The Sahelian

Dateline: June 5, 2008 - For the first time, Sahel’s graduation ceremony was held on the “green”, a beautiful patch of grass in the center of the campus which stands out from all the sand around it as a cool green oasis.  Especially unique this year: instead of ceremoniously marching down the aisle, the graduates arrived from across the campus on camels. This year’s graduating class consisted of three boys, all of whom have grown up in Africa since they were infants. Each one in some way commented that he was not at all saddened at what he had missed by not growing up in North America, but felt that he has been blessed by all that he has gained by growing up in Africa. Pray for these three graduates who are now saying good-bye to their home of the last 18 years.

The following 2008 Staff Commendation was written and delivered by secondary Science teacher Ray White.

“The seniors three are very unique individuals in that they have spent most of their lives in Africa. Matt was born in Sierra Leone, Adam was born in Tennessee and came to Africa at a very young age. Jonathan was born in Montreal, Quebec and came to Benin at age 3 months. Adam entered Sahel Academy in the 1^st grade, Matt in the 5^th, and Jonathan in the 12^th. I have had the privilege of teaching all 3; Matt and Adam chemistry and all 3 physics. I have seen them mature quite a bit during that time…

“All made significant contributions to class; most were good, but some were not so good. Matt and Adam had the most accidents during lab but were very good at helping others with math problems, even me. Adam added tremendously to the class atmosphere with his constant sarcasm and dry wit.

“At the end of the 2^nd semester of chemistry, I told the students that the exam would be open book and open note. That didn’t help Matt and Adam that much because they didn’t have any notes. When Jonathan joined the physics class, I gave him the option of choosing lab partners. He made a questionable choice when he selected Matt and Adam. When they turned in their lab reports, Matt and Adam’s met minimum requirements but Jonathan would submit a book. I don’t think that Matt and Adam ever allowed Jonathan to become a yak brother.

“All three contributed significantly to their softball team’s taking first place in the NUTS tournament. Adam was the leader of the Gray Goats who won the overall competition for field day. All three are interested in going into a math or physics related field.

“Now for some information about each one:

“Matt went through 3 evacuations, two of which were serious. The family lost everything. When Matt and his family were getting settled in Michigan when he was 5 years old, he asked his mother if they were going to stay until the rebels arrived. Matt likes most anything that deals with numbers. He likes computer strategy games. He is quickly becoming a fan of the Detroit Pistons and Red Wings. He looks forward to spending time with his older brother and sister back in Michigan. He has enjoyed going to the bush with his parents while here in Africa. He is a University of Michigan fan as is evidenced by the hat he wears most of the time. He despises red clothing. Last year when he was placed on the red intramural team, he had to go searching for a red shirt. Matt plans to go to a community college in Michigan and eventually end up at the University of Michigan where he plans to go into the math/physics field. I think he will end up being a statistician for the University of Michigan and also an entrepreneur for “M go Blue paraphernalia.

“Matt, I would like for you to take these verses with you. Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophesies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. 1 Thes 5: 16-22.

“Jonathan likes tennis and softball, working on the computer as well as reading. He is very friendly. Normally, every morning he and I would arrive at school at about the same time and he would always greet me. He likes to organize events for people. He is very considerate of others. He worked with a church PA system in Montreal as well as the one here at school. He has worked on a yearbook committee and done public service to raise funds for an orphanage in Cotoneau. At times he has suffered with asthma and allergies.His favorite foods are pate rouge (a corn dish), spicy foods and pizza. He hates rawvegetables, onions, agouti (a field rat delicacy) and gombo.Jonathan plans to do a gap year in Montreal, get involved with a church youth group and then pursue a co-op program at either McGill or Concordia University. He would like to also attend Bible school for a year. He hopes to end up as a mechanical engineer. I think, because of his eloquence and language ability in both English and French, that he should become a speech writer for the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.

“Jonathan, these verses are for you: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Col 3: 16-17.

“Adam has been at Sahel the longest. His first time to live in the dorm was in 1991. He likes cheese and meat but hates vegetables. He likes softball and football, most computer and video games, math, Tennessee Titans, cars, wrestling, dry humor, the color black, hooded sweat shirts, Harry Potter and Ted Dekker, and quips on T-shirts. He dislikes soccer, people who are oblivious, waking up (alarm clocks), the color yellow, manual labor, Idrissa’s fried rice, and Chantelle’s tea. Adam plans to go to technical school in Iowa to become a radiologist. If you want to glow in the dark, look up Adam in 3 to 4 years. I’ve encouraged him to become a physics teacher but he doesn’t think that he has the patience.

“Adam, take heed of these verses: But you, man of God, flee from all this (the love of money and possessions), and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I Timothy 6: 11-12.

“May the Lord richly bless all of you and keep you close to Him all the days of your life.”

Thank you to those of you who prayed for a Math teacher for the rest of the school year.  God once again has supplied beyond our expectations.  Sahel Academy has seen God do another miracle in bringing Mr. Ben Stam to us.  Mr. Stam has been teaching Math here at Sahel for one quarter now and has one quarter to go.  He has enjoyed his time here greatly and as I share about him and his impressions of life in Niger, I ask you again to be in prayer for the next Math teacher who is still unknown. God has us in the “waiting” mode as we wait again for who He has planned for next school year. 

