Christmas is much different here. MUCH less commercial, dry, dusty and hot, which is much different that we experience in Minnesota. This is not all bad but the change in weather and festive surrounds did always help set us in the mood to bake and think more about this season being special because of Christ's birth.
Yesterday we did have the opportunity to celebrate and spend a special afternoon with our Nigerian co-workers from the SIM office and their families. I was struck by the fact that our three wise men we truly 'men from afar', they were from New Zealand, Australia, and Switzerland. We had men, women, and children from many tongues, tribes, and nations all helping in the program to honor Christ, the reason for this season.
It was a special day and we feel very honored to be here bringing the good news to all people.
As we worshipped in the chapel this morning it again struck me that we are part of something so much bigger than just one family from Minnesota working in Jos. We worship at Hilcrest chapel with people from many countries and Nigerian tribes ALL honoring and bringing praise to the same God and Father. The family of God is a great, diverse family, one which I am SO thankful to be a part of. One of the Christmas songs we sang this morning was, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". The fourth verse really hit me as I think of the people we have been sent to work with and bring the love of Christ to:
"O come, desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease; Fill all the world with heaven's peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!"
Tonight we will celebrate again with this diverse family as we attend the Nine Lessons and Carols Service in the chapel and enjoy a tea time afterwards for fellowship.
May your times of Celebration this year reflect the true reason for this season, Christ coming to save the world. He is GOD WITH US.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Empty Nest
Back on the site again!
After a short visit to the US this past summer to spend time with our four college kids we returned on July 9.
Just 10 days after our return we received a call from the Pro-Life ministry here at Evangel Hospital that there was a new born, who had been dropped at the hospital, in need of a foster home. We gladly welcomed Maxwell into our home just hours after his birth. He has been a joy to us as we nurtured him for the past four months.
Last week we received another call saying there was a woman who had just delivered and this newborn needed a home. Yes, we did indeed take in another baby! So for the past week we had four month old adorable Maxwell and a newborn Elizabeth in our home. Needless to say there were many bottles to prepare and diapers to change. But these children are SO precious.
On Wednesday of this week we had the joy of giving these sweet babies over to their new adoptive parents. These couples were SO excited to receive these precious children after praying for a child for many years. It was a great privilege to pray for them and be a part of this special event.
But of course we are feeling like empty nesters as we now only have nine year old Luke, also a foster child, and our own seventeen year old Jacob in our home. We can sleep through the night and do not have to have an ear open for a waking baby in the afternoons. We do love to do foster care and will continue to pray for Maxwell and little Elizabeth as they settle in their new families.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
SPRING BREAK
While our four college kids in the US were returning to school after enjoying their spring breaks together in MN with grandparents our spring break was just beginning.
We traveled four hours to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria for a three day stain in a hotel. It was wonderful to have unlimited water, power, and air conditioning in addition to a beautiful pool. We enjoyed the pool side each day for several hours and I was reminded that it only takes about ten minutes before I begin to burn in the sun here. We brought food from home for most of our meals but we did enjoy some great food as we tried new restaurants in the evenings.
The downside of our break was to return home from Abuja hot and tired from the long drive and find that we had a couple of leaky ground pipes which resulted in us loosing all of the water we had stored in our high tank (hundreds of gallons). That meant NO running water in the house and only a little in our two ground tanks. It was a 'welcome back to reality' moment. I fetched two buckets of water before dark to use in the house and we washed up a bit but no showers. Twenty-four hours later the plumber came and we now have water in our high tank once again but none in our ground tanks as we pumped it all to the high one. We are planning to have a tanker of water delivered tomorrow to fill all our tanks which should last us a month. The rains will hopefully come before we get low again and begin to give us some water in our well.
With both ground tanks empty it was a perfect time to clean them out good. They get VERY green and disgusting in this heat. So today it was Jacob's job to climb inside them and bucket out the little remaining water then scrub them down and finally rinse them with bleach water.
Since I last wrote we have seen Gud Luk (Good Luck) and he is doing very well. He was able to return home from the hospital a week ago to the joy of his parents and sisters and he continues to thrive.
I received an encouraging visit last week by a former student of mine from JETS, Jos ECWA Theological Seminary. He is now an ECWA, Evangelical Church of West Africa, missionary in a remote village to the north. He came to Jos with his wife and young son so she could deliver their new baby in a hospital. He needed assistance to buy medicine for his wife and also told me about his ministry. He said that my English class continues to be a blessing to him as he studies to do evangelism and preaching in his area and he will never forget what he learned in that class.
