Spring Break Trip!!!!!

Over spring break a group of us went on an outreach in northern Nigeria. I was so excited to be able to travel to some different parts of Nigeria and get a real village experience. Our team was made up of seven baturis and six Nigerians. Baturi means white person in Hausa. The first day we drove about six or seven hours. Traveling in Nigeria is quite an “adventure”. Oftentimes the roads are bumpy and the driving is erratic. It’s amazing how you adjust to these things even if they are different than anything you have ever experienced. Restroom breaks include a roll of toilet paper and a “concealed” spot in the bushes. Again, it’s funny how you adjust to new experiences. 


Before we got to the village, I had been told this would be the first time for many of the people to see a white person. When we got there, we spent some time greeting the people. I began to joke around with some of the kids. I was playing with one of the kids, but didn’t realize that there was a little boy behind him freaking out. He obviously had not seen one of me before. :)

Afterwards we spent some time playing with the kids and setting up for a film show. It was so much fun just running around with the kids and trying to think of games that don’t take much explanation. Later we showed a couple of films. It’s cool because they are films that are in their language and they share the gospel through a story.

The next day was Sunday so one of our team members preached and then we set up the medical clinic. It was organized chaos. They received a card to come into the clinic. When they came in they got their blood pressure taken and then saw one of the two nurses from our team. They interviewed them and wrote a prescription for them. Then they moved to the next station where their prescription was filled. The drugs that we had were basic things like Ibprofun, eye drops, malaria medicine, and cough syrup. But these are things that are not easily accessible for people in a village. We also provided everything for free. While some were working in the clinic the rest of us played with the kids. We had a great time trying to teach them some games and our friend Dazaan made it much easier by translating for us. It would be so cool to be able to fluently speak the Hausa language. But even those who have taken one or two classes find it difficult to communicate. I was so glad that we had some Nigerians with us so that they could translate and have some good conversations with people. They were able to pray with and for those who came to the clinic. When we finished up our day, we left and went back to Malumfashi. There is a City Ministries care center there and we stayed there for the night. It was nice to have a shower (bucket bath) and relax. We slept outside and it was perfect weather.

On Tuesday we got up and drove up to the border. We were across the street from the Niger border. We were in the desert! It was so windy and dusty, which was good for us because it kept the heat bearable. We did basically the same set up with the clinic and playing with the kids. We rotated so that we all did some of everything. Before the film show in the evening, we did a puppet show. The kids (and some of the adults) couldn’t figure it out, so they kept running back and forth, trying to see how this was happening. We were in this village for two full days. After the people went through the clinic, they had the option to have someone pray for them. Many of the people did this, and I think it was encouraging for them and for us.

The last village that we went to, was back towards Jos, outside of Kano. We stopped in Kano for a couple of hours, for a much needed shower and a meal at the Pizza Hott. It was hot pizza served in a really nice hut. :) It was good to relax a little before moving on to the next village. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to know the Lerosas. They are from Switzerland. They already speak three or four languages and are now busy learning English and Hausa. We had fun teaching them some of the “essential” English phrases like calling a joke cheesy or corny.

We got to the last village in time to set up our tents and go to bed.The next morning we got up had breakfast. Some of the guys went to greet the chief. Greetings are a big deal here, and they wanted to let him know what we were doing. We had a connection with a pastor at each village. The chief of this village did not want us to give out free medical care. So we prayed about it as a group and decided to spend the day playing with the kids and later that evening we had a meal for the church members. We were still able to do a puppet show and show a film.

I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to go and visit these villages. I feel like I had the real “African” experience and I continue to be amazed at the greatness of our Lord. We are such a small part of this world, and He chooses to use us to be His vessel to carry the message of Jesus Christ to our neighborhoods and around the world. Thank you so much for being a part of this. I pray that God would bless you and keep you! I would love to hear from you!

“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” Psalm 16:5-6

~What an encouragement these verses have been to me. He is enough for us and we have a beautiful inheritance with Him!~

I was able to spend just a few minutes with these boys. I met them when we were helping do relief work. SIM partnered with Global Relief to help 250 families affected by the crisis. Relief work is an amazing task. I was thankful to be a small part of the work that day.

With all that has occurred over the past two months, I find myself needing a fresh perspective on life here in Nigeria. When I think of my time with these boys, it is a great reminder of why I am here. We talked about what heaven will be like and how there will be no more fighting. Please continue to pray for peace in Jos.

Science Fair


Each of the classes in the elementary school had the opportunity to do a science project. The students shared their projects with other classes.
 
 

 

Selnan did research to find the most fertile soil in his area.

David told some first graders about his science fair project.

Praise and Prayers

Praisefor God’s protection

Praisefor God working in the lives of my students -They have been asking some great questions lately.

Pray for peace in Jos. Pray for the leaders of the city, state, and country.

