Soup and Sandwiches

A winter tradition in our homes is to have homemade soup and sandwiches for dinner. The Newborns always on Sunday night. The tradition continued in Niger last night for dinner as we dined on homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches - okay we know it is 104, but remember it's winter here.

After dinner we went to a gathering, the young adults couples club. There were: eight couples, two newlyweds, 5 children, a baby, the pastor and his wife, 7 old Americans and Jeff (he is 31). We gathered in the living room. All the children and African women sat on the floor. The rest of the group sat on lovely couches and Kay and I found the vinyl dining room chairs (a reappearance of swamp butt). The evening began with prayer, African singing and a discussion of the future of this group. There is so much that they are looking to accomplish. They are trying to discover their role in leadership in the church and were looking for ideas from us as to what has worked for us in the US. Basically, we shared that the most important thing was to have fun together. Kay shared about NOAH (No Older Adults Here- this brought much laughter) and the importance of doing activities with children and without children. The father of the new baby thought that sounded like something they should do immediately. Their greatest desire is to share their faith with their spouse first and then with each other and then with their Muslim friends ( because Christians are so much in the minority here).

As with all good gatherings refreshments were served. The drink was Hibiscus Tea (sweet and cold - this is also what was served as the communion wine in church last Sunday). The food was loaves of bread and community bowls of mutton stew served with no utensils or napkins. As Kay and I fussed over our bread crumbs mounting in our laps we realized that everyone else didn't seem to care including the hostess. A bowl was passed for the bones and a separate bowl was passed to wash your hands when finished. They were so gracious to us. They took an offering and used the quilted activities bag that Kay and I brought for Jeremy's children. We don't know what the offering was for, but assume that it was to cover the cost of hosting the party. The meeting was closed with prayer and singing.

It was wonderful to see a different side of life in Niger.