If penguins are cool ... how come I'm so hot?

Head East

Our trip to ministries east of Niamey in early April went very well. Some of what we did can be seen at my daily (well when I have the time) blog. We were able to deliver and setup 5 new computers to Galmi Hospital, install new antivirus there, work on getting backups to work (still some work there to do that needs to be done), and tried to splice together a network wire that a mouse(?) had been nibbling on. (Didn't work, they'll need to run a new cable :-( )

In Maradi we setup all the machines to be one the same workgroup, and then set up a systematic backup system that will run automatically every 3 hours, only backing up the files that have changed. This makes the backup jobs pretty small after the initial backup, and gives pretty good "realish" time backups. We used Karen's Replicator, a free (VB6 source code downloadable too). It does many of the things I do with xxcopy backup scripts on the command line, but Karen's Replicator has a fairly user friendly GUI. In Maradi also I was able to convert one of the last Pegasus mail holdouts to Thunderbird, which can be a time consuming process. Unfortunately, the other users there are still using Outlook :-( We were also able to rescue one Australian family's computer that they use for home schooling. Got everything straighted out on it, did a full new install of the OS and the applications and installed some web filtering software.

Danja was many little tasks, getting antivirus on a couple of machines and trying to update those without an internet connection manually (we could not get that part to work, and I need to get back to them with a better procedure looking over the network changes they have made since my last visit, and made a couple of network cables for inside of one of the houses. The Danja compound always strikes me as a combination of wide open spaces and stark beauty.

I was also blessed to be able to visit many of Issiakou's family across Niger, from Dogonduchi to Maradi. One of the places we greeted family was a small village where I met many people and had some millet porridge (sort of like watered down oatmeal but made out of the grain we use for bird seed.) Other places, part of the hospitality included baked yams (white, not orange) with a few pieces of beef , rice and sauce, cabbage with a spicy peanut based powder, masa, which are small, not sweet, (pan)cakes made out of millet flour, and other Nigerien foods.

We did have one problem on the way back. We had stopped to look at the progress of a Christian conference center being built near Maradi, and as we were going around the buildings we ran into an old piece of iron and ruined our tire. We changed it with the spare, figuring on getting or borrowing one in Galmi to get us back to Niamey. Unfortunately, Galmi did not have our size tire and we had to go on another 50 km (approx 30 miles) to another larger town to get one.

The experience was a typical Nigerien transaction. Not finding what we wanted right away, we stopped to ask a place that fixes tires (they do not sell them) if they knew where we could find a new one. One of the guys there said sure, and he would show us. He hops in the van and directs us through narrow streets, over piles of refuse, and I am wondering if this is the route you go to see if you can sell 2 tires, not just one!

Finally, we arrive at an intersection, make our need known, and with in 2 minutes we have 4 different vendors trying to sell us 8 different kinds of tires! All of them lauding their particular tires traits. "This one is from Thailand, not China!" boasts one. "Steel Belted!" "Radial!" "Tubeless!" shout others. Eventually, even separated by this almost throng we are able to decide on one. The price is reasonable, and we negotiate adding removal of the old tire and mounting of the new one included in the price. No problem.

The tire gets changed, put back up under in the spare rack, we pay the man and get a receipt. The man who showed us the way to the "tire intersection" wants a little stipend for his part in the escapade. Ok. As we are ready to pull away, the man who actually did the changing of the tire, came up to us to get money for his part, even though we had negotiated that as part of the price with the guy we bought the tire from. Here Issiakou did a very smart thing. Instead of arguing with the man, he took him the the first guy, and told them this is what we negotiated, it is now your issue. Very smart! We got in the van once again and headed back to Galmi.

Before we were half way back, it was dark, and driving after dark in Niger is almost impossible. The road we were driving is a series of potholes interrupted occasionally by just enough smooth road to make you think you can go faster, only to be interrupted by cratered road once again. On this tableau are motos with few, if any rear lights (one with out any lights, front or back), overloaded trucks going very slowly, and dark shadowy donkey carts. Thankfully, the Lord guided us back to Galmi safely, ready to return to Niamey the next day.

All in all a good but exhausting trip. We got most of our tasks done, the Lord blessed us with time to greet many people throughout Niger, and He gave us safe travels in potentially dangerous conditions.

Niger Links March 28th

400 Ghanaian truck drivers detained in Niger

http://news.myjoyonline.com/business/200903/28068.asp

N.Africa Qaeda demands hostages-for-militants swap

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52R1M120090328

French president arrives in Niger

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/27/africa/AF-Africa-Sarkozy.php

Sarkozy wraps up Africa trip

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jj58YQXBsALMmt70UnaHavRDvHBg

Niger Word Pictures

A cobblestone of smashed bovine excrement on the road marking cattle day at the market.

