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Fall is a busy time for missionaries. Children are back in school and the return of structure to children’s schedules has mysteriously strong residual effects on their parents’ organization. The rains have ceased, allowing for roads to be repaired making bush travel more predictable and therefore more programmable. The weather is plenty warm, but it comes nowhere close to the heat of spring and there isn’t the perpetual dust haze of winter. This makes fall the preferred travel time for short-term mission groups from the states.

From September 15 until November 8 there were twelve days when there has not been a short-term team from the states that I have helped host. There was Uncle Charity who came with his construction and evangelism team in mid-September. Then there was the medical team lead by my mother that overlapped with Charity’s group. A week after their departure came the WINSHAPE team that we took to Maradi for a business leadership conference. We wished them farewell at 11pm Tuesday night and were scheduled to be back to greet the next team on Friday at 3pm. This 2.5-day gap is perfect for my monthly visit to Gueladjo to follow up with Soja and Mohammed on their microloans. I spent Wednesday helping prepare for the coming team and making arrangements for my overnight visit to Gueladjo. The last thing Brent told me before I left his house Wednesday night was “Remember, you have to be back by 3pm Friday so you can drive the truck to the airport.”

“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “I’ll make it back in time to greet Marcia’s team at the airport.”