Thank you for your support

Hello Friends and Family

Alot has been happening lately since the previous post. I have recieved alot of money for my trip, I have about 31oo dollars right now. Most of this has been coming from friends and family. A large amount of it, about 1000 dollars came from my school; they payed me back some money that I borrowed for a loan and never ended up using. Thank you for donating to this trip if you did, and thank you for praying. I would not be able to go without donated money; the response to my support letter asking for this has been overwhelming. Thank you so much to those who are supporting, I am so encouraged by it.

Sunday was my 20th birthday and I received some money for it--I put it toward the trip. My parents let me order a pair of Chacos for my birthday present from them. Chacos are hardcore sporty sandals that you can do pretty much anything in. They will be very nice to have in Africa.

Here's a picture :

I wrote a check for my plane ticket this morning and mailed it this afternoon. The ticket was about 2100 dollars and the itenerary has us flying from Houston to Washington to Paris and then finally to Niamey, Africa. D and I are flying together.

Also, I am very thankful because a family member has offered to order my mosquito tent for me. This means I may not have to sleep with the African spiders after all :)

I have stopped worrying about all of the things that I need to do right now. I still need to apply for a visa, and I just recieved my passport in the mail. I am storing my passport in an ancient passport/travelers checks/railroad card holder; a present that I received a couple of years from my aunt.

Tomorrow I will fill out my visa application and mail it with my passport and money.

An interesting thing to look at: We recieved a list of items that we need to bring to Africa. It is insanley detailed. Here it is:

Alarm Clock
American food (Bring any that you would like because everything here is from scratch! If you want Mac & Cheese, PB, chicken, cereal, or any snack foods, etc). You will be eating meals with a family and won’t have your own cooking supplies. American outfits (You should bring two or three American outfits to make you feel at home on days off or at English church…can be jeans, skirts, etc.)
Athletic pants for girls
Baby Powder (the girls will want it between their legs when wearing skirts)
Band-Aids
Bandanas for head coverings for the girls
Battery Powered Fan (You will want a fan to keep in your mosquito net at night, since you have no electricity.)
Bed Sheets (1 pair of Twin Sheets)
Bible
Bible Study books (optional)
Body Wash/Bar of soap
Books to read (optional)
Bug spray/Mosquito Repellent (bring 3 or 4 bottles)
Camera bag so the sand doesn’t get in it
Camera charger/batteries
Camera/film or digital cards
Cash for souvenirs
Cereal (If you want for breakfast at times)
Chap Stix
Comfortable shoes to walk a lot (I wear flip flops or chacos every day, but I prefer flip flops)
Clothing (You should bring a lot more snack food than you do clothing because the Africans wear the same clothes every day. You can have a couple traditional outfits made for about $10 each if you would like to bring money for that. Otherwise, bring a few ankle length skirts and t-shirts for girls and pants and t-shirts for boys.
Conditioner
Contacts (enough for your time here)
Contact solution
Cotton shirts (T-shirts or short sleeved shirts are good)
Cough drops and sinus/cold medicine
Decent shorts for sleeping and possibly tank tops if you’re in a closed compound
Deodorant (Aluminum deodorant helps you sweat less)
Ear plugs (It can be really noisy at night between animals and people…you may get some on the airplane)
Earrings (They call girls a sheep’s mom if she doesn’t have earrings on)
Extra contacts
Face wash
Family Pictures and things that make you think of home
Feminine Hygiene (You can only buy a few places and it’s super expensive)
Fingernail clippers
First-Aid Kit (Lunchbox size one is good)
Flashlight/Headlamp (Headlamps are flashlights you wear on your head and free up your hands…they’re great for the bathroom at night or cooking without electricity!)
Foot scrub/pumice stone (If you want, your feet will be super dirty from the sand every day)
Floss
Girly things to make you feel good (lotion, etc.)
Glasses (the dust may blow a lot to where it hurts to where contacts some days)
Gum
Hair Bands (The girls will want to put their hair up every day)
Hand Sanitizer (a couple bottles)
Insulated water bottle and or Nalgene bottle
Jewelry (Just don’t bring expensive stuff, but they do where jewelry here)
Journal/Pens
Laptop and Case (This is optional and will be left at Kollo house while your in villages but you may bring it if you like. The heat and dust is hard on them, but that is up to you..)
Laundry Bag (optional)
Lotion
Louffa
Make-up (You don’t need much, but it’s nice to feel pretty sometimes)
Malaria Medicine
-Prescription Meds need to go in your carryon and should be enough for your time here
Mini fan (They’re less than $1 at Wal-mart and use 2 AA batteries)
Mosquito Tent (This is OPTIONAL because we will provide you with a net, but the tents are much more convenient. They are called “Single Mosquito Bar” and can be purchased at www.sportsmanguidegear.com or on other websites. They are between $60-$100)
Music (You’ll want to listen to music out in the villages…MP3 player, etc.)
Nail Polish (Optional)
Nail Polish Remover (Optional)
Neosporin
Passport
Passport wallet
Peanut Butter (Optional)
Pepperoni (Please bring 1 pack for our American weekend pizza)
Pictures of family in small photo album (Africans love seeing your family)
Pillow to sleep on (Mattress will be provided)
Q-Tips (Your ears will be filled with dirt every day)
Razors/Shaving Cream
Safety pins (these will be used to tie the girls skirts…I use at least 3 when I do it)
Scissors
Sewing Kit
Sewing Needles
Shampoo
Shot records (Make sure your yellow card book is with your passport at customs…they’ll have to check it before you come through so it shouldn’t be in your suitcase but in your passport…Also have your address of where you are staying to put on your customs form…”Mission Baptiste” B.P. 10038 Niamey, Niger”)
*You must have your boarding pass to get off the plane since it will continue to Burkina Faso
Skeeter Stik (to put on itching bites)
Skirts that cover your ankles (you need a few before you get outfits made)
Small flash light
Sunglasses (The sun is super strong so you’ll be squinting all the time)
Sunscreen
Swimsuit
Tank top or spaghetti strap shirts to sleep in
Tennis Shoes/Socks for sports
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
T-shirts (5 or 6 should be plenty)
TSA locks for bags (even for carry on b/c they might make you check it at the gate)
Tuna/Chicken in a bag or any other sides to make in the bush when you just need some American food
Undergarments (Sports bras, panties, bras, socks)
Vitamins (Very important!)
Wash Cloth and Towel
Zip Lock Bags (Opitonal)

