Niger: Pizza ovens and People's lives

We decided on a "stay-cation." Nick and Parker had been working for about 3 months without any time off. They asked for a four-day weekend, so we were deciding what to do. In case you couldn't tell from pictures, Niger doesn't offer much in the recreation department. We could have chosen to spend the weekend in another rural town in Niger, but packing up two kids and food just to have different red soil and African thorn trees to see didn't seem too appealing to me. So we chose to stay put and do some things we had wanted to do for awhile, but hadn't had the time. Like go for a long walk through the fields. Like fly our kite with Anna's son, DJ. Like sleep in. And for Nick... build a pizza oven. Hundreds of hours watching YouTube videos and reading articles were finally culminating in an actual pizza oven. The process was intense.



A hospital translator connected Nick with a brickmaker so he could learn about mixing clay soil and where to find it. A guy from the compound shop helped him find a pile of rocks he could transport to build the base.

Another guy knew another guy who would sell Nick some straw and millet chaff so some of the clay would have more structural integrity.

Hausa people are big on greetings. There are 3-4 standard questions you almost always ask when you meet someone on the road. "How's your morning? How's your work? How's your tiredness? How's your family?" During this oven-making process, the greeting Nick and I often received was "How's your oven?"

The hospital and missionary housing compound had 3-4 guards working most of the time. ("Guards" is a bit of an exaggeration, they were mainly there to keep away door-to-door trinket sellers and to kill snakes. Both of which they did well!) All the guards stopped by at least once on their rounds to check out the oven and compliment Nick's work. One of our favorites even helped Nick for a few minutes. The shop guys started coming by as well.

The local people are very grateful for missionary doctors coming to offer health care for people who need it so badly. And they have high admiration for health care workers since most local people have not finished high school, let alone post-graduate school. But when they saw Nick could work with his hands and make something from the ground, they had a respect for him that no degree could bestow. I'm going to differentiate between admire and respect. I don't know what Webster's has to say about it... but when I admire someone, I think what they are doing is impressive.  However, when I respect them, really respect them, I think what they are doing is legit. Hopefully you catch my drift?

The 4-day weekend was close to the end of our time in Niger, but it was a clear turning point for our relationships with local people. Our language had really taken off, and Nick was doing work the Hausa people could finally relate to. Don't get me wrong, the medical work was amazing. Nick saved countless lives with his training and some basic medicine. And that's important. Jesus healed people, and He has given Nick training that allows him to do the same. And while we want Nick to use his training to benefit people's lives, we didn't go to Niger just to buy some people extra time on earth. We went because Jesus has changed our lives. He has given us peace with our Heavenly Father and a joy beyond anything this earth can give. He has given our lives purpose by calling us to build His house, His "kingdom" that will last forever. And we want to see Jesus change Hausa lives, too. We want to see Jesus change American lives for that matter: the lives of our kids and parents and siblings and neighbors. But Nick has a profession that is needed in countries across the world - countries where there aren't very many people who want to see Jesus change lives. Countries where most people have no idea that Jesus does change lives, or that God even cares about them enough to want good for them.

We weren't in Niger nearly long enough to see lives really changed for good by the gospel. But we went for training so that someday we are better equipped to go to a place and see that very thing happen. Lives may be impacted by doing medical work in Jesus' name, but lives won't be changed unless we really enter the world people are living in and live it with them. While medical work may get us to a place, building a pizza oven seems more likely to get us into people's hearts and lives, the places where respect is earned and where the life-giving life of Jesus can take root and change a person.

When People Become Precious (written Nov 30, 2014)

I remember writing a blog post with this exact sentiment when I left Thailand after a year to come home and get married. I may have even titled it the same. Today was one of those days. One of those days when being here, away from family and close friends, away from our favorite foods and yummy coffee drinks, one of those days when being here was easy. 

DJ

A gracious friend checked out a mission car in order to drive our family to the hometown of Anna, our house help. She was leaving for the weekend to go to the wedding of an extended family member. I asked her if I could come along. She was really surprised I was interested, but very excited. Her hometown is in the “bush,” which is the African way of saying the “boonies,” so it took a bit of planning to make it work. Anna went early and stayed late to help with preparations, so we drove her husband and "adopted"* son, DJ, with us. The groom was DJ's older brother.

Waiting for the wedding

We didn’t see much of the wedding, just the women dressed up in their best and some of the men drumming and dancing. But we saw probably every member of Anna’s extended family within a mile radius (a long distance when walking on sandy roads with flip flops!). And it was worth every step. Anna has become so dear to us. She feels like my Hausa Prang, for those of you who know of my dearest friend and sister in Thailand who was in our wedding. It was so special to be able to meet Anna's dad and sister and grandma and cousin… and cousin and cousin. It was so special to show her that the people who are important to her are important to us. And to have another shared experience that gives us even more of a connection.

We had to leave early so our friend, Deb, could drive us home before dark. Before we got in the car, Anna gave me a big hug. Not just an awkward “I-know-you-Americans-do-this” hug, but a strong one. In the car, Moriah can’t see Anna through all the people crowded around the vehicle so she hollers out “Where’s Anna? Where’s Anna?” Anna can see Moriah craning her neck and waving eagerly. As we pull away, Anna is visibly choked up. Hausa people do not choke up often. They say “You can cry in your heart, but not in your eyes.” Kids are chasing our car, and Anna keeps walking with them. Now her face has broken out into a huge smile with her teeth shining bright against her dark face. She is waving happily.

My heart is overwhelmed with all kinds of feelings - joy, sadness, privilege. Joy for being able to catch a glipmse of Anna’s childhood and see her family. Sadness for the impending goodbye that is coming in under two weeks. Privilege at being able to know such a special women and being able to call her our friend and sister.

I was describing our day to a fellow missionary and said, “These are the moments when you say ‘This is why we’re here.’” Then I said, “Actually a better way to describe our day is that these are the moments when being here is easy.” 

Leaving Starbucks and fast food and jeans and putting on head coverings and scarves and long skirts... we need to do these things if we want to have meaningful relationships with people here. And all these things are hard. When the people here become precious to us, however, that changes everything. All these things become easy when people become precious.

I thought about being in heaven one day, standing with Prang and Anna both. How did I get to be so fortunate that God would allow me to know such precious people? I’m sad that our lives are intersecting only for a season, but grateful that because of Jesus, our relationships can have significance for eternity. Relationships. They are the only investments that offer dividends when we leave this world**. Our relationship with God, and our relationships with the people He has given us to love.  If we invest wisely, and by the grace God gives us through His Spirit living in us, our dividends will be fellow worshippers with us in heaven, and more friends to walk with on that glorious day when God makes all things new. All things new. Jesus told us not to store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but to store up for ourselves treasure in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal. My Starbucks gets cold and my Brahm’s shake gets warm, and our mutual funds can be wiped out in an instant. But my Anna? She will be singing and dancing forever at the feet of Jesus. And I will get to be there with her. Even if she has better rhythm than I do. 

*I use adopted in quotations because adoption within Hausa culture resembles our understanding of the concept, but also has differences. Hausa adoption usually seems to happen within an extended family. Also, the adopted child seems to maintain the biological identity. For example, DJ’s biological parents were introduced to us as his parents, and his biological brothers were introduced to us as his brothers.

**I fondly credit my dear friend and mentor from my time in Thailand, Jim Larson, for this line of thinking from Matthew 6:19-21.

All photography credit goes to Deb Berruti