Just So You Know....

Hi Everyone,
I actually enjoy every few days getting on the computer and blogging to all of you. We download any and all the pictures we've taken and then we resize them so they can fit the blog and then I look at the pictures and think of something "clever" and "witty" (grin) to write so that you can better understand what we're doing here in Jos, Nigeria. But.....I am finding myself in a dilemma this afternoon. The last few ministry events or places we have gone, we didn't remember to bring our camera. So.....just so you know......these two pictures are all that we have left in our picture folder. This is IT folks! So, now I have to say something about these mud blocks in the picture below. Nigerians build their huts and/or their block homes in two ways. The more expensive way is by making and using concrete blocks. Our little bungalow and Corrie and John's house are made with concrete blocks. For some reason, and we're not sure why, the price of concrete has gone up considerably in the last few months, so we are seeing more and more people (especially in the villages) making their own mud blocks - which essentially is mixing water with the dirt in the backyard and adding a little bit of straw and then cutting out the squares and letting them dry in this dry heat. From what we're told, these mud bricks last for quite a while - even during the rainy season (which I don't understand at all how they just don't dissolve in the rain). This last picture in our picture folder is of the new borehole at the Doctor's Compound. Because of expenses, only a pump handle will be available for getting the water (as opposed to a spigot type). But everyone in this part of the village is very excited to have this clean water source now. Since this is the end of the dry season, many wells are beginning to run dry and now they have clean water that we hope and pray won't run dry.

We have a large team of businessmen coming this Saturday - so hopefully we can take alot of pictures and show you some of the things they will be doing (if we don't forget our camera - grin). We miss you all and can't wait to see you in a few weeks!!

In-joy,

Eileen and Crist

This Was So Much Fun

Hi Everyone,

Okay - it's me again - Crist. Since this blog is directly related to what I experienced, I thought it would be better if I did the sharing this time.

As we've mentioned before, every Tuesday afternoon I'm part of a mens' Bible Study in the village. We can have anywhere from 7 to 13 (this includes Will and I from B2B staff) young men and most of them work at the car wash. I love this Bible Study and seeing how the Word of God is beginning to come alive in their hearts. They have begun to ask many faith, life and Bible questions and it's such an encouragement to me to see their faith growing.

Recently we received donations from the states of several pairs of used soccer shoes/cleats. Many in the Bible Study also are part of the village football (soccer) team and after Bible Study this past Tuesday, Will allowed those who are on the football team to look and see if they could find a pair of shoes that would fit them. It was like watching "kids in a candy store." There were smiles and laughter everywhere and each would hold up their feet to show the others their
newfound treasures. This is such a "little" thing to those of us from the U.S., but to these young men it was truly like a gift from God.

"Thank You Lord for allowing me to be a part of your perfect plan for these few. Continue to grow in each of them a desire to know you better. Protect and watch over of them and allow them to become leaders and men of God in their village." Amen

In-joy,

Crist and Eileen

These Children Are What B2B Is All About

Hi Everyone,

From the moment we set foot on Nigerian soil, there have been children all around us. For some of the littlest ones, they have cried when they first saw us because they had never seen a baturi (white person) before.

But for most of the children, there have been nothing but shy smiles, giggles and always a desire to hold your hand, pull the hairs on your arms and to just love on you! Children are so precious with their unconditional love for you. They have no expectations of you - they just want to be with you. In the states, children are told (and justifiably so) to not talk to strangers and to be careful to who you talk to. Not so - in Nigeria. They rush up to you and want to swing from your hands and to just walk along the road with you. We're going to miss that. We're going to miss these children; raw clay just waiting to be molded by the Father into His unique creation for each of them.

Please pray for more workers to come to Nigeria so that these children and hundreds just like them can learn more about God's perfect plans for them. Please pray for hearts to be broken for the lost in Nigeria and for each of us to be used by God and not to settle for "safe."

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world."

In-joy,

Eileen and Crist

Colors, Colors, Colors!!

Hi Everyone,
I've shared with you many times about how much I love the Nigerian dresses that the women wear. I love the colors and patterns in the fabrics. I would venture to guess that probably 75% of all Nigerian women, go to the material huts in the market and purchase their material and then take the fabric to a dressmaker who then makes their dresses. Included with your dress will always come a large swatch of material that is used for the headwraps that probably 95% of all women wear almost all the time. On Sundays to church, I will wear a headwrap and by the time the service is over, it feels like my head is ready to explode and it always itches for some reason. I'm just not used to wearing something close to my head that way. But to the Nigerian woman, it is very very natural and comfortable.

In the United States, we've become used to wearing alot of solid colors and some flowery prints for a summer dress - but rarely do we wear a dress that is BOLD with all types of abstract designs. Not so here. Even women with a larger frame (that's me folks! - grin) wear these wild patterns and they look beautiful. I'm not brave enough to do it - my loss!!

Speaking of colors - at the Carnival at Hillcrest on Saturday, Sarah won some games which gave her tickets, which allowed her to redeem the tickets for small prizes. One of Sarah's prizes that she picked out was a can of hair spray that sprayed a HOT orange stream onto your hair. Sarah's hair is brown so you couldn't see the full effect of the orange spray so she asked if she could spray my hair. I said (as any good grandma would do) "yes." Voila - the picture below. Cute, huh? With my white hair, you sure could see the color. I got alot of funny stares as we left the carnival and headed for home. It took two good hair scrubbings before the hairspray came fully out. Whew! I was worried there for a little while.

