First and Second Day with the Team

Hi Everyone,

Well, our team from Kentucky arrived this past weekend and we've been busy doing ministry with OLA and work projects at the Education Center (see the picture above for the progress on the building so far). I thought you'd enjoy another picture of "my" (grin) rocks that the team is climbing on. Everyone is beginning to see how special they are. Let me tell you a little about this team. There are six men and four women and they are really remarkable; humble, hard working and just a lot of fun to be around. Their love for the children has been immediate and heartfelt and every chance they can get, they're playing with the children.

Sunday was an extremely busy day, as we first went to worship at our village church. Watching the team's response to the joyous way the Nigerians worship, was such fun to watch and was such a big encouragement. From church, we went out to eat at Elysar (one of the three restaurants that we feel comfortable bringing teams to eat). Elysar is owned by Lebanese but they serve Chinese food - so we had several dishes served to the table and everyone could sample the different foods. Yummy! From eating we went directly to OLA where we had planned an afternoon of playing with the children and doing a craft with them. The very first picture up above is part of the team holding the babies and just being a part of the activities planned. It was noisy and crazy but hopefully fun too. Hope, the little girl in pink in the below picture, is one of the children at OLA and the other two girls were children of one of the caregivers. The team had brought some "butterfly wings" for the girls and they LOVED THEM!

Chad, a team member, spent alot of his time praying for and holding Claire from OLA. Claire, we think was born with Cerebral Palsy and her body is usually in a fetal position and we're pretty sure she can't see but Chad is convinced that she can hear (we thought perhaps she couldn't hear also). He massaged her legs and hands and by the time we had to leave, her body had begun to relax some and she was able to stretch out her legs. It was a beautiful sight to see the two of them. It was hard for the group to leave at 5:30 but it had been a long and full day and it was time to return to the Ministry Center. Crist and I were privileged to have been the staff with the team throughout the entire day.

Yesterday was another exciting day and I'll save pictures of that for our next blog. Suffice it to say that all of us are being stretched and molded this week and it's a wonderful thing to happen! Chat with you soon!

In-joy,

Eileen and Crist