We traveled four hours to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria for a three day stain in a hotel. It was wonderful to have unlimited water, power, and air conditioning in addition to a beautiful pool. We enjoyed the pool side each day for several hours and I was reminded that it only takes about ten minutes before I begin to burn in the sun here. We brought food from home for most of our meals but we did enjoy some great food as we tried new restaurants in the evenings.
The downside of our break was to return home from Abuja hot and tired from the long drive and find that we had a couple of leaky ground pipes which resulted in us loosing all of the water we had stored in our high tank (hundreds of gallons). That meant NO running water in the house and only a little in our two ground tanks. It was a 'welcome back to reality' moment. I fetched two buckets of water before dark to use in the house and we washed up a bit but no showers. Twenty-four hours later the plumber came and we now have water in our high tank once again but none in our ground tanks as we pumped it all to the high one. We are planning to have a tanker of water delivered tomorrow to fill all our tanks which should last us a month. The rains will hopefully come before we get low again and begin to give us some water in our well.
With both ground tanks empty it was a perfect time to clean them out good. They get VERY green and disgusting in this heat. So today it was Jacob's job to climb inside them and bucket out the little remaining water then scrub them down and finally rinse them with bleach water.
Since I last wrote we have seen Gud Luk (Good Luck) and he is doing very well. He was able to return home from the hospital a week ago to the joy of his parents and sisters and he continues to thrive.
I received an encouraging visit last week by a former student of mine from JETS, Jos ECWA Theological Seminary. He is now an ECWA, Evangelical Church of West Africa, missionary in a remote village to the north. He came to Jos with his wife and young son so she could deliver their new baby in a hospital. He needed assistance to buy medicine for his wife and also told me about his ministry. He said that my English class continues to be a blessing to him as he studies to do evangelism and preaching in his area and he will never forget what he learned in that class.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Wow, what a month February was!
We have not gotten city water since my last blog on January 28. We are pumping from our well but only 5 min. a day as it is very low and we are in major water conservation mode. But so far we are doing fine and praising the Lord for that as many around us have much less in reserve than us.
Our son, Isaac was sworn in as a US Marines and left for basic training on Feb. 17. However, two days later he was told he was being discharged because they found he had glaucoma. This was a real shock to him and to us. How do you comfort your child when you are thousands of miles and oceans apart? He is now back in MN where he is looking for a job and waiting on God's leading in where to go to school again in the fall. Many people were praying for him in the past two weeks as he processed all of this and he is doing great. He feels it was a good learning experience and he grew tremendously in his walk with the Lord.
We have also asked many people to pray for a three month old baby, Gud Luk. He is the nephew of our driver and has had a blocked intestine since birth. He finally became too sick to eat so they brought him to their doctor. He was admitted and put on an IV drip but was too weak to have surgery. After two weeks and many prayers he was finally a bit stronger so the surgery was done. He came through it and is gaining strength! We feel this was a true miracle as we saw him a few days before surgery and did not think he would live. We plan to go back to the hospital he is in and visit the family tomorrow and again pray with them.
Rick has done quality control training for the lab staff this week and plans to do more in the coming weeks. He is also trying to help with the plans for a new building for the lab.
We just had two short term missionaries from the US leave after a month of work here. We will welcome a medical student from Switzerland on Tuesday and one from the US later this month so I have been busy keeping the apartments cleaned and stocked with supplies. We often have them at our house on Saturday nights for pizza and a movie and they come by to use the Internet occasionally.
We have not gotten city water since my last blog on January 28. We are pumping from our well but only 5 min. a day as it is very low and we are in major water conservation mode. But so far we are doing fine and praising the Lord for that as many around us have much less in reserve than us.
Our son, Isaac was sworn in as a US Marines and left for basic training on Feb. 17. However, two days later he was told he was being discharged because they found he had glaucoma. This was a real shock to him and to us. How do you comfort your child when you are thousands of miles and oceans apart? He is now back in MN where he is looking for a job and waiting on God's leading in where to go to school again in the fall. Many people were praying for him in the past two weeks as he processed all of this and he is doing great. He feels it was a good learning experience and he grew tremendously in his walk with the Lord.
We have also asked many people to pray for a three month old baby, Gud Luk. He is the nephew of our driver and has had a blocked intestine since birth. He finally became too sick to eat so they brought him to their doctor. He was admitted and put on an IV drip but was too weak to have surgery. After two weeks and many prayers he was finally a bit stronger so the surgery was done. He came through it and is gaining strength! We feel this was a true miracle as we saw him a few days before surgery and did not think he would live. We plan to go back to the hospital he is in and visit the family tomorrow and again pray with them.
