TTC & Vie Abondante Part 6

Before we head to Maradi, I need to comment on the weather.  We are well into the month of March.  March in Niger is hot season.  That means it gets hot.  Very hot.  Not as hot as April, but hot nonetheless.  Into the 100’s.  We prepared TTC thusly.  Imagine our surprise when what I would classify as a cold front came through, returning us to our more ‘winter like’ conditions.  Low 70’s and maybe even dipping into the 60’s at night.  I’m not sure, but it was pretty nippy.  And it’s not just me and my thin blood.  I even overheard a team member or 2 say ‘I’m cold’.  I even saw one of them sporting a sweater one morning.  True story.  It still heats up during the day, but it’s not even reaching 100.  God is truly smiling down on us because I can tell you from experience that doing the type of training and ministry that is going on here now is multiplied times more challenging when all you can think about is how hot you feel.  It makes people cranky too.  Maybe I should speak for myself.  I’d say thank God for the small things, but this unusual weather isn’t a small thing.  So I’m thanking God for the HUGE things!

Monday morning dawned bright and cool and we were ready for the big road trip to Maradi.  Two vehicles and 10 people.  So it was pretty comfortable.  The roads have improved over the years so there is really only 1 section that is bad.  And it’s pretty bad.  But it’s been worse.  Some of the potholes have recently been filled with sand, and that really does help.  If it’s just Neal and I traveling in 1 vehicle, we make the trip in no more than 8 hours.  Sometimes less.  But we are no-nonsense travelers.  Synchronized bladders for 1 but no more than 2 bush stops.  We have to stop for gas but we’re almost pulling away while they are removing the nozzle from the tank.  You get the picture.

The trip went great but with 10 bladders and 10 sets of intestines, some travel modifications had to be made.  We left at 7am, and the plan was to start the seminar at 3pm.  That gave us 8 hours.

Here we are loading up from our house.

One of our stops.  Lots of ‘fast food’ options if one is so inclined.

On the road again…

Some ‘common’ sights.

There are zillions of these speed bumps (and other varieties) all along the way.  Their names were changed to ‘bump speeds’ if we didn’t happen to see them before flying over them.   They really are this hard to see.

Potholes are kind of like inverted speed bumps.

More good road.

Outskirts of Maradi

We’re here!  Maradi ‘gate’.

We arrived into town around 3:30 and went straight to the guest house where we would stay for the week and dropped off our things.  All were happy to have the luxury of a real toilet.

After enjoying an official ‘throne’ we were off to the church where there were about 35 seminar participants waiting.

The team opened with some dramas and then began teaching technique.

‘The Wall’

After a quick but very tasty dinner with the Jorgensen’s and Bowden’s –  Vie Abondante missionaries in Maradi, we continued the seminar from 7:30 – 9:30.  The seminars each started with one of the TTC team members bringing a Bible study.  They all did great and brought encouraging revelation from the Word of God.  Monday was Keagon’s turn.

Then the mime training continued…We split into 2 teams.  Here, Josiah and Nichelle are teaching them how to walk without going anywhere.  Pretty funny stuff.

Tuesday was much the same, well, minus the road trip through the desert.  Oh – and the visit to our primary school.

Keagon Juggling

Sukala and Delfin are some of our leaders in Niamey and they came to Maradi to be a part of the TTC team here.

Walking over to the pre-school.

The kids were giggling at the silly juggling.

The resurrection.  Almost all of these kids are from Muslim families.

The team

Ginger Jorgensen is the director of the school.  Here she is answering our questions before we get ready to leave.

School’s out!

Tuesday evening started out with some awesome praise and worship.  Vie Abondante and TTC together.  No interpretation necessary.

Then it was Nichelle’s turn to bring the message.  Neal interpreted (he’s the guy on the right!)

The students were really attentive.

So were the TTC team members.

Next was the instructional video.  How many people can gather around 1 computer screen?  This many.

If you think this was a long post, you have an idea of what our days are like.

Next:  Wednesday and beyond!

Miracles Meetings in Maradi: Part 2

And so the meetings began.  We were in for some amazing stuff.  As I said, we had no idea how many people would come, but we were hoping for ‘a lot’.  As usual, God did above and beyond.  People came by the hundreds.  They came by the thousands.

But it wasn’t without opposition.     Anytime the Kingdom of Light penetrates the Kingdom of Darkness, there will be opposition.

