amy0b87982ac418
bluewatergigi
dbeville
Patrice Miles
LennyIt’s home assignment time again so we are coming home! Well, is it really home anymore? After more than 3 ½ years in Nigeria home has truly become Lenny, Patrice, Cason and Jolie. We are so excited to get to come back and see family, friends and supporters. It has been 1 ½ years since we have touched U.S. soil, unless you count the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria. Cason is at least a foot taller and Jolie is not a little girl anymore.
Our time in the U.S. for home assignment will be just like last time. A lot of traveling, doctor’s appointments, dentist appointment, dinners, events, and trying to catch up with everyone we love. We always want to see everyone but seem to not be able to do it all. We will arrive May 1st and plan to return back to Nigeria on July 24th for the kids to start their new school at Hillcrest on August 9th.
I am excited to get to attend CAFO, Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit in Nashville on May 3 & 4th. After that we will stay in Louisville for the month of May before heading to Bluffton SC to meet with some of our supporters. After Bluffton we head to Charlotte for SIM debriefing and then off to Porter Ranch, CA. In Porter Ranch, we have been asked to help as camp counselors for a high school camp that my brother leads. Then we are back to Louisville for only a few weeks in July and then back to Nigeria.
Mark you calendars for a few events so we can see you and share some amazing videos Lenny has put together from our time in Nigeria.
The Flea off Market Friday May 12th, 13th and 14th at 1007 E Jefferson St, Louisville, KY 40206. Click http://bit.ly/fleaoffmarket to learn more about the market. Come and see us at the C.A.R.E. Africa booth. We can always use more hands and feet too! Email Diana Beville at dianabeville@gmail.com if you would like to work the booth with us.
Tuesday May 16th, 6-8pm at Pinot’s Palette on 91 N Hubbards Ln in the Kroger Shopping Center. Come and paint with us! For $35 you can paint, mingle, and learn a little bit more about our time in Nigeria. A portion of the sitting fee is donated to Miles In Mission. We can host 48 people so please click the link below and sign up to reserve your spot. http://bit.ly/pinotspalette We would love to fill the studio so please sign up now!!
Sunday May 21st, 5-7pm at the Civic Center Kaden Towers at 6100 Dutchmans Ln, Louisville, KY 40205. Spaghetti Dinner, Jolie’s Cupcake Make Table, C.A.R.E. Africa Products and more. Join us to see some amazing video’s Lenny has created from our time in Nigeria and to learn more about our next term. Click the following link to RSVP so we know how many spaghetti dinners and cupcakes to bake. http://bit.ly/milesspaghetti
In 2013 our family asked for prayer partners to pray for our transition to Nigeria. We had 333 people ask to be on this list. Over the past 3.5 years I have used this email list only once.
This time of waiting really opened my eye to how blessed I am to have such a support group of people from all different walks of life. It also opened my eyes to how little I request prayer from my prayer partners. I could write a book bigger than the encyclopedia on the challenges and blessings my family has faced over the past 3.5 years in Nigeria. Why haven’t I reached out to all of you more? Pride? Wanting to do it myself? Scared people will know how weak I really am and how much I lack at this whole missionary thing? I don’t know….
What I do know is that my recent request for prayer was such an encouraging day, even though God did not answer my prayer the way I wanted. I felt supported, lifted up and encouraged by so many. I want to do better at involving you in my challenges, obstacles, battles, praises and more. I am starting a private mailchimp PRAYER WARRIOR email list. I plan to send out a quick email regularly to just ask for prayer and/or praises. If you would love to pray I would love to share.
Comfort, what is that? The dictionary says, “a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint”. I think comfort is different for every person. For some it might be a comfortable bed at night, for others it might be a favorite food or maybe a pair of comfy house shoes on a cold morning. It is so easy to find comfort in things. But what happens when they are taken away or you loose them? I crave them! I wish I had never had a Temperpedic bed. I wish I had never tasted hot Krispie Kreme doughnuts. I wish I had never owned a pair of plush soft house shoes. If I had never experienced these things then I would never have known the comfort they brought me and then I wouldn’t crave them.
Temporarily we are satisfied but eventually the Temperpedic bed isn’t good enough and I need the latest version. The Krispie Kreme doughnuts are getting smaller and they weren’t hot last time. Oh and those plush house shoes are so worn out now and I can’t seem to find a pair like them again. So have you come to the realization that you are never going to be satisfied with any worldly thing? If so, how has this affected your life? What are you doing to find satisfaction in this temporary home called Earth? I would love to hear from you!
The Tiv people are the 4th largest ethnic group in Nigeria. We have a small Tiv camp about one hour away from Egbe that suffers from severe poverty. Their camp is across from a stream that can only be crossed during dry season. Otherwise you have to use a small rope bridge. The small stream is their only source of water and most live in huts. They have a four room elementary school and they have hired four teachers to teach 150 children.
We recently did a HIV/AIDS outreach with Pastor Alabi at Spring of Life. We were able to screen over 120 people and only two were positive. We also de-wormed 150 children while giving them each an exercise book and pencil. Nurses that were visiting from the U.S. were able to take B.P. and other vitals of 45 people while our pastors counseled each person. We saw about five with very high blood pressure, one pregnant women who hadn’t felt her baby move in many days, a women with severe burns, and an older women who seemed to have severe heart problems. All were referred to the hospital for further diagnoses.
Recently an 8 year old boy name Damilola came with his mother for an interview. His mother looked tired and exhausted as well as very thin. Damilola was dirty and his clothes were torn and ragged. She was annoyed with our questions but more out of exhaustion then frustration. Damilola couldn’t understand my English or any of our staff’s English. He couldn’t read or write. When we visited the house, the structure looked like it was days away from caving in. A few old doorframes were literally holding the roof in place. They truly were voiceless and exhausted.
Our staff were so excited, but knew that Damilola would not be able to cope in school yet. We started looking for a teacher that would have the patience to work with him one on one so he could eventually go to school. God sent us an angel who is the daughter of one of our housing compound workers, Oyibosay. She had taught primary school for many years and had recently lost the job. She is a miracle story herself as she was recently heading to heaven with congenital arrhythmia of the heart. Through donations toward a pacemaker she was given a second chance at life. Now she is helping a little boy who is also being given a second chance.
To many times I have taken two steps forward and then looked back and thought “What if everything fails? Did I hear you correctly God? Is this your will or mine?” My life continues to be a life of stepping out in the dark in faith not knowing where the next step is, how high it might be or if it even exists. It is so out of my character to step blindly trusting what God says in Jeremiah 29:11. I like to plan everything and have control. It stresses me out to rely or trust on anyone but myself because people let me down everyday.
I have recognized this about myself and release the steering wheel of life back to God much quicker now a days. I then get mad at my self and ask “Why did I even try and touch the steering wheel? ” Paul says it great in Romans 7:15, that he continues to do what he doesn’t want to do b/c of his flesh.
“Ahhhhh….. Their you are! Sorry, I was so focused on my plan and trying to control everything again and I didn’t see you there. I forget that you promised in Deuteronomy 31:6 that I will never be alone.” I unlock the door, scoot over and my heavenly, beautiful, graceful, merciful, forgiving, smiling Father sits down and puts both hands on the steering wheel and starts to drive.
Miles In Missions 