Mission Update - 6

Dear Friends and Family,

Wednesdays aren't always this cool. We are only hours away from heading home, but how could we possibly do such a thing before seeing Africa at its finest? After breakfast, we had our team devotions outside with the entire LINK™ staff. Each of us shared our name and what we did, and this led to a lot of laughter.

Next we went WAY out in the desert to spy on some giraffes. To put it simply, they were beautiful. There was something about their meekness that made all of us stare and take pictures. They truly exist to reflect the glory of God, just by being what they are. His creation is striking.

After lunch at the LOC, we shopped for souvenirs. It was great. All the jewelry, blankets, drums, purses, figurines, and clothes screamed (with loud colors) one thing: Africa. Soon we were on our way to the Niger River to begin our evening of adventure. We hopped onto a less than modern boat and started hunting for hippos. It wasn't long before we spotted them!

We reached our destination on the bank in what looked to be a deserted area. We hiked up our skirts and pants and started our walk across the hot, sandy desert. This was truly a hard twenty minutes. Nothing about today seemed like February. Seventeen camels greeted us at the road, and boy, were we glad to see them! Some of us weren't sure what we were getting into, but anything looked more appealing than walking one more step. So, up we went, one by one. Have you ever ridden a camel before? We strongly suggest putting it on your bucket list. It was hilarious. Those things are the quirkiest creatures on the planet. We were all smiles.

Part three of the evening awaited us as our ride came to an end and we found ourselves at the bottom of a large sand dune. We were hot. We were tired. We carried on. At the top of the dune we were pleased to find a breath-taking view of Niger. As we played, took pictures, worshiped, and rested, we watched the sky do what is does best.

The Bible tells us that The Father's children, His elect, His bride, will come from EVERY nation. We have rejoiced this week as we have witnessed the church come to life in the hearts of the sweet people of Niger.

Grace and Peace,
The LiveTen24 Discovery Team