Fishing for Men

" Passing along the beach of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew net-fishing. Fishing was their regular work. Jesus said to them, "Come with me. I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass." They didn't ask questions. They dropped their nets and followed." Mark 1:16 - 17

Pray for us we seek to be fishers of men & women. We have had opportunities over the last couple of months to share with men of the river, building relationships that we pray will lead men to God's saving grace.

Phil & Sumana

The Proclaimer

"But unless Christ's word is preached, there is nothing to listen to. "

Romans 10:17 The Message

In December, Phil had an opportunity to go out to a small village west of Niamey. He was joined by one of the ACEN church elders as they attended a Campus for Christ training session for the "Proclaimers."

The "proclaimer" is a solar powered/hand cranked MP3 players that is housed in a box with a speaker for protection and group use. The proclaimer has prerecorded portions of scripture in it that are used in small group settings to teach, and disciple the young church.

Many Nigerien are unable to read, so the use of oral language learning is very vital. The Proclaimer gets the word of God to the people of the church first, helping them learn scripture, ask questions in the small group setting and then with understanding go outside the church to evangelize their village neighbors.

It was a privilege to be present as the Proclaimers were handed out to the elders and pastors of churches from surrounding villages.

Their faces lit up as they heard the Bible passages read in their own language, Gourma.

Pray that these Proclaimers will be well used to strengthen the young church of Niger.

Pray for the leaders of the Proclaimer small groups, to be prepared for each meeting ready to answer questions and encouraging their members to learn more.

Pray that the Proclaimers are protected from damage and continue working for many years.

Pray for the follow up on the initial hand out of the proclaimer. That there will be good documentation of its use and small group feed back.

UPDATE! Training for The Proclaimer use was begun at the small Gourma church we attend in Niamey. We look forward to seeing how it is used there and growth in scripture understanding of our church members.

Road Work

Some jobs are just too big to be done by a couple of people. Sooooo, we rounded up a crew of energetic teens from Sahel Academy, along with their youth leader and the orphanage children to repair the road in front of the CSEN Orphanage.

It was a 2 week project as we could only work for about 1 1/2 hours on a given day.

But with some good old heave hoe, strong backs and a few laughs on the job, the broken rock, and latarite were put in place.

Holes were filled and a car could once again pass on the road.

We are grateful for ways to reach out -

with our hands and practically help with day to day needs. This was a need not only for the orphanage personally, but it touched the lives of their neighbors as well.

We are thankful that these opportunities bring the community teens & our children together,

so that they work shoulder to shoulder with the children of Niger.

There are many practical ways that CSEN can use help. If you are not able to come and serve, maybe you would be able to give. Gifts can be contributed through Maxwell Ministries.

Time with Teens at CSEN

Each week, Shannon goes along with up to 6 high school students from

Sahel Academy for a time of community outreach.

The teens use the hour to love the children with hugs, games, crafts,

lots of pushes on the swings and just sweet companionship.

This is a great time for the orphans, to be with older children, have some one one one

time and for the teens to reach out to others.

PRAYER NEEDS OF CSEN:

Pray for the orphan chidren as many are growing into the teen years and facing some of the same teen struggles that teens around the world face.

Pray for the health of the children at CSEN

Pray for Bernard and Jose as they care for 32 children

Pray for the small staff that works with B & J - that they will work in unity and be able to have time to share & pray together.

Pray for us (Phil & Shannon) that we can be an encouragement & support to CSEN.

Back on the Blog

The lack of good internet service can be somewhat discouraging when there are many people that you want to keep in touch with. So today, I am trying to once again up date our blog site.
Perhaps I can do this more regularly now.

I would like to find a way to EASILY post our email updates and news letters. If any one has no how on this - I am reading/listening.

Here's to a new beginning.