Rick has done quality control training for the lab staff this week and plans to do more in the coming weeks. He is also trying to help with the plans for a new building for the lab.
We just had two short term missionaries from the US leave after a month of work here. We will welcome a medical student from Switzerland on Tuesday and one from the US later this month so I have been busy keeping the apartments cleaned and stocked with supplies. We often have them at our house on Saturday nights for pizza and a movie and they come by to use the Internet occasionally.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Good News
Our son Isaac called last night to tell us he will not be going to basic training this week but will leave in Feb. as originally planned. That is good news to us as that means we can arrange to be there for his graduation ceremony and spend time with him during his 10 day leave in May. We may not see him for quite a while after that.
I am now the Evangel Compound Hostess once again, which I enjoy. This ministry involves welcoming visiting medical students and residents, or new long term missionaries to the Evangel compound. I get the apt. ready with food and water, help them with orientation to life and ministry at the hospital as well as introducing them to the others living here. We have made some very special friends from around the world through this ministry opportunity.
We welcomed a new resident yesterday and had him over for supper. We sat around the table for quite a while after the meal answering his many questions.
This has also been a good week because we have gotten city water twice. All three of our water tanks are now full, we are praising the Lord for this blessing.
I am now the Evangel Compound Hostess once again, which I enjoy. This ministry involves welcoming visiting medical students and residents, or new long term missionaries to the Evangel compound. I get the apt. ready with food and water, help them with orientation to life and ministry at the hospital as well as introducing them to the others living here. We have made some very special friends from around the world through this ministry opportunity.
We welcomed a new resident yesterday and had him over for supper. We sat around the table for quite a while after the meal answering his many questions.
This has also been a good week because we have gotten city water twice. All three of our water tanks are now full, we are praising the Lord for this blessing.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Rick's lecture went well on Thursday and there were many questions from the residents. He actually did not speak on blood banking but on a few of the new tests that are now available at Evangel, primarily thyroid testing. This test is very valuable to many missionaries and Nigerians here and formerly not available.
Last night Jacob had friends over for the night and now they are off with Rick and their dad to play a round of golf. MIND YOU, this is not like golf in America. The course here is mostly sand and there are the occasional hoof tracks and cow pies left from wandering Fulani herds. But it will be a fun morning for them and Rick was excited to get a club in his hand again and work on his swing.
I am meeting with a local travel agent this morning still trying to finalize travel to Ghana for a group of our missionaries who are to leave tomorrow. Nothing here it seems is done quickly! Our conference speaker challenged us a few weeks ago on how God often does things through us the long - difficult - painful way and I am feeling that as I plan this trip. But God is in control and He is teaching me things as I do this ministry. Please pray that this conference will be a blessing and encouragement to our missionaries who attend and that their travel will be smooth and safe.
Last night Jacob had friends over for the night and now they are off with Rick and their dad to play a round of golf. MIND YOU, this is not like golf in America. The course here is mostly sand and there are the occasional hoof tracks and cow pies left from wandering Fulani herds. But it will be a fun morning for them and Rick was excited to get a club in his hand again and work on his swing.
I am meeting with a local travel agent this morning still trying to finalize travel to Ghana for a group of our missionaries who are to leave tomorrow. Nothing here it seems is done quickly! Our conference speaker challenged us a few weeks ago on how God often does things through us the long - difficult - painful way and I am feeling that as I plan this trip. But God is in control and He is teaching me things as I do this ministry. Please pray that this conference will be a blessing and encouragement to our missionaries who attend and that their travel will be smooth and safe.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
We have finally gotten a blog site.
I will try to keep updated news and prayer requests here for those of you who love to read the daily news online.
This really will be a great way to keep in touch with people and I can hopefully add some photos for interest and to illistrate our life here better.
Today Rick is presenting a lecture to the doctors and hospital staff on blood banking.
I have been busy in the office getting the final arrangements made for a group of our missionaries who are traveling to Ghana for a conference.
I will try to keep updated news and prayer requests here for those of you who love to read the daily news online.
This really will be a great way to keep in touch with people and I can hopefully add some photos for interest and to illistrate our life here better.
Today Rick is presenting a lecture to the doctors and hospital staff on blood banking.
I have been busy in the office getting the final arrangements made for a group of our missionaries who are traveling to Ghana for a conference.
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