Stars

It gets dark early here in Djibo. By about 7:30pm every day, the sun has disappeared and so have all our visitors, back to their yards to eat Nyiiri and drink tea. The heat of the day has lost its edge, but being April, it is still like being in an oven - only with the grill turned off now. This makes sleeping indoors unthinkable, so we've been dragging a mattress outside and hanging a mosquito net from the washing line to sleep under. I never had any of those luminous star stickers on my bedroom ceiling, but I have thousands now.

I didn't have to look up too long, therefore, to find inspiration when I was invited to preach a couple of weeks ago. I kind of fell into it unintentionally when the ladies at church were given responsibility for the service one Sunday. It was a challenge (my French would still appal my A-level teacher) but quite a satisfying one. I took Philippians 2v14-16 as a starting point 'Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you make become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life…'

It's difficult to feel satisfied when there are hundreds of people around you who aren't hearing the message of the gospel. And I find it hard not to complain - especially when it is 42 degrees centigrade. However, I've been reading the biographies of Hudson Taylor, David Brainerd and Don Richardson lately and that helps me keep my perspective. At least the Fulani aren't head-hunting cannibals. If they were we probably wouldn't be sleeping outdoors.

Thankfully, the Fulani that I have come to know are much friendlier than Don Richardson's neighbours were. I now have ten ladies doing embroidery with me. We sit on the veranda in the afternoons and there is much laughter, although I gather that most of it is at my Fulfulde. If it's not me saying words that sound like something rude, it's my regular announcement at 6 o'clock that 'I'm finished'.

Their tenacity to learning has been impressive so far, but we're still a way from producing really good quality work. There is just one lady so far who has been embroidering sarongs that I am ready to sell. She is Haybata, pictured here wearing one of the sarongs she embroidered. If you would like to see the detail and colours of others, you can do so on the Ladies of Djibo webpage. I am selling them for ₤10 each (postage excluded) and would love to know what you think (or if you'd like one). I'm hoping to use some of the profits to start a market stall to help the ladies to sell their work locally. It's a small idea but one that I hope will make a big difference to this particular group of stars.