The first night was amazing.  People came early – of course there were TONS of children, since they were the ones that were targeted with the tickets.  The tickets had a two-fold purpose.  The most important reason was for contact information so after the event the local pastors could follow up.  The plan was for each person to fill out the information and at the entrance that portion of the ticket would be turned in, while the attendee kept the other half for the prize drawing later in the evening.  That was the plan anyway.  But that’s not how it went down….

Here’s Neal talking with the police – explaining that we wanted the people to arrive in an organized way – through the gate.  They are explaining to him that that would not be possible.  All of these people had arrived early – before the gates were officially opened.

So we went to Plan B.   In order for us to get the tickets of those that had already come through the gate, we had to have our security guys and our pastors go through the crowds and collect them one by one.  It wasn’t too difficult, as everyone wanted to be sure they were included.

The JSMI team was ready and the program began.  The Gospel was clearly presented by several members of the team.  They all preached with passion and while they were speaking, video was being shown on a big screen.  In spite of the constant noise and commotion, it appeared that many people were listening intently.

John Smithwick is preaching here about the crucifixion and Pastor Benji is interpreting.

While he was preaching, some of those in attendance were not happy with the Gospel being so strongly preached and they began throwing stones.  One of the stones hit Pastor Benji right between the eyes.  Blood was everywhere, but that didn’t stop the message.  Another pastor jumped right up to interepret while we attended to Pastor Benji.

Through our years in Niger we’ve faced various obstacle and challenges – both personally and in ministry.  Every single time we come out the winner.  So it makes me realize just how stupid the devil really is to keep it coming.  Doesn’t he get it?  This kind of opposition just makes us that much more determined.  What we saw take place was nothing less than an outpouring of God’s love for His people.  The atmosphere was anything but reverent.  But in spite of that, he saved and healed that night, and during the 3 nights after that first one.  We witnessed it first hand.

Before this night, this little boy could only crawl on his hands, dragging his legs behind him.  Jesus healed him!  Here John is holding him up after he ran back and forth on the platform a few times.

Here is video of this 8 year old boy who before tonight could not walk.  Praise God!!!  Pastor Nelson is interpreting.

Little boy walks!

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When we arrived the 2nd night, a few of our security guys had a young boy in tow and brought him to Neal, explaining that this was the boy that used the slingshot and hit the interpreter.  They wanted to know if they should turn him in to the police.  We knew that if the police got ahold of him he would be severely beaten. So we talked to him and at first he denied his involvement.  His name was Mohammed and he was 12 years old.  I sent Tobi to go and talk with him and Tobi just said ‘he’s a nice boy’.    We told him that Jesus loved him and wanted to forgive him if he wanted forgiveness.  He said he did.  Then Neal told him that what was left was for him to ask forgiveness from Pastor Benji, and if Benji forgave him, he was free to go.

Here is Neal talking with him.

Here is Pastor Benji explaining why he is forgiving him.

After this, Mohammed returned to every meeting and during the day whenever we went to the field to prepare things, he was always there, ready to greet us.  We don’t know for sure, but we can pretty safely assume that someone influenced Mohammed to do what he did – maybe even paid him.  We believe his life was truly impacted.  What the devil meant for evil, God threw back in his face!

The rocks continued to fly that night and even I was pelted with one of them.  It was a small thing, but every time I felt that bruise over the next week or two, it made me think of the countless believers in the world today that are seriously persecuted for their faith.  So that was kind of an honor.

I was helping interview those that were coming forward with testimonies of healing.  There was a Fulani boy with his father that came.  The ‘boy’ was 20, but didn’t speak Hausa so his father interpreted for him.  He began to explain to me that the boy hadn’t slept for 7 years.  That every time he tried to sleep, he was tormented and died.  What?  That’s what I said!  So I thought maybe I was missing something in the translation – it’s been known to happen!  So I asked one of the pastors to come and listen.  The pastor repeated back to me in Hausa the same thing.  That the boy died every time he tried to sleep, so he couldn’t sleep.  Couldn’t even nap.  In Hausa I said ‘He died?’  In English the pastor replied ‘dead’ – like that made perfect sense.  So I said do you mean like he’s passed out in a coma like state. ‘Yes, yes’.  So I realized then that he had been dealing with evil spirits.  The reason he came forward to testify on the 2nd night of the meeting was because after he went home the first night, after prayer, he slept.  The whole night.  He had even taken a nap that afternoon.  They were both beaming.  As you can see for yourself!  I asked them if they had received Jesus.  They joyfully said ‘Yes’!  I noticed that they were wearing charms around their necks, very typical of Fulani (and many people groups).  I explained that now that they had Jesus, they no longer needed the charms.  I was quite surprised when Dad reached up and immediately pulled them off.  In our experience, it often takes some time and teaching for them to be willing to give up the charms – their protection.  It was incredible!!

