Last Week in Review, briefly

It was a busy week.  We enjoyed having our VC friends here, and we are thankful for the encouragement they were (and still are) to us.

Conversing after dinner at Carrigan's house

Guys walking out in the countryside

Group picture before their departure

Uncle Todd goodbye hug

We have word that Todd, John and Matt made it home safely.  Thanks to everyone who helped make their trip possible...and a special thanks to them for going the distance to be with us here!

After saying farewell Friday afternoon, we were looking for some distraction.  

What better than a camel ride?

Gracie was very excited about the "idea" of a camel ride.  Once Eli mounted with Marc, she was begging and pleading (on verge of tears) to "ride camal."  So we hoisted her up; she smiled and laughed until...the camel actually moved.  Gracie did NOT like the camel's bumpy gait.  Thankfully, she was content (enough) riding in the Ergo, so we were able to continue on with the caravan.

After the morning ride, we had a relaxing but productive afternoon blanching, grating, and freezing carrots as well as chopping, blending, cooking and freezing tomatoes.  We are trying to make the most of the current abundance of fresh produce and store up for the coming hot, dry season when fresh veggies will be scarce.  We've been quite busy in the kitchen (which proves to be a never ending task); will try to post some pictures of our latest culinary adventures soon.

Saturday evening was a special treat: Valentine's Dinner!

Four single ladies worked very hard making this dinner special.  They thought of everything from babysitting to table decor to music with candlelight, plus they prepared a 3 course meal for us that ended with fondue!

Thanks ladies!

Sunday we all went to church wearing our new outfits.

We are pleased with the tailor's handiwork!

We took a new route to church this week, trying to steer clear of the main village street (often busy with motos, trucks, carts, and foot traffic).  It was nice and relaxing to stay on the outskirts.  On the return trip home, we encountered some local livestock:

and kept our distance (look at those horns!).

A few other random happenings:

Gracie loves helping with chores.

She's also become quite fond of her camel.  Yesterday she told Dean "camal hungee" and proceeded to feed him onions (freshly picked for us by our gardener).  

She definitely keeps us entertained with her creativity and budding vocabulary.

Today we had a surprise visit from the US Ambassador to Niger.  

She was very kind and is supportive of the work here at Galmi Hospital.

Marc greeting Ambassador

Dean has been having some exciting conversations (and prayers) at the hospital, so stay tuned for a hospital update from him soon!

Sai anjima ("until later"),

DD&G

VC Family and Apples

What a pleasure it is to have a couple members from our Via Christi family visit us in Niger!

Awaiting the plane

Meeting the Galmi Team

"Unkoow" Todd and "Unkoow" John, as Gracie calls them, arrived Saturday.  

They will be spending the week with us.  

We have already enjoyed fellowshipping together over meals and during break times.  

Today Gracie enjoyed reading with them: 

Quality time.

We have also been enjoying the treats they brought to share with us!  

A special thanks to Dawnita and Shea (the supportive wives of these two men) for your help with the packing!

Gracie's first taste of laffy taffy...she's a fan!

Dean and Marc have appreciated having some help with rounds (especially since Dr. Todd knows French and both men have experience practicing medicine overseas).  Providentially they arrived in time to assist with a mass casualty that occurred Sunday afternoon.  A bus overturned and 30-some locals were brought to the hospital for emergency care.  All the providers who were on the compound went to the hospital and worked together triaging and treating these patients.  There was one fatality: a young lady who sold drinks on the street near the hospital.  Many others had a varying injuries: some required laceration repairs, others surgery for broken bones, another a chest tube for a pneumothorax (air in the chest that collapses the lung and can put pressure on the heart).  We are praying for the family who lost a loved one and for those who are healing from injuries.  We also pray that God's love will be demonstrated to each person through the care he or she receives.  Please join us in these prayers for each day we are seeing how God answers them.

Our latest answer to prayer:

Apples arrived in Galmi today!

