The Sahelian

 The masquerade was a wonderful evening of elegance and relaxation. Considering that it was placed right before a couple of very busy weeks, Student Council did an amazing job. They worked incredibly hard to bring together a wonderful banquet. There was good food, an amusing raffle and hard to beat dancing. The grassy area was decorated with Christmas lights, glittering masks and purple, black and blue sashes. The atmosphere was comfortable, yet very sophisticated with the aroma of pasta primavera, lasagna and spaghetti with meat sauce floating in the air. Everyone started out by socializing and checking out each other’s creative masks. We all then sat down for a delicious Italian buffet. As we were eating, a raffle was held that required the ‘winner’ to do something crazy to get the prize. After supper was over, you could either watch Beauty and The Beast or learn the Waltz and Two-step. The evening ended with laughter and I would say it was a completely successful evening! ~Jessica

Eagle’s Nest dorm went camping on Saturday to the river with the Winsors who were there to replace the Smiths while they were on their weekend off. Mr. Winsor worked on setting up the campsite for so long just to make it fun for us. I personally found it interesting because I’ve never camped before or slept in a tent. When we got there Mr. Winsor gave us some rules and then we started unloading the supplies from the cars. We girls slept in the biggest tent. After setting up, Tam and John got out their guitars and played some songs while the rest of us sang along. Soon after that, we ate hot dogs and pasta salad for supper and Mi-Yeon’s birthday cake for dessert. When we were all done filling our empty stomachs we had devotions and more singing.

Mr. Winsor, who is a great planner, had a game for us to play. The game went like this. The person on the front line was allowed to have their eyes open and hold a flashlight. All the other people had to have their eyes closed and follow the lead of the person with the flashlight. It was terrifying for all of us with our eyes closed, but we had to trust the lead. Sadly, I got a thorn on the back of my heel, so I couldn’t go on. It was good because we learned to trust each other and work together to reach our finish point.

At night we had the camp fire set up and the secondary students got to stay up chatting for a long time. The next day we had a simple Sunday devotional in the morning and then we went on the pirogue to experience the river. Before lunch we also went hiking. Looking down from the cliff onto the river was such a beautiful sight, and once again I saw the amazing creation of God in a little country called Niger that not many people know about. ~Esther

Adam’s perspective:

This Saturday, November 3rd, was a busy day for many people. While several missionaries and a few national artisans tried to sell things outside, the student council ran a 50’s style diner in the dining hall with hot pancakes and coffee.

Inside 1000 cfa could buy you all the pancakes you could eat and coffee or hot chocolate to wash it all down. Meanwhile, oldies music played in the background creating a fun atmosphere. Another attraction was the Lego building competition where people of all ages had a chance to compete in constructing first a space ship then a land vehicle much fun was had.

Outside a horde of potential buyers swarmed around the tables rented out by the senior class which also had a table of its own where they sold donated. Many other people came hoping to empty their cluttered closets and earn a little money in the process.

Overall it was a fun-filled morning where almost everybody found something to do. Both student council and the senior class made a decent profit to help fund more fun events later on in the year.

Jonathan’s perspective:

It’s Saturday morning. The seniors have all helped set up the scene for their first annual garage sale. It is almost 8:30. Miss Carriger, Jonathan, Adam and Matt are frantically pricing last minute items, setting up the items and making their senior table ready with all the stuff on it. Thirty minutes later, the stuff is ready to be sold. All four of these hard-working people are finally done and are eagerly waiting for the series of fortunate events to begin. Meanwhile, Student Council is preparing for a pancake breakfast at which they hope to make some profit too.

 It is finally 8:30!! The distant car sounds can be heard over the horizon. Customers are arriving. The seniors and StuCo are going to make some profit today. Artisans are coming down the dirt sodden road to sell their jewelry and weaponry in hope to gain something out of what they have skillfully made.

The dining hall is decorated with records hanging on the wall. You could hear the 70’s-music, the noise and activity from outside as people gathered around tables, chatting and getting caught up with each other. The music and the atmosphere were now becoming one harmony, both inside and out. It is a great gathering as many people from outside the community have come to join in the fun and interact. People from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds are interacting; exotic clothes and flamboyant dresses are clashing and blending together as we speak-literally!! The many voices that are heard sound like one piece of music blending together, each piece a part of the grand design that God has created.

