Heroes of the Faith in Niger

It must seem that everyone I met at CURE Niger impressed me.....well,  pretty much, that is correct. It is by faith that families have relocated to a new place, with a new culture, and a new set of sacrifices as they serve the LORD.  Only the Lord could have hand picked such incredible people!
The man on the right is Jean Francois Negrini. He is the surgeon at the CURE children's hospital in Niger. I wrote about his wife on a previous blog.  JF is an amazing man of God. He is a loving husband and father. More than that, JF is a great doctor. He cares deeply for the people who come to the hospital. JF is a shaker and mover. He works hard to see things happen so that patients are cared for excellently. He is a great teacher, trainer and mentor for the staff.  He cares deeply for people in the community.  JF and Anne were patient teachers during my October visit as I tried hard to recall French vocabulary and verb conjugations. Their children were exceptionally helpful in correcting my poor grammar too.  But I digress...this hero of the faith has relocated his family of four children from a mission compound in Bangladesh to a busy capital city in West Africa. Jean Francois and Anne are trusting God for the education of their children in foreign systems. They are trusting God for His provision for material, emotional, social and spiritual needs of each of these dear children. Please pray for this dear family! One thing that I love about this family is that they take life in stride with humor and joy. It was such a joy to 'do life' with them. JF and Anne are intentional in their parenting. They are raising children who are multilingual, aware of the world around them and compassionate towards those who are in need. Along they way they are teaching their children to enjoy life and make the best of every situation.  Is it any wonder, that I am wide awake on Christmas eve, blogging about these heroes of the faith? When I think about the Negrini family, I think about their singing, laughing, playing, helping, welcoming and enjoyment of people. May the Lord bless this family along with the Lemans and Roarks this Christmas season.  When I go to Niger in January, I will have to get more pictures of the families for my blog! You will enjoy hearing more about these precious missionary families.  These heroes of the faith are living incarnation-ally...they are the hands and feet of Jesus in a community that is lost, lonely and in desperate need of a Savior...Christ the Lord! Happy Christmas one and all.

Dear People-Niger

Whenever I brought my camera to the hospital, people would ask me to take their picture.  Often they would ask to have a picture taken with me! This particular day, I had a lot of fun being in pictures with some very dear people at the CURE Hospital in Niger. Dr. Gary Roark on the left unfortunately got a bit of his head chopped off in the photo...he is much taller than the rest of us! Ali in the middle is all smiles. He has something to smile about! During my first week at CURE, Ali's son became extremely ill with malaria. He did not respond to the first line of treatment, so the dear little boy was admitted to the hospital for IV therapy to rehydrate him and to give the medications that would bring relief. The poor little fellow was so very low and he gave his parents quite a fright. We knew that the child could easily die from malaria....yet we put our trust in the LORD for healing as the appropriate medical care was given....trusting in God's wisdom and mercy.  By the time of the Grand Opening on October 18th. the young lad was full of health and joy!

Can you believe it? God is so good. Ali is sure that the Lord brought about the restored health of his son. How grateful I am for the mercy of the Lord in the life of this dear one.
Please pray for Dr. Gary Roark as he oversees the medical aspects of the hospital. Pray for wisdom, ingenuity with staff training, creativity when supplies are not readily available and continued progress in learning the French language. Dr. Gary has a great sense of humor and endears himself to the staff.  He is trusted and respected by all which is a huge step in developing relationships in a new country.
No wonder, I am excited for the opportunity to return to CURE Niger in January.