Flies clustered outside of the window screen drawn by coolness within.

A lounge of lizards grouped on an eastern wall searching for morning warmth.

The defective rooster bursting out in irriatating, asthmatic crowing at three thirty five.

The route was mostly marked by cratered asphalt with occasional stretches where the craters had won.

Niger Links

NIGER: Teacher strike threatens to reverse MDG gains

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=83666

Sarkozy, Visiting West Africa, Wants End to ‘Colonial’ Ways

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a0cbSImjYgU0&refer=europe

How is travel in Niger again?

From : http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-03-17-voa23.cfm

"Casella says millions of people in West Africa and beyond will be in deep trouble if the air service closes. She says there are some areas that can only be reached by air because of security concerns or impassable roads. She cites Niger as an example.

"In Niger, air services are required due to security reasons. The UN Department of Safety and Security has banned all travel by road after several mine incidents and ambushes in the north and east of the country," added Casella. "And, even where roads are passable, it can take up to four days to drive to some of the most remote locations in Niger. And, those same destinations can be reached within two hours by air."

A UN study shows it is actually more cost-effective to fly aid personnel in Niger, because vehicles take too long to get to their destination. The study finds agencies can save nearly $1,000 per passenger by flying rather than driving.

Casella says high profile emergencies tend to attract money for the air service, whereas low-profile emergencies do not. She says it makes little sense for donors to give money for food, medicine and other relief, while not providing the money for transport to get the aid workers to the people who need their help."

90Days - A daily task blog

We invite you to take a look at Randy's daily task log at http://dustypenguin.blogspot.com

It is an daily log that will help answer the question, "What do you do?"

God's plan?

An invitation to pray

Colossians 4:2 - Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

Thursday, December 4th, 2008, a Sahel Academy service team leaves for Galmi with Randy driving, to serve the hospital there. Randy, Christopher and Justin are part of the 9 person team.

There are 2 workgroups in the team. One that Justin is with will be doing cleaning and painting of rooms at the hospital, while Randy, Issiakou (who is traveling independently), and Christopher will be redoing the computer system at the Galmi hospital office.

The timeframe set out to do the computer work is tight, so we would like to invite you to give us a little extra prayer cover for this service trip. To help you in this I will give you an outline of what we think our time will look like so that you can pray more effectively the next few days. ( As a reminder, we are 6 hours ahead eastern time, and 7 hours ahead of central time )

There have been many events in that last 6 weeks we have not updated you on, but that will wait for our return.

Thank you for praying for us!

Thursday Dec 4th (all times approximate)

Traveling to Galmi (8AM-3PM) - Pray that the journey will be safe and that the vehicle is mechanically sound throughout the journey. Pray also for Wanda and Noah while we are gone.

Unpacking \ Orientation \ Setup at Galmi (3PM-5PM) - Pray that we arrive in a timely manner, and that we are not so warn from the trip that we can do some setup.

Data backup preparation (6PM-8PM) - Pray that we can setup a good plan of attack for the next day for both workgroups, the painting group and the computer group

Friday Dec 5th (all times approx.)

Backing Up Data (8am-Noon) - Critical part of the process. Pray that we have captured all the old data to be restored to the new system. Particularly email. The painting workgroup will be organizing and performing odd jobs since they can not start cleaning a prepping the rooms until later in the day.

Unjoining computers from the existing domain (1PM-3PM) - Pray that this process goes smoothly. This should be one of the places we can make up some time if things go well.

Restoring data and rejoining computers to the new network system (4PM-8PM) - Please pray that as we reconstruct the new network that all the data is easily restorable and that the new computer configurations work well. The painting workgroup should be starting the prep and cleaning at the hospital sometime in this timeframe. Pray that they are able to get much work done in that time.

Saturday Dec 6th

Follow up on the reconstruction of the network (8AM-10AM) - This is built in buffer time, misc issues that will crop up and building backup scripts for data to offsite backup. Pray that this time is not filled with little details, but just a couple of things we can deal with effectively. The painting workgroup will begin painting during this time, and continue most of the day. Pray for their safety, good work relationships and ventilation from the fumes!

Workstation confuration and tweaking (10AM-4PM) - There will probably be a working lunch in here. This is potentially the most time consuming, to make sure all the computers work well on the domain, that all the users have access to the applications and data they need. Pray that this process is smooth, and the Lord grants us wisdom as issues arise.