The goodies were numerous. Ranging from freebies to Christmas ornaments, to artisan stuff to clothes-you name it- we probably had it! Many people came by to every stand and found a thing or two that they wanted. Some of the more African people bartered and we reduced the cost to make their day.

Chantelle’s perspective:

On Saturday the senior class and Student Council held a ‘double-whammy’ fundraiser. The seniors had a garage sale, where they sold donated items and rented tables for other people to sell stuff. They had creatively named it ‘A Saturday of Fortunate Events’. Student Council had a pancake breakfast with a 60’s twist. They decorated the inside of the Dining Hall as a 60’s diner called the Bee-Bop Pancake Shop. The StuCo members dressed like they were from the 60’s era with poodle skirts for the girls, and slicked-back hair for the guys!

I saw the from a very different perspective than most Sahel students. With my mom helping StuCo and my dad doing other stuff, I was the one responsible for our 6 garage sale tables. We were finally selling TONS of our old junk! When the sale started, there were very few people wandering around. Things were fairly easy, and I sold some things. As the hours passed however, I began to feel like I was running the Grande Marche single-handedly. There were so many people coming to buy our stuff, and I was feeling very overwhelmed! One small problem was change. There never seemed to be enough change around, and at least twice someone had to get change from elsewhere. There was also some confusion over purchased items. Some people bought things and thought that I would remember what they had purchased, and they could leave them sitting nearby. With so many people, and so much to sell, I didn’t remember for a few people. I accidentally sold something that someone else had reserved (but thankfully hadn’t paid for). I almost did this twice, but someone corrected me before I made the same mistake. It was very embarrassing.

I hadn’t eaten breakfast and as all this was going on, I was getting hungrier and hungrier. It was past 10 am before I was able to eat any of the pancakes that were being sold. Mr. Gillespie brought me something to eat when the crowed had thinned a bit. When you’ve waited that long for breakfast, it really tastes GOOD! By noon people were leaving, and we began to clear up and consolidate all the items that we hadn’t sold. It was incredible how much we had gotten rid of and along with that, the amount of money we made! Although parts of the morning were stressful for me, it was a very productive morning.

On October 29, 2007, six people were baptized before the missionary community. Everyone looked a little nervous, maybe a little cautious, All I can do is to tell my side of the story. Every since I was in pre-school (and before), I have been raised in a Christian home. I was expected to love Jesus and follow Him. I had no problem with that. In fact, I liked it a lot. As I matured in my Christianity, conviction and realization surrounded me as I dug deeper into how to really live my normal day-to-day life for Him. I knew I needed to be baptized - it’s commanded - and the longer I put it off, the more convicted I felt. As I was being dunked under that cleansing water, I was more convinced that I was saved through God’s grace. I now feel like I don’t have to worry about my relationship with God. I believe that before I was baptized, I had already given my life to God, and I was His. But now, after being baptized, everyone knows it - and that brings glory to God. ~Jessica

Faithful Prayer Supporters, I’m sending you this special update which includes a letter from a missionary family here in Niger. It mentions a major concern of ours that we ask you to pray about tonight as you meet together and then this week as you think about us. Thank you.

 "Whenever you create a file or install a new program on the computer you want to make a backup copy of whatever it is.  Then in case the original copy gets corrupted or deleted,  you haven’t lost all your work.  In a war, the troops on the front line need plenty of support and backup to maintain their momentum.  Without adequate transportation facilities, doctors, air support, food, water, and ammunition, the army cannot do its job. Planning ahead and working together as a team are essential if the war effort is to succeed. Likewise,  any country needs a good infrastructure to maintain a certain standard of living.  Roads, airports, electric grids, water and telephone lines, sewers, schools, postal systems, offices, churches, and manufacturing plants are all essential to our way of life.  But what if all these backup systems were pulled out from under us and we had little support to continue living our lives the way we always have?" (Written in 2002)

 

We have often said that if it were not for the support of Sahel Academy, we would not be able to continue our work in Tera.  That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but we certainly would not be able to continue with the same amount of effectiveness.  We also look at how well Daniel and Suzanne are doing and know it is in part because of the partnership we have enjoyed with Sahel Academy.