Pray for the church of Nigeria.

Pray for the next three months of school. We have a lot of material to cover. Pray that the students and I would be focused.

Prayfor my transition from teaching at Hillcrest International School to working with CityMinistriesin an educational capacity next year. (City Ministries operates several orphanages I was privileged to be involved with over the Christmas holidays.)

Thank you for partnering with me. Please let me know how I can be praying for you.

Love in Christ, Heather

How you can help

My friend Ruth and I had the opportunity to go to one of the refugee camps not long after the crisis.  It was a good experience because we were able to hear their stories and how the crisis had affected them.  While normalcy is returning to the city of Jos, there still are those who are without basic needs.  SIM has set up a relief fund.  The immediate needs are food and clothing, and as time goes on, rebuilding homes and churches will become the focus.  The relief money will go towards helping Christians and Muslims affected by the crisis, in the name of Jesus Christ.  If you would like to give towards relief efforts here in Jos,  go to  www.sim.org/giveusa and the project name is Nigeria Relief Fund.  The project number is 96038.  Thanks!

pray without ceasing

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and encouragement.  What a testimony to the body of Christ.  The last two days have been a lot quieter.  The curfew was lifted till 5 pm.  There is still a heavy presence of police and military.  My heart is sad for the people here.  There is reported to be between 300-500 people killed and over 1,000 injured.    There are said to be approximately 25,000 displaced people in camps around the city.  We hope to be able to get out and help with relief efforts soon.  Many people here live day to day. With this lasting almost a week, they are out of money, food, and water. 
Hopefully school will start back on Tuesday or Wednesday.  I am anxious about how to process this with my students.  Many of them experienced the riots of 2008.  Please pray for wisdom as we all return to our ministries.  Pray that God would use this as an opportunity to proclaim His faithfulness in this fallen world. 
Please pray:
for the displaced people.  Pray that they would have access to basic living needs and that they would be reunited with family members.
for those who lost loved ones. 
for the church of Nigeria.  Pray for wisdom for the pastors and that the body of Christ would unite and boldy proclaim Jesus Christ to this city.
for spiritual awakening in the city of Jos. There are many who don't know the truth of the gospel.  Please pray that somehow through this, they would come to know Christ as their Savior.


I am reminded of the urgency of the gospel.  I pray that we would all live out our faith.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  God is faithful and He is everlasting. 

Please Pray for Jos

It's hard to know what to write. I can't tell you what exactly is happening in Jos, because I don't know. For the third day in a row, we have been restricted to our compounds. On Sunday, some violence broke in the city. There are many rumors as to what started it, but we don't know for sure. There is a large population of Muslims and Christians that coexist in the city of Jos. It seems that when given the opportunity, the tension that is between them erupts into violence. News articles are saying that over 200 people have been killed. I think what hits home the most, is that some of the kids in the care centers around the city are close to some of the violence. My friends that live on my compound work closely with these kids. Please pray for peace to return to the city of Jos. I will give you more details when I know more. Please pray that the Christians here would live out their faith.
As for me, I feel safe. We are all together on our compound. We are sharing meals and spending time together. I appreciate your prayers for the city of Jos!
Here is an article from the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/20/AR2010012000542.html

I'll fly away....I mean drive away!

Yes it's true! I finally have a car! In one of my newsletters, I wrote about the need for a car. Someone generously donated towards a vehicle, and I got my car on Christmas Eve! The process was a little different here. I didn't go to a car lot or test drive the car. I put in an order and it only took about 2 months and wala. Driving is an adventure here. It's like a video game. Dunu dunu dunu.

Christmas!!

Christmas in Nigeria was a lot different from what I am used to-in that despite no cold weather, only a few decorations, and missing my friends and family-it was a memorable experience. I live in an apartment complex with other missionaries who work with orphans here in Jos. They thought that it would be cool to spend the week with the kids. The week started with the 40 boys and 40 girls doing a Nativity play in the village.

The next day, we had a morning of games planned for the boys. Dustin and I thought it would be fun to create a boot camp. Dustin was able to pull off the military role a little better than I was. It was a lot of fun. I think the boys really enjoyed it.

Dustin and I...aka Major Pain and GI Jane

wheelbarrow race

waiting in line for chin chin - reward for finishing boot camp

Later that night, we took all 40 boys to my friend Emma-Louise's house. We ate dinner, watched a movie and they all piled in the living room.

The next day we did some fun activities with them before they headed back to Gyero.

making paper chains with the boys
Karis helping some of the boys make Christmas cookies.

40 boys + 2 SUVs = good picturescactus Christmas treeHanging out on Christmas day! One of the families here had us all over. It was so nice to just chill out.

Christmas was different this year. But it was still celebrated for the same reason. I'm so thankful that Jesus Christ came into this world to give us a hope and life. May you be blessed in the new year!