March 2002

Greetings from the cold, dusty, windy country! Once again we would like to thank you for your faithful prayer support. We see the Lord working in so many ways and attribute it to the faithful pray-ers that we have. God is so big, and we are encouraged by you and your prayers. We are praying that the walls would come tumbling down and that the Zerma would come to know and love Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

On a personal note, as I write this I am also preparing to leave for the States. We have had some changes come about that necessitate my leaving early. Our granddaughter, Rachel Dawn, has decided to try to make her presence before her due date, which is 28 Feb. This is causing Stacy to have some problems as the Dr. wants her in total bed rest to slow down the process. I am hoping that I will arrive in time to help out some with a very active and excited 6 year old brother, Dillon. Please remember to pray for Stacy to have patience during this time. I can be reached at Stacy's number and will have a separate email address while I am in the States. TeresaBolls@yahoo.com should you want to send a note.

MARCH 2002 ZERMA PRAYER REQUESTS/PRAISES

Friday 1 March - Please continue to pray for Caroline, Caleb and Kimberly as they are in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso for another schooling session for Caroline. Please pray for the entire family as they are separated for these 3 weeks.

Saturday 2 March - Please pray for the entire team to be able to have a time of rest. Many times the demands around us are overwhelming and non-stop. Just the fact that in many cases we have so many visitors or so many demands in one day sometimes is very overwhelming. Pray that we would know how best to minister to these different needs.

Sunday 3 March - Please pray for the North Phoenix Baptist Church Volunteer team that will be working on finalizing the necessaries for their trip to Niger in one week! Pray that last minute details will be able to be worked out. There are 10 volunteers coming and they will do some construction work on the new compound as well as Prayer Walking in the Niamey/Goudel area.

Monday 4 March - Please pray for Rick as he will be facilitating the volunteers and the construction/Prayer Walking project. The volunteers are scheduled to arrive next week. Pray that Rick will be able to get the necessary plans/schedules done. Pray for his Zarma language and relationships with the Zerma people. Please pray for Rick as he is trying to learn all the nuances of being the new Business facilitator for Niger - which includes several different language/people groups.

Tuesday 5 March - In January the Bolls were privileged to have Harold and Jan McMichael to come to visit them. They were able to see a great deal of the work done in Ouallam as well as various villages surrounding Ouallam. Jan went with Teresa and met several of her friends and ministered with them. Harold went with Don and Phil to several different village/garden sites. The McMichaels were in Niger working with the Songhi team doing well work. On January 20 Harold died in the Niamey hospital. As Teresa was sharing the news with some of the people that met the McMichaels, the Lord provided the perfect opportunity to Share Jesus and the plan of salvation. During this time there were 5 women that accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Please pray for Halima, Ramatou, Medina, Zenaba, and Ay Nya as they follow Christ. Pray for the Holy Spirit to teach and explain. Pray that they would be leaders in their villages. Also, during this time Tanda asked more pointed questions. Having lost her parents and brother, Djibo, not long ago, she was really touched. She has been having much pressure from her husband to follow the Muslim way - and to not follow Christ as she had before their marriage. She was very impressed to continue to Follow Christ in a real way. Please pray for the many lives that Jan and Harold touched. Please pray for Jan as she adjusts to a different life in the US. Pray for her family as well.

Wednesday 6 March - Pray for the Zerma team as we plan strategies for 2003--strategies that will make creative and wise use of resources to enable us to reach the Zerma people with the Gospel, and plant churches that will in turn plant other churches.

Thursday 7 March - We are in the process of planning and drawing up requests for short-term missionaries (two years) to live in villages in the bush where there is at least one Christian. This would be an opportunity for intensive discipleship and a way to encourage the Christians and develop churches in these areas. Pray for us as we plan for this, pray for the villages where people will be placed, pray that God would even now be calling forth men and women to come and live in these villages.

