About the Niamey, Niger Project

Niger is located in West Africa and 80 percent of its land is in the Sahara Desert. Most of the country is desert plains and sand dunes, droughts are frequent. The climate is one of the hottest in the world. Its estimated population of 11 million are 98% Muslim. Niger is ranked 172 out of 173 countries in the United Nations Developemnt Program's Human Development index, and only 13.6% of its population is literate (6.6% of women). The Reformed Church in America partners with the Evangelical Church of Niger. Their focus in the region is to help with community development, theological training, literacy, medicine, and agriculture. The Mission project for this winter is to build a guest house to assist the Evangelical church's programs. It will give them a facility to house people who come in from the countryside for training in evangelism, leadership and other minstry skills. Bruce and Laurie Hawley are the missionaries responsible for the project and will be working closely with Kay and Sue. More information is available on the Reformed Church website at http://www.rca.org/.

Kay and Sue will be in Niamey from January 26, 2009- February 10, 2009.

Monday, February 2, 2009

One Bread, One Body, One Lord of all

I wish I could remember the words to this communion hymn that we sing (If someone knows it could you post it for me?)  I believe that it ends with "In this one world".  That song speaks to the experience we had yesterday.  We attended the EERN's church yesterday.  The opening hymn was Holy, Holy, Holy sung in Hausa, it gave me goosebumps.  The service was wonderful and I just can't put into detail the whole thing (it lasted 3 hours) but joy was evident.  The sermon was preached in Hausa, translated to French and then each of us were given an English translator.  But the highlight for me were two things- the children's choir sang a song that was very much like the Hokie Pokie (who knew there were Virginia Tech fans in Niger).  Joy and laughter are international languages.  Then we shared communion.  Through we could not understand the words, we knew them and understood the meaning.  It was extra special because I knew that halfway around the world my family and friends would be sharing communion as well, thus the title.  It struck me that we are one body, though we all look different, dress different, and speak different, we are all one family in this one world.  When we talk about our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are talking about the people of Niger and of many other nations.  It is amazing to me how the love of Jesus does not know color or creed or nationality, he just knows us because we belong to him and those he loves welcomes us as family.  It is truly amazing.  
We then went out for Chinese Food- go figure! 
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1 comment:

  1. Rev. David G. Corlett2/02/2009

    Refrain
    One bread, one body,
    one Lord of all,
    one cup of blessing which we bless.
    And we, though many,
    throughout the earth,
    we are one body in this one Lord.
    1. Gentile or Jew,
    servant or free,
    woman or man, no more.
    2. Many the gifts,
    many the works,
    one in the Lord of all.
    3. Grain for the fields,
    scattered and grown,
    gathered to one, for all.


    Text: Based on 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; 12:4, 12-13, 20; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 4:4-6; The Didache 9. Text and music © 1978, John B. Foley, S.J. and OCP. All rights reserved.

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