They were very excited to learn that the Western Fulfulde dictionary that I will be working on will be in both French and English. It was very encouraging to see their excitement about the work we are devoting our time to while we are here. It was also encouraging to see their love for the LORD, and their unity in the work of the gospel. Their care and concern for one another was also evident.


Prayer Requests:

• Pray for the church in Torodi (Torodi is a Fulani village where 2 of the families we met at the prayer meeting are ministering. One family that has been influential in the start of the church there is about to go on home assignment and is asking prayer for the church to grow in their absence as Fulani church leaders are forced to pick up some of the slack from the missionaries departure.) Side note: We will be visiting Torodi for a long weekend in March.

• Pray for Lornel’s ministry in the girls club at Sahel and our neighborhood Bible club.

• Pray for Strength and perseverance for Scott as he continues to work on the dictionary.

Praises:

• Praise God for the encouragement that he gave us as we met the missionaries who would be using the dictionary.

• Praise God for the good health that we have experienced so far.

The Adventure Continues!

Gasikainiya Adventure
Our biggest excitement came this week when we took a trip to Gasikainiya to do some village testing of the Pastoral Epistles. Gasikainiya is a tiny village about an hour and a half North West of Niamey. After leaving the paved road, we got stuck in the sand twice on our way there and once on our way back. We also got lost once. On the trip home the car's radiator cracked and we had to refill the radiator twice as the car was beginning to overheat. We made it back safe and Milton was able to get a new radiator the next day. The testing went well and the people seemed fairly receptive to the Word of God. We left copies of John and the pastoral epistles with the people. We also left a megavoice player as only about 4 members of the village can read. A megavoice player is a solar powered digital audio player. This one had John, Luke, the Abraham story, songs, and a testimony of a Fulani believer, and a gospel presentation all in Western Fulfulde. The trip was a lot of fun. It was neat to sit in a small block building and listen to God's Word being read to people who have probably never heard the good new of the Gospel. The people were very hospitable, giving us the first drink of each pot of strong sweetened green tea. They also shared the dates that we had given to them with us. This picture was taken inside the brick building in which we met with the village leaders and read the texts to them.

Dictionary Begun, Lornel Busy
Scott recieved training in the dictionary software and have begun to work on the dictionary. I am working to combine and add to two dictionaries in the Western Fulfulde dialect. The goal is to have one more comprehensive dictionary that is in both French and English. It is going to be a lot of work and I am not sure that I will compete the task while I am here but I am working toward that goal. Lornel has found many areas to get involved in. She is helping in an after school girls club at Sahel Academy (SIM's MK school here in Niamey Niger). Also here at the SIL office, there is a great need for help in the financial office. Lornel has been doing data entry this week, which has blessed Stan, the acting treasurer of SIL Niger.



Prayer Requests:

• Scott as he continues to work on the dictionary in Western Fulfulde
• For God's Spirit to do a mighty work in the village of Gasikainiya

Praises:

• Safety and a good reception was we traveled to Gasikainiya
• Lornel has been sleeping much better this week

Our First Week in Niger!

We have made it through our first week in Niger. We have enjoyed this time of adjustment to Nigerien culture. Our home is about a 10 to 15 minute walk to SIL where we are working. There are lots of people on the streets for us to practice our greetings in French. Overall we are settling in well. We learned to make yogurt from scratch this week. Lornel made 1 batch and I made 2. This week there was a conference called the FHP going on all week at the SIL center where we are working. FHP stands for Fulfulde Harmonization Project. There were translators from Nigeria, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger all of which are working on translating the Bible into different dialects of Fulfulde. Western Fulfulde is the language in which I will be working on a dictionary.

Prayer requests:

• Lornel to settle into a good sleeping schedule (She has consistently not slept well since arriving. There is a six hour time difference. The temperature could also be a factor as it is also usually averages about 80 degrees in our bedroom at night)

• For Lornel and I to learn more French so we can better communicate with people we meet
• Pray for the Fulfulde Translators as they return to their countries

Praises:

• We had a safe and pleasant trip to Niger
• We have met a lot of kind believers since we have been here both Nigerien and Expats

God's Sovereignty amid Life's Drama

Our trip started a little later than we had originally planned. Lornel realized after a careful search the night before we were to drive to Virginia that she did not have her drivers licence. God provided a piece of mail in the trash at her work that was addressed and postmarked to her which along with her credit card enabled her to get her licence replaced. The piece of mail had been sent to us by "accident" and it was "very unusual" that this type of mail would have had her name on it in the first place. We thank God for His provision in this detail and in all the other details in our travels. God has given us safe travels and good visits while visiting friends in Virginia and North Carolina. We had a good visit with the Master's Mission. So far the orientation/training here at SIM has been outstanding. Thank you for your prayers. We depart on Thursday, and Lord willing will post our next entry next week from Niger.

The Start of an Adventure

Thank you for your prayers as Lornel and I drive to North Carolina for Training at SIM headquarters. We will make stops at friends houses and visit The Masters Mission along the way. We leave Chicago Friday January 19th. We fly to Niger on January 25th.