Snack Food ideas (They are expensive here and hard to find):
Granola Bars, Power Bars, Peanut Butter or Cheese Crackers, Beef Jerky, Animal Crackers, Dried Fruit, Chex Mix, Peanut Butter, Oreos, M&M’s, etc. (Most chocolate will melt in seconds!), Mac & Cheese

My parents and I will be making an extreme Walmart visit before June 2. I'm not sure that they are aware of this yet..

Thank you to all of you who are helping me right now. I would not be going to Africa if it was not for your prayer and support. I am being blessed with strength, confidence and supernatural peace as the days inch closer to June.

3 a.m. post

I probably shouldn't be awake at 3:10 in the morning, posting this blog. I think there's a point when the desire to sleep leaves you, and I am there.

I recieved 200 dollars for my trip the other day, which is wonderful. I have gotten my Hepatitus A shot, which left my arm sore for two days, but also completed my vaccination process. I have all of my required shots now to go to Africa. There is an oral medication that they want us to take, but I think I'm allergic to it, so I'll have to look into all of that.

When I got my Hep A shot, the nurse was very friendly, and she asked me about my trip. It seems like everyone that I have come into contact with, weather they be people who are giving me shots, helping me with my passport, or answering my scattered questions about Visa applications through telephone--they have all been so friendly. It's making this process so much easier than I thought it would be.

Tomorrow Dani and I are going to see about plane tickets, we should purchase them within the next week. My passport should be arriving through mail any day now. The last step, after plane tickets, is applying for my Visa and then something about travel insurance?

Everyone that I come into contact with who knows about the summer is very nice to me, always asking me about the trip. Friends and family are very supportive and interested, and it's so encouraging. It's really nice to have interested loved ones ask me about it.