This man was healed of knee problems.  According to him, it had been 2 years since he had been able to bend like this.

This woman said she had had a tumor on her right arm and hadn’t been able to lift it up like this.

This man had been deaf.  Past tense!

Miracle after miracle.  Each night.  The Muslims were so upset by the meetings that they began preaching on the radio that this was all false.  First, it wasn’t God doing the healing, because He’s the one who made them sick.  Then they began reporting that the miracles were staged – except that God began healing some of them!  They couldn’t deny that.  In fact they began searching out some of the pastors – asking for prayer!

What an incredible thing this has been for Tobi to be a part of.  He has no doubt that God is our healer!!

He even got to be part of the band!

Tobi drums.

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On the last day there was an additional meeting – a children’s crusade.  It was great and kids from all over the city came.  They came early.  Very early.  A boys bike and a girls bike were among the prizes that would be given away.   That’s a great gift – even for an adult!  There were clowns and dramas, the Gospel was again presented and many hands went up to receive the free gift of Jesus.  Then the sick were prayed for.

To the person who wasn’t aware of what was going on, the whole thing at first glance would look like mass chaos.  In the spiritual realm, a battle was raging. The devil was mad and the evil spirits were getting very riled up.  God was moving.

Neal took some time after the team finished praying for salvation and healing to encourage people to find a church to get plugged into.  He was also declaring over the people that we have life because of Jesus and that Jesus is our healer.  There was a group of ‘rabble rousers’ in the crowd and they began cursing him.  Can you say ‘Book of Acts?’  It was an awesome thing to be a part of!

Neal speaking

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After it was over, we went to the field the following morning to pack up/take down.  There was still a large crowd of children.  I began talking with them and they first told me that they didn’t get a gift – they didn’t win the bike.  I told them that they may not have won the bike, but that they received the greatest gift of all – Jesus.  One child quickly agreed and said ‘Yes! He’s here in my heart!’

After the team packed up and went home, we continued to hear testimonies of healings come in – from Muslims.  We heard 2 specifically who said they had spent all the money they had on doctors and witch doctors over several years – with no success.  But after coming to the rally – they were completely healed!  Isn’t this exactly what Jesus told us to do?  Lay hands on the sick and they will recover.  He also told us that these signs will follow those that believe.  If you believe, these signs can follow you also!  Praise God!

Last month at our annual ministry meeting held in Maradi, we heard testimonies from many pastors saying that there were new people coming to all of the churches because of the JSMI meetings.  Great reports!

We thank God for JSMI for obeying God and truly coming where others have not wanted to come – knowing the resistance that could be possible.  And there really was resistance.  But the power of God broke through and His message was spread throughout the entire city in a matter of 4 days.

Take that devil!!

Miracle Meetings in Maradi! Part 1

I’ve been wanting to write this post since November.  There are lots of reasons why it hasn’t been done with the most recent reason being our internet, or lack thereof.  Living in a developing nation, that’s just how it is sometimes…well,   much of the time.  But, I’m here now.  And I’m going to write.

In 2007, we were a part of the first ever mass evangelistic campaign to be held in Niger.  It was held in Niamey, the capital city.  Richard Roberts brought a team of ministers and doctors to minister in this historical and nation changing event.  In the beginning, we had no idea how many would come, but God far exceeded our expectations.  Estimates on the last night were 30,000 people!  Since then, the Gospel has continued to spread.  Even though Niger is still less than 1% Christian, God’s Kingdom is gaining ground.  This past November, there was another crusade in Niamey.  Dag-Heward Mills brought his team from Ghana and ministered to thousands.    The week after that incredible event in Niamey, John Smithwick Ministries International (JSMI) came to Niger to do an evangelistic rally in Maradi.  The first ever in that key city in Niger.   We again got to be a part of something historical.  A city-wide evangelistic rally in Maradi.

