amy0b87982ac418
bluewatergigi
dbeville
Patrice Miles
Lenny
Recently in one of our managers meetings, we were discussing how the transfer of leadership would happen over the next few months for the Revitalization project. Someone mentioned, “We need to pass the mantle”.
My first thought went to a house with a nice comfortable fireplace that had a huge wooden mantel above it. I thought, “how am I going to pass something that big and heavy, easily to the next leader of the project?” I imagined us struggling with the huge decorated piece of wood on a forklift and then moving it from one office desk to the other. Then I realized my thoughts of a mantel were inaccurate. The word “mantle” (spelled differently) had to have another meaning than that of a fireplace decoration.
The “passing the mantle of leadership”, first comes to us in Old Testament book of 2 Kings chapter 2. A mantle is a coat of sorts that looks like a cape and it was used to ward off the cold. When Elijah went up in a whirlwind into heaven, his mantle was left behind. Elisha then picked it up and put it on. It was a symbolism that he was “taking up the mantle of prophetic authority”.
As our family prepares to change roles and location within Nigeria, we’ve decided the timing couldn’t be better than now to transfer the “mantle of leadership” of the Revitalization construction project to a fellow missionary, Pete Penno. Pete is a Godly man and is truly over qualified for the job. He has more experience in construction than myself and has served as a missionary in other parts of Africa before. I can say without a doubt that the construction project will be left in better hands. I think many of you would agree that not too many times in our lives could we confidently say that things will possibly be better without us. This is one of those times.
I will still be heavily involved in the aspect of construction within the hospital up until our departure. Pete, having been in Egbe since July, will need my experiences over the past three and a half years to get a great “base” of knowledge to proceed in his tenure. I plan to be involved in planning, drawing, estimating, accounting, and management alongside of Pete.
This past Ch
ristmas, we were able to throw a Christmas party for all of the staff and employees of the Revitalization project. It was a great time as we reflected on what had been accomplished in 2016 and what is in store for 2017. During that time, I passed on the “mantle of leadership” to Pete. I didn’t think it was wise to pass on a coat or cape for Pete to wear around because it is usually hot in Egbe. So, I took my first thought of a mantel and made a miniature version out of scrap wood. This one is small enough to handle.
Here is to Pete Penno and his leadership of The Egbe Hospital Revitalization Project!
This brings up another area that Patrice and I are very thankful. We are thankful to all of you who have supported us in so many ways over the last three plus years! You have supported us by prayer, by financial support, by sending us much needed items (excluding all the candy and pop tarts!), while others have helped heavily with C.A.R.E. Africa in sponsorship.
Additional furniture for dining room, family room and office – $2,000
About four months ago we were posed with the question, “What do you think Cason should do for high school?”
Since then, we have been in prayer and seeking guidance through SIM leadership for what should our next steps look like to accommodate a high schooler. We visited Jos, Nigeria recently and went to look at Hillcrest School. The school has a deep history for many missionaries in this region that we have grown to call family. We are glad to announce that our children will be attending school there starting August of 2017. Cason will enter as freshman for 9th grade and Jolie will enter middle school as a 6th grader. They are both very excited about this, but are of course sad about saying goodbye to their Egbe friends.
So what does this mean for the whole family? It means that we have a large transition ahead of us. We will be moving from Egbe to Jos where we will resettle at another SIM station. SIM Nigeria has recently appointed a new director and with him comes a grander vision to reach 75+ million least reached people in northern Nigeria. Our family feels God is calling us to move closer to the north and live in Jos to assist with this new vision.
Patrice will continue to manage the C.A.R.E. Africa and Spring of Life HIV/AIDS Project in Egbe. She will travel back and forth between Egbe and Jos many times a years utilizing the resources of a number of other ministries in Jos to grow these two ministries in Egbe. She is very excited to now be able to dedicate her full time to these two ministries, helping to grow them and make them more sustainable in the future.
This move will be costly, but we trust God will provide for all our needs. We were blessed to be able to borrow furniture, cars, generators and appliances loaned to us in Egbe from the hospital project itself. However, in Jos we will be required to buy all of these items. Plus we will now be responsible for full school tuitions for Cason and Jolie.
Might sound like a great book idea, huh? However, there really is no book that can entirely prepare you for missions… However, you can do missions if you are a dummy!
The wife, a great nurse in real life, knew from conversations with the medical team on the ground that she would be a great fit to teach the nursing staff on many subjects. She thought, “What if I could teach CPR? Do you have any training dummies?” We told her no and she went on a “mission” to find dummies all on her own. On the surface finding dummies around you might seem like an easy task, but for her dummies were suddenly in short supply. Asking and searching for months, she had no luck. Finally, the miracle dummies appeared. Just a few days before her trip to Egbe, the Louisville Fire Department called her and said, “Come and pick up these 24 dummies. Our training people just brought us 24 brand new ones and we have to get rid of the old ones.” 
The husband and wife couldn’t believe their ears. They felt like shouting in celebration and grabbing the woman to hug her! But they thought it might cause a huge scene in the airport. 
The wife has completed CPR training with many of the nurses in the hospital and the trainees have gotten certificates proving their education. She even had time to train a few nurses to be trainers themselves. Leaving the dummies, literature, and dvd programming for them to use in the future. The hospital will now always have dummies around. How wonderful!
Miles In Missions 