The Jos crisis brought many changes for us in the month of January.
The SIM office was closed for a week due to a tense situation in and around the city of Jos so Brenda did not go it to work. When she returned after three weeks of Christmas break and one week added there was a lot of catching up to do for travelers and immigration. It is now good to be back on a regular schedule.
School was postponed. The governor of Plateau State called for all schools to postpone the start of classes until Feb. 4 due to the tensions here and to give residents the opportunity to register for voting in the upcoming elections. Voter registration was taking place at schools and other locations around the city. Hillcrest school did petition to allow our upper classmen to return on Jan. 17. They were granted this exception and Jacob was happy to return after a very long Christmas break. He also enjoyed the shorter days and quieter campus. Other students returned on Feb. 1 so all is back to a normal schedule at school.
Jacob's senior class trip to Egypt was cancelled due to the crisis there. This was a disappointment for the class and they are now making plans to go to South Africa.
Rick is now in MN undergoing many medical tests. He began experiencing shortness of breath and extreme fatigue early in January and the cause could not be determined here. Our medical staff thought it was best for him to travel back to the States to get this checked out and taken care of. So he is there and enjoying his time with family amid many Doctor appointments.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
January in MIANGO
We began the month of January at our SIM Conference Center in Miango for our SIM Spiritual Life Conference Jan. 5-9. It was a great time of sessions, study, and relaxation together.
We also ended the month of January at our SIM Conference Center as we held a memorial service at Kirk Chapel for one of our fellow missionaries.
Anne Burke, our SIM guest house manager in Jos, died suddenly on January 1
8 from a leaking aortic aneurysm. Her death was a shock to our entire mission community. Her funeral was held on January 22, a very sad day as we laid to rest one of our own in our cemetery here. But it was also a day of rejoicing in the life Anne lived for the Lord. We were all blessed as we heard testimonies from many Nigerians of the way her life had touched them and how thankful they are that we all are willing to make a sacrifice to come here in obedience to Christ. It was a two and a half hour service of tributes, singing, and a message to remind us that those who are in Christ mourn in a different way because we have HOPE. And that even as we mourn we can be a testimony and light to the lost as they see our HOPE.
8 from a leaking aortic aneurysm. Her death was a shock to our entire mission community. Her funeral was held on January 22, a very sad day as we laid to rest one of our own in our cemetery here. But it was also a day of rejoicing in the life Anne lived for the Lord. We were all blessed as we heard testimonies from many Nigerians of the way her life had touched them and how thankful they are that we all are willing to make a sacrifice to come here in obedience to Christ. It was a two and a half hour service of tributes, singing, and a message to remind us that those who are in Christ mourn in a different way because we have HOPE. And that even as we mourn we can be a testimony and light to the lost as they see our HOPE.Please pray for Anne's husband, Peter, as he has now returned to Australia to spend time with their daughters. He is our SIM finance and projects manager here and we look forward to his return in a few months.
CHRISTMAS 2010
I kept meaning to write about Christmas here but things have been crazy since then and I have not taken the time to sit down and do it. Where do I start?
We enjoyed a special Christmas service on Dec. 12 at Hillcrest Chapel called Nine Lessons and Carols. Nine scripture passages were read in nine languages...Hausa, Tiv, Zulu, Danish, Indonesian, and Arabic to name a few ad a Christmas carol was sung after each one. This evening truly reflected the diversity we have in our Hillcrest Chapel family.
On Christmas Eve we again met with others for a service at Hillcrest Chapel of singing Christmas carols around a blazing, crackling fire and listened to a special Christmas story one of the missionaries had written. We had invited a few friends to join us after the service at our house for more caroling, goodies, and coffee. The house was decorated and ready for the guests before we left for the service but we never made it back home that night.
just as the service at Hillcrest ended a friend and member of our mission security team told us that we should consider staying somewhere for the night as reports were that two bombs had gone off in our neighborhood. We called one of the hospital staff and they confirmed that bombs had gone off and they were treating many casualties. They recommended we not come back home that night as the roads were blocked and there was a lot of chaos on the street. So we joined others of our mission community for a soup supper and then stayed the night at our SIM guest house in Jos.
Christmas morning we were invited to join a few others for a brunch and then went to a missionary friend's home for lunch.. It was a nice morning but we were anxious to get back home. We decided that by late afternoon all seemed quiet so we returned home at 4:00pm. We enjoyed the evening together opening gifts and chatting with our kids in the States.
It is our tradition that we go to the hospital pediatric ward on Christmas Day to sing and pass out gifts to the patients. We were not able to do that this year but we did go on December 26. The kids were very happy to see us and although we decided not to sing our small gifts brought joy to the faces of all the children. There were many burn patients and w pray that they will heal well with no complications of infection.
So as you can see our Christmas was quite busy and VERY different this year but God was in it and blessed us.
We enjoyed a special Christmas service on Dec. 12 at Hillcrest Chapel called Nine Lessons and Carols. Nine scripture passages were read in nine languages...Hausa, Tiv, Zulu, Danish, Indonesian, and Arabic to name a few ad a Christmas carol was sung after each one. This evening truly reflected the diversity we have in our Hillcrest Chapel family.
On Christmas Eve we again met with others for a service at Hillcrest Chapel of singing Christmas carols around a blazing, crackling fire and listened to a special Christmas story one of the missionaries had written. We had invited a few friends to join us after the service at our house for more caroling, goodies, and coffee. The house was decorated and ready for the guests before we left for the service but we never made it back home that night.
just as the service at Hillcrest ended a friend and member of our mission security team told us that we should consider staying somewhere for the night as reports were that two bombs had gone off in our neighborhood. We called one of the hospital staff and they confirmed that bombs had gone off and they were treating many casualties. They recommended we not come back home that night as the roads were blocked and there was a lot of chaos on the street. So we joined others of our mission community for a soup supper and then stayed the night at our SIM guest house in Jos.
Christmas morning we were invited to join a few others for a brunch and then went to a missionary friend's home for lunch.. It was a nice morning but we were anxious to get back home. We decided that by late afternoon all seemed quiet so we returned home at 4:00pm. We enjoyed the evening together opening gifts and chatting with our kids in the States.
It is our tradition that we go to the hospital pediatric ward on Christmas Day to sing and pass out gifts to the patients. We were not able to do that this year but we did go on December 26. The kids were very happy to see us and although we decided not to sing our small gifts brought joy to the faces of all the children. There were many burn patients and w pray that they will heal well with no complications of infection.
So as you can see our Christmas was quite busy and VERY different this year but God was in it and blessed us.
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