September 2004

Wednesday, September 1 -- Praise God for the safe arrival of Ben and Cindy Sustar and their children Rachel, Christin, and Karis on Aug. 13th. Pray for them as they get settled in Niamey, that they would quickly adjust to a new climate, culture, and language.

Thursday, September 2 -- Charity asks for prayer as the end of her term draws near. Her time in Niger will conclude at the end of October. Please pray for her last months in Niger and that God will show her how to use her time wisely. Pray for the plans that need to be made for returning home and that God will direct and lead.

Friday, September 3 -- On or about September 2 the Bolls will return to Bougar to set up regular times for the Mobile center to come with the classes. Pray that a time can be set up and that the people will be able to come and understand the health, hygiene, safety classes as well as the Bible classes that are taught. In July during the meeting with this village the people asked if we would be able to do classes at night. Pray that this will be possible; we will be using lanterns and don't know how well they will be able to see the pictures on the charts. This is also the first time we will be teaching the entire village - all the men as well as the women were at the first village wide meeting.

Saturday, September 4 -- Several important meetings were held August in Niger concerning the Niger Pepper Project. Pray for positive results of these meetings and that the project would surge ahead in meeting objectives. Primary is that more food will be put on tables and spread of the Gospel will take place as a results of this local income generating project.

Sunday, September 5 -- Pray for Kara, a volunteer who will be arriving Sept. 5th and spending 10 weeks with the Zerma team. Pray also for Troy, who will be arriving Sept. 13th for two weeks. Both Kara and Troy are answering a request for a journalist to write about the Zerma. They will be writing stories and articles about who the Zerma are, their spiritual needs, our various ministries, etc. The end result will be increased awareness and prayer support for the Zerma people and hopefully a number of churches and groups who will feel led to "adopt" the Zerma people and thus be more involved in helping them come to know the Savior. Pray for Kara and Troy as they prepare to come and for their health and well-being while they are here. Pray that God would give them direction and discernment about what to write and how to say it.

Monday, September 6 -- During July, Charity and her sister Emily were able to share many Bible stories with the women and children in Waru. The children learned many Christian songs and now go around the village singing songs like "I have decided to follow Jesus" in Zarma. Pray that these seeds would continue to grow and that the Lord would cause their hearts to begin to understand the words they are singing and that others would hear the words too and wonder the meaning.

Tuesday, September 7 -- The first week after the Ledlows return from their vacation, their friend Ayssa's house burned down. Her oldest daughter had fallen asleep alone in the hut while the others were asleep outside. Ayssa awoke to her blanket burning her leg and ran to the door calling her daughter to wake-up. The daughter narrowly escaped just before the house collapsed, loosing everything. You know the first thing she asked the Ledlows to replace was her Bible!! She is doing fine and everyone is giving God the credit for keeping people from getting hurt or killed.

Wednesday, September 8 -- Pray for the three Sustar girls 3 girls to embrace the Zerma culture and people and make smooth adjustments.

Thursday, September 9 --Pray for Caroline and Caleb Cain as they begin a new homeschool year. Caroline is in 5th grade and Caleb is starting kindergarten. Pray for Kimberly as she teaches and prepares lesson plans.

Friday, September 10 -- Please pray for the women in Goudel. There are 4 women (all named Ramatou!) that have either heard or are interested in hearing Bible stories. Pray that their hearts would continue to soften and be open to God's Word. Pray that they will desire to hear and that the words will pierce their hearts and give them hope.

Saturday, September 11 -- Boubacar, a prison Bible study leader, has been sick. Pray for his recovery. It was exciting to see another Christian, Maurice, step in at a recent meeting and take some leadership.

Sunday, September 12 -- Don Bolls gave out several pounds of improved fast maturing pea and millet seed just before planting season to several different farmers. By the time you read this most all the seeds will have been planted and growing. There may very well be needed more than anticipated as some areas are in a deficit rainfall situation. Pray that good things will come from this small effort to help some very poor people have more to eat.

Monday, September 13 -- Pray for the Sustars as they settle in to their new home in Niger.

Tuesday, September 14 -- Recently, Mark Ledlow called Deanna to the office to take care of a sick child's prescription and when Deanna arrived, she found this young mother with a four month old baby. The baby seemed to be very sick and lethargic. The medicine was treatment for Malaria and an antibiotic. When Deanna dropped them off at their home, she saw the condition of their hut and knew that more help was called for. Deanna returned to her home and picked-up a bag of millet and also some formula and a bottle for easier feeding. The next day the baby died. Please pray for this young mother and her mother as they are both hurting.

Wednesday, September 15 -- Pray for all the Zerma that will hear the gospel today: whether by radio, audio cassette, the Jesus film, personal witness, tracts, etc. Pray that they would understand it and that God would draw them to Himself.

Thursday, September 16 -- Pray that God will bring Zerma persons of peace who are ready to accept Christ as their personal savior into the lives of the new missionaries, Ben and Cindy Sustar.

Friday, September 17 -- If you remember a few months ago Zongo received her eyesight again, after being blind for over one year. She had a successful cataract operation, had to stay in Niamey for 5 weeks for the healing process, but is now back in Ouallam. She has been a regular at church lately, and has even given offering when the "basket" was passed! Zongo and Albass have been sweeping the church before every meeting, both on Sundays and Wednesdays. Zongo gives God -- and Jesus the praises! Please praise the Lord with us and her.

Saturday, September 18 -- Kimberly, Caroline and Caleb will be traveling back from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, today after spending three weeks with other homeschoolers in a classroom setting. Pray for their safety on the road; the trip usually takes about 7 hours.

