A Retreat

We went on a retreat a few weeks ago in a beautiful center run by ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All) missionaries. When we go here we find a renewed love for our Jesus and for the world he has given us to live in. We praise God for these missionaries who saw the need of missionaries to be refreshed and are providing a place close to Jos where we can do that! Please pray for them and all the workers who keep it running. Pray that it would be a place of restoration for all who come.

What a View!

From the car window, what do we see? Power and Glory Intn’l (Solution Center) sign twisted by some power that over came it. A pile of trash on the left that is building and will someday be burned or just grow to fill the ditch. Mounds of dirt from past building projects protrude from the well-watered grass. The road to the left is a dirt road while the one we drive on is paved. Goats see what corn is left for them in the corn husks covering the top of the garbage pile. Rows of newly planted fields are formed on every available flat piece of land. The 2 people in the distance carry loads on their heads in baskets. A walled compound with red water tanks is just behind them, and in the distance are round huts that are not walled in. Beyond the huts are rocky hills that create a barrier between this and the next village. What else do you see? These views become very normal for us, but it is good to remember that they are marks of the world we live in, and are not familiar all around the world so that we don’t stop wondering and enjoying the uniqueness of this place where God has planted us.

11 Hours!

We started in Mary’s small “saloon” and finished at our house at 1:30am. But I have braided hair, and THAT WAS THE GOAL! The best thing about sitting for that long, is the amazing view into the life of a single African women that I am privileged to hear and experience! Different men calling her on the phone, friends passing by telling her things about her that they shouldn’t even know, stories about landlords, memories of her childhood, and theories on faith. So, besides the numbness of the rear end and the crick in my neck, it was really fun!

FRIENDS

I (Christy) never really understood how newly wed couples could disappear out of my single friend group and into another into a different world. I didn’t understand until…I moved to a new country, as a married woman, and longed for other women that understood this whole new identity I was trying to discover! Amanda and her husband Chris have been genuine friends, having moved here (both of them were MK’s in Nigeria) as newly weds at the same time we did last year. I am so thankful for her and for how we can walk together at this time. She is the most African white woman I know making going with her to open markets and running late and having cultural experiences a very refreshing and joyful thing. She also happens to love gardening, love goats, and love cooking food from around the world! (All things I also happen to love.) Praise God! He truly provides for us in every way, and I am so thankful.