User Education (5PM-8PM?) - There will be inevitable differences between the old system and the new system, despite efforts to make the transition as seemless as possible. Pray that we can effectively convey those differences to key staff members so that everyone can be productive quickly on Monday. The painting workgroup will hopefully be wrapping up during this time period too. Pray that their work has gone well, and spirits are high.

Evening meal (7PM-9PM?) - We will be looking forward to a traditional Hausa meal on Satuday Evening. We ask that this would be a time of reflection on what the Lord brought us here to do and how He accomplished His purposes.

Sunday Dec 7th

Packup / Say good bye (8AM-9AM) - Pray for good teamwork as we prepare to go back to Niamey.

Leave Galmi for Niamey (9AM-4PM) - Please pray for the same things we started the journey with; safety, road conditions, and additionally, alertness for the trip back, as I am sure we will be all quite tired.

Unpacking / decompressing (4PM-5PM) - There is an English language church evening service at 6 PM, pray that we have energy to attend and worship.

The Victorious Young

NUTS (Niamey Universal Tournament of Softball) is a Softball tournament that is held in Niamey, Niger, every year during the second weekend of October. There are 2 divisions during the tournament, the Social division and the Competitive division. Sahel Academy had 3 teams this year, 2 of them in the Social division and the other one in the Competitive division. The tournament is held on 2 softball fields in Niamey. The Main field is the American Rec Center, and the other is at Sahel Academy. This article follows the competitive Sahel Academy Suns through the NUTS Tournament.Sahel Academy field: It was 7:00 am, Saturday October 9, 2008, as the prayer Sahel Academy Suns warmed up for their first competitive game of the day against the Nomads. The average age of the Suns was 23 years with the three oldest members being Uncle Tim (Tim Phillips), Uncle Brian (Brian Bliss), and Mr. Brinkley; all three are staff at Sahel Academy. The rest of the team was made up of students aged from 16-18. The Nomads started the game off as the visitors while the Suns were out in the field as the home team. The Nomads started the scorning as they managed to bring in one run in the top of the first inning. The Suns, at bat, produced 5 runs as they closed out the first inning with a 4-run lead. The Suns played well on both sides of the ball while they held the Nomads the rest of the game to no runs and scoring 11 more runs to bring the score to 16-1 in the Suns’ favor.

American Rec Center: The Suns’ next game was at 11:00 am against the Burkina Angels. The Suns were the visitors for this game and started off getting 1 run in the first inning while the Angels managed to get 4, putting the Suns down by three. The Suns went scoreless in the second inning while the angels got 2 more in the bottom of the second. Both teams shut each other out in the third inning, putting the Suns down by five going in to the top of the fourth inning. The field of play was dominated by the Suns from that point on. The Suns put up 11 points over the next 4 innings as they held the Angels to 3 runs the rest of the game. scorch themOne of the highlight throws for the Suns was a laser throw to home by the center fielder to get the runner out just before he got to the base. Sahel Suns won the game 12-9.

Sahel Academy field: 3:00 pm was the last game for the Suns on Saturday. As they had a Semi-Final spot wrapped up for Sunday, this game would determine if the Suns where first or second in the Competitive division. The visitor for the game was the US Embassy Team USA, EMB for short. EMB dominated the game as the Suns struggled to produce the same results as in their first two games of the day. The Suns lost putting them in second place of the division.

American Rec Center Competitive Semi-Finals: Sunday was the Semi-Final game between the second place Sahel Suns and the third place Burkina Angels. The game started off with neither team scoring runs in the first two innings. Burkina scored first in the third inning, bringing in 2 runs. Sahel managed to bring1 runner home. In the fourth inning, both teams scored 2 each, but Sahel was still down by 1 going into the fifth. The Angels got a run in the fifth and held Sahel to no runs. The sixth inning was a repeat of the third as Burkina extended their lead and the Suns only got 1. Bottom of the seventh was the last chance for the Suns to win. Burkina had scored two, giving them a 5 run lead; Sahel needed 6 to win; neither team had scored more than 2 points per inning. The Suns either had a to pull off a tie to play another inning or they had to score at least 7 to win the game. Sahel slowly started to bring in the runs as they brought in 3 runners. Still trailing by 2, the Sun’s first base man came up to the plate with the bases loaded. He had been hitting well throughout the tournament and was leading the team in RBI’s. He let the first pitch go then got ready for the next one. It was put right where he liked it and he drilled it out along the third base line deep into left field out of reach of the fielder. The Sahel fans and team went wild as the runners started to come in. As the batter came in to third, he had just brought in the winning runs and put Sahel into the finals!!!

