By now you've figured out my fatal flaw: I'm an awful blogger! Oh my ... my apologies for the distance between this post and the last. I'll try to do better.
Upwards and onwards ...
One of the essential items to pack for this trip was a flashlight. It gets dark in Africa by 8pm, and in the bush, it gets *really* dark if the moon isn't showing. I packed my bright little krypton light I picked up for $9 from MEC and was pretty happy the first day. It runs on 2 AAA and is waaaay brighter than any LED lights that I found. It even had an integrated clip that let me clip it to my cap for hands free tent and mosquito net setup. This small, bright and versatile light got me a few compliments from other team members who asked where I bought it. I also used it to do some light-painting that night of our outdoor sleeping setup.
We slept under the sky with a mosquito net protecting us from malaria filled bugs. I couldn't believe it, but it was FREEZING that night: down to 6 degrees Celcius (43 degrees Fahrenheit). With only a summer sleeping bag to keep warm (and no cuddling since men and women were segregated), it was a sleepless night. Who knew you could freeze in the sub-Sahara?
Day 2: my flashlight broke. Wouldn't turn on. Nada. Think I burned the bulb out. I had to borrow a flashlight for the remainder of our 2-week journey.
Bummer.
Upon returning home, I took it upon myself to find the ultimate flashlight not only for me, but for the entire mission team in Niger. Thankfully, there are *much* smarter (and anal) people who are flashlight enthusiasts and I found lots of great info online.
A few criteria this flashlight had to meet included:
+ Size and weight: small enough to be pocketable so you'd bring it everywhere;
+ Runtime: should last through any power outages (which are more than a daily event even in the capital city of Niamey) and have enough juice for a 4-day camping expedition in "the bush";
+ Battery type: easily found and replaceable;
+ Durable: has to withstand the harsh condition of Niger including ubiquitous sand (which kills electronics like cameras, laptops etc), extreme heat (upwards of 60 degrees Celcius (140F) to just above freezing) and the more than typical abuse due to hard use.
Found a little gem of a flashlight called the Arc-AAA LED. It meets and exceeds all the above requirements and has become a legend of sorts in the flashlight community (I bet you didn't even know there WAS a flashlight community ;)). People have dropped them off literal mountaintops, or lost them in streams for FIVE years, and upon finding them, they just keep working.
Now that I found the perfect light, it was time to acquire a bunch of them. This perfect little light was just shy of $50, but I really wanted to equip each member of the team with them.
Sharing the following emails is really the reason for this lengthy post. I initially emailed the inventor of the Arc-AAA, and was surprised to receive a response from the owner of the parent company.
Below are the emails exchanged ...
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Here's my first email to Peter, the inventor of the Arc flashlight. I included the pic of Ace shining a little mag-light into the eye of an elderly woman during an impromptu eye exam on the island of Firingue.
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Hi Peter,
I've just returned from Niger, North Africa where I participated in a Short-Term Mission and was looking for a flashlight to replace the one which failed me while living in "the bush" of Africa. I'm thrilled to have come across your amazing little light.
In the sub-Sahara it gets dark after 7pm in the winter, and light is a must while camping in the villages. Extreme heat (upwards of 140F in the warm months), spectacular dust storms and the ubiquity of sand wreak havoc on everything electronic. Your little light looks like the perfect match for the harsh reality of Niger.
My brother, Ace Cheung, is a doctor and lives and works in Niger. I've attached a pic of him doing an impromptu eye exam using a really dim solitaire maglite my wife happened to have in her bag. He was pre-screening people (isolated on a little island) for cataract surgery which we were subsidizing. As you can see, a little portable light would be a great asset for him, and something much brighter than a solitaire would have made his work much easier.
I am writing you in the hopes that you can help me obtain your wonderful flashlights for the entire mission team living in Niger, Africa. Any discount would be appreciated as I'm wanting to gift the entire team your lights, as well as purchase one for myself and my wife (12-15 in total). Power outages in the city are a more-than-daily occurrence, and their trips into the villages require flashlights every evening. I'm sure there will be other uses they'll find like impromptu eye exams where a small, light and indestructible light would be an asset.
You can find out more about my brother's work here: http://cheung.sunergo.net/qry/mm_page.taf I will also be sharing more images from our trip online soon as well (my wife and I are professional photographers and part of our mandate was to document the trip in picture).
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Very truly yours,
Dave Cheung
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I was surprised to receive the email below not from Peter, but the owner of the parent company.
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Hi Dave,
My name is Doug Timberlin and I am the owner of Cupp's Industrial Supply,Inc. Cupp's owns ARC flash lights. We at Cupp's believe we have been blessed to be a blessing. Therefore, It would be our pleasure to give you 15 of our New GS lights. We will consider it a First Fruit offering. I pray that these lights will pierce the darkness and light the world for the people of Africa.
Please send me your address and I will get them to you right away. May the Lord richly bless you and yours.
In his image
Doug Timberlin
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I replied ...
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Hi Doug,
I'm not sure how to respond … Your generosity and openness of faith has left me speechless. And Thankful :) Thank you for being a blessing to the Niger team and to me. It's always encouraging to meet Christians outside the four walls of the church, and acts of generosity like yours makes me thankful for belonging to the Body.
If there is any payment required to cover your shipping/handling costs, please do let me know, as I was in no way expecting the gift of your amazing product.
I will be sure to tell the team of your generosity and faithfulness.
May you be richly blessed in business AND life for being faithful and generous with what you've been entrusted with.
My very best,
Dave Cheung
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And his reply
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How can I not be generous when He has extended such grace to one like me. The glory is his alone. I praise God for people like your brother who bring healing to the needy. He will be called great in the Kingdom of heaven, and I count us as blessed to help him.
we will send them right away.
Only by Grace
Doug TImberlin
President
Cupp's Industrial Supply,Inc
e-mail doug@cuppsind.com
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-END of emails-
Doug gifted the entire team his new Arc-AAA Premium GS lights which weren't even on his website. They're the latest/greatest in the lineup, offering brighter light with the same power source and amazing runtime (10 hours on one AAA).
God continues to floor me in new ways.
If you're ever looking for the perfect every-day-carry flashlight, I highly recommend checking out the Arc-AAA. I found out backwards that the people behind it are as reputable as the flashlight itself :)
Thanks again Doug, for your example of integrity, obedience and generosity.
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We're Dave & Quin Cheung of 
