Consider Us Sharpened

Today was the last day of our "Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills" workshop in Niamey, Niger.Since Deron is already well-trained in all this interpersonal stuff it was really just a review for him, but I learned a lot. Like what, you may wonder? Here are some of the topics we covered:

* conflict resolution
* confrontation
* problem solving
* grief
* listening skills
* building trust
* stress management
(in the picture above, Deron is reading out some practical stress-busting techniques the group came up with)

I gained a lot of practical insight, so I'm really glad I was able to come. For Deron, the benefit was mostly being able to spend time with some of our fellow personnel as they "sharpened" along with us.

We are here in Niger till Saturday, and will spend the rest of the time visiting with colleagues and getting some work done on the computer. We've already been able to spend time with lots of people, so it's been a great trip so far!

Member Care At Work

Here's Deron with baby Noah, the newest member of the West Africa team. We are staying next door to him in the guest house. The first night we were here was his first time to sleep straight through the night, and he's done the same several times since, so his parents are pretty excited about this Member Care service we provided. If only our calming aura worked so effectively on everyone else...

By the way, people here are pressuring us to have a little team member of our own. They say we are getting old! Now, now, don't get excited -- it's not likely to happen any time soon.

Thanks for Praying

I very much appreciate your prayers for my health. This past week I have felt GREAT. In Abidjan my medications made me feel pretty weak and nauseated so I was kind of worried about how I'd feel on the trip, but I haven't felt any negative side-effects at all. Thanks so much for lifting me up!