We've had a bit of a produce dilemma the last couple of weeks.  The lady who normally supplies the compound with imported fresh fruits and veggies has been very ill and unable to come.  She has cancer and the prognosis has not been good.  However, she is a fighter and surprised us all by showing up today with a bountiful selection of produce.

Gracie enjoyed playing with her daughter while we made our selections.

Then Gracie helped haul our purchases home.

And when we arrived home we were soon greeted with our bulk order of fresh carrots straight from the local fields.

Now it's time to wash, peel, grate, cook and bake!

Thanks to all who prayed for "apples" -- we are yet again reminded of how God hears our prayers.

Please pray for the lady who sells the produce -- for continued strength, for health, and for peace that only come through (hrist alone.

Grateful for His bounty,

DD&G

Chasing lizards

Yes, one of our daughter's latest favorite pasttimes is chasing lizards.  

Look closely, he's there (mid-frame), hiding in the shadows.

Although she's yet to catch one, she is improving on her technique...

Sneaky, sneaky.

"Com heew"

With these new stalker moves and her improving speed, it probably won't be long until she grabs one.  Not really sure that she will like what she gets.

In addition to lizards, Gracie has been fascinated with puddles (which form this time of year from intentionally watering plants, not rain).  The ground is hard and dry so it takes a while for the water to be absorbed.  The result: instant mud puddles that slowly resolve...a toddler's wonderland.

Gracie enjoys throwing sticks and rocks into these puddles.  When the water becomes too much (for Mommy, not Gracie) she resorts to loading her loot into trucks (or her legs, shoes, dress, etc.).

Little ones at play on the Carrigan's screened porch (nice on hot, sunny days).

And then the highlight of Gracie's day:

Running to meet Daddy!

She is growing up fast...

and spreading much joy in the process!

Hoping to catch a royal lizard,

DD&G

Proverbs 30:24-28

Good News and Prayer

    Created by a loving God and made in His image.  Known by Him before the creation of the world.  Loved by Him as we are, even when we were His enemies.   God is a loving God!!!  How could God possibly demonstrate this in a way any more dramatic than sending Jesus to us?  

But take just a minute to imagine that God wasn’t so loving.  I wouldn’t ponder that thought for too long (the implications are immensely depressing), but maybe we should think about it long enough to put ourselves in the shoes of so many people around the world.  If they don’t know Jesus, they can only imagine what God must be like.  How can the miseries of life be explained except by God’s anger?  And how can that anger be appeased?

Maybe someone has told them what God is like but didn’t describe Him in the way that God describes Himself.  Maybe they have been told that God can be appeased, by human effort of one form or another.  And maybe they will spend their lives trying to appease Him.

How amazing blessed we are!  First, God is love (1 John 4:8).  He has chosen to be a loving God.                None of us could do anything to change Him if He was anything else - so we praise Him that He is a God of love.  Second, someone(s) in our life told us the truth about Him - that He is a loving God. {If no one has told you that before, I am telling you now and would be very excited to tell you more!}  Praise God for whomever that person is (and maybe tell them “Thanks”, too).  We know the truth about God and it is good news!

My prayer tonight is that we will not take this blessing for granted.  It is easy to forget that our abundant access to the truth is not a universal reality.  So many people haven’t heard and aren’t hearing about who God really is.  Please pray that God will use you to tell them.