American Rec Center Competitive Finals: This was it! The Sahel Academy Suns had made it to the Finals to play the first place EMB. The Suns were the away team; EMB took the field first as the home team. The Suns and EMB had played each other in several pre-tournament games with going to each of them. Both teams shut out the other as neither team scored in the first inning. The first inning was the first indication that the game was going to be hard fought. Sahel put two points up in the top of the second, holding EMB to zero with great fielding from the outfield. The third inning was another scoreless inning as both teams stayed in the game and kept the fans in the game. Sahel scored the only point in the fourth inning as Uncle Brian hit the only over-the-wall home run of the whole tournament. Sahel continued with great defense holding EMB to no runs again. The fifth inning was a scoreless one for Sahel, but EMB got 2 runs in off of a missed grounder in the outfield; as the Suns’ lead was cut to 1. Sahel responded in the top of the sixth as they drove in another run, yet again holding EMB to no runs with several amazing running catches in the outfield by the center fielder. The seventh inning was the last chance for Sahel Suns to hold the lead or for EMB to come from behind and win. Sahel put up 3 runs, wishing for more to give them a larger lead. They didn’t need it though, 100_3551 as they caught everything that came near them, with the short fielder caching the last out of the game. The Sahel Academy Suns and their fans gathered on the field hugging each other and celebrating the youngest team to ever win the NUTS Tournament as well as the first time a school team composed 81% of students has played and won competitively

SIM Information Technology Consutation

Dear Friends,

This is just a quick note to let you know that I leave for an IT conference at SIM Int'l in Charlotte today.

What's this?

The IT conference will bring together IT people from all over the SIM world, to exchange ideas, and to help each other see what is going on in different parts of the world relating to Information Technology and how it impacts missionaries on the field. Part of the reason for this is, especially in computers and communication, it is not all one world. What may work well in western countries, may not work well, or work at all in other parts of the world. This is a first time thing for SIM and it is exciting to be a part of it.

Unfortunately, the schedule is packed and the time frame in which I am stateside is short, so I will not get to see many of you. After leaving to day from Niger, I arrive late night Friday in Charlotte, and have Saturday off to reorient myself to the US. Sunday I will be going to church with a long time Niger field family, and maybe picking up some things. Sunday night kicks off the conference with a dinner at one of the organisers.

I leave Charlotte again Saturday afternoon, arriving back in Niamey Sunday evening. It looks to be a very busy week. I've joked that when I get back to Niger, I will need a vacation!

For those of you playing along at home concerning our financial partnership levels, the cost of this trip does not come out of our support fund, but is being pulled from SIM funds to make this conference happen.

We'd really love to have you pray with us concerning these things

1 - Travel mercies and safety. Good connections and little stress. Air travel is not a relaxing exercise for me.

2 - Safety and a good time for the family while I am gone. From past experience, Satan delights in having little things go wrong while I am away. Anything from plumbing to cars.

3 - While I am gone, unfortunately I will be missing one of the 2 softball tournaments that go on in West Africa, and they boys are all playing. Additionally, the week I am gone is also an off week at school, so I will doubly miss being at home! Pray that the boys will have a great tournament and Wanda will be safe driving them back and forth to the 2 different locations.

4 - Financially, we have had some very good months, but then August was lower again, and we were a little discouraged. But we just got the numbers for September, and I was so sad I even doubted God a little bit! Thank you being God's vehicle to supply our needs. There will be rough roads ahead, but we must be faithful to Him that is faithful.

Sincerely,

Randy for Wanda Chris Justin and Noah

Technology as Evangelism?

Dear Friends,

On the weekend of August 23 - 24 we were blessed to go to the small town of Makolondi an hour southwest of Niamey. We went to set up 7 computers for the ministry center there run by the missionary couple and volunteer in Makolondi. We went to serve, but I think we all returned taking something more back than we went with.

Makolondi

Our time in Makolondi was one of the most relaxing computer service weekends I have done. We were able to get the 7 computers working, installed learning software on them, and by late afternoon were ready to welcome (mostly) students to the updated computer room. Many of the kids we worked with that afternoon had none to very limited computer experience. In a town that only recently got electricity down the main drag, computers are pretty scarce! We were pretty encouraged how fast the kids caught on to moving the mouse, picking out the letters on the keyboard.

Some might not see the wisdom of such a ministry. What would kids living in the almost bush need with a ministry that has a computer component? There are a few good reasons for this actually.

First, with educational oportunities, these kids don't have to stay in the almost bush. More and more we are seeing that one of the ways of advancement in this very poor country is education. These kids do not want to be left technologically behind, even though they are starting from a huge deficit. The computers are not the end, they are a means of helping these kids educationally.

