God hears us!

Our trip to Lagos was a bit crazy, but we were happy it was successful! On Wednesday morning we got on a plane and flew to the capital. We had planned to travel with some friends to see their ministry projects in a nearby state on Thursday, but for a variety of reasons we cancelled that trip and decided to come back home to Jos.

We were exhausted after running around Abuja and from having to get up at 4:00 am to catch our flight, so we just wanted to be home. We knew there was a shuttle bus to Jos that would leave the station at 1:00, and this company is known for its promptness. It was already 1:15 when we began to make our way to the station. Though we knew we would probably missi the bus, we knew we had to take a chance because our other option would have been to try to catch a later ride with another company whose cars are not air conditioned and are packed full, which would've made for a very long and uncomfortable ride. So, on our way there Uche and I were both praying that God would delay that bus, and we would be able to catch it.

We had been dealing with some major disappointments that day, and my heart was just crying out to God with all the frustrations that we had been experiencing. I prayed that He would delay that bus just so I could know He's listening to our cries and prayers. While theologically, I know He does listen, my heart needed reassuring.

When we got to the bus station Uche ran inside to see if the bus was still there while I waited in the car. He came back a minute later to say it was still there, and we'd be able to travel on it! I was so happy, relieved and comforted that God had answered our prayer so obviously. There had been only one seat left on the bus, but they said they would sell us the seat next to the drive that they usually leave empty. We didn't care if we sat on the roof; all we wanted was to get home that day! We even had time to buy some food and go to the bathroom while they continued to repair a mechanical problem. When we were finally called to load up into the bus, the other passengers were quite frustrated with the delay. We felt sorry that God had made them delay for our sake, but not too sorry!

This is Lagos!

Uche and I traveled last Monday to Lagos, the most populated city in Nigeria. We were grateful that we were able to catch a flight from our town instead of having to travedl tot he capital first. Our flight first went to the city of Kano, where we stayed ont he plane while some people got off and others got on for the final leg to Lagos.
As we were descending into Kano we began to hear an older woman praying, not under her breath or quistly so only close by could hear, but she was alomst shouting as she prayed us down to the ground. As we were starting to take off for the next leg of our journey and we were at the point where we felt ourselves pushed back into our seat, we heard a yell/moan/shout- it was a combination of all those sounds- "ooooohhhhhhhh!!!!" from the old woman. She again began to yell her prayers for God to take us safely to Lagos in Jesus name! We had to laugh, along with others, though we felt sorry for this woman who was obviously terrified of flying. Her yell was something else, and if you want me to demonstrate it for you once we get home, just ask! I wonder how many people would like to yell out at that moment of a flight, but are too embarrased to even try!
Once we arrived in Lagos we were happy to see and stay with Uche's sister. A niece and nephew also live in the house, so it was nice for Uche to catch with these family members.
We had traveled to Lagos to get some papers from the American embassy, and we weren't looking forward to the journey across the traffic filled city. When we arrived at the embassy we were a bit early for our 1:00 appointment, so we decided to drive down to a fast food restaurant that was about a mile away. We were super hot and thirsty because Lagos is hot and humid and there was no have air conditioning in the car we had hired. It was nice to sit in the restaurant and have a coke for a few minutes before heading back out into the madness. We could see that traffice was building up outside, so we left at 12:20 to go back to the embassy. As we were sitting in traffic that wasn't moving at all, Uche and I started to get anxious that we wouldn't make our appoinment on time, and we definitely didn't want to mess with our hard fought embassy appointment. Finally, at 12:35 we decided we would just walk to the embassy and the car would follow and wait for us. We arrived at the embassy about ten minutes before 1:00 and were dircted to the line we were supposed to wait. At 1:20 we saw our hired car and drive go by, so it took an HOUR for him to go about a mile.
We got inside the embassy and waited for our number to be called and around 3:00 we were just waiting for the papers we needed to take with us, when we were informed that there would be a security drill. We would have to evacuate the building with the other embassy personnel. We got quite a kick out of milling around and chatting with the embassy people. Finally, we got the papers we needed, and we began the long journey back to Uche's sister's house.

Birthday Party

Sunday afternoon we went to a home run by the ministry we're volunteering with. It's for women and children, and right now I can't remember how many people live there, but it's around 20 or so. We went with the founders of the minsitry and their children and their friends to celebrate all the January birthdays. After eating birthday cake we all trooped up to the area where the kids play soccer. A water balloon launcher was brought out and the kids had a great time launching balloons and trying to catch them.

