Author Archive

Video of Our Journey to Egbe, Nigeria

Posted: May 7, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Egbe Nigeria, Fundraising, Nigeria, SIM
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Many of you already know our story and many of you don’t. We have made the final touches to our video that guides you in 5 minutes and 22 seconds through Our Journey. I hope you can take a few minutes to watch and share with as many people as possible.

Less than a year ago we went on our first mission trip. Our hearts were changed. We felt God was calling us to something bigger than anything we could imagine. We started to look for opportunities to serve locally and internationally. After searching for months through different service projects, Lenny came across the Egbe Hospital Revitalization project.  We both kept coming back to Egbe even when we tried to push it out of our minds. We felt God calling so we answered with a “Yes”. Lenny made a site visit and was given confirmation that this was where God wanted us.

Now only a few months later, we have SOLD everything we own and plan to head out in August for Egbe, Nigeria. We have committed to 2 years, but we know that this is something God might be calling us to for much longer. We are open to his plans and cannot wait to get to Egbe to help serve and evangelize.

Lenny will serve as the maintenance supervisor and I will be homeschooling the kids. We hope to also get involved with the local HELP orphanage and visiting hospital patients. Thanks for watching our video and feel free to visit our site at www.MilesInMissions.com for more information on how to give to our mission. You can also find out more information on Egbe Hospital and the project by visiting our site.

Road Trip!

Posted: May 3, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Uncategorized
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By Lenny Miles

mapLouisville, KY to Tupelo, MS to Ft. Lauderdale FL to Ft. Myers, FL in 48 hours. Who can do that? My dad and I can!

My father and I’s adventure started when we left Louisville, KY on Sunday at 1pm. We drove the 26’ Uhaul truck down to Tupelo, MS arriving around 8pm. Along the way, we took a more direct route from Nashville following the Nachez Trail. It has a speed limit of only 50mph, but there was virtually no traffic of any kind and is a very scenic road (especially compared to boring interstates). In Tupelo, we stayed at the Motel 6 (swanky!). Getting up the next morning, we ate at McDonalds, where I learned that Elvis was born and raised in Tupelo. We proceeded to the Mississippi NW hospital to load used and unwanted medical furniture/supplies that had been donated for the Egbe hospital.

mshospital

When we arrived, we realized quickly that the largest Uhaul truck we had rented was not big enough for everything, so we had to go rent a trailer to drag behind us the rest of the way. From 8am to 1pm we loaded the supplies, stacking them much like a game of Jenga. On the road again, we were headed towards Ft. Lauderdale, Fl where the supplies and some personal items will be loaded on a shipping container to be seen again in Nigeria. We drove straight through the night, stopping once for dinner and only for gas when needed. We arrived at our destination at 5am Tuesday morning.

banyonWe dropped the truck and trailer with employees of Banyan Air and proceeded to the home of the owner of Banyan. They graciously opened up their home for us to shower and get rejuvenated after our long intense drive. After that, we got to tour the “campus” of Banyan air and see many of the private jets that they service and house there. It was a great morning to catch up with him and his wife because I had not seen them since I was at Egbe in November of last year.

The owner of Banyan was a missionary kid in Egbe in the 60’s and his father was the original surgeon that helped start the hospital in 1952. He now blesses the Egbe Hospital and the people there with procuring materials and sending them in the shipping containers (and many more things). After the tour, we borrowed a car and drove 2 hours to Ft. Myers Beach and we are now visiting with my grandmother who has a condo here. We will come home on Sunday and until then we will relax and catch up on some much needed rest after such a long and eventful week. Thanks for all of your prayers!

Email Patrice@MilesInMissions.com if you would like to be added to our prayer partner list. We currently have 128 and we would like to have 400 before we leave. You can also click GIVE  if God has called you to become one of our financial partners.

We’ve Moved

Posted: May 1, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Egbe, Egbe Hosptial, Egbe Nigeria, Fundraising, Nigeria, Prayer
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dominionWell we officially moved over the weekend to my Dad’s house at 12334 Dominion Way. Last week was a roller coaster ride to say the least. Broken foot, Jolie breathing problems, debit card number stolen, closing on our home cancelled and more…..  I immediately sent out an emergency prayer request to our 400 prayer partner list. We had so many people show up to help us pack, help us move, cook us meals, help us unpack, organize everything, clean our house for new owners and just call and pray with us. I was truly overwhelmed at the support we received from so many of you! Thank you! Thank you!

