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