Secondly, they are finding that there is a whole differant world where their unique abilities and creativities maybe expressed. Technology can open their eyes to a whole new landscape they would otherwise not see!

Thirdly, and most importantly of these three, the availability of technology as part of the ministry center is a draw to those who will also hear the gospel at that ministry center. Here they will hear bible stories in their own language, and see videos of the life of a man named Jesus, who loved them and their country enough to lay down his life for them. And He rose again, because He is also God, the creator of the universe and all the world around them.

On the personal level

Lastly, and at least important to me, was the personal testimony of one of the women at the church on Sunday. She grew up in a Muslim home, but married a Christian man who patiently witnessed to her. During a grievous sickness, while her husband prayed over her, she accepted Christ. She is now the mother to 5 kids, who frequent the ministry center. After telling us her story, she thanked us for taking the time, and showing enough interest in her town to help her children come to know more about Jesus and to have the opportunity to extend their education. This was a great affirmation for me, because I often do not get feedback from the nationals since much of my ministry is not directly to them, but to the missionaries serving them.

Prayer points

1 - Wanda, while playing pitcher the next weekend got hit on the upper arm, and received a nasty bruise that covers most of her upper right arm. It looks somewhat better this weekend, but is still quite painful. Please pray for quick and complete healing.

2 - Pray for a relatively quiet September. Randy has begun some of the server upgrades, and it would be good to be able to concentrate on some of that with few interruptions.

3 - Continued prayer for family unity. Also how to begin to release Chris to fulfill what the Lord has for him as an adult.

4 - October 11-18 Randy will be attending a SIM IT Conference in Charlotte, NC. Pray for safety in travel and wisdom for what and how to present SIM Niger's technical challenges, oportunities and issues.

5 - Sahel still has a critical need of a secondary math teacher. There are 2 people here covering for the short term, but need to return to their ministries, and the young man slated to come still need support to make the trip. Pray for God's provision for this need!

6 - The SIM Niger field is still in dire need of a accounting person. There is a couple coming next week, for almost a month to help, but we could use multiple people in month long roles, or one person who would be willing to commit a year or two. This is a huge need!

7 - The electricity in our campus has been of very low voltage for the last 2 weeks. In fact I am writing this in darkness since there is not enough voltage to start the fluorescent lights in our house. Sahel has purchased a transformer for the power that they feel will help this problem, but there are still governmental / electrical company papers that need to get signed before it can get hooked up and become functional.

8 - Another great thank you for those who have been helping us get caught up financially with support levels. We have not yet received numbers from August, but we will pass them along as they become available.

Sincerely,

Randy Potratz and family

1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

August 6th Mission Update

What a busy month!

School will be starting soon (Aug 12th) and the Lord has brought most of the Sahel Academy team together. We could still use some help in the secondary grades, and at youth pastor for the school, but we are continually amazed how the Lord provides.

In about a week we will be starting another school year. Let me recap some our summer vacation. It was filled with a variety of activities. We helped move furniture, bookcases, cupboards, books (many to our new media center), desks, chairs, swam, played too many computer games, mowed some African grass (quack grass) and watched some movies.

In addition to the above activities. Chris took an introduction to aviation course through EAA and Utah Valley University and is looking forward to the more advanced and challenging course. He was able to work some at the SIMAIR hanger too. He also hung out with a couple of his classmates. He will know how to get around Niamey better that me (mom).

Justin has been earning some money by watching the new dorm parents 2 children. A side note: Justin changed his first diaper and it was smelly. The little guy laughed at Justin but behaved and gave no more surprises. Justin also spent some time with a friend in digging a tunnel and swimming.

Noah to spent time with some friends and swimming. He really had a laid back summer! Althought the last part of it was hard trying to keep up with the Brett Favre soap opera.

I switched 2 classrooms around with Justin and Noah's help. On July 23 I flew out to Maradi to meet Randy and fly back to Niamey, since it was our 20th wedding anniversary. We were able to go out for dinner when we returned to a place we found pretty nice by Niamey standards.

Randy has been busy at the office and home with computers. He made a trip out to Goure to help the missionaries set up a small computer room in a youth center. After an 8 hour taxi ride from Goure, he ended up making a very short side trip to Danja to look at a network problem before flying home with me before dark.

This past week Randy was able to pick up some computer things from customs that came over 2 months ago for the office. He was very happy about that. He can now proceed with some much needed work at the office. Because of the field's need for a treasurer, even Randy has been doing some treasury work filling in while others are away. Yes, you know it is bad when Randy is covering in treasury!