But having all kinds of beautiful colors in fabrics, flowers and bushes, people's skin and yes, even in someone's hair - doesn't it make life interesting? Well, we'll chat again with you soon.

In-joy,

Eileen and Crist

The "Good-Byes" Begin

Hi Everyone,
This afternoon, Crist and I were invited to be a part of a "good-bye" lunch for Corrie and Sami given by the third grade mothers. Sami is in 3rd Grade and this group of moms are very close knit and supportive of one another. Everyone brought something to eat and it was all so good!! This first picture shows the moms (and me - the Grandma!). There are 19 children in the class and with all their siblings present to eat, it seemed like there were 30 children running around.

There's our daughter, Corrie (in the white sweater), in the picture below with many of the moms. These pictures are unusual in the fact that every other time I've seen these woman they are ALWAYS beautifully dressed in Nigerian clothes, but this morning at Hillcrest, was a "Field Day" for the children so all the moms were encouraged to wear very comfortable clothes because everyone was helping with this fun day at the school. I enjoyed seeing the women in this informal setting. You know.....when you get a group of women together, regardless of nationality, there's always plenty to talk about. I know that Corrie will miss these women alot. I've always thought that I'm kind of tall compared to many women, but when I look at that first picture, yikes! I look short, don't I compared to the Nigerian women around me. I bet I've shrunk some as I'm getting older, huh? grin

Tomorrow is a "Carnival" at Hillcrest that one of the grades is putting on as a fundraiser. Corrie sadly told me that there won't be any Elephant Ears to eat, but there will be cotton candy, hot dogs, pizza and other fun foods. Yummy! I made a BIG pot of vegetable soup a few days ago and that's what Crist and I have been eating alot of lately - I'm ready for some junk food!!!

Chat with you soon.

In-joy,

Eileen and Crist

Happy/Sad

Hi Everyone,
I can't be at the rocks today, but I needed to see them anyway because they bring tranquility to my soul and I figured you would like to see them again anyway - grin! These days, Crist and I are both feeling such mixed emotions. We'll be leaving in five weeks and I have to be honest with you - we're very excited about returning home to our friends and family and the familiar. But, we're leaving behind wonderful new friends, a growing, busy ministry and a land filled with hidden beauty and beautiful skies.
Let me share with you some of the things we're going to miss when we leave:

• Who would have thought that we'd miss one day big boulders/rocks? But we will!
• I'm going to miss the twenty or thirty little lizards that live around our apartment. They're just so cute with all the different colors on their bodies.
• We're going to miss all of the B2B staff that have begun to feel like "family" to us. What a great group of people God has assembled here to do His work in Nigeria.
• I'm going to miss the six months of almost perfect weather - not a cloud in the sky - and gentle breezes and sometimes not so gentle breezes.
• We're going to miss seeing cattle grazing alongside the roads and sometimes even in the roads!
• I'm going to miss Kenny, Joe, Daniel, Hope, Suzanne, Ochachee, Lucky, Esther, Abigail, Claire and all the caregivers at OLA. They will all remain in our prayers.
• Our ECWA Village Church and the women singing each Sunday, and the drums and joy as they worship.
• I will miss the BEAUTIFUL, colorful clothing that the women wear each day.
• I will miss the quiet evenings with Crist - every evening! A wonderful, slower pace.
• The filled streets and markets and the peacefulness of the village at dusk when people are out cooking and fellowshipping with one another.
• We will miss have Corrie and John, Sarah, Gus and Sami living five feet from us - we really will!
• All the village children - each and every one of them.

I feel like I could go on and on with this list. God is blessing us here in Nigeria......but we're excited to be going home! Such a contrast of emotions.

In-joy,

Eileen and Crist
"Lord, if Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from this place." Exodus 33:15

Work Day At The Oasis Center

Hi Everyone,
This past week everyone on staff met on Wednesday at the Oasis Center and had a good old fashioned Work Day. Over the past several months, donations from teams that have come from the states, as well as things brought over on a container, have begun to stack up and no one knew where anything was anymore. We wanted to "start from scratch" and take almost everything out and then put it all back into the rooms - only this time organized, straightend up and labeled. In the picture above is Emilee and Solomon and Emmanuel. Solomon and Emmanuel work for B2B and they are such assets to the ministry (and hard workers too!).

Here on the left is Crist in another room sorting and putting away. This box to the right is a really cool story. As we were sorting through all the clothing that has been donated, it came to our attention that a Nigerian friend of the ministry - his house had had a fire the day before and his two sons lost all of their clothing because the fire was mostly in their room. Within a matter of a few minutes we had a large box filled with clothes in the appropriate sizes, shoes, toiletries etc. all ready to be taken to the family. We love it when God puts all the pieces together and fills a need.

And here is Corrie (three or four of us ladies were sorting outside through all the clothing and stacking the clothes according to gender) sorting through the donations. People from the states have been so generous in their giving and we know in the months ahead much of this clothing will be given away.

We broke for lunch and all ate together and then went back to work. We finished everything that was on the list to do and all returned home weary but happy to see everything back in order once again.

Wouldn't it be great if it would be this easy to clean up our hearts?
But the principle is the same, isn't it? We need to take the time and purposefully sort through all the "stuff" in our lives and prioritize, clean out and throw away so our "house/hearts" will be clean before the Lord.

Hope everyone is doing well. We'll chat with you again soon.

In-joy,

Eileen and Crist