I am going to send out more support letters tomorrow, after I go to my math class. There are a few people from church that I have addresses for. I have to edit my letter for these people at the bottom, with a breif summary of my family tree.

Lately God has been clearly telling me that I CANNOT worry, and I cannot freak out--about anything. His voice has been clear. I'm starting to listen, I should have started a long time ago. We are so small in comparison to Him. He controls everything...I am fooled into thinking that I have a tight grip on most things.

Thank you to those of you who support me and pray for me. It's a blessing to have so many people supporting this trip.

I still need a good bit of money, but I am confident and I have peace that money is not a worry. No matter what happens, I just know that I cannot worry. I will post more soon. Also, I found out that we will not have internet for 2 week intervals. So while I am in Africa, I will only update the blog once every 2 weeks. Hopefully I can figure out how to put pictures on here...we will just wait and see.

Email From K

Once again - I have edited out certain words for security purposes

K, the girl that's living in Niger now who is in charge of my project, sent me an email:

Hey Niger Gang!
We now have 6 of you signed up for this summer. We are hoping to have 16 summer workers, 8 guys and 8 girls. At the moment we have 5 ladies and 1 man, so you can ask that the other 10 slots will be filled. I wanted to let all of you know a little more of what the summer is going to look like and who all is signed up at the moment so that you can start talking to each other. Also, I'm going to write my e-mails with secure language. Niger is currently an open country with r*ligious freedom, but we never know when that will change, so it's just better to talk about chr*stian things in code. If you forget and don't write me back in code, it's not a problem at all, but it will be good practice if you want to try. So I'll just use different wording, and feel free to ask if you don't understand something. You'll find that I write my newsletters that way as well, just as an extra precaution. You'll find that much of Niger is very open to the Gspel at the moment, and you will be very well received, so there is no worries that they won't like you or kick you out. Most of the places that you will be living have specifically asked B and I to bring some people to live in their village, and they all know that we are followers of JC and are here to share the truth. T and A are coming from GoNow in Texas, and they will be living with B and me for the summer. Their work will look a little differently then the rest of you because they are both nursing students. Their main job will be to do basic First-Aid, and they will hopefully get to work some in the new Chr*stian Medical Clinic that has been open for about a month. We would like for them to do some health and hygiene classes, and then they will also be doing the same things that I describe for the rest of you below. So, our desire for the summer is for you to bust K and the surrounding villages with JC. You will each, other than T and A, be living in a neighborhood with a partner and eating the local food with a family we assign you to. All of your days, including T and A, will be spent living life with the people, going compound to compound asking for yarp requests, sharing a story from the Word that has to do with that request, and then sharing creation to Chr*st with the compound using a cassette. You will also be making a simple map of your neighborhood so that we can follow-up after you leave. At night times, you will have a Proclaimer (a digital dramatized version of the NT), that you can share more with interested people. Every two weeks, we will pull all of you together and take you to the capital city where you will be able to do e-mail, call home, and have some good American food and fellowship. We will usually be staying in a nice guesthouse where you can take a break from the heat and have some A/C and homecooked food. We'll take a couple days every two weeks to refresh you and get some good fellowship in. Throughout the week, B and I will be visiting each of you in your area to help you with questions, pray with you, and just be a source of encouragement. We are asking you to live really simple and on the edge, but we believe that it's going to make a HUGE impact on this area. You are going to be some piercing light in a dark world. I have sent each of you a folder of information, so please let me know if you have not received it. Also, I haven't heard back from some of you at all, so please let me know when you get this e-mail. Otherwise, I will need to contact Student Mobilization and let them know that it's not going through. We would love to start answering questions that you have. It's hard to tell you exactly what things will look like b/c it won't make sense until you see it. However, you are going to have 5 days of intense orientation and some language in the city when you first arrive, and that's when you'll know and understand a lot more. Much of the details are included in the file of information that I sent you. We would also love to know how we can start pr*ying for you as you prepare. We know that it's challenging to not be anxious of the unknown, but just claim the truth that the King has great things in store. It will be a life changing experience for you. Also, if you want to see some old pictures, you can look at my blog that I haven't updated in about 2 years. the address is www.westafricahut.blogspot.com Our team also has a website that is www.zermateam.org, and you can look at gowestafrica.org for info and pictures about all of West Africa. There are even the People greetings on that site that you can listen to. Please feel free to start contacting each other and begin lifting each other up. We look forward to getting to know all of you! Have a blessed day, and we'll talk to you soon!Blessings,K :)