Back to the present and future. The boys and I (Wanda) will be starting school on the 12th of August. Chris will be a Senior (we don't know where time has gone), Justin a Sophomore and Noah an Eighth grader. I ( Wanda) will be in the first and second grade classroom teaching with one of the teachers who helped start Sahel. At 83 she will be returning to Sahel for the school year! I will have 1 Kindergartener who will join the 1st and 2nd graders. I am not sure what subjects I will teach. it promises to be another exciting year here in Niger, Africa.

Praises:

-Randy's stuff our of customs / exoneration

-A good vacation time

-A young man coming to teach some math and science in the secondary classrooms in September

Prayer:

-A good start to school

-Continued good attitudes

-The SIM Niger field needs someone with accounting skills to be treasurer (Yesterday!), even for a short time.

We also wanted to give a special thank you to people who have responded to our continuing monetary need. We had a very good month in June (the last we have records for as of today,) There is still a considerable amount we need to make up, but we look forward to the Lord's provision. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Wanda Potratz for Randy, Chris, Justin and Noah

Ministering in Niger, West Africa with SIM

Let it Rain

Potratz Misson Update May 16 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

Randy has asked me to write this update. The last few updates have been more about the ministries he is involved in and he feels bad about it. So, here goes.

About 3 weeks ago Justin and Noah were in the play "Princess Bride". Noah played the Grandfather and did a nice job. One his teachers said he will make a handsome grandpa some day. Noah continues to have his basketball in his hand and plays when he can. It's Noah's turn to catch up to Mom in height. He should be almost as tall or taller than me when we return home. Noah will also be a much better swimmer before he gets home. They are doing a swimming unit in PE and he is improving, even if he is belly breaking the water on his dives yet. He has a good instructor and he has come a long way considering he could hardly swim before coming to back to Niger. He is truly enjoying being in Africa.

Justin played the character Inigo in the play "Princess Bride". The first night he helped by add libbing while thoughts were gathered during a mix up in the scenes. He even gave some blood for the play. He was cut by some duct tape near his eye during one of the sword play scenes. He is fine. He got a lot of compliments on how well he did. Thanks to having watched old Red Skelton skits, he played a great drunk Inigo.

Justin is asking about how he can live for Jesus each day, and taking his walk with the Lord seriously. He is growing physically as well and every night before devotions he does his push ups. Justin has been swimming also. He is in the stronger swimming group. He loves the challenge. He is not as agile or quite as fearless as some of his classmates but he keeps right up with them.

Chris has been busy with his classmates raising money for their class trip. They sponsored a garage sale and provided a snack bar for intermission during the play. His class wants to travel to the beach in Benin for their class trip. There will be 10 students next year so they are getting a good start. Chris took the SAT last Sat, but is not really sure how he did. This past week he and his classmates have been praying for one of the boys in his class who was hit by truck. The young man was given an emergency passport to Paris to have surgery to reset a broken collar bone and dislocated shoulder. Chris is swimming too but not with as much enthusiasm as his little brothers but is enjoying the fellowship the his classmates. Chris has also been busy gathering information from colleges. He has some "big ideas". Oh, my! How time flies! He was a baby in our arms not that long ago and now he's almost out the door.

The Lord has something very special planned for each our/His boys. I get the privilege for praying for them and watching them grow up both physically and spiritually.

As for me, Wanda, the Lord has blessed me with a part-time position so that I can enjoy what a Mom likes to do, be a Mom. I have been busy with teaching and taking kids to the pool here in Niamey. For the next 4 Mondays the student body has swimming class. I am helping the swimming instructor in the morning and am just a driver for the secondary students in the afternoon. I am glad that I can help with the secondary students because this gives me a chance to get to know them better. I have truly enjoyed teaching half days.

Hadiza, our house help, has been able to help me with some French as we discuss things. I don't know if I remember everything I try to repeat, but it's been good. Between staff and curriculum meetings I have been able to do some gardening. Carol D., I need your green thumb! This weekend for Mother's Day, Randy and I are going to venture out to a plant nursery to buy some more plants. The boys won't like this because they are the ones who will have to water them. Randy said I should make this my home while we are here so that's what I am trying to do.

Last weekend, Randy and I were able to participate in the "Family Life Weekend to Remember". We stayed at one of the many guest houses in Niamey. It wasn't the Hilton but we couldn't afford that anyway. The facilitators were from Kansas. They lived had lived in Burkina for a number of years and pray that they will be able to return to minister to the college aged students in Burkina. He has farming background and hers was Mennonite. A nice couple and a very good weekend.

At school our summer will be filled with moving our old school media center to the new one and moving some classrooms around. I will try to keep you up dated on how the moves go. The boys are hoping mom doesn't keep them to busy because they will want to swim and be with those friends who won't be traveling out of country.

