8“So I am praying while not knowing how to pray. I am resting while feeling restless, at peace while tempted, safe while still anxious, surrounded by a cloud of light while still in darkness, in love while still doubting.” ~Henri Nouwen
This is the beautiful paradox of a sinner living by grace. And I am comforted by the story of Elijah. Immediately after being used in one of God’s most amazing displays of power, he prays that the Lord would let him die because his work is fruitless. God ministers to Elijah’s physical needs and then says, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah says “I’ve eagerly served you, and there’s nothing to show for it.” God says, “Go to the mountain and wait for me.” There Elijah learns to listen for the still small voice of the Lord speaking to his heart. He is then asked to go back out and serve the Lord again – with the promise that God will make all things right in His time. What a reassurance that the God of Elijah is the same God I serve.
Since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith, we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us. We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up. We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. Think about Jesus, who endured opposition from sinners, so that you don’t become tired and give up. Hebrews 12:1-2a, 3
What’s been happening
School/Church:
We are again understaffed in the education department. In March, Dorcas Sunday was married and left the ministry. Then in April, after a difficult situation between one of our teachers and the director, the teacher resigned. A third teacher, Roselyn David, is on study leave to take her WAEC exams. However, one of our Federal College of Education graduates who originally wanted to pursue secretarial studies has decided to enter the classroom instead. We praise God for Unekwu Isah as she joins our teaching staff.
It’s “Agbanyoji” time again! Those are the little green books of memory verses outlining church doctrine which students can complete to earn a Bible. As a new crop of students has reached the age where they can read and memorize, they are eagerly begging for their own memory verse booklets so that they too can proudly carry their own Bible to church. I have hidden Your word in my heart so that I might not sin against thee.
Health:
With the money from some of our donors we have been buying eggs once every other week to serve to our children. It is a big help. We also received a donation of a live cow from the governor! We look forward to eating him on Children’s National Holiday (May 27) J If the money is there, the administration has decided that they would like to try and provide a cow a month.
All of our new baby boys were recently circumcised. Medugu developed severe bleeding after a few hours, but we were able to get it to stop before the next morning and all are recovering well.
Of the 4-month-old twins, Haruna was the smaller and more sickly. He was given to a missionary nurse in Anyigba to care for. It was then discovered that he had a hernia that would need surgery. He was sent to Evangel Mission Hospital in Jos. While all of this was going on, Adukwu, the healthy one, developed a serious condition. He was not passing any stools, his stomach was swelling, he was dehydrated, and he even stopped passing any urine. I sat up with him for 26 hours, and then on Sunday evening he was taken to the hospital. The doctor suspected a bowel blockage and did surgery, finding nothing. Two days later he died. Meanwhile, Haruna was recovering well from his own surgery. He has returned to us at Otutulu and is currently staying with me. He is a fat, happy, talkative little man.
Please keep one of our little ones, Aaron Shehu (3 years, 9 months) in prayer. Our suspicions of sickle cell were confirmed by blood tests at the hospital today. This explains the recent pain in his hands and leg – he is in “sickle cell crisis”. There is no cure for sickle cell, you can only try to prevent the child from going into crisis, which can lead to death, by avoiding malaria, infections, and exposure to cold.
Sharing diagnosis and treatment with patients is not a priority for doctors/hospitals here. In fact, if you dare to ask what you or your child are ill with and what the medicines are that they are giving you, you are likely to be yelled at and left untreated or poorly treated in the future as you have dared to “question” the doctor. It is very frustrating, because we don’t then know how to prevent similar illness and/or death in the future. A sad case in point, Nefisetu (Crystal), who lived with me for 4 months was a healthy 10-month-old girl, developmentally on track, who fell sick with fever and vomiting. Two days later, after on-site treatment didn’t seem to be helping, we took her to the hospital – she sounded as if she may have been in respiratory distress. At the hospital they transfused her. The next day she died. There is no explanation as to why this otherwise healthy baby suddenly died.
