We are here!!!  What a Nigerian welcome we got when we got off the plane here in Niamey, and can I say that it is hot here :)  Accomodations are at Bible School here in the  city, it has on and off working AC, and indoor plumbing, what else can you ask for?

Friday

Our first morning in Africa!! Did I mention it's hot here :)  We were off early to the Peniel School.  There, as a team, we we were able to set up a clinic, play with the children, and get all the school kids offically enrolled with pictures.  The welcome from the children and staff was amazing. Every child there was so polite and greeting each and every one of us.  To see all the happy faces we knew our work here was going to be great.  You learn that the language barrier is not so great when you have common denominators such as song,  games, and just a warm smile. 

The clinic was setup up so that every student was able to be seen by a doctor, adminstered drugs and all around assessed for good health.  We will be back at school on Tuesday to continue the work. The gracious people at the school gave us a true feast for lunch with so many traditional Nigerian foods.  What a feeing that we had at the end of the day, no matter how hot or tired we are, it's worth it when you see the faces of those little children.


Saturday:
Off to the viliage of Oukoufanou.   We have been very lucky to have our own cook inside the Bible School where we are staying. Breakfast and dinner have been great. 
Our day started with a 2 hour drive outside of Niamey to a small village named Oukoufanou.  The drive started on the highway only to end with a 20 minute drive into the woods, off roading some would say.  There we came upon the villiage, which until a year ago had no source of water within a 5 mile radius. The tribe is part Christian part Animism, those who worship false idols.  The time at the villiage began with a hour long church service outside, then off to work we went.   There the language barrier was little more difficult, only that most of the tribal members only speak thier native tongue and not french.  Thankfully we had great people there with us who were able to translate.  We setup clinic and saw as many  people that we could in the 4 short hours we had.  It breaks your heart to see a 3 year old that weighs no more than what a 8 month would weigh.  We did our best to give them the best care that we could.

Sunday:
Praise time:  Sunday morning began with church, not just any church, 2 1/2 hour church service.  Other than being toasty, the atmophsere in the church is so joyful and happy that you never would know how long you were there :)  Church was mostly in French, however no matter what language God's message is in it still is powerful..  Lunch was at a Chinese restaurant, yes thats right, there is a Chinese restaurant in Africa.  The afternoon was back to work at the clinic that we set up in the city here.  We were able to treat sick women, babies and chideren, as well as sing praise hyms and just have a great time with the local Nigerian people.

Alright off to bed, there is so much more that I could write, but time is short.  See you next time :)