Thank You so much for your prayers because I know I wouldn't be in Africa without them. Also, because of those faithful givers, we wouldn't be here either. I miss you and would love for you to come and visit, especially for Chris' graduation next year. God Bless you all!

Wanda for the boys,

Praises

* 3 and half weeks of school left

* A/C in living area making it bearable in the heat

* good family and friends (that's you)

Prayer

* endurance to make it through the heat

* attitudes to be good at school and home

* for exams coming up

Update May 7 2008

Hello to Everyone,

Thank you for praying Hello to Everyone,

Thank you for praying for the trip we took to Galmi.   Things went pretty well, and the travel was safe for Jean and I.   On the way out to Galmi we took SIMAIR.   This was Jean's first time in an airplane, and one of his reactions was that pilots do not have an easy job!   The picture this time is Jean in the right side of the cockpit just before take off.   The flight to Galmi from Niamey takes about 1hr and 30 minutes and costs about 10 times as much as the bus, but the bus comes with a variety of drawbacks that we can talk about later.

We were able to cover most of our objectives, plus a few others we found after arriving in Galmi.   On the downside, there are a couple of things I am still working on as time permits in Niamey.   We could use prayer for two things in particular.   One is an Access databasethe pharmacy at the hospital uses and second is to codify and get screen shots of the restore procedure for the server at Galmi.  

The database issue I could use prayer that the Lord gives me wisdom on how to repair it.   There are some parts of the database that do not seem to be getting data from the proper tables.   The prayer for the restore procedure would be that we can recreate the SME server environment using virtual machinesin the office in Niamey to be able to test that the data and user information are being restored properly using the procedure we have mapped out.

Jean learned quite a bit while we were there, and together we asked questions about the problems we saw and how best to fix them.   Such practices will help him to think critically about issues as we face them this next year.   It was also interesting to see Jean in a place where he knew many of the people.   He grew up east of Galmi in Maradi,   but many of his family members live in Galmi, as does his fiancée.   So when we were not working, we were greeting many people!   On Sunday we were also able to go to the Hausa church in Galmi.

The bus rideback was 7 hot, non-air-conditioned, mouth drying, grueling hours.   We joked that the bus ride had at least one similarity to the SIMAIR flight.   We found ourselves in the air much of the time as we hurtled through bumps and holes in the road alternating from road construction, to road deterioration!   I for one, was very happy to see the final bus terminal in Niamey, and finally home.   Thank you for your prayers for this trip.  

The next trip we have out of Niamey, will likely not be for at least a month, but we continue to tackle computer issues in Niamey, at the office, at the Esprit bible school, and the FEU ministry to university students.   As an example, Monday the 28th of April we arrived at the office and were greeted to a toasted server.   Power surgesover the weekend had fried one but spared another (Yes, they are on UPS's, so you can imagine the level of the power surges).   The last time we had a major server loss in 2005, I spent 3 days rebuilding the system.   Because of redundancy, and a good backup cycle, we were able to be up and fully running in 3 hours.   God is good!

Items for prayer:
1- Praise that the A/C issue has been resolved and it is finally working in our living room.   There are a few other electrical issues to be worked out in the house, but we are so thankful that the Lord has been working things out.
2 - The car still remains in limbo.   The paper work for it and some other things going through exoneration have been lost, and we are restarting the process.   Hopefully we will see a speedier resolution this next time around.
3 - As we do get the car licensed, we might be looking to resell it as soon as we can.   The support levels we are receiving thus far are not where we need them to be, so we will be tightening our belts.   Pray that those who thought they would be able to partner with us at past levels will be able to do so, and that others may be led to partner with the ministry the Lord has given to us here.
4 - Chris had a softball hit him in the eye.   He did have his glasses on, and they took the brunt of the blow.   Those of you who know the past experience we had with Chris and a blow to the head he received in 2006, know this could have not been good news to us!   He appears to be ok, with no blurriness of eyesight, or headaches, which is another praise!
5 - The kids (and Wanda) have 3 and a half weeks of school yet.   But it is also moving into one of the hottest parts of the year.   Pray that they finish strong.
6 - Continue to pray for my work with Jean, that I am able to teach him, disciple him, and that we have a good working and personal relationship.
7 - Pray that the Lord guards our attitudes when things do not go well, or we thinkthey are not going well.   Help us to see our ways are not always His ways.   Mold us to His ways.

April 16, 2008 Update

It's getting hot now!

We are well into the hot season, with average high temperatures since March in the triple digits.  I know some of you back home are struggling with a cool spring.  If we could help you out we would in a heartbeat!