work to be done..work being done

Yesterday I was able to finish my support letter for the trip. I am mailing a few of them out today, but I still need alot of addresses before I can send the majority of them out.

In the past 24 hours God has pushed me foward into some situations that have been uncomfortable for me. I have walked into them, like walking into the light, and I am glad that I did. It seems like the hardest people to love are the people who you love the most. That doesn't make sense, but somehow it does. People who are very close to you and who you have an in depth, serious relationship with; people who you have known for a long time; people like your family and your best friend-- these are people who you have to work so hard to keep a healthy relationship with. It's really easy to sit down with a stranger and care for them, buy them lunch, and spend an afternoon with them. It's alot harder to exist with someone very close to you in a way that is always moving foward. It's harder because it is the real deal, it's not this switch that you can turn on and off. Living with someone is the best way to get to know them. Spending alot of time with someone, seeing them at their best and their worst, being completely honest and smoothing through bumps in the relationship is hard. And I have realized that it is almost impossible without God doing it-- without Him restoring the relationship and renewing it daily. It calls for a daily effort of us seeking God.

When relationships are centered around Christ they will not stand if Christ is not persued first and most. It may appear "hardcore" on the outside to go to Africa and love on people in a foreign land in less than comfortable living conditions, but it is harder to love the people closest to me who I exist with daily than to love these temporary others who will fade into my life and then out.

Yesterday God pushed me to restore a relationship that I had been ignoring and neglecting, and it was one of the hardest things I have had to do in a while. I had to be honest and volnerable and spill my heart out with a trust that God would take control of the relationship. I had to risk rejection and hurt and anger. But the funniest thing to me is that doing that, listening to God and following Him when He told me to stop hiding from this distant relationship was so incredibly hard. I would have been so much more comfortable loving on a stranger. This doesn't seem like it should be like that on the outside, but it is like that on the inside. It's very ironic to me.

It's so easy for people to be temporary and to turn their attitudes on and off, but it's not about that. The status of our hearts is where Truth lies, and existing with someone for years, loving someone for a long time and commiting to someone for the rest of your life--to be their friend and to never give up on them--that is where the real stuff lies. It's so easy to run away to temporary "loves" just to justify or prove to yourself that you are doing everything right.

God keeps pushing me to be uncomfortable so that these barriers can be broken through, and I'm thankful for that.

It's just funny how I don't have a problem with going on these extreme missions for God but I have huge issues following God in ways that should seem to come so naturally and so simply.

But He keeps working.

This is my first entry..

For security purposes, I will be leaving out many specific details in my writing.

So this is a blog that I will be keeping as an easy way for everyone to stay informed about the trip. Here's a little bit of information:

I am going to Niger Africa from June 1- July 31. I will be flying with my best friend D..we will go together. We will meet a team in Africa of 12 other Americans who have volunteered for this project. It is a mission trip through the International Mission Board that D and I (and our friend R who ended up not going) applied for on the internet. D just found out today that she was coming. I found out that I was going about a month ago.

Going to Africa seems like a big deal, but to be honest, it hasnt really hit me yet that I am going. I try not to think about it too much because I tend to worry...But so far I have gotten my passport and my yellow fever shot. I still need to apply for my visa, get a hep A shot, and buy airline tickets. The girl who is living in Niger (but originally from Texas) is my "field supervisor" and her name is K. She is who I have been communicating with through email and she will be with me in Africa.

