Being back in the States

Since we came back to the US, our blog has been neglected as usual when we are here. I gues life isn't as exciting as when we are overseas. Anyway, on our way back from Nigeria in April, we flew to Seattle for Joel's (Sarah's younger brother) wedding.


We arrived in Seattle and immediately noticed how cold and wet it was. It was a big contrast to the sunny warm weather in Nigeria.

The next day, Friday, was the wedding rehearsal and dinner.

This is Joel and his beautiful bride, Elizabeth

On our way back to Redding we stopped in the town where one of Sarah's sister's lives. She works at a tulip farm so Sarah, her mom and sisters went to go see the fields.

We did let one cute little guy join our Slagle girls outing.

The fields were beatiful, and we found out that the next week when the sun came out they were even more tulips blooming.

Sarah's braided hair never made it to Redding.

How's that for a hairdo?!?!

Leaving Jos

Our last week in Jos was busy spent wrapping things up, saying goodbye, and packing. It's a lot of work to travel, and I often wonder why we do it so much! I have a feeling that our life will include lots of traveling, so it's good that we're becoming experts!





The youth gave Uche a thank you present. He was really touched by this because these kids sacrificed the little they had to purchase a beautiful watch for him.

Taking pictures with new friends. Nigerians don't smile for pictures. Which one has spent years outside of Nigeria???

I always get my hair braided before we leave. It's fun to come home with an exotic hairdo. For about $10 this girl came to our house and spent a few hours braiding.

You can see the attachments in the hands of one of the girls. They added this to my own hair to make it hold. I thought about adding some purple but didn't, maybe next time!

Here's the final product. We'll see how long I can keep it. Women here can carry it for months, but for me two weeks is about as much as I can handle. I'm usually desperate to wash my hair and my head itches, so it comes out!

Airport

A couple days before we left Jos we joined the kids for a field trip to the airport. This is something we had wanted to do with the children because a few had expressed an interest in going there because they had never seen an airplane. We got to go all over the airport and even stood on the tarmac as the one flight that comes in each day to Jos landed and took off again. The kids had a great time. For many of them they had never travelled a few miles from their home, so they 45 minute trip was an experience all its own.





The group.

Learning about the departure hall.

Here's the little kids tired of standing, taking a break.

We went everywhere around the airport.

There was an old plane parked close to the airport and the kids wanted to go see it since we wouldn't be able to go on the plane that flew in.

They all went inside. None of them had ever been on a plane and they enjoyed seeing it up close.

The inside had been stripped, but it was still pretty cool to be able to look around.

Baking

The younger kids at the ministry had been reminding me and Uche that we hadn't brought them over to our house to bake cookies, so we made sure to do that before we left. Unlike the other groups who started very quiet and calm, this group went from crazy to crazier! We did a have a good time with them, and we were glad we got to spend this extra time with all the kids.

I started by explaining how to bake cookies and they all took turns pouring in the ingredients.

I told them they must make a design with a fork on peanut butter cookies, so here they are with their forks in hand.

Some of the cookies weren't quite perfect, but they all tasted good!

At one point the littlest girls had had enough of baking and were ready to play, so Uche took them out to the swings while I stayed with the older ones and made play dough.

Here we're trying to get them all together for a group picture. Can you see the one who wasn't ready to join in??

The choice was to join in and smile or leave the area so we could take the picture. She wasn't ready to smile....

Retreat

A couple weeks ago we joined a mission organization for their annual retreat. We had been asked to come and hang out with a couple boys and entertain them while the adults had their meetings. We said yes because we knew we'd have a great time hanging out with everyone and getting away for a few days.

This is the retreat center. They displayed pictures of how the center started in the early 1900s and its progression to today. It's getting close to its 100th birthday.

One morning we took the boys hiking. It was just a small hill so it didn't take long, and the view at the top was great!

I took this picture from the top of the hill, zooming as much as my camera would let me. It shows a traditional village compound for this area of Nigeria.

One afternoon local dancers came and did a show for us. All the different tribes have different cultural dances and they're beautiful to watch.

Drumming + dancing= good times!

Uche joining in! At any time any one can jump in and join the dancing or sometimes the women would pull people from the crowd to join in. Did I join???

Nope! See me hiding there on the outside of the circle! I don't dance cause I know my limitations, and Uche said he was gonna pay the women to make sure they didn't ask me to come dance.

