Quizzing!

About 45 children came for Thursday Bible study yesterday, and here's what they did!

Keep praying for these young people as they quiz, and that the quiz coaches will regularly meet with them in the next week to prepare for July 2nd!

Pray that the truth of the Scriptures they've learned and the Bible stories will sink deeply into their hearts.
Praise God for the faithful teachers that come and devote themselves to these little ones!

There are three age levels.  This is the middle group.

This is Mariama's group.  Ms. Maria did a great job of singing, telling stories, and loving them.

The teenage group has the most questions on 2 Timothy, all our Bible stories learned, and the Bible verses.

Happy is a good name for this girl on the left, and she's a good quizzer too!

Lessons from Luke

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Karen Jackson in 2005

The teachers laughed, giggled, and shouted as they competed on teams to answer the review questions of the Bible story I had told them during the training.  Children stood at the doorway and windows smiling widely, wondering at these childlike teachers!  My prayer is that they will have that same delight and more as these teachers teach them the “Lessons from Luke” Curriculum. 

It gives me such joy to be training in this curriculum.  What, you might ask, makes this curriculum so special?  8 years ago, I remember a dear friend of mine, Karen, at her desk in Bamenda writing lessons she and her husband, Chris, prayed would be transformative in the lives of children, leading them into a deep relationship with Christ.   She worked in Cameroon for 19 years, knowing the risk it was to her body in spite of a rare illness that gave her continual pain and half the energy that a healthy person would have.  I never knew a more joyful woman. Today, that friend is with her beloved Jesus, but her husband has continued to work in Cameroon, training teachers to impact the lives of children through the power of God’s word.  The Cameroon Baptist Convention has adopted this curriculum for all of her 1,000 churches, impacting thousands and thousands of young hearts.  I’m glad to be part of Karen’s legacy, and Chris’ continued heart work.    

I have two more mornings with these teachers before we leave.  Please pray that the Thursday Bible study teachers of ECWA Gigiring Hwolshe will be excited about teaching children effectively and will put into practice the methods that are being taught.   Pray that all of Hwolshe (our neighborhood) will know Christ better as a result of these committed Christians walking with these children as they learn to walk with Jesus.

Painting

Purple, green, and blue are the colors we’ve bought to decorate the children’s classrooms at the church before we leave.  This is so exciting and fun!  Our main artists will be the teenage class.  I pray that we are able to finish it well and that it will be a joyful place for the children to learn! 

Can't wait to post pictures! 

Bible Quiz

July 2^nd is the big day for the Thursday Bible study kids who have been studying for a Bible quiz (mostly in English) in ECWA Gigiring Hwolshe.  We have been learning stories and Scripture songs over the last year which will form the questions they will answer with the prize of a Bible for the first three quizzers in three different age brackets.  The teenage class has been challenged with a variety of questions that come out of 2 Timothy, which they have been studying (and hopefully memorizing). This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, so please do pray with us for this special time.  The Pastor has given us the whole sermon time for this activity, a unique privilege on our last Sunday in Nigeria this year.

I praise God for such a supportive church family, the teachers who have sacrificed their time to be there, and every child who has learned God’s stories.

I pray that the Bible quiz will not just be questions and answers jammed in their heads, but life truths that they live for the rest of their lives. 

I pray that as I recite 2 Timothy, the children present Scripture songs and learned Bible stories, that the word of God touches many people's hearts and challenges them to engage in new ways! 

Some of the teachers of Thursday Bible study

 

2 1/2 Weeks!

Writing that number made me double check the calendar because it barely seems long enough to cover half of what I wrote I wanted to do before I left on a list I made two months ago.  

However, that’s what we have!  Yes, in 2 ½ weeks, the four of us (Mariama, Zach, unborn pikin--"child"--and I) will board a plane to the United States. We will say goodbye to Daso after spending an afternoon and evening doing special things in Abuja with the Aunties (Auntie Mary Jane and Auntie Nnena).

What you can pray with us during this time:

• That we finish the numerous projects: painting the children’s classrooms at church, teaching the Lessons in Luke to Bible study teachers, preparing with the ladies of Beautiful Me for the rest of the year, our scrapbook with Daso, packing the house so others can live here, visiting a couple more SLRG groups, and creating more special memories with Daso).
• That our family stays physically healthy during this time
• That Mariama will feel loved and secure during this time
• That Daso will know that we love her, and can be sufficiently prepared for a time apart
• That the baby inside of me will continue to be healthy

Dazzling and beautiful

Yeah right! Whoever told us her hometown was 8 hours away was definitely an optimist. Oh, well, we arrived on Thursday morning, and, after checking in with Daso’s family, went with her father and Auntie Mary Jane to two schools where Daso may go next school year.  They were as different as can be.  

The second school was not just dazzling on the outside, it was also impressive on the inside.  It exceeded my expectations of what I thought was possible, and, though I didn’t get to witness a classroom because they are on midterm break, the scattered classrooms left by busy learning made my heart happy…not just because they were scattered and Daso would feel right at home.  No, there were science posters, paper mache volcanoes, painted gourds (a cultural symbol), inspirational posters on the walls. I saw interactive learning had taken place in every classroom we entered.  Mary Jane said she wanted to be 11 again.  I wanted to move there myself. They had drama club, press club, and other extracurricular that will make Daso dizzy with possibility.

Praise God for this answered prayer. Daso will need to take an exam to enter so they can place her in the appropriate classroom.  You can pray that she will be able to show what she knows and as she goes to school, will be confident in who she is so she makes friends who are confident and joyful as well.

I have asked a young woman I met while there to be Daso’s mentor.  I’m waiting and praying for an answer to this request.  If she does not agree, we will keep praying that God will show us the right person.

Probably my favorite moments at her family home were sitting outside, taking in Mariama playing in the sand with other children, Daso getting her hair braided, eating tuwo (corn mush) with sauce, and discussing the important and the mundane with Daso’s mother and Auntie Mary Jane.  We also swam in a very mossy pool, went out to a bakery for food and drinks, and celebrated her oldest brother’s 14^th birthday with balloons and cake made on the stovetop in a “local oven.”  

Yes, it was a beautiful and successful trip.  Thank you for praying with us as Daso (and us) transition in the upcoming weeks.  

What God is teaching us

John and Fittokka model a call to set an appointment

One of the things I have asked the most for is prayer that God will teach us what he wants during this month.  One day I jotted down a few things that were shared.  I was really encouraged that God is answering this prayer!

Every morning, each of us shares what God has been teaching us recently.

What God is teaching some of our new colleagues in their own words:

• Yesterday some of us struggled to book an appointment.  Yet, you can see hope, courage, trust in the Lord.  Jer 17:5.  “Cursed is the one who trusts in man… who trusts in mere flesh… they will not see prosperity when it comes.  Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  They will be like a tree planted by the waters.  He does not fear when the heat comes... And never fails to bear fruit.” I was encouraged by my colleagues’ courage.
•  Maybe I never noticed this Scripture on the wall before.  Ps 46:10.  “Be still and know that I am Lord.  I will be exalted among the nations.  I will be exalted in the earth.”  It is a privilege for God to use us to create awareness. Also to be used by God to translate Scriptures for the nations.
• If you have the right attitude, no matter how intense the thing is, you will succeed.  When practicing the photo album, I was about to give up.  Praise God for our coach, she will still say, “You are really doing well!”  But I said to myself “No, even I, I know what I am doing is not right!”  We need to humble ourselves to learn under any other person. 
•  My brother was determined that somehow God will use him, so he kept on making calls, even though none were agreeing to a 5:30pm appointment.  I was encouraged that no matter what we should try our best!