Because we are 100% behind Sahel Academy and their mission, we come to you with two very urgent prayer requests.  By mid-January (or before!) we need to have a high school math teacher (or two) and a principal (grades K-12).  It would be ideal if the principal were also familiar with the accreditation process for ACSI and MSA, but we won’t be too picky at this point!  We need somebody to fill each of these positions until early June. 

Our high school math teacher came to do a year and will be finishing 3 1/2 years in December!  So, a warning comes attached to this plea: You may like it well enough to stay!  He extended another 1/2 year this year because no math teacher was in the pipeline for the fall, but he needs to be back in England in December.  Our principal has finished a four-year term and is on a much-deserved home assignment in Australia.  She will be back for the beginning of the school year in August 2008.

Please pray for these positions to be filled.  Our teaching staff is already over-extended and cannot take on any more classes.  Our director is trying to do his job, the principal’s job, and keep the school moving forward in the accreditation process and has more to do than one man can possibly ever get done.  Some of the teachers have taken on extra responsibilities to try to lighten his load.

Please think about filling one of these positions.  If you are interested, contact SIM directly through their website (www.sim.org), write to them at  Box 7900, Charlotte, NC  28241, or call them at 1-800-521-6449 or 1-704-588-4300.  We’d love it if you were able to partner with us in reaching the Songhai.

It is also possible to come to Sahel Academy under EBM (www.ebm.org) or SIL (www.sil.org).  If that were to be your preference, contact them through their websites.

Thanks so much for your prayers for these urgent needs.

Love,

Nancy and John DeValve (and Suzanne who needs a math teacher!)

Maybe you are God’s answer to this prayer. If you need more information, please visit the school website at www.sahelacademy.com.

The Ayorou trip was a very interesting outreach trip where a group of us went to a small town to clean up a clinic for the people living in that town. When we got to Ayorou, we went to Marc’s house where the guys were staying. Then we got out of the school van and went to visit the clinic that we were going to clean, and paint.

Arriving at the clinic we got a warm welcome from the people who ran it. We went inside the clinic and looked at what we were going to be dealing with. What I observed was a shock. It was not a place I would want to go to if there was something wrong with me. The place smelled, it was dirty, there was bat manure on the wall, and spider webs everywhere. We had a lot of work to do.

The next day we started our work. We thoroughly cleared the inside of the clinic. We swept the floor, and then washed everything in all the rooms. We were in different groups, some washing one room that wasn’t going to be painted, some cleaning the waiting rooms and some cleaning other rooms.

After cleaning everything, we painted the rooms of the clinic. When we were finished, the place was clean. We all had fun, we enjoyed helping people have a good clean clinic to go to. I was very happy that I could go and serve the people of Ayorou, and also that the Lord had given me this opportunity to go and serve. I have come to realize that there are a lot of people that don’t have as much as I do. I have come to realize more that it’s not about doing what I want, but about how I can help.  ~Antony

A few weeks ago, eleven students and three staff members headed out to a village called Ayorou, about 3 1/2 hours northeast of Niamey. That night we set up camp; the guys stayed at Mark’s and Parker’s house and the girls at Emily Elliot’s house. Once the tents were all set up, the food was kindly prepared by a couple of the girls and we sat down to a hardy meal of ‘tigea duga hoy’ (peanut sauce and rice). Once we were all moaning because we were so full, we went into a time of all out worship. It was truly powerful. God did a lot of things during that weekend, but the hardest and most rewarding part of the trip was the dispensary.

Our main reason in going to Ayorou was to serve the people there by extensively cleaning and then painting the town’s dispensary- the only means of healthcare for the people in Ayorou and the surrounding villages. I don’t know if you have ever been to a dispensary out in the bush, but to give you the basic gist, it was absolutely DISGUSTING. All of the beds, walls and floors were covered in medicine, blood, bat feces and years and years worth of dirt–not a healthy combination!