I (Randy) will be going to Galmi this Friday, April 18th via SIMAIR, and returning by bus to Niamey on the 21st.   Jean, the young Nigerien man learning the computer systems will be going along as well.   Galmi is the location of Galmi Hospital, a SIM related hospital with a long history in Niger, and one of the better facilities in the country.  Galmi Hospital is one of the ministries in Niger that cries out for a technical support person to be stationed there.  There are 2 servers, 7 or 8 administrative computers there, a few more scattered about in different areas of the hospital, and many personal machines of the missionary staff.  In addition, a portion of that missionary staff is transient as doctors come and go as they can give of their time and expertise at Galmi.  Someone that would be able to help with day to day computer issues and have a vision of where computer technology could help in that setting, and be able to implement that vision would be a great addition to that team.

We hope to accomplish 4 main things. 

1. Upgrade the servers (SME Serverand IPCOP).   Put together an easy to understand data recovery plan in case of a server crash at the hospital that could be implemented by the hospital administration.
2. Discuss longer range plans for computer technology at the hospital so we have a better understanding about upgrade paths and long term needs.
3. Look for options as we transition away from sim.ne email addresses and to either sim.org addresses or galmi.org addresses.   What will work for Galmi?   What will need to be done for that transition period?
4. Familiarize Jean to how this system works as opposed to the system at the office.   While the IPCOP firewall / gateway will be familiar, the SME server based system is different than the system in Niamey.

We will also, Lord and time willing, be looking as other computer related issues that are being compiled by the people at Galmi in anticipation of our arrival.

If you would like to pray a verse for us please pray that we strive to be the embodiment of Luke 10:27.   And he answered, €œYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. €   Also Matt 22:37, Deut 6:5, and Mark 12:31   May God be glorified by allowing us to show our love to Him and to others here.

Would you pray for the following?
1 - That the trip to and from Galmi would be safe and be a helpful learning experience for Jean.
2 - That as we look at problems that the Lord would provide us with the best answers and insight on how to repair those problems
3 - That Wanda and the boys are able to handle any issues that may come their way while Randy is gone.
4 - Pray for the staffing needs at Sahel Academy for next School year.   We still need at least one elementary teacher, and secondary English, Math, Science and French.
5 - That we would be a good witness to others, and an encouragement, that God may be glorified
6 - Praise that the boys are working hard at school.
7 - Help them to finish the last quarter strong, and with good attitudes.

There are a couple of other things that we would really like intercession for, that the Lord would provide resolution in some way.   They are logistical things, and things that we can function around, but they are distracting and patience stretching ... like really stretching!

1 - The A/C split we had purchased for the main part of the house 8 months ago is still not installed.   Some of the interior work has been started, but it has stalled at that point.   We praise the Lord that we do have a unit in one of the bedrooms!  
2 - The car that we purchased shortly after we arrived still is without plates, and useless until it has them.   We still are using the car we had last year, but it is in dire need of repair.  We had hoped by this time to be using the newer car, and have the original repaired, and allow to someone else to use it.

We appreciate your prayers for resolution of these items.

So what is it about Africa?

One of the the really hard things that one has to get used to in Africa is how long it takes to do anything. I mean literally anything. This is a problem in our personal experience at least Niger, but I have been told it is the same to varying degrees throughout Africa.

Here are some examples for you. We are in the second month of waiting for licence for our car. Granted it is an NGO exempt license which has some extra paper work involved, but 2 months! I have the need as a technical support person to have alternate access to the internet for many reasons. Upon our return we looked into a "Dogonay" phone which we can interface with a computer and get access to the internet. We had one of these last term, but sold ours to a fellow missionary when we went back to the US. To get a "new" (used but different) required 5 trips to the phone office, in which I waited approximately 7 hours. For a phone! I told Issiakou that in the US we would think it a waste of time to wait 30 minutes. He smiled. We are still waiting on installation of an A/C unit that we bought when we left for the US, hoping it would be installed sometime in the 6 months while we were gone. It is truly everything.

Beyond that, there is the problem of things that one needs for everyday life just not being available at all. We had weeks where it was almost impossible to find cooking gas in town. Other times in other years was lack of drinking water, or vehicle gas. And we have it better than many outside of the city in smaller towns.

I have never been sure of why this is. Is it lack of natural resources to begin with? Perhaps. The culture that is not nearly as time conscious as westerners are? Maybe, but there are Nigeriens who balk at the waiting too. I don't know that I have an answer, but I do have advice for those thinking about going to Africa, and perhaps other parts of the world for service or mission work. Bring a book, you'll need it while you are waiting!