Friday 8 March - Happy Birthday Mark! Please pray for Mark as he has many things to do and a short time to do them! Pray for Mark and Deanna (and Rick) as the Ledlows are trying to train Rick to be able to do many of their duties (Guesthouse, business facilitator, only Zerma missionary in Niamey, etc...) Pray for the Ledlows as they are trying to get several things done before their furlough (June). Pray for the kids, Stephanie and Jeremy as they continue school here in Niamey and pray also for the family as they continue to make plans/schedules for their stateside assignment. Even a month ago they were trying to get the paperwork done for their schooling. Also the Zerma team will be meeting today. Pray for a good and productive meeting.

Saturday 9 March - We are assuming that the Volunteer team from Arizona will be traveling today. Pray that they would have a safe and uneventful trip. Pray that they will be able to have all their necessary paperwork done and that their luggage arrives safely. Pray for them to have rest as they will only be in Niger one week and they have a lot of things we hope to get done during this short time.

Sunday 10 March - Please pray for Ed Kohl and Joy Tait (AZ Volunteers). Pray for their time in Niger to be a very special time, that they would come to love the Zerma people and to have a burden for their salvation. Please pray for the entire team as they travel, go through customs, police checks, etc, in a strange place and with a "strange" language. Pray that they would be able to understand as they pass through the check points and get their luggage. Missionaries are not usually permitted to help them through these checks/baggage claims.

Monday 11 March - Please pray for Lisa Williams and Joe Williams (AZ Volunteers) Pray for them to have a safe and healthy trip in Niger. Pray for them as well as the rest of the team as they will be having a time of orientation today, see the neighborhood, see the projected work, learn some of the Zerma "do's and don'ts". Pray for Rick as he facilitates this.

Tuesday 12 March - Please pray for Carla Casciola and Suzanne Pettit (AZ Volunteers) as they will be beginning their work today. Plans are for the team to do construction in the mornings and Prayer Walk in the afternoons. Pray that the entire team will be able to get the necessary work done on the construction, that the Lord would open their eyes to the many supplications that could be made for the Zerma people. Pray they would see the Zerma people as Jesus sees them - and that they would come to love them as He does.

Wednesday 13 March - Pray for Zig Fang and Tim Young (AZ Volunteers) as they will be working on construction and Pray Walking today. Pray that the Lord would keep all safe, and that we would allow Jesus light to shine through all that is said and done.

Thursday 14 March - Please pray for LaDonna Benner and Shawn Benner as they work on the construction site. Pray for all of the volunteers as they walk through the various neighborhoods. Pray that they would have a love and compassion for the people in Niger. Pray that the Lord would speak through all of us as we try to minister to the different people during the volunteer's stay here.

Friday 15 March - Please pray for our continuing ministries - as we will be busy in Niamey working on the construction and chauffeuring people around the various neighborhoods. Praise the Lord for Ayssa as she is so
interested in the Bible Study that Deanna is sharing. Pray for Ayssa, Maymouna, Zelika, Saley, Hamsatu and Fati. Many of these women have not yet accepted Christ - but they seem very interested. Please pray for Fanta who is no longer leading this group as she was moved to another town, Tillaberry. Pray for Fanta to have a burden to begin another group in Tillaberry. Pray for Deanna to have the necessary communication skills to share Jesus - either verbally or through her actions.

Saturday 16 March - Happy Birthday Phil! Pray for Phil today, he will be celebrating his birthday! Pray for him and his family as they have many things to do before leaving for Stateside Assignment. They will be attending a conference for the month of April, and a conference in May, one in June, and plan to leave for the States in July. Pray that Caroline's schooling will continue to go well during all these breaks! Pray that they will be able to get some of the many things done that will need done during these last few months. Pray for the many places they will be speaking while they are on Stateside Assignment - that the Lord would speak to people to have a burden for the Zerma people - that they might pray, care, come...