New Arrivals:
Welcome to two new staff members and two new babies:
· Rhoda recently joined us as a cook. What a blessing this helping hand is to Fitumi, the 20-year-old young lady who was the sole cook for the entire ministry for the past few months.
· Hannah Yunusa is the lovely bride of our health worker, Sabo Yunusa. They wed on March 28th.
· One of our staff members, Mary Sunday, recently gave birth to her third baby boy. Surgery was necessary for the mother, but after a lengthy hospital stay, we are happy to have her back with us. Please also keep the baby in prayer as his left arm was broken during the delivery process.
· Our other new baby came to us after a close friend of many here in the ministry as well as a teacher to many of our secondary school students at CMML Special School, Iyale, died during her third C-section birth. The baby girl survived and has joined us as one of our motherless babies. Please keep the father, also a teacher at Special School, in your prayers as he takes on the raising of the first two children (both boys) as a single father.
Looking Ahead
Our Children’s Day celebration is coming up on May 27. We have invited the Vice Chancellor of Kogi State University – a strong proponent of education and integrity – to join us on that day. Preparations are underway – the field rings with calls of “left, right, left, right” and children lope from goalpost to goalpost with their legs tied together in all manner of scrap materials in training for the three-legged race J
With the clearing of the land well underway for the school building project, we hope to begin digging the foundation and start molding blocks soon.
It’s family reunion time J My uncle and his family will be coming for a visit in June, and my parents will be coming out with two of my other cousins in July. I look forward to seeing them. My father is planning on bringing his flannelgraph materials. Please pray that a proposed outreach in the local village(s) will be fruitful. There are so many children there who are very dear to me who have never heard the gospel of Christ. Because of their Muslim and traditional religion backgrounds, they won’t be attending Sunday School, but if someone is telling a story, they (along with their parents) will come and listen out of curiosity.
After what some are calling the most corrupt elections ever in Nigeria, the handover of power is set to take place on May 29. During the two weekends of elections, few dared to travel. While most of the killings took place before and between elections, the election days themselves were marked by hired thugs stealing ballot boxes and marking ballots for their own party, etc. Please pray that the handover will go smoothly and peacefully.
Spotlight on…
Udu and Ekwo. These two young men are friends of mine from the village. I got to know them when my bougainvillea tree blew over in the wind last year. They were walking past, noticed it, and asked if they could fix it for me. I said, “Sure.” They have become an encouragement to me in so many ways. They are always there to lend a helping hand, they are faithful prayer partners, they have given me an introduction into their families – one of which is Muslim, one of which is traditional religion providing a rapport from which to begin witnessing, and they help me maneuver through different culture questions. Both are also recipients of the Bibles many of you have helped provide through our scripture memory program. Udo was just telling me the other day how much having his own Bible has helped him. “Before when you go home from the church you can forget what they talk about, but now I can come home and read it myself. It helps me a lot.” Both young men are working to pay their way through secondary school on their own. Please pray that they would see the means to continue their education and that their hunger for God’s Word would continue to grow and be satisfied by fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
Praise For:
- Anibe who has continued to gain strength. She is even able to attend our evening classes now.
- Comfort who has recovered completely from her illness in January.
- CERI, the Eskridge’s and Crockett’s, and Paul Welle’s team from Canada who have all provided encouragement, assistance, and blessings through their visits.
- the privilege of being part of a Christian community that upholds and supports one another through difficult times.
- the renewal of my quota position and visa – despite the two-day wait I endured because I didn’t understand that “we’ve lost your file” means “we want money”. I eventually got everything without having to pay any bribes.
- a God whose strength is made complete in our weakness.
Pray For:
- strength, wisdom, and a deepening hunger and thirst for God
- the various building projects in their various stages
- our students at secondary schools and universities – for safety and that their hearts and minds would be guarded against the temptations of the world
- staff – we need more staff in every department
- patience and understanding as we grow as an organization
- several of my students from US who are facing state and federal drug, gun, and gang charges.
Random Funny Kitchen Sight: Monkey sitting on top of the oven waiting to be cooked while anteater boils in a pot on the front burner. (Yep, that would be in my kitchen.)