We began early in the morning scrubbing everything with a very large amount of soap and bleach. Although this may sound like the easy part of the job, it was incredibly trying for all of us. We were forced to not only go outside of our comfort zones, but we were thrown into work that many people would never want to do. We first swept the ceilings of dust and spiders along with all of their webs. Next we scrubbed the walls with soap and then did a rinse down. After about 2 1/2 hours, many people moved onto painting the walls. We painted the rooms with a boarder of a bright blue (like Smurfs) while the bottom part was painted grey. The waiting room was painted dark brown after the rest of the rooms were done.

While the rest of the group was painting, Jessica and I (Tam) noticed that the diagnosis room where all of the patients were waited on had been neglected. Seeing as no one was planning on doing anything about that room and there weren’t enough paint brushes for everyone to paint, we decided to take on the job of cleaning the blood stained beds and mop the floors. This was the hardest part of the trip for me. Bending over, scrubbing ‘past pain’ off of these beds and clearing the floor of the old needles that had offered a reprieve to some of the anguish that some of these people had felt. I must honestly say, that none of this working was of me or of anyone else on the trip. I had to constantly stop and just lay all of my own inhibitions before God and allow him to work through me because I did not want to go through with what I had come to do; I felt it too hard. Again, I was reminded of God’s great power and how He so much desires for us to call out to Him when we cannot do it on our own.

We really couldn’t have done it on our own, but because of God’s help the transformation was amazing. After our long day of work, we all headed back to the Phillip’s house where a group of us got dinner together and the rest of us were finally able to sit down and relax. It felt absolutely wonderful to take a load off. That night, at dinner we were all a bit hyper from the joy of knowing what we had done. (Paint fumes might have been part of this too, but we won’t worry about that.) That evening we spent some more time singing and thanking God for the night and then we split into groups of guys and girls, Quaker-style, and talked about the different kinds of love-brotherly, romantic and agape love-and how we should apply love to all relationships and more specifically in dating relationships. This time was a good way to end the day, but I think by this time we were all ready to go to sleep.

The next day we walked to a building that is used for Bible study every Sunday. There we worshipped in Zarma and Hausa, and while some of us stayed in for the Bible study, Suzanne and a group of us went out and helped lead a small Sunday school for the kids. They read the story of David and Goliath and colored a picture. This was really neat because we were able to connect with the kids that we otherwise wouldn’t have.

After Bible study we ate lunch, packed up, and headed back to Niamey. Our weekend in Ayorou was a long and trying one, but God truly made it a wonderful one. He gave us the opportunity to reach out and be reminded of how amazing His love–working in and through us– truly is. ~Tamarah

The ninth International School Library Day will be held on 22 October 2007. To celebrate this day, IASL (International Association of School Libraries) invites school libraries to organize special activities. IASL also provides the annual theme which this year is ’Learning: powered by your library’. Sahel Academy is joining these events for the first time.

 A display, ‘European Authors in a Nutshell’, has been set up this week through next Tuesday (Oct. 23^rd) in the main and side corridor in the secondary building. Except for the Dutch books, all books on display are from the library. Commonly read authors like Brian Jacques, James Herriot, and E. Nesbitt are presented. Some less known authors such as Jules Verne, Astrid Lindgren, Cervantes, Arthur Ransome and Annie MG Schmidt are also to be explored! Hopefully, students will discover some new interesting authors and their works, broaden their horizon, and take the challenge of reading various European literature.
~Mrs. Vander  Plaetse

Every outreach tip is different from what we expect. No two outreach trips can be compared to each other in the same ways. For some trips, the people are different, for other trips the circumstances are different. One thing is true about all outreach trips, though, and this is that the people that go on an outreach will come back a different person. They will have new experiences, new memories and maybe even new friends or new convictions.

The first outreach trip of this year was on Oct 12-14. It was a trip to a rural village called Makalondi. Since Oct 12-14 was the last weekend of our October break, everyone was very excited and full of energy. After loading up the two vehicles, the 10 team members consisting of Collin, Casey, Ryan, Chris, Daniel, Claire, Esther, TJ, Julie, Suzanne and two adults, Dave Totman and Bob Gillespie, piled in and pulled out of Niamey for the hour long road trip.

