Stranded? Stuck? No Way!

 The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7

You may be wondering what I am doing here in Niger and why I am not on a plane coming back to the USA, immediately?
Background information is that I received (a week ago Tuesday), a request to come to Niger to bring urgent supplies to our CURE International Hospital. At the same time, there was a need to assist with a site visit for a candidate for an important position at the hospital. Many of you know that Paul and I have been involved in one way or another with CURE Niger since it opened in 2010. It holds a very special place in our hearts and lives.
Paul and I prayed and counted the cost of what might happen with the Covid-19 and interruption with travel plans. The Lord confirmed that I should go. Paul did not have the time off from the University. Paul gave me his unconditional blessing to go alone.
All went well with bringing of the supplies and the site visit was going very well. We decided to relax by going out to dinner. While we were having a pleasant evening I checked my phone and saw about 10 missed calls. Something was going on....

The President of Niger announced Tuesday night, March 17th  that the airports and all borders would close at midnight, March 19th. Niger has borders with many countries including;  Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad, Algeria, and Libya. These borders are all portals where there could be transmission of the virus. The President of Niger made these important decisions to keep Niger as safe as possible. I respect that very much. It is one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world. He stated rightly that it would be a hardship on the medical system and the people should there be an outbreak here. At the time there were no confirmed cases of Covid-19. Tonight it was announced that there is one case.
My return plane ticket is for Monday, March 23 but of course that will not happen. It was a hard decision to make....stay or try to go home?
Could I be of help in this crisis?
Should I go home because of my age? That was the question from a friend! Haha, I turned 63 today.
Could I find a ticket to leave?
As I talked with Paul and George the hospital executive director we did not have any strong sense either way. So we prayed together. I prayed that I wanted to be obedient. If I stayed it would not be as someone special, a super hero or martyr but as a fellow worker in our mission.
If I went I would need a ticket that would bring me safely home. I spent several hours researching my options to travel.  There were only two economy tickets left on the airline of my choice. They were $5400 each one way! FYI first class was $7200! A travel agent who is experienced in CURE travels could only find a route that would take me to Cote d'Ivoire for an overnight in a hotel, then to Dubai also for an overnight, then to JFK in New York and finally two more short flights to get home to Lexington. Even the most adventurous person I know would not take this challenging route that would require an additional $3000 or more plus visas for two countries. No way! It would be too risky to take such a route to places unfamiliar to me. We asked for wisdom and we got it!
I was to stay, which deep in my heart gave peace and joy. No fear, just trust. Being obedient to God's leading is so important to me.
So here I am! Not sure how long.  The future is uncertain everywhere. I choose to trust. I choose to be at peace.
Besides, all the dear friends I have here cannot leave. 
They are cut off from their extended families. There is no freedom to leave at this time. So we stay calm and carry on! There is work to be done. Being anxious will not change the situation. Trusting will! As we trust in the LORD, He gives His people peace that is beyond understanding.  He gives joy, courage and eternal perspective. For such a time as this, I am here.
God is good.
God is faithful.
God is trustworthy.
God is Sovereign.
God is in Control.
God is full of compassion, righteousness and kindness.
God is our Peace!
So......see you whenever!
If you feel sorry for me, please put your energy instead into encouraging others, including my Mum, my dear hubby and adult children working in healthcare. Help those in your corner of the world.

And don't forget to pray! Pray as you go about your day. Pray out loud! Pray God's Word.
Whenever you wash your hands say Psalm 23 or the Lord's Prayer which take about 25 seconds at a normal pace of speech. Pray for this time to be a revival of hearts in marriages, families, and communities even if folks cannot meet together! Pray for our service people who work selflessly in the US and around the world to help other nations in so many ways.

Please carry on doing what you have been called to do, even if it has to be done remotely for a while.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.  2 Timothy 1:7

Police Escort

Something happened this week  that was so unusual even Paul said I need to blog about it.