Ft MeyersLenny and his father (Lenny Sr.) started their drive to Ft Lauderdale, FL Sunday afternoon. I was a little nervous of what a mom with only one foot was going to do, but putting everything on hold was not an option. Once again my family was there to take care of us. My mom has helped with shopping. She pushes the cart as I navigate the aisles in my electric scooter. My poor step mom Minette hasn’t sat down since the kids and I arrived at her home. Cooking for us, cleaning up after us and then disinfecting everything for her cancer patient, my Dad. I have to constantly remind myself as he lifts boxes and helps me that, he has cancer!

This past week has been a week of perseverance. My memory verse for my DC class was James 1:2-4,Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

uhaulLenny and his Dad arrived safely in Ft Lauderdale at 5:30am Tuesday morning. They had to make a quick stop in Tupelo. There was a hospital that was remodeling and they donated all their old stuff to Egbe Hospital. Lenny and his Dad added everything to the Uhaul that will be shipped out on a container to Egbe in a few weeks. It will take about 60 days to arrive.

Now that we have moved, the question is when will we be leaving for Nigeria? We are currently 60% funded on our monthly support and 55% funded on our one time set up cost. SIM will not order our VISA’s until we are 85% funded. We are waiting on Southeast Christians’s decision on our approval but we still need your help. Please prayerfully consider joining our team. We need prayer partners, monthly and one time financial partners. Email me at Patrice@MilesInMissions.com to be added to our prayer partner list. Click here GIVE to be directed to our online site to become a financial partner.

“So, Are You Scared?”

Posted: April 18, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Nigeria
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By Patrice Miles

Kids at SimGo “So, aren’t you scared to move to Nigeria?” If we said No, we would not be human. But there is a huge difference in being scared and being anxious about the unknown.

We have stayed so busy since we first received our call to missions. From training,  getting our house ready to sell, packing for our container, the death of a grandfather, the diagnosis of cancer for my father, transitioning out of The Miles and Smith Real Estate Group, fundraising, newsletters, blogs, and websites. Needless to say, there are very few moments where we actually stop and sit still long enough to feel the butterflies in our stomachs.  We are moving to Africa!! What?

Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” So again when asked the question, “So, aren’t you scared to move to Nigeria?”  My answer is No we are not scared but we are anxiously excited about what God has in store for us.

What we are anxious about;
*Cason is anxious about nothing. I actually had to ask him several times and prod him. He then asked me “Will we have a TV?”
*Jolie is anxious about diseases and sickness. “All the stuff we got the shots for, Mommy.”
*Patrice is anxious about the heat. I have never lived or experienced a consistent 100 degree temperature before. I am also anxious about keeping my Spiritual cup full without Kyle Idleman and Dave Stone every Sunday, my DC girls 6am Tuesday morning and my peeps at Sunday night study. I am soooo spoiled!
*Lenny is anxious about feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of the project and the needs of the people.

Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid?

What we are excited about;
*Cason is excited about homeschooling and getting to ride the mopeds.
*Jolie is excited about moving into a new home and meeting new friends.
*Patrice is excited about a change in the pace of life. I’ve been a Realtor for 12 years battling daily with putting God and my family first.  I’m also excited about the orphanage down the street and getting to know the children there. I’m excited about home schooling my kids and getting to watch the light bulbs go off and being a part of that.
*Lenny is excited about having the opportunity to disciple the group of maintenance men that he will work side by side with everyday.

We still need prayer partners. We currently have 113 prayer warriors. We would like to have 400 people praying for all these anxieties now and while we are in Egbe. Email me at Patrice@MilesInMissions.com to be added to the list. We are also still in need of one time and monthly financial partners. We have currently raised 59% of our monthly and 36% of our one time. Click the following link if you would like to help support Miles In Missions.

Alert! Alert! Alert!

