December 2008

Back in Niger

Dear Friends,

After a emotionally draining 10 days we are back in Niger, truly saddened by having to say good-bye to my sister, but happy to be home. It seemed strange, as we came across the desert in the plane and as I glimpsed down at the barren, reddish earth below, that I felt I was getting closer to "home". After almost 4 years here off and on, I guess Niger has become more of a home than we would have imagined.

Candace's memorial was, as one put it,"The longest funeral I have been at, and the best." It was really a celebration of her life and those she touched while here on earth. It was also an opportunity for the Gospel to be clearly articulated to many people, as bringing others to Jesus was one of her passions. We grieve, not because we have no hope of seeing her again, but because we will miss her laughter and company while we are here.

Please continue to pray for her husband and children, for my dad, for my brothers and sisters, and others who knew her. Thank you.

This will be short and sweet. We will update you on the recent Galmi Hospital trip and other things soon. We just wanted to let our praying friends know that we are back safely and thanking you for you prayers in our travels.

Peace and Grace,

Randy and Wanda

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.