A letter from Michael and Rachel Ludwig serving in Niger
September 2014 - “The Bumpy Road”
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We see lots of goats tethered like this
When we first arrived in Niger two months ago, the leader from our partner church in charge of greeting us spent a fair amount of time sharing songs with us in the Hausa language. The one that really stuck with us is about a bumpy road. It says, “I will go with Jesus everywhere, I don’t care about the bumpy road…” Every road is literally a bumpy road here, and as you can imagine we've had some metaphorically bumpy roads adjusting to life here. There have been bumpy roads in keeping mosquitoes away, keeping cool at night, and completing basic tasks like cooking and washing dishes. We've also seen the bumpiness of our limitations in not knowing anything in the language well enough to communicate much of substance. Happily, some of these limitations have been broken down through singing our bumpy road song! The song has turned out to be such a blessing because we see God working through it to open up relationships with people and congregations of the Evangelical Church in the Republic of Niger (EERN). It's amazing to see a congregation change from observing strange people from a distance to happy looks of recognition and acceptance as they realize we’re singing a song they can sing too.
Rachel recently blogged about how life is sometimes like the picture of a goat straining at its tether, trying to get the grass that’s just out of reach. That sums up many of our experiences so far as limitations have been a theme for us. We've seen that the access to resources is so limited here in Niger, there’s just so much need all around. We've experienced how water and electricity are limited and frequently unavailable in the cities we've stayed in. We've felt how time is limited because everything takes extra-long to do, without modern conveniences, and so we have to make choices about what to put time into efficiently. Similarly, because there is such need, we’re keenly aware that we have limited resources for making an impact, and so have to choose with discernment what needs to invest in. On a small scale this is right in our face with the family of the guard who lives on the compound of the guesthouse in which we're staying. The mother of the family also works out of the house at a Christian clinic, but they still have few clothes and trouble paying for schooling for five children. The mostly teenaged children are over at our guesthouse constantly and often ask for things, with shoes and socks being at the top of their list. It's hard to know how much we should do to help, what healthy limits we should have, and which things will just perpetuate dependency. What happens when teenagers grow out of gift pairs of shoes for the athletics they’re excelling in and then their parents can’t provide the shoes expected for them to continue on? What happens to families who aren't fortunate enough to live close to Western missionaries?
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Celebrating a birthday with Nigerien friends
We've been reading through the book of Exodus the past few weeks in the section containing the Ten Commandments. Sometimes this can seem like a lifeless section of rules and regulations, but we can also see it as God helping us understand that we are limited beings and there are limitations that we need to live within to function in a healthy and life-giving way. We also see in the rest of the story how God often breaks through our limitations with grace to provide us with what we lack. So our limitations are not always something to fight, but something to teach us and something that reminds us of our neediness and reliance on God. These insights are also very relevant to the situations we see unfolding before us in our partner church. The new EERN leadership is now immersed in formulating limitations for using this new guesthouse so it isn’t misused, and they have similar situations with other properties and programs that they are earnestly searching for better and more trustworthy ways to manage.
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An EERN church at worship
Among some of these more discouraging limitations we’ve seen God working in the midst of our initial time here. We've seen God working perfect timing that we wouldn't have chosen in our length of stay at the guesthouse. It’s given us a deeper relationship with a Nigerien family than what we would’ve had if we lived by ourselves right away. We've experienced with them the joys of cooking by fire, going to the market, dancing, teaching guitar, all-night prayer meetings (and all-day recovering), and celebrating birthdays/anniversaries. We also continue to be impressed that even though our partner church has such limitations monetarily and socially in their Muslim culture, they still press on toward their vision of what it means to be Christ’s church for Niger. It reminds us of Paul’s call in Philippians Chapter 3 to be like a runner pushing forward toward the goal, and we see them doing so with leaders who have this great vision of what they can do to be shining the light of Jesus through love, justice, and grace in their society. One church we visited reported on how a group of members has been traveling out to a village in the region which hadn't seen a Christian in years, but was very interested in getting to know them and having them bring the Jesus film to share more about the way they follow. The EERN has many plans for how to mobilize people and resources to do this vital type of outreach.
Watching the EERN inspires us to keep pressing on, learning from and leaning into our limitations. So we'll keep singing our Bumpy Road song as we meet more of our church partners. We'll press on into language learning that continues to melt boundaries as people are excited to hear their language coming from a foreigner's mouth. We hope that you'll continue to press on as well in prayer, communication, and all your ongoing support, even though we're far away talking about distant things. Our current prayer concerns are for a smooth transition to a house we’re renting starting in October, for more same-age interaction and friendships for our kids, and for our language learning, along with prayers for the EERN leadership. We’ve appreciated your notes and the contact with our roots that remind us even across limitations of space we’re still connected to great people and share lots of love and purpose with you all. If you’d like to keep up with more of our activities you can by emailing us to be on monthly updates (michael.ludwig@pcusa.org). May the bumpy road rise up to meet you as graciously as it has for us!
Peace be with you,
Michael & Rachel Ludwig
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, Niger, p. 125
Read more about Michael and Rachel Ludwig's ministry
Contact: Michael Ludwig (michael.ludwig@pcusa.org)
Contact: Rachel Ludwig (rachel.ludwig@pcusa.org)
Individuals: Give online to E200513 for Michael and Rachel Ludwig's sending and support
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