Posted: April 13, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Prayer
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We need some prayer this week from all our friends, family members and partners!! A lot of events going on with Miles In Missions that God can really show off in and we are praying he does!

pinot's paletteWednesday the 17th is our first fundraiser event. Pray that we fill the place with 60 artists! Click the link to register Pinot’s Palette

daniel-study-picThursday the 18th we start our first Bible study with our friends from the Congo. We have been sharing meals with them and having fun for four months now. We are excited to deepen our relationship with them through the Bible. We asked them which book of the Bible they wanted to study and they wanted to study Daniel. Pray for us to overcome communication barriers and for God to show up and teach all of us more about him. Pray for Bible donations so everyone in the family can have their own Bible.

southeast christian church

Thursday the 18th are our interviews with Southeast Christian Missions Board. Please pray they hear our hearts and want to help us and the people of Egbe with the maximum support from the church possible. Pray for Lenny and I to experience a peace and calm through the interviews. Southeast Christians International Missions. Saturday the 20th Lenny is on a panel with 2 other missionaries at the Saturday morning Southeast Christians Men’s Bible Study. Over 500 men of God show up every Saturday 7-8am to study God’s word. Pray that God will speak to some of the men to become partners with us either financially or prayerfully.  Southeast Christians Men’s Saturday Morning Bible Study.

Thunder Over LouisvilleSaturday the 20th we are taking our friends from the Congo to their first Thunder Over Louisville and possibly our last. We are very excited to get to spend the day with them and watch them take it all in. Please pray for warm weather, a great spot to relax and watch the show and that no one gets lost. Thunder over Louisville.

Pinot’s Palette in St Mathews to Host Fundraiser

Posted: April 2, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Fundraising, Uncategorized
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Sunset Safari

Sunset Safari

We are so excited that Mollie Younger, owner of Pinot’s Palette has blessed us with our first fundraiser event. Wednesday April 17th at 6pm supporters will be instructed for 2 hours. Each person will receive a canvas, paint and brushes. At the end of the evening they will leave with a masterpiece, Safari Sunset. While painting our family will get to mingle and and pass out snacks. This should be a fun event and our family cannot wait to get to see everyone. Click on the following link to RSVP as we only have 60 spots. Pinot’s Pallete St Mathews. pinot's palette

Our departure date is less than 4 months away! Our home is SOLD and we move April 28th. In May we will be taking items down to our container in Ft Lauderdale that will ship to Nigeria. We will be shipping foods we cannot live without (coffee, peanut butter), household items, clothes, furniture and more. It will take almost 3 months for the container to reach Egbe. June we will spend the entire month in the hills of North Carolina for cross cultural training. In July we will be back in Louisville finalizing packing and saying good bye. August we are off and will not step fool on American soil for 21 months.

We are currently 40% funded and will not be able to leave in August unless we are 85% funded by the first of June. This event and many others will help us reach our goal. We cannot wait to get to Egbe to help the Nigerian people and the Egbe Hospital. There are so many ways you can support us and help the people of Egbe;

  1. Attending the Pinot’s Palette event
  2. Volunteer to make snacks for the Pinot’s Palette event
  3. Allow us to come and share our journey with your Bible Study group or office.
  4. Become a financial partner with us. DONATE HERE
  5. Become one of our 400 prayer partners. Email me to be added to our prayer partner list at Patrice@MilesInMissions.com

Check Out Our New Home!!

Posted: March 23, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Egbe Nigeria
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Egbe Nigerian HomeWell its not official so we are trying not to get too excited but….Check Out Our New Home!! It is so nice to have a vision of where my children will sleep, our family will enjoy a meal with new friends and where we will sit and study God’s word with others. Our family has experienced an emotional roller coaster the past two weeks, so this news from the field was so exciting. We are driving back from Charlotte where the entire family was in missionary training. While there my Father was admitted to the hospital for aggressive chemo therapy for a rare lymphoma cancer and brain tumor. Lenny received a phone call that his grandfather was given a week to live.  Our Louisville home received a full price contract. Yes, all of this in 2 weeks. Needless to say when Abby Anderson, who is on site at Egbe sent me the email saying that House #10, the Pharmacy house, could be our next home….we were revived and excited. God seems to give us just enough light everyday to take the next step in this faith walk. Even though it isn’t guaranteed to be our new residence, I am already placing my furniture and dreaming of visitors knocking at the door.ourhousefron2

Please continue to pray for our family as the countdown is starting. There is still so much to do and support to raise.  In the month of April we will be packing up the house and moving in with parents, making final transitions out of jobs and  presenting to multiple Bible study groups asking for support. If you have a Bible study group or work group that we could come and spend 15 minutes with showing a quick video about the project, we would be so honored to have that opportunity.