Sunday, September 19 -- Pray for Mark Ledlow. He has been feeling some shooting pains and numbness down his right arm. The Ledlows had contact with a neurologist that was in Niger for a few weeks as a volunteer and he indicated that Mark does not have any neurological problems, (no comment) but that he thought it was an inflamed C-5 disc which directs the functions of that right thumb and index finger. For the past few days Mark has had non-stop numbness in his thumb. The Ledlows could sure use prayer for this situation as his next step would be to return to So. Africa for an MRI. Mark would go for a good Chiropractor. Deanna says, "I think these roads have taken its toll on both of our spines!!"

Monday, September 20 -- Because they are few in number, many Zerma believers feel isolated--they may be the only Christian in their village or neighborhood. Pray that God would raise up other believers or send fellow Christians to encourage and support their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Tuesday, September 21 -- The "Camel Method" is a unique way of using a particular passage from the Koran to open the door with a Muslim so that the good news of salvation in Jesus can be shared. It is designed to find that "man of peace" (Luke 10:6) that we continually search out. Pray as we attempt to use this method. Our purpose is to find those who want to know more about Jesus (Isa) so that we can take them to the Bible and show them the full truth about Him.

Wednesday, September 22 -- Pray that as people leave, others would come to continue the work. As some have planted, pray that others will come to continue planting and to water the seeds. May God continue His work and may others be willing to be a part of what He is doing among the Zerma people and in Niger. So many have yet to hear of His Good News.

Thursday, September 23 -- As the millet harvest nears, pray that God would provide adequate rain for a good crop. Pray also that God would send forth laborers into the spiritual harvest--He is in the process of preparing hearts to receive the Gospel, now we need believers to go among the lost and share the Good News.

Friday, September 24 -- During rainy season the Mobile Center is taking on a new role. Rains have been slight in the Ouallam area, but enough to change the lives of the villagers. With the beginning rains the entire family goes out to plant. The second rain the women go out to prepare the plots for their beans, okra and peanuts. This takes several weeks, so during the times that Teresa has been unable to teach in the villages she is preparing several books. We now have books on Tuberculosis, Malaria, AIDS, Care for sores, Diarrhea, Noah and Joseph and Elijah, and have plans for more. Pray that Teresa would be able to complete the necessary booklets - and that they would be usable and understood well by the villagers.

Saturday, September 25 -- Mark and Deanna would both like to begin regular Bible study times. Pray for the time and energy to be found so they can fulfill their hearts' desire to share the gospel on a more regular basis with the lost in Niger. Deanna writes, "Facilitating is necessary but planting is much more.....hard work yes, but worth every breath!! Kay Arthur writes..Our time is short - shorter then we think. And we can't take anything with us when this life is over - EXCEPT the souls we have invested in.

Sunday, September 26 -- "So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers." Acts 16:5 Pray for the struggling churches in Niger and those local leaders who need their faith strengthened each day. Pray that Jesus will be real to them in everything they do.

Monday, September 27 -- Pray for our Zerma team as they plan and strategize while realizing "we do well to stop often and ask ourselves 'how many Zerma have heard the gospel today?' Visitation, personal evangelism, and developing relationships with the Zerma are a key part of leading them to have a personal relationship with Christ. The great majority of Zerma are truly lost, and confronting them with the Good News has proven to be a great challenge. Yet we serve a faithful God with whom all things are possible, and who will not allow His word to return to him void."

Tuesday, September 28 -- Praise the Lord for the way he continues to work out the scheduling for the Mobile center. Rains did not allow the Bolls to complete the classes at Guessé, but God provided a way for the Bolls to go to Bougar for the first meeting about the possibility of the Center bringing classes to the villagers of Bougar. The first meeting was very interesting. We had only the first name of a man who is a Christian from this village. We did not think it wise to bring attention on him so were not going to just go to the village and ask for the Christian whose name is Seyni. When we arrived at the village there was a woman and another man who were there and they took us to the village chief's compound. We had a really good meeting with the Chief, he asked us to return the next week to meet with the villagers to see if they would be interested in classes. As we were leaving the man, whose name is Seyni, was able to talk a few minutes with Don. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness - He has the Perfect Plan, pray that we will all be willing to be in His will.

Wednesday, September 29 -- Jeremy and Stephanie Ledlow: Both doing great. Jeremy has tentative plans (for next year) to attend York Technical school in So. Carolina with some Christian friends from here. Stephanie's boyfriend graduated and is now attending college in Texas and staying in touch by phone. She is doing well and has asked that we pray with her about a decision to attend Pusch Ridge Christian Academy in Tucson for her senior year next year. Jeremy, the outgoing one, is the social butterfly and Stephanie is playing it safe in all areas of her life. Both are growing spiritually and are trying to focus this year on being leaders in this manner. Please pray as friendships, new and old, are accomplished and they both seek Christ's guidance.

Thursday, September 30 -- Pray that Don and Teresa will be able to return to some of the first villages that the Mobile Center had classes and do a type of follow-up. Pray that some of the "Seeds" that were planted about a wonderful Savior will have grown and will be ready to accept the truth.

Would you like more information and history about our Zerma team in Niger? The website can be found at http://www.byhisgrace.com/zerma

If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, please send your email address to karen@ebc-tucson.org. You may copy and distribute this newsletter to any and all who are interested in Niger, our mission team, the Zerma people, or missions in general. God bless you and thank you for your faithful prayers!