This is just a small portion of the crowd.  The meeting was held in the wrestling arena.

As I’ve said before , Maradi is where we lived for our first 9 years in Niger.   Except for the almost 2 years during that time that we lived in Diffa to start a church.  In 2007, we moved to Niamey.  Here’s a map of Niger showing the different regions.  The majority of the population here is in the southern belt, known as the Sahel.

Regions in Niger

On to Maradi we go.  Over Thanksgiving week, a team of 22 people came to Maradi for this unprecedented event.  They actually flew into Kano, Nigeria and Neal and Pastor Nelson drove their to pick them up and bring them to Maradi.  That airport is closer (and less expensive to fly into then our airport in Niamey).  The trip was uneventful, and that is a very good thing and a big answer to prayer.

JSMI doesn’t advertise in a traditional way to invite people to come.  The meetings are called a ‘cultural exchange’.  Their team is divided into groups of about 7 and during the mornings, they go into the schools where we have obtained  advance permission.  This group was divided into 3 teams.  With drama, clowns and singing, they present the Gospel and then they hand out ‘tickets’ to each child, inviting them to come back to the evening meeting and to bring their parents.  The free ticket is not only their entry, but is used in a drawing for prizes that are given away each night.

That’s the ‘outline’ that was used.  But remember – this was something that Maradi had never seen before.  Ever.  We literally had no idea how the Muslim city would respond.  So even though we had received permission to go into the schools (public and private), after the first presentation, at the mention of the name of Jesus, they shut us down.

The children gather at one of the schools on the first day.  

They are intently watching the program and loving it.

Here’s one of the teams doing their thing.

The above picture if one of the largest schools in Maradi.  It was from here that we got  a call from the school inspector that we could not come to the schools anymore.  But the teams got such a great response and the directors wanted us to do the program in their schools.  So the Inspector called back and said we could come to the schools if we agreed not to talk about Jesus.   Hasimu, our pastor  in charge of all the pre-planning, politely explained that the reason we were there was to talk about Jesus.

Niger is  because although the majority of it’s people are Muslims, the nation is politically a religious free state.  That means we have the right to preach the Gospel on the streets.  So to the streets we went.  Each of the 3 teams went to different locations around the city, did the program, invited people to the evening meetings and then moved to another location to repeat the process.  After 3 days of this, the whole city was blanketed.

This is one of the vans the team used to get around the city.

We strategically went to locations near schools and did the program during their break times.

We would park at the designated location and all the team members walked around the streets inviting whoever was there to the night meeting, and to the drama they were going to do right then.

There’s a clown in that crowd!

The presentation on the streets.

The kids intently watching the drama which clearly demonstrated the Gospel.

With the drama finished the kids are serious about wanting their tickets.

This little guy has his ticket for the evening program.

These boys on the street just wanted their picture taken.

In Niger, life is mostly lived outside.  So we came into contact with lots of people. After watching the drama, this lady told me that she had just come out of mourning – her husband and son had died on the same day – 40 days earlier.  She’s holding her Muslim prayer beads.  Sadly, death is a common part of life here.  The people desperately need Jesus.

Each team was assigned a policeman for security.   This was the policeman assign to the team I was on.  I was shocked that he was helping us pass out the tickets on the streets.  Actually, it made me laugh.  A Muslim inviting children to a Christian program.  Not something we see every day!

My next post (in the next couple of days) will be about the night meetings.  What happened was nothing short of miraculous.  But I wanted to end this post by including a few more pictures of what some of the schools in the city of Maradi look like.

Tobi is helping hand out tickets in one of the classrooms.  See how their belongings are hanging on the ‘wall’.

This is an empty classroom.  All the kids are gathered for the program.  The children sit in the sand and try to write in their small notebooks.

This is the school (classrooms).  Makes one think twice before complaining about what our schools don’t have…

NEXT….the crowds exceeded our expectations!  This is  Hasimu, on of our head pastors, and the local coordinator of the event.

The story continues…

Team Word of Life Ch. 2

So, we were on our way at sunrise – tooling down the road together in 2 land cruisers and a bus, which we thought was close behind. We thought. We got a call from Trae some time later – and discovered that all our rushing around at the airport was for naught. The bus was still sitting in Niamey. I won’t go into the reasons for the delay except to say that the bus did not even leave Niamey until 10:30am. This is Africa.

