Extreme Makeover

Hi Everyone,
Our B2B driver, Alphonsus, has been in the process of moving into a two-room (I don't know what to call it honestly) place to live. Crist and I care for Alphonsus a great deal and knew he would need some help as he has no car or finances to get his new place "up to snuff." In Nigeria, when you rent a new place, you have to give two year's rent up front to your landlord and you don't owe anymore until the two years are up. Alphonsus and Esther had a one room place they lived in previous to this. One room (and not a big room either) to sleep in, store all your clothes, etc. with no indoor plumbing or electricity. Cooking was done outside. The picture to the left is almost all of Alphonsus's worldly possessions (yep - that's it for a husband and wife of 15 years). The picture above (sorry, I have them out of sequence) is the "living room" after we had painted it. John and Corrie had given Alphonsus the electric fan you can see in the picture, but he hasn't been able to use it yet because he had no electricity. In his new place, we hope he will be able to use it since he will have electricity from time to time.
This picture below is of the walls when we walked in. They were all pitted with holes and cracks and there's no nice way to describe the two rooms.

The picture in the below right is the one light bulb they have in the living area. So, to make a long story short, Crist, Alphonsus and I began painting at 9:30 a.m. and finished both rooms by 1:00 pm. We tried to fill in the cracks as we went along and because we're in the VERY DRY season now here in Jos, the paint would dry almost immediately. We painted it on thick too so it would seep into the holes and all things considered, it didn't turn out too bad. A few years ago, Alphonsus had a fire in the place he was staying, so he lost any/all the furniture that they had. To now have TWO rooms and a place for he and Esther to sit - well, they are thrilled and so are Crist and I. I mean it! We feel so blessed to have been able to help in this small way.
We Americans have to stop complaining about all the things we think we need and want. Come to Nigeria and see what alot of the rest of the world has - and they're sooooo thankful!

Do you recognize the Jesus poster on the wall? It was one we brought from the states and we had it in our little apartment, but now since we'll be leaving in a few weeks, we thought Alphonsus and Esther could use it in their new place. I asked if we could get a couple of plastic chairs for him so that when they have friends over there would be a place for them to sit too. He told me that they don't do that there. The only friends they have are from church and it's not the kind of friendships where you visit one another (this made me feel sad). He was actually emphatic, that the room with the two chairs was going to be almost like a prayer room for them - a place to sit quietly and come before the Lord. We sure will miss this humble man when we leave Nigeria.

Psalm 127:1a - "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it..."

In-joy,

Eileen and Crist