When we arrived, Gary Freemen greeted us at his gate with a huge smile. Later we also received a very warm welcome from Joy Freeman. Uncle Gary instructed where in their big yard to set up the tents and we got to work. After the tents were set up, we met on the Freeman’s veranda and discussed what we were going to do this weekend. We had a plan, but we would never know how God was going to use this plan for his glory. The mysteries of the next few days excited all of us. We could imagine the building we were going to paint, but would the picture in our imagination look anything like what we were actually going to work on? We soon found out. The Freemans had planned to take us to their favorite hiking spot, a small hill about 10 km outside of Makalondi. On the way to the ‘mountain’, we stopped and looked at the building that we would be painting the next day. The small building is a dormitory used for kids that would like to attend school but live too far in the bush to come to school. A wonderful Christian couple runs the dorm for the school, the church and the kids. The dorm is small, one large room for the 13 boys and one small room for the 2 girls who attend. Another small room is the dorm parent?s personal space. Cooking is done outside.

Continuing on towards the ‘mountain’ we enjoyed laughing and getting to know each other better. The hike was quick, complete with prickers and antics from Chris, Ryan, Daniel, Casey, and Collin. When we returned from the hike, Aunt Joy pulled out some already made pizza crusts and the chore team helped finish making the pizzas. Everyone enjoyed eating Aunt Joy’s wonderful pizza. After dinner the team practiced some songs in French and Gormache for the church service on Sunday morning. After the serious singing, everyone had a fun time laughing and telling jokes. Finally, everyone trooped off to bed. Unfortunately, the neighbors had planned their daughters wedding for that night, and the loud music kept almost everyone awake until past 2.

Saturday started bright and early with breakfast, and everyone quickly loaded in the Freeman’s truck to head to the dormitory to begin painting. We mixed the paint into a rich blue and began painting the walls. The team worked quickly and efficiently and still had a lot of fun. By noon, we had finished painting the two smaller rooms and we had more than half of the large room done. At this point we ran out of paint, so we returned to the Freeman’s house for some lunch and rest.

At about 4, many Makalondi youth began showing up for a large soccer match. The Sahel team and some of the Makalondi kids split off into teams and played a very enjoyable game of soccer for about an hour. The score ended up being 0-0. The soccer ball was donated to Sahel Academy and was used to demonstrate the wordless book since it had patches of black, red, white, yellow and green to show sin, the blood of Jesus, cleanliness or holiness, the hope of heaven and growing in God. After the soccer game, everyone grabbed a drink, and then gathered with the Christian young people in Makalondi for supper and a time of playing games. The team from Sahel taught the youth group PIT, Uno, Twister and Mafia. Everyone had a blast laughing with each other and learning many new things.

Saturday night, everyone went quickly through the showers and to bed. The wedding was still continuing, but most of us were so exhausted that we could just ignore it.

Sunday morning everyone woke up to a large breakfast of cinnamon rolls, banana bread, banana muffins and more banana bread. Then we went to a nearby EBM church in Baniera. The church was a medium-sized building made out of concrete with rows of benches, and a pulpit at the front. Women sat on one side, men on the other, and many children were crammed in the middle. The entire service was in Gormache, although the Sahel team did sing a few songs in French and even one in Gormache!

After the church service we returned to the Freeman’s house, ate a quick lunch and packed up the cars.

After every outreach trip, there seems to be something disappointing–and that is that the time is over. Many people look forward to rest and a nice shower, but the memories from the trips will always last and the lessons that God has taught us will always be with us.

The tension’s high. It’s the top of the 7^th and the Suns are winning by a stretch. This being the finals, the crowd is filled with excitement!

The first batter for the Suns steps up to the plate as the cheers of people calling out his name echo throughout the ball field. The first pitch soars through the air and lands on the plate with a thunk. Strike one! That’s ok. Never swing at the first pitch, some say. The ball gets back to the pitcher and he loosens up and throws another one. This time you hear a ting. Contact! The ball goes bouncing along the ground and under the second baseman’s legs, giving the runner just enough time to get to first base.