Meanwhile, our vehicles were getting along fine. We may have had a flat tire but I really can’t remember. We have them so frequently they are just sort of par for the course. Especially when our tires are old. However, 11 bladders, one of them pregnant, can pose some challenges. They may not agree, but we felt like we were being pretty merciful when we’d stop within an hour of a request for a bush. Thankfully, since it was rainy season, finding sufficient coverage was relatively easy. Relatively speaking. When it’s just our family traveling, we require synchronization of bladders and try to make only 1 stop during the entire trip. Once we did it with no stops – a record!

After much bumping and swerving and stopping, we finally arrived at our destination at about 4pm. Still no sign of the bus people. The Jorgensen’s had a meal prepared for us so after about 30 minutes of recovery time (you can only understand if you have actually made this trip), we enjoyed a wonderful meal of cous cous and vegetable stew. Still no bus people. We prepared for the alumni meeting, which was to begin at 7pm. I enjoyed being back in Maradi again, in spite of the recent challenges we had faced there. The service started and again, you have to experience praise and worship here to fully understand how great it is. The team members began their ministry time and now I am beginning to get a little bit concerned. Where are our bus people (including 2 of my kids), and why haven’t we heard from them? I stepped out of the church several times to call before finally reaching them. It was about 8:30, and they were just getting into town. Pastor Rich offered to go and pick them up so they arrived at the church just about the time the meeting was getting finished. No recovery time for them! One of the reasons the trip took so long is because the bus stops so frequently for prayers – the people get out to do their Muslim prayers. Several times during the trip. That, and there’s picking people up and dropping them off. And this is not your ordinary greyhound. This is a non-air conditioned vehicle with more seats per square foot than the average ‘non-african’ bus. I rode in it once – all of me and my 5’2″ frame. The seats were so close together that I was not able to bend forward to pick something up without my head hitting the seat in front of me. In other words, I had to lean forward with head stretched back while stretching one arm down and towards the side – which would then cause me to lay in the lap of the person next to me. All I could do for our ‘bussers’ was offer my condolences, and tell them I understood. And remind them that they now had a pretty cool story to tell. They were great about it all.

We got our troopers some food and everyone was pretty quick to find their beds that evening. I got things ready for the next morning’s breakfast and was off to bed, realizing I was so tired because I had been up since 2am.

We slept great because Maradi is cooler than Niamey. And I think everyone else rested well too, in spite of the fact that temps were well above what is normal for them. The alumni meeting continued that morning and though I didn’t get to attend, (kitchen duty) I heard it was wonderful. The former students were greatly encouraged by the God-inspired messages brought by our team. And the alumni meeting is always a time of encouragement for us, as it gives us opportunity to see how the ministry has grown, and how many believers have been discipled.

We had lunch, and then our mercy kicked in so we decided we would give the group some down time. They had, after all, been on the move for 6 straight days. We took them to the ‘Club’ (again, got to see it to believe it), where we swam, relaxed, rode camels (we know some people in a nearby village and ask them to bring their camels for some photo ops) and ate dinner. That night a rousing game of cards was played. I didn’t play, but I know it was rousing because of the noise coming from a table of very ‘expressive’ people, Neal leading the charge.

The rest of the week would prove to be busy and very exciting. More to come…

A little bit of everything

Well, lets see.  Alot has happened in the last 2 weeks since I’ve written. 

 Trae and Neal returned from the softball tournament in Ouaga.  Neither team won.  Neal’s team made it to the semi-finals and Trae’s team didn’t make it that far.  So they didn’t end up playing each other.  But Trae hit 2 homeruns, so that was exciting.  They both had a lot of fun.  And Neal brought back strawberries for me!  Fresh strawberries!  What a treat!

 What else…My class is going well at the Bible School.  I gave a test (in 3 languages!) and most of them did quite well.  Last week I took a day to show them how to use puppets.  It was quite funny, and one of the girls was terribly afraid of the puppet.  She jumped into the lap of the girl next to her when I brought it out.  It took some time, but she got over it and reluctantly ‘tried one on’.  I have divided them into 6 groups and each group is preparing a 20 minute children’s service using all they have learned so far.  We’ll see all those this week.  Next week I’ll start my teaching “Training your children”.  Sido continues to do well.  The persecution has escalated at home though, so he had to move into the dorm with the other students.  Since he lives in Niamey, he was living at home and going back and forth to school each day.  He has asked Pastor Abdu when he gets to start preaching!  Last week he told me he wanted to change groups because they had set a time to practice their children’s service and one of the members didn’t come on time.  He said that he can’t work with someone who is not motivated.  I told him that I wouldn’t change groups and that they would have to work it out -that this was a good opportunity to grow in the fruit of the Spirit.  This is when it really counts!  In church this morning I asked how it was going and he said they are ready.  Because of a bonus question, he got 101 on his test! 

