When you live in the country and culture that you grew up in it is relatively easy to identify ways communicate love and value. We know largely what is valued, what words are considered ‘kind’ or ‘loving’. We know how to convey what we want, we know what is excessive.
Now, imagine that you have moved to a new culture. You don’t speak the language so you have no way to tell anyone anything. Even after several months you are limited to basic three, four or five word sentences. The cultural rules that governed your own culture don’t apply here. Things aren’t valued in financial terms, time doesn’t carry the same weight, a myriad of social and religious nuances blur the lines of what is normal, what is frugal and what is excessive. How do you thank someone? How do you bless someone without it being awkward or just plain weird? These are questions we have been asking and lessons we have been learning. On many occasions I’m sure we have got it wrong, I’m sure our new friends have been gracious. There have been three occasions recently, however, that have brought both us and our friends joy. We wanted to share that joy with you too. As a church family, when one part is encouraged, we are all encouraged! 1. The refrigerator. One of our friends who owns a small shop near us sells drinks from a refrigerator. When I say refrigerator I mean a big chest freezer retrofitted with lots of copper pipe around the inside. Every day he fills it with drinks that never used to get below 25 degrees. One day he told me the compressor had ‘died’ and that he had scraped together approx. $40au and ordered a new one. I asked if he had ordered a bigger compressor, as the old one was way undersized. He said that he hadn’t because he didn’t have the money, the small one would have to do. I walked away thinking this was a missed opportunity for improving his refrigerator, and knowing that this small compressor would never be upgraded. After talking with Andy and going through what might be appropriate I returned with a proposal. I asked if he had the money would he install the bigger compressor. He said ‘yes’, and so I asked would he like me to loan the extra $40 now, and run an account in his shop until we had bought $40 worth of merchandise? (We often buy rice and other bits and pieces there.) He agreed and quickly phoned the refrigeration guy to tell him the good news. Our friend is happy. His drinks are cold. Seeing the smile on my friends face gave me the most joy I’ve received from loaning $40 for a long time. 2. The Imam Another one of our friends is an imam or Islamic teacher. He doesn’t fit many of our experiences of such people. He is kind, generous, and a real seeker of God. Recently he got an infection in his finger. He tried traditional medicine but it wasn’t helping. We told him he should go to the hospital, but he refused saying that you only leave there wrapped up (dead)… and there is probably some truth to that statement here. The next day he didn’t come to work and so the day after we visited him in his home. He was sick. The infection had spread up his arm and into his chest. He couldn’t eat or sleep and was in a lot of pain. He finally agreed to let me take him to a clinic run by an American missionary, where all the staff are locals. The doctor said, given another day or two, he would have lost his finger, if not worse. Through clenched teeth I watched as they stuck a needle into my friend’s finger and then used a scalpel to cut away the large part of the finger that was dead. Without working for a few days he was down to his last few cents. I paid the $4.50 bill which included a big bag of painkillers and antibiotics and took him back across town every three days to have the dressing changed. There was no sense of lost time as I waited with him over the hours at the crowed clinic. Our friend is healing, he is back at work, he still has his finger, he is happy and thankful, and we are thankful for his smile and warm greeting back on the street again. 3. Our temporary night guard. Our friend from Andy’s ‘Two Men’ story worked diligently as our replacement guard for the month of May. As the month drew to a close, we offered him the Saturday night shift, but had no other work for him. His wife had kicked him out and he had lost his normal job (before he worked for us). This man is not a Muslim or part of any other family. He had also come here from a nearby country, and so had no family in Niamey. He asked if he could live with us but we had to say no. It was difficult to say that to a man with no place to go and to watch him put all he owns in a plastic bag. While he was with us I had begun making some ginger beer. My friend who owns the refrigerator shop tasted it and said he would sell some if I made it. I asked our guard if he wanted to go into a different line of work and he agreed to try. We have since made several batches and he is close to making it on his own. It is selling and although not for a great deal, it is enough for food. He has also found some shared accommodation. Our friend is happy and our relationship has remained. It brings us joy to see him active and with purpose. We are glad to know him and hope to continue to see his smile on the street.
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One day Brad was sitting with our friend outside his shop and a man walked past with a crate lid. Brad told his friend that I would be able to paint a good picture on that, so he bought the crate lid and asked me for a sign for his restaurant with a man and a woman eating a meal. I was more than happy to do this and set about finding paint in Niger - not straight forward. Eventually I found some oil based fence paints of primary colours, white and brown, and set about making his sign. Belle was soon to follow suit - our little budding artist. The next few photos are the sign in place out the front of the restaurant, us eating in the restaurant, which we do quite regularly for all of $1/meal... and Grace, his daughter the same age as Belle. One evening recently the missionary kid highschool was performing the Wizard of Oz - so I decided to take Grace and her two older sisters - one of which is an adopted cousin. Though it was in English and they didn't have any idea what was going on, it was still a treat for the senses which they would never normally experience. It was also just a treat to drive in a car with air conditioning and to have a night off working in the restaurant. This is them seated at the concert, and a better photo of Grace and Belle, as well as Masaline the cousin, and yes that is a fish head she's eating. We are growing to love this family very much, and they have been pivitol in us settling into life in Niger - introducing us to church and talking through cultural issues as well as just offering friendship.
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AuthorWe are Brad, Andy, Hunter and Belle. Hoping to keep you connected! Archives
May 2019
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