God is good

Well as many of you know I have been in the village of Kollo now for about ten days. I am currently back in the capital Niamey for two days to rest and relax, before I go back out to the village for another two week session. My time thus far has been very hard, but at the same time very good!

First let me start off my answering some basic questions that you might have. My living situation is in a mud brick house with sand floors, and outside my house I have a “ tanda,” which is kind of like a shaded area, and that is where my stick bed is. Every night I sleep outside underneath my tanda, unless it rains in which case I will flee to the comfort of my sand floor. For meals I have the option of cooking, because I have a small portable gas stove, and much groceries, however I most of the time opt to pay a villager about 500 CFA, and just eat with them. It is usually just a big hassle to get out all of the supplies, plus by the time I’ve finished eating, I’m usually drenched in sweat. For drinking water I draw my water in big yellow buckets from the local well, and then send it through a filter that I was provided with. I take my bucket baths outside, in a covered area, which is also the same place everyone goes to pee, so the smell is usually not too pleasant.

In the mornings I usually wake up at about 6:00, go for a run, come back and then spend some time in prayer, and reading the Word. Spending time with the Lord in the morning is such a huge aspect so that I can be refreshed, and reminded of why I am here. It is in this time that God fills me with his love, joy, and peace, so that I will overflow into the lives of the Zerma people. Later I will either venture down to the local market to talk with men or I will go visiting some other huts in the village. The missionaries provided us with two ministry tools, one of which is a cassette player that has the entire gospel presentation on it, from creation to the resurrection, along with other cassettes of the different gospels, and the other is something called the proclaimer which has the entire New Testament recorded on it. When I go visiting I will always bring one of these with me and let the men listen to something that I pick out. After I play the tapes I always have a time for them to answer questions. Then concluding my time with them I take prayer requests, share a passage from scripture regarding there request, and pray with them. All of this is done in their language.

This takes up the earlier portion of my day, I then have lunch, a nap, and get prepared for the evening part of the day. In Zerma culture in almost any village there is a place called the fada, which is basically a shaded area where all of the men hang out and drink tea and talk. I make it a point to talk with these men every day from 4-6 sharing stories from the Gospel and sharing Christ’s love with them. When the sun goes down I also have another session for men to come and listen to the gospel on the radio.

God is definitely working in my village. Currently the village that I live in has roughly about 600 people, not counting the women and children, and from what I know there are only two men that claim to be Followers of Christ. One of which is a man named Abdulay, who usually accompanies me wherever I go throughout the day. The men in this village are bound to the chains of Islam, but I believe that the Holy Spirit is moving in this village and it is very exciting. For example a few nights ago my neighbor came over and asked me if we could listen to the radio together!! After listening to the Gospel, I asked him if he had any questions. As he rambled off his question, I had no clue what he was saying, but as he repeated it slower and slower and held out his hands in a cross like fashion, I got it! He was asking me why Jesus died on the cross for him! I was absolutely stunned, God had opened up a huge door for me to further explain the Gospel. I explained to him best I could with the language that I knew, that me and him had sin in our life. God had sent his son Jesus to die for our sins because He had no sin. I then played John 3:16-20 to him in his language so that he might better understand. He has not accepted Christ, but I believe that God is working in his life. He has been a Muslim for 30 years, and it is very difficult for a Muslim to convert for Christianity. It is a known fact that before a Muslim comes to Christianity they usually have to hear the gospel several times. So I will continue to love Isaaca which is his name, and play the tapes to him as much as he wants. I would appreciate it if you would pray for him as well. The head missionary came to visit me, and saw me visiting with some of the local men, she said that she had never seen the men so excited before. God is definitely at work in their hearts, and I am excited to be apart of this ministry. There are so many stories to share with you, but time will not allow.

God is continuing to grow me through my time here. I remember about my second day in Kollo, I was cooking dinner by myself in the dark and was very lonely. Everyone else has a partner, however I do not. I was in a village by myself with people that I couldn’t communicate that well with. I was frustrated and upset, and tears began to fall from my face, which is very rare because I never cry. It was in that moment that I felt weak and alone, so I began to pray, I admitted to God that I was hopeless without Him, and I asked Him to give me his strength to sustain me, and to pick me up and carry me through each day. It was that night I realized that God truly is my rock, I confessed to God my loneliness, and asked God for someone…..anyone to come be with me because I felt all alone that night. Not 10 minutes after I prayed that prayer God sent a teenage boy named O’ben who was the local pastor’s son to come stay the night with me. It was definitely a huge answer to prayer! And since that day I am learning that God is more than enough to sustain me, and that he is truly all I need, because where I live, He is all I have.

I thought that I would share with you a sentence or two so you can see what the language is like:

Zerma:

Hay ma Amerique boro no, ay ma Isaaca hay a ga ca niger se chi ni bon Jesu. N din nin gonda zunubay fundi ra. Jesu Almasifu aboo se faray iri zunubay. Jesus Almasifu dese ay fundi, e gaba dese ni fundi.

English

: I’m an American man. My name is Isaaca( which by the way is my African name) I have come to Niger to tell you about Jesus. We both have sin in our life, and Jesus Christ has died to forgive us of our sins. Jesus Christ died to give me and you life.

**That is brief example of some of the things that me and the Zerma man talk about.

I can feel everyone’s prayers who are praying for me!!

Please continue to pray for me as I spread the love of Jesus to the Zerma people.

Love,

Cody