Egbe Living RoomlivingroomEgbe Nigerian kitchen Egbe Nigeria Master BedroomBedroom 2 in Egbe NigeriaEgbe BathroomEgbe Nigeria ShowerEgbe Nigeria Toilet

Will You Pray For Us?

Posted: March 16, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Prayer, Uncategorized
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SIMGO 2013

SIMGo Spring 2013 team heading to different locations all over the world!

When you think of missionaries, what is the first thing you think of? I used to always think, “Someone who needs money.” Yes this is true as we cannot help people without the support of our financial partners, but this isn’t God’s sole purpose for this calling. He doesn’t just want physical needs met. He wants our spiritual needs met as well. So many wonderful people I come across say they are so sorry they cannot support us right now because of their financial situation. My response is always the same. “You can support us through prayer!” “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” Luke 10:2.

As you can see in the picture above a few peoples faces are whited out. This is for their protections as they are heading to countries were they could face persecution or even death because of their faith. As we head to Nigeria in August we are heading into enemy territory. Satan does not want us there. We will need prayer for our marriage, our children, our health, days of travel to get to the site and our sanity. Once there we will need continued prayer for our ministry to the Nigerians, re-building of the hospital our family transitioning into home schooling and God’s leading with our involvement with the local HELP orphanage. Will you pray for us? We need 400 prayer partners that will receive a weekly email from us with prayer requests. Will you please consider being one of our prayer partners now and for the next 2 years. Please email me Patrice@MilesInMissions.com if you would like to become a prayer partner for our family.

Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Rabies, Polio, Meningitis, Hep A & B, Tetanus anyone?

Posted: March 12, 2013 by Patrice Miles in Egbe Hosptial, SIM
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Africa ShotsYellow Fever, Typhoid, Rabies, Polio, Meningitis, Hep A & B, Tetanus are words I never thought I would hear myself saying 9 months ago. If you had asked me in June of just last year if I would be watching my children get vaccinated for things I never even knew existed….I would have told you that you were crazy! That is how God works….when you let him. Day 4 of SIMGo and we are surrounded with like-minded people all heading out to different places all over the world to work for God’s glory and not theirs. I am so honored to hear their stories. From saving children’s lives, to God showing up with resources when they thought all was hopeless to standing on a hill watching the radiation cloud in the distance in Japan at the wake of the tsunami. WOW is all I can say as I stand in amazement of the purpose driven life these people lead daily. I am so excited and spurred on to live a life full of meaning and purpose where at the end of the day I may still be exhausted, but for such a fulfilling reason. Helping people learn about the fire inside of us and the promise of eternity through the Egbe Hospital Revitalization Project.

Our departure date of August is growing closer and SIM will not allow us to order VISAs or plane tickets until we are 85% funded. Please prayerfully consider being one of out $25, $50 or $100 monthly senders. God calls us all to missions….some he calls to GO, some he calls to SEND and some he calls to PRAY. Please let us know which one he is calling you to by emailing me at Patrice@MilesInMissions.com or visiting our website at www.MilesInMissions.com and clicking on the GIVE button.

SIMGo

Posted: March 9, 2013 by Patrice Miles in SIM
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SIM LogoWe are excited to have arrived safely by car to Charlotte NC for SIMGo. Our family will spend the next two weeks digging into policies, procedures, finances, cultural training, internet, security and much more. We start off together every morning with the SIM family in prayer for missionaries in the field. Lenny and I then take the kids to MK (missionary kids) school. The kids will have everyday filled with world view education. They will only spend 1.5 hours on their school work that they brought from home. The other time will be devoted to learning about Nigeria and other people groups. They will even learn about the Fullani children and have a trip to a museum. Lenny and I will be meeting with the SIM staff to work on finances & budgets to GO, security and internet, cultural training and much more. We will have lunch and dinner as a family with SIM and then the evenings we will be on our own. The weekends have some free time but we will have an international night with a Latino church at Good Shepherd.

Next Steps for our family;

1. April: Purchasing 2 year supply of clothing, supplies, food and driving to Fort Lauderdale to ship on  large shipping container to Egbe.

2. May: Packing and moving into parent house.

3. June: Cross cultural training for 1 month in South Carolina at CIT.

4. July: Return to Louisville to finalize everything and say good byes

5. August: Leave for Egbe, Nigeria!

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