Mr. Stam comes from Enid, Oklahoma, a town north of Oklahoma City, where he spent all of his growing-up years. He comes from a family with two sisters and one brother.  His dad is a Minister of Missions at his church Emanuel Baptist and headmaster at Emmanuel Christian School, and his mom is a nurse.  Growing up in a Christian home, it wasn’t until after 6^th grade at the Story Book Lodge, a camp in Minnesota, when he accepted Jesus as his Savior and made his faith his own. He was baptized by his dad later at a summer camp in Colorado.  All of his schooling was at Christian schools; after high school he headed off to Wheaton College in Wheaton Illinois.  Mr. Stam’s major is Math. He’s actually taking a break in his education to come help us out, but ultimately his desire is to go on to medical school to become a doctor.  His first choice would be to go into Intensive Neonatology. 

So, the question is: “How did Mr. Stam end up here?”  His dad came to Niger with a well drilling/medical team and came to visit Sahel Academy.  He heard about our need for a Math teacher and thought about his son Ben.  He suggested the idea which opened up the thoughts and wondering if it could possibly work.  Mr. Stam already was planning on a trip to Niger in January to help with a medical team from his church.  His tickets were bought and his shots taken care of; those were two of the things necessary on the long list of things to fall into place.  Amazingly, God worked out the details and sped up the whole application process, even supplying someone to take his place on the medical team.  It was only about 2 months between hearing about the job and arriving here in Niger!  We are SO thankful for his openness and that he was willing to listen to God’s call in spite of many unknowns. 

When asked about his impressions of life in Niger and work at Sahel, Mr. Stam gave some very flattering answers.  “The best thing about coming here is definitely the students”, he says.  “They have made it so easy to transition in here.” “They are encouraging, willing, open, not resistant at all, and take initiative for their learning”.  I asked him why someone should come take a job like this and his response was, “The whole experience has been life-changing as far as my worldview, and Christian perspective.”  He explained that all his life has been kind of like being stuck in a bubble and that it is hard to experience other things unless you go outside the bubble.  Here, he doesn’t understand the language, is far away from home, and in a completely different culture.  He’s had to figure a lot of things out for himself, has learned a lot and has gained some maturity.  The thing he misses the most are fully paved roads through the city.  It’s difficult dodging potholes and driving in sand on a motorcycle!  One thing that surprised him about living here is that you can buy good chocolate in the grocery store and the internet is much better than he expected.  One thing he’s enjoyed the most is the sense of “community” he’s felt since being here. People here seem to spend more time doing things together and are more open with each other.  It’s normal to drop in on people for a visit and it doesn’t feel uncomfortable.  There is more of a sense of “realness” among the people here. 

Mr. Stam is not just a math teacher, he has a variety of interests.  He enjoys music, backpacking, rock climbing, Frisbee, and going to the Opera.  We have all enjoyed getting to know him. We hate to say goodbye at the end of the year, but we are excited to see who the next answer to our prayers will be!  Thank you for praying for Mr. Stam and for the next Math teacher who is still unknown! ~Cathy Bliss

December is now here and with it the sad reality that our Math teacher, Mr Dan Field, will be leaving us. We are still praying for who will fill his very large shoes next semester. I took a little time to interview Mr. Field, and I learned some new things about him which I’d love to share.

Mr. Field grew up in Southeast England as the son of a pastor. He accepted Christ as his Savior in his late teens and was baptized in his third year of college. He attended the University of Warwick where he majored in Math. After university he didn’t know what to do, so applied to do a short term with Wycliffe. Wycliffe sent him here to Sahel to do six months of teaching math. Six months has stretched into three and a half years! It is now time for the next step in Mr. Field’s life, and he is going home to England where he will apply for jobs. He is looking for something in management accounting possibly for a corporation with sponsored studying on the side. His first choice would be a job with the National Health Service. The idea of this training is so that he could possibly go back into missions when he is more qualified.

Mr. Field has been involved in many things while here at Sahel and in Niger. These include teaching, Student Council, coaching soccer, organizing Field Day, organizing Math Day, Admin Team, doing scheduling, Singles Bible Study, dorm sitting, and helping at the Foyer.

When asked why someone should come and teach here at Sahel, Mr. Field had a whole list of good reasons. There are small classes and great kids who you can get to know well. It is a great staff and missionary community to live in and work with. It is great to experience a different culture and stretch your boundaries. There are many opportunities to integrate into the local community if you want to. During break times there are great places to visit. Two highlights were his visits to Agadez and Timbuktu, both famous desert cities. It’s not all fun and adventure and Mr. Field did admit that there are hard things about living here as well. It’s difficult not having transportation, being single and having to cook (not much fast food around). It’s just all around more difficult to do the daily living things, especially when life gets so busy.

Some of Mr. Field’s favorite memories during his time here have been:

• the play the grade 7/8 class did imitating his classroom;
• playing soccer in the rain.(twice at end of the year games);
• generally talking and getting to know students; and
• the baptism services.

Lastly, Mr Field’s advice to the new teacher who is going to take his place, “Take time to build relationships; it’s a great opportunity to do more than just teach. His advice to Sahel students is, “Make the most of the time you have here. It’s a unique environment even if it’s not where you would choose to be.”

Thank you, Mr. Field, for all of your hard work, great teaching, heart of service, and all the many ways you have invested in each of our lives! You will be greatly missed!  ~Aunt Cathy

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.