Family

Before we came up to the town of Jos where we'll be living during our time in Nigeria, we spent sometime in Abuja, the capital. Uche's brother's family and his sister and her family live in Abuja, so first on the agenda was to visit family. It was amazing to see how all the kids have grown- why does this surprise us... that kids grow and change through out the years?!?! Here's some pictures from an afternoon spent with family.

This was the little neighbor boy who kept wandering over to where we were sitting. He was thrilled with the puppy, but I don't think the puppy was thrilled with him!This is Uche's niece with her husband and baby boy. I think this is a great picture Uche took!

Me with my grand nephew... I realized that day Uche and I are a great uncle and a great aunt. What in the world?? How is that possible, I'm not that old!! :)

Uche with his sister in law and surrounded by nieces and nephews.

Our new home

Our friends here had made arrangements for us to live in a home on a missionary compound for our time in Nigeria. This compound is pretty big with six homes as well as offices located in it. There is a wall completely surrounding the whole compound and there's two gates for people to enter into the compound. Guards are there twenty-four hours a day to make sure that only those who should come in are allowed inside. Our house sits near one of the gates, so from our living room we can see everyone coming and going. The house is a real blessing to us because it's fully furnished with everything we could need while we're here, and one of our friends whom we used to hang out with before lives on the same compound.

This is our cute little blue home.

Here is the fireplace in our living room. We want to use it sometime- maybe just to roast some marshmellows... The red box sitting on the hearth is a stabilizer for electricity. The electricity comes and goes here and at times it'll surge, so you buy this sort of thing to plug your valuable electronics into, so when a surge happens your computer doesn't get fried.

This is the whole of the living room. You can see the light from the open front door to the left. I was standing in the dining room/kitchen entry to take this picture.

Here is the dining room. It's nice to have the two windows there for light and breeze.

Uche was cooking some Nigerian food while I snapped this. He's happy to be back to using local ingredients and the fresh produce here. Our refrigerator is small, but it works so we're happy- you can see it on the left side. To the left side of the stove is a storage room. It has shelves to store all kinds of things and our water heater sits in there which is used to heat water in the bathroom and kitchen. In the Philippines hot water heaters are a luxury, but here it's more normal even in Nigerian homes. We also use the storage room to keep some produce like tomatoes, potatoes and peppers. The floor is cement and it stays very cool, so the produce will last well there.

And finally our bathroom. The shower is great and the hot water is plentiful, so we're happy.

We also have two bedrooms one with a king size bed for us, and the spare room has its own bed as well. The house has a lot of storage, so it's been great to put away all our things and hide the suitcases, so we don't have clutter all around us. We're happy in our little home and are well settled.

Welcome to Nigeria!

Greetings are very important in Nigeria, so we've been welcomed to Nigeria many times over the past week. Tomorrow will be one week since we touched down in Abuja, the capital. We'll be working on catching up the past week in the next few days since we haven't been able to be online until this time.

Some initial thoughts about being here from Sarah:

• It's so nice to be in warm weather again! The cold was too much for me- I'm a wimp now!! This is the coolest time of year here, so it will warm up which is okay with me.
• Even though I've been gone for over six years, it's nice to come back to a place I've lived before. The adjustment period is so much easier- though I'll probably be in an adjustment stage our whole time here.
• Our nieces and nephews here have gotten so big, and while I've been gone I've always pictured them as the little kids they were before. I think only one is shorter than me!
• I always enjoy watching Uche interact with Nigerians because he adapts himself to Nigerian mannerisms and words. He's so amazing at adapting to wherever he's at, so when we're around Filipinos, he acts Filipino, and when we're with Americans, well, American Uche shows up! Now that we're surrounded by Nigerians, he's relearning how to be a real Nigerian!

And from Uche:

• I can't believe how much Abuja (the capital of Nigeria) has changed. Big beautiful houses are being constructed everywhere. There are new and expensive cars everywhere. There seems to be a disconnect between the poverty around me and the riches I see here. I even saw a brand new Porsche the other day!
• We've made it to Jos and I am starting to pick up my Hausa language. I am also glad that the town of Jos is calm and the people are still as friendly as ever. The city is divided into two sides, the different warring tribes are occupying each side respectively. The division breaks my heart.

Packing up and heading out

After months of planning, we're ready to go to Nigeria tomorrow morning. At this point of any trip I always wonder why on earth we would ever travel anywhere when it's so much work, but whenever we stay somewhere for too long I get itchy feet and want to travel. In spite of the craziness, we're ready to go and really looking forward to the next three months in Nigeria.

Once we spread out all the stuff we planned to take with us I thought there was no way it would all fit! But it did. Four bags stuffed full. I didn't get a picture of everything spread out all over, but here's just small bits and pieces that had to be fit together.

Here's the four bags fifty pounds each all ready to go.