Graduation

The ministry we are working with has a few different ministries and one of them is the youth ministry. I (Uche) have spent most of my time working with this ministry. They are working on empowering the youth through providing them with job skills and training them in HIV prevention. Right now they have a computer school for the youth. I was privileged to attend a graduation ceremony for the passing out students who had finished the three month course. It was a colorful occasion. The graduates didn't just march in but they danced their way in. Too bad I didn't have my video camera.
In the picture above is the director of the youth program. He is a wonderful man of God and has a big heart for the youth of Nigeria.

The ceremony was a big deal, with family and friends attending to celebrate the young peoples' accomplishment. The prayer of the ministry is that these young people will now go out and find jobs using their newly acquired skills.

The graduates are receiving prayers from any and all the ministers in attendance. Sarah is fascinated with women's hair here, with gorgeous braids or fabulous wigs it's fun to sit behind them.

One of the reasons this graduation is important to these students is because this may be the only graduation some of them will ever participate in.

These are just some of the people who have devoted their lives, time and talents to training the students. These teachers were honored during the ceremony for their contribution to the ministry.

Hanging out with the kids

When we came in January we weren't quite sure what we would do during our time with the ministry here. Some of the most enjoyable times has been spent hanging with the kids who are helped by the ministry. Most of the kids live on the ministry compound and few others are neighborhood kids who attend the school that was started by the ministry this school year.

We had the boys over to decorate cookies, since it wouldn't have been fair to invite the girls and leave the boys out! Even though there were more boys who came, they were so much quieter than the few girls who had been over a couple weeks before. They quietly decorated and ate cookies, and finished with an hour left to go. So, we watched an episode of America's Funniest Home Videos which was a hit. AFV crosses all cultural boundaries and is just plain funny!

We joined the kids for a school field trip. They went to a power station and learned where our electricity comes from. They were great and all took notes diligently. Uche joined the older group, and I stayed with the younger kids. The young kids weren't able to go inside this area because the electrical current would be too much for their little bodies. While the younger kids quickly lost interest, Uche said the older kids bombarded the tour guide with questions. The man was gentle and patient with all their questions, and I'm sure the kids learned a lot and enjoyed getting out. Uche also learned a lot!

On the back of the kids school uniforms (every school here has a uniform) it says, "We are Building on the Rock. Matt 7:25" Though this speaks to Jesus as the foundation of the school it's also a bit of a play on words since the property that the ministry compound sits on is full of big rocks, so literally and spiritually this school is built on the Rock!

The next couple pictures were just too cute not to include. Sometimes Uche has come in the afternoon and has found the kids hanging out doing homework and just enjoying down time after a busy day at school. They love to come hang out with Uche and LOVE having their pictures taken!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture!! This little girl is something else, and has already endured quite a lot for such a little thing. Her life has been changed, and her future has been dramatically altered because this ministry has taken her and her mother in. Her name is Happy.

The sights

For this post, I thought I should just post some random pictures of life here in Nigeria. I've been told to take lots of pictures when I first arrive in a country because pretty soon you get so used to everything around you that you don't take pictures anymore. So, here's the sights that have struck us the past couple months.

I don't even know what to say about this, but this sight is more common than you can imagine!

If you're squeamish, don't look too closely... I like to tell people here that I prefer not to know where my meat comes from. Going to the market here can make one consider going vegetarian!

Do you recognize the seed hanging off the end of that fruit?? It's a cashew! When I first saw this, I realized why cashews are so expensive, one nut for each piece of fruit. I haven't actually tried the fruit (Uche loves them), and when Uche bought these the smell filled our whole house. It's a really sweet smell, very distinct, and it didn't appeal to me... maybe next time!

We see people carrying things on their heads all the time. This woman is selling yams. She walks around hoping someone will call her and buy some yam for dinner. I once saw a woman carrying a baby on her back, a tray of bananas on her head and knitting while she walked around town. Now that's some serious talent!

If you look closely in the center of the picture you can see an armored vehicle. The military has had a very strong and visible presence in the city to keep violence from breaking out. They recently began to pull back and again violence flared, so I guess they're gonna have to be around for a while.

Who is that African woman??

This gorgeous tree is called a flame tree. Right now during dry season the flowers are out in full bloom. I wish you could all see them in person, pictures can't do it justice!

Here's a closeup on the flame tree. Underneath the tree are the fallen petals, so walking underneath one is like walking on red carpet.