Sunday 17 March - Pray for the Arizona volunteers as they will be packing, last minute purchasing, last minute photos, checking their luggage. Praise the Lord for them coming to Niger, and pray that they would have a safe trip back to AZ. Pray that their hearts would continue to feel burdened for the Zerma people. Pray for a safe and quick readjustment to the time difference, for their bodies to adjust well so that many of them will be
able to go back to work in a day or so.

Monday 18 March - Please pray for the Zerma pastors and lay leaders. Pray that they would have a real burden for sharing Jesus with their families and friends. Pray for the many trials they experience because of their faith -
and the tests they go through because of their faith. Pray especially for Pastor Moussa and his wife Kadija, Pray for Ibro and his wife Rachida. Pray for the various lay leaders, Soumeyla, Zakary, Tokeyo, Balarbre, Gado,
Harouna, Alhassane, Moussa, Alzuma, Moumouni, and the many others that are trying to share, that they would be able to truly share a loving God, through the way they communicate love to others.

Tuesday 19 March - Pray for our relationship with God, that we would have a close, daily walk with Him. Pray that we would know the power of the Holy Spirit, that we would have victory over sin, and that we would have a hunger for God's Word. Pray that we would make personal prayer time a priority in our daily lives.

Wednesday 20 March - Pray for young men who have completed the new-members class Phil has been teaching at the Ouallam church. Pray they would be humble and teachable as they continue on in their walk with the Lord. Pray that they would live and model the principles they've learned and that they would teach others what they know.

Thursday 21 March - Pray for Kimberly as she homeschools Caroline. Pray for Caroline as she continues on in second grade. Pray that she would be well-prepared for third grade in the United States. Pray for Caleb as he grows up here, that he would be strong and healthy and have good relationships as he plays with kids in the neighborhood.

Friday 22 March - Pray for the missionaries ability to speak and understand Zerma. Pray that we would discover bridges that would help us build better relationships and better communicate the truths of scripture.

Saturday 23 March - Pray for us as we show the Jesus film in various villages. Pray that it would have a lasting impact, even after we leave. Pray that through viewing this film, people would truly understand who Jesus is.

Sunday 24 March - Pray for Moussa as he is teaching Literacy and Bible Study. Pray for good communication skills, learning skills, and openness to Jesus as their true Lord and Savior.

Monday 25 March - Many Zerma have heard the gospel, yet have hardened their hearts against it by refusing to act on what they hear. Pray that God would break down the barriers of resistance that keep them from accepting Christ as their Savior.

Tuesday 26 March - Pray for our relationships with each other on the Zerma team, that we would remain united in purpose and spirit. Pray that we would continue to maintain open and honest communication with each other. Pray that God would give us wisdom as we plan and evaluate our ministries and ways we can reach the Zerma people with the Gospel.

Wednesday 27 March - Pray that God would raise up pastors and other leaders from among Zerma believers. Pray that God would mold them into men and women of integrity and vision.

Thursday 28 March - Pray that God would give Zerma Christians a burden for reaching the lost and a vision for seeing a church in every village.

Friday 29 March - Please pray for Gail and Baker Hill. They are the coordinators for our Affinity group, which includes several different people group teams. Gail has felt burdened to learn the Zarma language and would
like to learn it quickly so she could share and minister to the Zerma people. Pray for Gail to learn the language, not to get too frustrated and overwhelmed. Pray for Baker as he learns Haussa. Baker and Gail moved to Niger in August 2001 after living in Burkina Faso for almost 19 years. They are learning more of the difficulties working in a predominately Muslim area. Pray for all of the different teams as we seek to minister to the people in Niger, that they would come to know Jesus. Your Prayer is our strength. Pray that the walls of Islam and Animism would come tumbling down and that Jesus would be known in this dry and thirsty land.

Saturday 30 March - The peppers are nearing harvest time. Please continue to pray for the farmers and everyone involved in the Niger Pepper Project that it would provide a source of food and income as well as a good witness
in the community.

Sunday 31 March - March is the beginning of hot season and less agriculture activity. Pray for people and hunger as food becomes more scarce as well as expensive in the next few months.