K has emailed me a huge packet of information about the trip. In it is a list of things I need to do before I go, the process of getting them done and so on. There is a 3 page list of items that I need to pack for the trip. I have to find a mosquito net because we will be sleeping outside on cots. She enclosed a document called 30 days of prayer for the People, People being the people group that we will be living in the villiage with and having community with. I copied it and put it at the bottom of this post.

Prayer is needed for this trip. Alot of things are needed for this trip, but God is providing. The process of getting ready to go is overwhelming at times, but it's really not even that important. God has been swinging doors open in front of me and all he wants me to do is walk through them at this point. I know that He is where I will have to draw all of my strength from, and it will only get harder from this point on.

I originally thought that I would be going to Africa alone, because I didn't want to have high expectations for D only to be dissapointed. But now that I know she is coming with me, I am so relieved. I am just now realizing that we are going to need to lean on each other and be there for each other in crazy ways, and I'm starting to wonder how the two of us are going to even make it to the Niger airport. The two of us combined equals a crazy mixture of unorganized thoughts and energy, and we are usually both tagging along behind people who "know how to get stuff done." When we are together, we usually are confused and/or lost. So it will be interesting to experience total leadership from God...because I know that there is no way that we will get to and from Africa on our own.

30 DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE People

1. Pray that the stronghold of Islam would be broken in Niger and among the People.
2. Pray that God would reveal Himself to the People through dreams and visions.
3. Pray for those who have little or no food, that God would provide for their needs.
4. Pray that the Holy Spirit would nurture a desire in the People to know the Truth.
5. Pray that the People Christians would display integrity and faithfulness in their daily lives.
6. Pray that God would send Christians to live, work, and minister among the People.
7. Pray that the People Christians would have a vision for planting a church in every village.
8. Pray that People Christians would have a hunger for God’s Word and hearts that thirst for righteousness.
9. Pray that People Christians would learn to understand and apply God’s Word in their lives.
10. Pray for the widows and orphans, that their physical needs would be met.
11. Pray that the People Christians would learn to depend fully on God for all their needs.
12. As the People Muslims prostrate themselves in prayer at the mosque, pray that God would convict them of their lostness and that they would seek the truth.
13. Many People have seen the Jesus film and have heard the gospel on audio cassettes. Pray that they would understand clearly what they see and hear. Pray that they would humble themselves and receive Christ as their Savior.
14. Pray that People Christians would make prayer a priority in their personal lives.
15. Pray for the children who have trusted in Christ. Pray that, like the mustard seed, their faith would grow and become strong.
16. Pray that People Christians would resist temptation and remain morally pure.
17. Pray for those who preach and teach, that they would do so with wisdom and discernment and by the power of the Living God.
18. As the seeds of the gospel are planted among the People people, pray that they would take root and grow and bear much fruit.
19. Pray for unity among the People Christians, that their hearts would be united in love and oneness of purpose.
20. Pray that People Christians would resist the evil one and stand firm in their faith. Pray that their lives would be characterized by power and love and discipline.
21. Pray for the physical needs of the People—that those who are hungry would have food, those who thirst would have water, and those who are sick would be healed.
22. Praise God for People believers who are sharing Christ with their friends and neighbors. Pray that God would grant them perseverance and discernment as they share the Good News.
23. Praise the Lord for the sufficiency of Christ. He alone is able to meet all the needs of the People.
24. Pray that the minds and hearts of the People would be open to hearing and responding to the gospel message.
25. Pray that the Lord would strengthen and encourage People believers. Pray that they would feel His presence today in a special way.
26. Pray for People believers who are undergoing trials and tribulations, that they would know the “peace that passes understanding.” (Phil. 4:7)
27. Pray for the Muslim religious leaders, that God would reveal the way of righteousness to them, and that they would have the courage to follow the One who is the way, the truth, and the life.
28. Pray that People Christians would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. (Col. 1:9)
29. Pray that there will be an indigenous church planting movement among the People.
30. Pray that God would be glorified among the People.


I have alot to say but not much time to say it, so I will post back later. Also, I love to write so these entries will probably be pretty lengthy. My mom is the one who gave me the idea of starting the blog, and hopefully I will be faithful to keeping it up to date.

-Hailey