A short and exciting and easy-to-read book about how God continues to spread the Good News  in amazing ways is: 

                   Glory in Mongolia (by Rick Leatherwood)

And if you really want to learn more about God’s dedication to the whole world hearing about Him, check out a class called:

                   Perspectives on the World Christian Movement ( aka “Perspectives”) at 

                    perspectives.org

We said that we would list specific prayer requests so that you will know better how to pray for us.  Here goes:

1. A growing relationship with God - the better we know Him, the better we can share Him with others
2. Strength in the face of challenges and trials (miscarriage, physical illness)
3. Opportunities to relate to others in deeper spiritual ways, in spite of a language barrier (we are working on learning Hausa)
4. Time in prayer - for the needs here and for you at home!
5. That others will faithfully pray for us (we are counting on you!)
6. For the many mothers whose children die so young

If you want to read a bit more about praying for missionaries, check out Heartland Community Church’s February Newsletter at:   

 http://www.heartlandpca.org/newsletters/hcc_february_2012.pdf

Grace and Peace in Christ,

Dean, Dianna, and Gracie

Picnic Heights

Here are some pictures from our fun evening adventure and meal at "Picnic Heights," a spot just outside of town.

Making our way up to the flat rocky area where we gathered for our meal.

Our group picnic spot

Climbing

"Where's Gracie?"

Here are some great father-daughter pictures:

And...

Family Shot

We've enjoyed our nice relaxing Saturday--hopefully you have, too!

DD&G

Hospital Field Trip

Well, today was the day: Gracie's first visit to "Daddy work."  Dean has been wanting Dianna and Gracie to meet his translator (whose quickly becoming a friend) and have a look at what he spends the day doing.

Gracie gladly received this balloon (made from exam glove) and enjoyed playing with her daddy.

Gracie is adjusting very well to her new environment, even the hospital surroundings didn't seem to phase her.  She looks around and usually (she does have her shy moments) greets everyone she sees.  We are impressed with her expanding vocabulary:

"Sanu"  Hausa for hello

"Lafiya"  Hausa response to hello and many other greetings

"Bonjour, ca va"  French hello (good day), how are you?

It's interesting to observe when she choses which words to say.  Lately if she sees any African, she will either say "Sanu" or "Bonjour, 'ta' va" -- or both.  The gardeners and construction workers particularly find her greetings amusing.  We are very blessed with a personable, outgoing little girl!

Now, we must be honest; not every moment of the day is this cute.  We fear we are entering the "twos" a bit early.  The latest phrase which we cringe to hear is:

"I wan it.  I wan it.  I wan it."

It's not that we don't appreciate her indicating her desires; it's actually nice to know what she prefers.  However, the whiny tone and forced, tearless cry that accompanies these words gets old quickly.

[Deep breath in.  Hold.  Breath out.]

At the end of the day, we smile as we sing this sweet child to sleep.  She is such a joy to us, and we are so thankful that the Lord entrusted her to us.  The same lips that utter the phrases above are also learning to pr@y.  Instead of just folding her hands while we pr@y, we now encourage her to repeat a few sentences on her own.  How sweet the sound...

Today, we pulled out the felt board (Dianna's Christmas request) and learned about Daniel and the lions' den, as well as the fiery furnace.  

Gracie LOVED rearranging the pieces.  We will definitely enjoy using these felt B*ble stories while we are here and for years (and years) to come.

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More from the hospital

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The quick trip this morning merely whet Dianna's appetite for hospital time.  We were blessed with a volunteer to babysit Gracie this afternoon, so after the siesta break (1-3PM daily) Dianna headed back to the hospital with Dean.

Lady presenting with chief complaint of infertility and increasingly heavy bleeding...

found to have several large fibroids (benign [not cancer] tumors of the uterus).  These tumors were actually visible when she laid down for the ultrasound.  She opted for a trial of medical management but hysterectomy would be the definitive treatment if her bleeding worsens. 

Another patient who presented from prenatal clinic because they could not hear the baby's heartbeat.  Thankfully a quick look with the ultrasound showed an active little one with a healthy, beating heart.

Je$u$ film playing in waiting area, 

usually this area is packed full of patients and their family members.

Ladies sitting outside clinic waiting area

This little girl just finished her first lesson with crutches.

We don't know the story of her injury...but she was happy to have her picture taken 

(and to see it on the camera's display).

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With the second work week complete, we are ready for some relaxing time as a family and with our coworkers this weekend.

Grace & peace,

DD&G