We’ve recently finished up with a 3-person medical team that came from Kentucky.  They were great and saw something like 6-700 people in a week.  This is really a great opportunity for outreach because the people come to us.  Just like poverty, medical needs are rampant and drives people to get help.  Then we can witness to them and pray for them.   Each one.  I think the count was 52 that prayed to receive Christ.  Several of our pastors were there at each clinic and will be involved in the follow up.  I believe the recent medical teams we are having are only a precurser to the hospital we will one day build.

Friday after school, Trae and Tanika went with a group of about 25 other people from their school to the town of Tera - about a 2.5 hour drive out of Niamey.  Then they have to cross the river on a ferry.  It is an outreach trip where they are helping to put up some structures for school classrooms, and do some children’s ministry.  They will be home today.

Neal, along with his Mom and Dad, went to Maradi yesterday for the Executive Council meeting.  Thanks to Mom and Dad for driving, which left me with my preferred vehicle.  In other words, I haven’t had to drive the beloved beamer.  Good thing too, because the AC stopped working again and it’s getting hot!  It’s a short trip and they’ll be back tomorrow. 

 So that leaves Tobi and I here together.  We’ve had a nice weekend.  Yesterday we invited one of his classmates over to play.  Tobi and Morgan are very different personalities but got along quite nicely.  Morgan is a very outgoing confident little guy.  Also very athletic.  Here’s a part of a conversation I overheard / saw.  

While playing with matchbox cars:

Morgan:  I’ll have the 2 fastest cars, since I’m faster than you.

Tobi:  Blank stare that turned into an ’I get it’ stare and then said ”OK”. 

Off they were to continue playing with the cars.  Tobi is very matter of fact about these things.  Every once in awhile I get a ranking of speed levels of he and his classmates.  It doesn’t even sound competitive (but I’m no fool, it has to be!),  just very factual.  Last night we watched the original Charlotte’s Web animated movie from 1972.  It was really good!  I’d forgotten that it’s really a musical.  Tobi had already seen a part of it so he kept telling me what was going to happen.  Wilbur was going to ‘get dead’.  Like death is something you go and get.  We even had popcorn!

Today on the way home from church I asked Tobi if he had any ideas for lunch.  He did not.  I said – how about tuna – because I had some already made in the fridge.  His reply?  Are you ready for this?  Picture fist clenched in excitement and a shout of ‘YES’ as he pumps said fist.  The guy loves tuna!  And hummous, zucchini and hot sauce.  Not so interested however, in things like roast beef and mashed potatoes and gravy. 

I’m afraid (I know I shouldn’t fear) but I really am afraid of the heat that is here - and even more – the heat that is on it’s way.  When we left for the US in early April last year, it was 120.   That’s hot enough for a seatbelt to double as a branding iron.  We have been resisting the use of our air conditioners but last night I finally caved.  It was March 1st for goodness sake.  That’s officially hot season.  Even with our window open and fan on it was still 87 in the room at 11pm.  Tobi has been asking for quite awhile now to use his AC.  We’ve refused the poor kid.  When I went to bed last night, I couldn’t in good conscience use the AC while he remained hot.  It also didn’t make a lot of sense to have 2 AC’s running.  So I moved him into my room when I went to bed.  He was all sweaty…poor guy.  Sometime in the night the electricity went out.  When it came back on, I would have had to get up and turn the AC on again.  I decided to leave it off, (too lazy to get out of bed) hoping the room was cool enough to sleep the rest of the night.  It worked.  We were both comfortable.  This morning it was only 81 in the room. 

There’s always an adjustment when hot season arrives.  It’s hot most of the time, but March and April stand alone when it comes to heat.  I heard of a publication that said Niamey was the hottest capital city in the world.  Niger was also described as having 2 seasons.  Hot, and hotter then hell.  We thank God for the AC’s we have in our bedrooms – and the money to run them.  And we thank him for His son, Jesus, who has saved us from eternal fire!