There and Back!

Being "home" in the US was a whirl of seeing God at work in that place in our families, churches, and home country. Mom Watkin made us a birthday cake a month early. Oh, yummy! It's a Watkin tradition. Funny how loved you feel when someone makes you your favorites. God does this with us too! He knows the best way we feel loved, and he does it just that way for each of us. That's is truly amazing.

Christy's little sister, Leah, has a job! Life keeps moving for those we love. Leah has has her own schedule that kept her busy while we were home, so we had to visit her at work! More pictures to come, but uploading them takes time! We are so thankful for our quick trip to the US. We made a lot of important connections with those we love very much. Zach is working on his thesis this week to present at a linguistic conference. He hit the ground running with a four day workshop the day after we returned. Christy is gearing up for the final editing of the primer, the printing, and the beginning of the literacy classes in Kiceland! May God give us strength for the task he's called us to!

Light

I woke up with a start, having an urgent need to go to the bathroom. I hopped over Zach and fumbled around the room, groping for a flashlight, afraid to knock candles over, and disoriented by my surroundings. I started to mutter to myself, and Zach said, “Here, use this,” handing me his cell phone. As I reflected on this experience, once safely seated, I decided that one of the most stressful things about this year has been the lack of light! We’re going on day 6 without electricity in our home. Oh, the great need we have for LIGHT!

Is this why people that come from generations of Christianity become so complacent and void of joy in their Savior, the LIGHT of the world? Are we so far from the experience of darkness that we can no longer feel deeply the intense beauty of living in the Light of God? Oh, I pray for us, generational Christians, that we might regain the wonder of the Light. America has electricity almost 24-7, yet the darkness is so great! If we, those who have experienced Light, can no longer sense the warmth and joy of Him, who will lead those in darkness to this Great Light? What a contrast it is when we are sitting in a dimly lit room, and the electricity suddenly comes on. The lights that have been on for days without any power illuminating them shine unabashedly, and we shout “NEPA!” The generators around the neighborhood go off one by one. The colors in our living room jump off the walls, the painted vine over our archway seems to crawl and stretch, everything is… more beautiful. I do pray that we don’t have to lose sight of the Light, and become used to the darkness before we turn to the Great Light of the World and ask Him to shine brightly in our souls once again.

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.

A Big Book, A Big Transformation

Thursday through Saturday, Christy went to a town about 4 hours from Jos to lead a big book workshop for three languages. She wrote after the second day. Today we wrote a group story. The theme was “Fighting” and the audience was “Children.” We wanted to help children to know that fighting is not good. As we wrote, there was much discussion and debating as to how to best write our sentences into a cohesive story. 20 opinionated men all writing one story, a new kind of challenge. Finally we were getting to the end of our paper allotment, and the purpose was not coming out clearly. Abu was still fighting with his friend Ali. So, I gave an ending that we might move on. “Abu, though he always was losing in fights, turned and surprisingly knocked Ali down! Then he felt bad because he remembered how it felt to be beaten, and he helped Ali up. Abu never fought again.” The room was in an uproar and I didn’t understand why! Everyone talking at once. Then one man spoke up and said, “No, it is not good. Abu would have been proud because he finally was strong enough!” “Yes, but when one knows their own power, they don’t feel a need to prove it anymore! Only a weak man fights to show he is not weak,” I matter-of-factly stated, my culturally formed worldview shining brightly. Another man chimed in, “Here in Nigeria, we would never feel bad about knocking someone down. Especially to the point of helping them up again!” “That is why we must write, people,” I said, more convinced than ever, “Jesus said, “if someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” should our culture overcome the words of Jesus? That is why we want people to learn to read this Book.” What a challenging idea. I find that Nigerians are peaceful, loving, accepting people. However, according to these men, there is something that says, if someone wants to fight you, you don't ever back down. I think Jesus understood this idea as well, and confronted it with peace. Might this groups 16 stories created in these three days yield fruit!