The second batter steps up to the plate. The pitch comes. He swings and swish, he misses. “Come on, wait for the right one,” someone says. The next pitch comes. This time he doesn’t swing. It lands a little too short. “Ball one,” the umpire calls. I hear “good eye, good eye” resounding all around me. Another pitch soars through the air. This time it’s a little too high. “Ball two,” the umpire calls. Yet another chorus of, “good eye, good eye”. The pitcher throws the fourth pitch, this time a good one, but the batter swings just a bit early and just barely nicks it, sending it straight up. The catcher puts out his glove and catches it. Batter’s out. “Good try,” I say as I watch the batter walk off.

The third batter pats the second on the back and then walks up to the plate. The first pitch comes, he swings and misses. The second time he swings and misses yet again. “Come on,” I scream, “you can do it!” The third time the pitch soars through the air. It’s a beautiful one. The batter swings and hits the ball right over the infield. He runs as fast as he can, touching first base and then sliding into second, just before the second baseman catches the ball.

The next batter steps up to the plate. The outfielders converse among themselves and then all move back. They know he can hit. The ball is pitched. The batter swings and hits the ball deep into the outfield. Everybody watches expectantly. “Please don’t catch that,” I whisper. Swap! The ball lands in one of the outfielders’ gloves. Batter’s out. That is the second out.

The next batter steps up to the plate. The pitch soars through the air and hits the plate. Strike one. The second time the batter makes good contact sending the ball bouncing along the ground to the second baseman. The second baseman picks up the ball and throws it to first getting the batter out. The third out, but it doesn?t really matter since we’re winning anyway, and there isn’t much of a possibility that the other team, JICA, can catch-up now.

“You can do it guys! Show us some good defense!” I shout as I watch the Suns move out in the field. Various other shouts are heard around me as the players reach their positions. The first batter steps up to the plate. The ball flies towards the batter but lands too far to the side. “Ball one,” the umpire calls. The ball comes again and this time lands a little too short. “Ball two,” the umpire calls. The pitcher sends the ball soaring towards the base once more. This time the batter swings and hits. The ball goes flying into the field but lands in foul territory. “Strike one,” the umpire calls. The pitcher regains the ball and pitches it, this time a little too flat. “Ball three,” the umpire calls. Yet again the pitcher throws the ball and yet again the batter does not swing. The pitch is too high. “Ball four,” the umpire calls, as the batter walks to first.

The next batter is at the plate. The first pitch soars through the air and hits the plate. The second pitch flies toward the batter. He swings and misses. Then the fourth pitch comes toward the batter. He swings and hits the ball straight into the second baseman?s glove. Batter’s out.

The next batter approaches the plate. The ball is pitched. He swings and misses. The second pitch he swings and hits right between the right fielder and the center fielder. He takes off, as the right fielder and the center fielder run to get control of the ball. Finally one of them does and throws it to their cut-off who then throws it to home. Swap! The ball lands directly in the catcher’s glove, holding the batter at third base and getting the other runner out just before he could slide into home.

Another batter is ready at the plate. He swings at the first pitch and sends it deep into the outfield. “Mine, mine,” one of the outfielders shouts as he runs forward watching the ball all the way into his glove.

A cheer goes up as the Suns all run into the field patting each other on the back. “They did it!” I say shaking the person next to me. “They really did it! The Suns won the finals!” I run to the field to congratulate the players. I say “good game” to many of the players on both sides and then hug one of my friends saying, “I knew they could do it! I just knew it!”

Even as I watch all the people celebrating around me, I think of the other Sahel team that I had been on. The Comets was the girl’s team. We had come pretty close to winning sometimes, but had lost all our games in the end. That wasn’t what mattered though. What mattered was that we had come off that field better than we had gone on, and we had kept up a good attitude of joy, team spirit, and good sportsmanship.

As I watched the Suns line up for their team picture, I smiled. Sahel would always have a winning season, no matter what the final score was, as long as the players continued to have a good attitude, to show fair sportsmanship, and most importantly to trust God in all things. ~Julie