We had a full morning at the hospital and around 3 pm we needed to leave the hospital to deliver 9 boxes of nursing books to a local clinic that has recently opened a Christian Nursing School. Following our dropping off of these books, we drove to the airport to pick up a visiting anesthesia resident.
Words cannot describe the beauty of the new airport in Niamey, Niger. Everything about it is beautiful, efficient and clean. There are bones of ancient animals with historical notations. There is a cafe with a sign that looks very much like Starbucks but don't be fooled! It is a knock off. However, since we were early, we went through security that is required to enter the airport and treated ourselves to a pot of tea served in proper tea cups. Image us sitting, sipping, and chatting. All of a sudden a police captain uniformed and armed asks to speak with Paul. The brief conversation is only partially understood as the policeman spoke so quickly. Being slightly paranoid, I thought he was suggesting that the cafe was only for departing passengers and so he would show us where to find the arrivals. He mentioned that the plane we were waiting for would come in at 16:11 precisely.
Paul and I finished our tea wondering if we had done something wrong by coming into the airport and having tea while not being passengers?
We looked down the terminal and saw one or two passengers come out from customs and baggage claim. We assumed these were the first class passengers and since we knew that the young doctor was not coming first class we finished our tea and began our stroll down the terminal to the arrivals. Immediately, the police captain strides up to us and says he will escort us to the arrival hall. There is only one, so we were a little confused and still feeling perhaps we had violated some airport regulation. SURPRISE! We were not only being escorted to the arrivals we were being escorted right the way through to the escalator where all the passengers must come down. We walked passed other police, customs officers, public health nurses checking for yellow fever vaccinations and so on. We were in total shock! We had no ID on us other than our business cards for CURE and hospital badges which would mean nothing to immigration officials if we were asked what we were doing there. Every time we passed another official person, Captain AK would say, these people are with me. At one point he received a call and said that he needed to go for a few minutes and if anyone asked us anything, we were just to say speak to Captain AK.

There is a spiritual analogy here:

We have no authority to go into the presence of God who is holy. We need an advocate. We need an escort who can vouch for us, who can give us permission.
Jesus Christ is our escort to God's Presence. We have no authority, no credit of our own.
Jesus told His disciples that one day He would have to leave them but He would send an advocate, a comforter in other words Jesus would send His Holy Spirit. While we were fearful to be left alone in the unauthorized zone, we did not need to fear as we had Captain AK's name and permission.
How sweet to have everyday spiritual lessons as we go about our everyday tasks. God is alive and well. He is teaching us great and wonderful things about His kindness to us. What a grace gift to be given permission to meet the young doctor! How wonderful to have an escort, advocate!
We are privileged to be here in Niger! We are enjoying our days keeping our eyes and ears wide open to see the goodness and kindness of our great God and Savior.

Word pictures-Sweeping the dirt

Disclaimer: Before photography people read books with words and no pictures except for perhaps an illustration or two that was hand drawn and painted.  I am going to attempt to post a blog without pictures since my computer is not allowing me to post photos. I will post the pictures on FaceBook.
Hopefully, the descriptions will cause you to see in your mind's eye some of our experiences and spiritual lessons/illustrations.

Brown sand and terracotta colored dirt is everywhere. Most homes have dirt floors. Most roads are made of dirt. It is very dusty everywhere. There is trash everywhere on the ground including bits and pieces of plastic bottles, discarded candy wrappers, worn out and broken sandals and so on. What do people do with all this trash in front of their homes and shops? They sweep it away or at least attempt to.

Everyday we see men and women with a small bunch of twigs about 15 inches long sweeping the dirt. The trash is swept up and piled up to be burned or thrown in a ditch nearby. The sweeper makes the dirt as pretty as possible with circles or swirls.  Do you know what? It is still dirt! There is nothing that can change the fact that there is dirt everywhere. Can you picture that in your mind?

There is a spiritual illustration here and you do not have to be a theologian to understand.

No amount of sweeping in our lives can make us clean. We can do our best to clean ourselves up. We can get rid of some of the trash which may be undesirable or irritating habits. We can make ourselves look as good as possible through outward observable activities like church attendance, generous giving, daily quiet-time and small group attendance. We can even do good works such as teaching Sunday School, feeding the homeless or going to Africa on mission journeys. All these good attempts to be 'clean' do not change the reality of the human original sin that has tainted us all.  Sounds rather hopeless doesn't it? What hope is there of ever being clean and getting rid of the dirt in our lives?

The good news has been shared for many years in an old hymn-
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! 
Yes the remedy for our 'dirt' our sin stained lives is the cleansing power of Jesus Christ. Truly God, Jesus Christ became human to be the perfect solution to humanity's greatest need of a relationship with God who is holy, pure and good.

You see at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly....But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
Romans 5:5,6,8

God made Him (Jesus Christ) who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
 2 Corinthians 5:21

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:22-24 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith---and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God---not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 
Ephesians 2:8-10