They are sheltered from the worst effects in many ways as they live in Maradi, a long way from the capital. But the coup resulted in rising food prices and increasing unemployment as well as the withdrawal of aid to the country. Many of their friends and acquaintances need help just to get food on the table. SIM has seen some personnel leave unexpectedly; others haven’t been able to return from their home assignment. Those in the national office are wearing many hats, alongside coping with long power cuts.

They carry on ministry as usual. Faye does some work on SIM’s Maradi Compound and has a ministry in the local prison where she, another missionary and a pastor from the church teach literacy to a group of women; the course features bible stories and the message is woven through the course. Mark is a doctor in the Danja Health Centre. He also carries on his evangelism with some regular helpers on Sunday afternoons after church in the city.

He tells of a new believer who recently brought his wife in for a consultation. For many years she had been bleeding and plagued by evil spirits. The staff noticed throughout her stay at the health centre her entire demeanour changed in a positive way. However, a few days after returning home, the evil spirits returned.

The husband fervently prayed for his wife in Jesus’ name. Amidst his prayers, the spirits audibly spoke to him through his wife, telling him they had left because “We can’t go in [to the health centre] because there are too many Christians.” But when the woman returned home, the spirits had the freedom to return. The man continued to pray and speak the name of Jesus and soon thereafter, the spirits left and haven’t returned. His wife continues to gain physical strength, has no more bleeding, and is learning about following Jesus. Please pray for her, her family, and the entire village.

SIM mission personnel find living with the uncertainty of the political situation creates an underlying anxiety that comes out with grumpiness or even anger that is unusual. Several have experienced this. However, at the same time they can say that they are discovering the Lord’s presence in many ways and are learning to lean into him.
Faye writes: “What better Psalm to meditate on when you are living under a military coup than Psalm 27? — ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’ (Verse 1 ESV)
“Then there is verse 3 where I realise that yes, maybe war might break out but I can still be confident.
“In this Psalm we can see the attributes and actions of a loving God (goodness, light, stronghold, saving power etc.) and then the response of David to his God. In verse 4 you will see that is just one thing! — seeking God and dwelling in his presence.
“Then there is verse 14: ‘Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!’ We tend to look at this word ‘waiting’ as being quite passive but there is a sense here of eagerly looking for something. The word “qaveh” originally meant to twist or stretch, the noun meaning a cord or rope. I get this picture of myself water-skiing behind Jesus’s boat! Where he goes I go too, hanging on with all my strength!
However wild the ride is, I can trust the Lord to bring me back to shore. Let’s actively ‘wait’ on the Lord by pursuing that one thing.”

Pray:

• That we would recognise underlying anxiety and deal with it in a godly way. That we would continue to walk close to the Lord and his joy would be evident in our life and service.
• That we would be able to continue our ministry here.
• For fruit from the hospital ministry, evangelism and the prison work.
• For the hospital. It is already struggling financially and running the generator costs a lot of money
• For peace for this nation.