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Stephen Davies
Stephen Davies is a missionary who lives amongst Fulani herders in West Africa, one of the poorest regions of the world. He speaks Fulfulde, eats millet, accompanies cattle-drives and preaches the gospel in culturally relevant ways and lives a life just like those others who live there. He writes for the Guardian Weekly (letters from Bukina Faso) and occasionally for the Sunday Times.
VOICE IN THE DESERT - A Day in the Life of Stephen Davies:
I live in Djibo, a small town on the edge of the Sahara desert. Most of the year it is simply too hot to sleep inside the house, so my wife Charlie hangs a mosquito net from a tree in our back yard. We wake up to the usual early-morning soundtrack of donkeys, cockerels and cows. Lie-ins are rare because we have animals of our own to feed: three French hens, two black and white kittens and a hungry stallion called Silalé. Greeting is important in African societies, so I first go round saying hello to our neighbours: Jam waali (Did you pass the night in peace?), Noy koreeji maa (How is your family?), we sing the long greeting sequence back and forth. The answer to these questions is invariably Jam tan (Peace only). When they answer ‘Jam tan’, my neighbours are putting a brave face on things: in reality this region is one of the poorest in the world.
My work here as a missionary includes humanitarian relief: grain handouts, yes, but also working with individuals to find creative ways out of poverty. A donkey and cart for Bukari, a sheep for Mariama, school fees for Adama – the slow, intangible work of development.
A missionary is also a storyteller, and I love sharing stories with people – ancient stories which still have incredible power to inspire and transform the human heart.
In the afternoon, I write. I bash away on my laptop with sweat dripping off my elbows. I’m so grateful to my friends and neighbours here for sharing their lives with me – it’s their truth which inspires my fiction.
Featured Books, with extracts by Stephen Davies
Stephen Davies
This is an excellent, fast-paced adventure fusing past and present in a swift moving plot which tells how a sixteen year old contemporary hacker gets involved in the story of a daring gold robbery from an ancient temple in Timbuktu....
Format: Paperback - Released: 03/09/2009
Stephen Davies
An exciting new story about a dodgy election in the African desert setting up a new chase for Sophie, the tough and spirited little girl and her erstwhile friend, the albino camel. Terrific adventure, almost Kiplingesque in its humour and...
Format: Paperback - Released: 07/08/2008
Stephen Davies
A really exciting adventure story set in Africa that will grip you from first page to last featuring a brave girl called Sophie and her albino camel Chobbal. Experience camel racing and a terrifying army of locusts - more of them...
Format: Paperback - Released: 01/03/2007
Stephen Davies
Winner of the Glen Dimplex Children's Book award 2006. Sophie is a wonderfully adventurous young girl who now lives with her father in a town in the Sahara desert. Her love of camels and a chance meeting with a young boy...
Format: Paperback - Released: 06/04/2006
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