Prayers and Answers

It is such a blessing to have brothers and sisters in Christ here at Galmi that we can pray with.  And it is so encouraging for us to hear from those at home who love us - to hear that they are remembering us in their prayers.  

God keeps His promises.  And He promises that He will hear our prayers.  We don’t always understand why things turn out the way they do, but that doesn’t mean that God hasn’t heard.  He knows what is best for His children and He so desires for us to talk to Him.  Thank you to all of you who are praying for us.  Your prayers mean so much to us - more than you can understand.

There have been many answered prayers here this week:

~ Travelers have returned home safely

~ People who were injured in accidents have started to recover

~ Flight permits for Chad went through as time wound down

~ People at the hospital here heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ

~ A bag shipped by bus that seemed to disappear was later found

~ The power came back on in time for the ladies Bible study

We will leave for Chad soon.  Please pray for safety and smooth transitions and for Gracie to have stamina.  And pray that God will open our ears and eyes to whatever He wants to teach us or show us while we are there.

Mother and daughter (as you might have guessed).  The daughter had a 23 pound ovarian tumor removed last week.

The outskirts of town.

Gracie and a new friend selling cakes at the irrigation canal.

Gathering onions.  

A beaming mother and her child (receiving care for a burn).

Our transport to Chad.

The gully makes a great sandbox in the dry season.

Playmates (one of whom is enjoying it less than the others :)

Aminatou

You can pray for Aminatou.

And for so many other women.

 It is so difficult for many of us to even imagine the rigors of life for the average woman here.   The inner surfaces of their thumbs bear large callouses and nodules from pounding grain with a wooden implement.  The soles of their feet are thick, hard, cracked, and dry from long walks in the hot sand and dirt.  They carry large loads on their heads and children on their backs.  Of course, they first carry those children in their bellies.  And their bellies often carry that load many times over.

Aminatou came in today at the end of her sixth pregnancy (which may seem like a lot, but here, 12 is a lot).    Of the 5 children she had delivered, only 3 are alive.  And the one she hoped to deliver today did not survive.  She arrived at the hospital bleeding severely.  An urgent Cesarean section was delayed only while we waited for a blood transfusion to start (her hematocrit was 9%, which is quite low).   During the surgery she went into shock as her blood pressure became dangerously low, and she lost consciousness.  We prayed before the surgery started and we did everything we could during the surgery.  Her placenta had bled severely and her uterus came dangerously close to rupturing.  At the end she was still oozing blood and all we could do from a medical standpoint was close her abdomen.  We prayed again and asked God to continue to care for this woman whom He created in His image.

Her baby, as you might suspect, had died before she arrived to the hospital.

Aminatou was still alive by late afternoon.  She will hear the Gospel while she is here, and we pray that she will see it in our lives.  We pray that while she is here she will receive the hope that is found in Jesus Christ alone.

The material things we take for granted are not granted to most people here.  And access to the good news of God's grace, which may seem so commonplace to us, is not so readily available here.

Please pray for Aminatou.  Please pray for the women who live and die here.  Please pray for the men and women and children who need to hear about Jesus and need to see His love.

Please pray that God will help you to pray faithfully.  And pray that He will show you how He wants you to be involved.

Let the Little Children Come

And tonight they did!

Ten little children came to our house for story time.  It was such a blessing to us that we could love these children, welcoming them into our home and sharing stories from the book Mark wrote, just like Jesus loved the little children and let them come to him despite the disciples attempts to shoo them.

We all marveled at how Jesus used a little boy's lunch (5 loaves and 2 fish) to feed a crowd of 5,000.  The kids particularly enjoyed the snack of pita bread and goldfish crackers that we used to illustrate how Jesus broke bread, gave thanks, and provided food to all the people.

It is our prayer that these little ones grow to know how much Jesus loves them and Jesus has provided for them, too!  We hope to continue sharing stories with these children over the next few weeks leading up to E@ster.  Please join us in praying for these precious little ones.

The pictures were actually from last week's story time where we joined Karen as she taught the children in her home.  Karen and her husband, John, left today.  They will be missed from our Galmi community -- but Lord willing they shall return periodically to continue working in the hospital, day school and local (hur(h.

Gracie has enjoyed time with these new friends as you can see here:

Recent Gracie milestones include:

• Initiated and said 5 word sentence upon seeing milk pitcher:  "I 'wan' milk in cup."
• Saying her own blessing, she knows most of "God is Great."
• Interceding: lists names of friends and family during all prayer times (mealtime, nighttime, etc.).
• Walking backwards.
• Racing: she likes to say, "Daddy run" and then trots behind him.
• Climbing, any and every thing.
• Singing: "Jeezus wuvs me," "An-mals" (Arky Arky), "Winku winku...in da -ky" (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)
• Playing with baby doll, pretending that she eats, sits, prays and even 'rock-a-byes' complete with "baby will fall," which is her favorite part to act out.

We are so thankful for this litte child and glad she comes to us...most of the time!

DD&G