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bluewatergigi
dbeville
Patrice Miles
LennyBabylon “…your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say ‘I am and there is none besides me’…”. Isaiah 47:10
Babylon represents a cultural mentality of self-absorption and over indulgence where image and materialism are gods.
I truly believe the expectations placed upon you living in America (Babylon) are so much harder than my struggles living in Nigeria (even now with all the violence and rioting). I put you up on a pedestal and clap for you because you fight every day to put God first when everything around you says to put “YOU” first. You wake up each morning inundated with every “god” you could possibly want – Clothes, Cars, Houses, Jewelry, Toys, Exercise, Food and so much more. From billboards as you drive to commercials while you watch your favorite show, you are tempted every day to put other gods before the one true God.
People are actually employed at marketing firms with the single purpose of figuring out what can induce you to want -no need – to buy their product. In addition, culture dictates you must attend all social events, your child must play every sport, you must exercise to be thin, pay high prices for “healthy” food and everyone you know must get a gift at Christmas. You are constantly barraged with what will give your life meaning and make you happy.
As a Christian we know social events, sports, exercise and gift giving are not bad. When they become a god in our life and our identity becomes wrapped up in what we have, what we do and what we look like then we are in trouble.
I am in awe of you for your ability to live in a modern day Babylon (America)- “gate of the gods”.
Thank you for sacrificing your time to pray for us or send an email that encourages us when everything around you says, “You don’t have time.”
Thank you for sacrificing your funds when everything around you says “Keep that money and spend it on yourself because you need this or that.”
Thank you for sacrificing your vacation to come serve with us in Nigeria when everything around you says “Take that vacation time for yourself.”
Thank you for putting together a care package for my family when everything around you says; “You are too busy for that or you don’t have the money for that”.
When I think of your daily battles I am humbled.
I don’t have radio, billboards or television commercials telling me of what I must have or what I must do to be fulfilled.
I don’t have the “Joneses” to keep up with.
Your battle against the Babylonian culture is one fight my family and I don’t face here in Nigeria. I wanted you to know that I am thankful for those of you who put on your battle gear every day to fight the good fight.
Thank you for living in Babylon with the constant struggle of not falling prey to the “ME” culture and for choosing to make time to pray for and financially support us and our ministries.
Many of you know our Nigerian daughter, Titi. For those of you who have no idea who she is – I invite you to click on the following link to read Titi’s amazing testimony. 
Finally one day we got an acceptance letter from Webster University, a U.S. University located in Ghana. They offered her a 25% scholarship. We were excited as she would be close enough to travel home for visits plus the food wouldn’t be so different and there would be a large African population for her to make friends. The icing on the cake was a U.S. college education. It sounded perfect! Then one day I was telling a fellow missionary about our many challenges with college applications and she asked if we had ever tried Lancaster Bible College. I said 
Ok God, you have provided the school, the scholarship and the housing now we need a Visa. Our experience with a Nigerian being granted a Visa has not been a good one. On top of everything there was the pressure of forfeiting the Webster University scholarship if we did not respond back within a few days. We moved forward with Lancaster Bible College believing that God hadn’t opened all these doors only to have her Visa application denied. On July 16th, Titi’s 20th birthday, she was granted a U.S. Visa. But we barely had time to celebrate as we now faced the $15,000 hurdle…her tuition, airfare, monthly meals and supplies. Lord we need a miracle!
Titi is in the states now at Lancaster Bible College studying social work. She has a blog you can follow called 
How it all began….
I immediately reached out to my Business Coach, Scott Beebe with Business on Purpose 
Since then it has definitely been a learning process. Marybeth and I continue to trust the people God is putting in front of us to catapult this school to its opening Sept 10, 2018. I could write an entire story about all the miracles that have occurred along the way but I will just share a few. With Marybeth’s blessing, one of her staff members has volunteered to leave the comfort of Jos and move to Egbe for a year to provide consultation and mentorship to our new C.A.R.E. Africa school staff. Other miracles include the qualified teachers God has provided that are full of joy; the U.S. mission team who just happened to be teachers and knew exactly how to decorate classrooms; curriculum getting delivered just in the nick of time AND some unexpected donations that allowed us to buy a few more needed supplies.
This is a great prayer letter that Carmen Marflak sent out. She is currently serving at Egbe Hospital for one month. This is her 5th time to Egbe Hospital. She makes a great observation that there is so many opportunities to serve in Egbe. Medical being the biggest need but anyone can come on a mission trip or serve short or long term and find a place to be God’s hands and feet because there is ministry going on all over the Egbe community. For more information about all the opportunities to serve email 
We had a great time at AWANA’s. There were not the 190+ kids there; there was only about 170 because it was raining and the roads and walking paths were very slick and muddy. The silence in the room was also a miracle. I walked in with the children laughing and talking, noisy!!!!!. 
These last 2 weeks in the OR have almost been overwhelming. My first day in the OR was the 11th and I have actually had 1 day off (Sunday, the 22). Tuesdays and Thursdays are supposed to be clinic/office day for Dr Fabruce, with no surgery scheduled on those days. So I am scheduled for lectures for the family practice residents, the Anesthesia trainees, and for the nursing students. But, even on those days, there have been so many emergent patients come through ER, that we have been working late into the evenings. Between all the trauma patients (motor bike accidents, walls collapsing on families, machete fights), the C/Sections, the appendectomies, perforated bowels and the snake bites, we have done very few elective/ scheduled procedures. On Monday, Wed, Friday, we normally start out with 3-4 scheduled procedures, but by the end of the day we have done between 5-7. All last week and this week, the only anesthesia providers have been Jummy and me. Evelyn is on maternity leave, Rebecca and Adeola are both on vacation. We have been getting a little weary by the time we finish the day. But God is good and gives us both a restful sleep at night. I am reminded of
Last Wednesday, a team of mothers and their teen children (10 altogether) came from my home church (Live Oak Christian Church) in Bluffton, SC. They experienced a lot of flight cancellations, and lost luggage (the last of their luggage arrived last evening), but they have been serving over at C.A.R.E. Africa all week; painting the school, doing VBS, making home visits to the sponsored children, visiting the HIV clinic. It has been a joy to have company!!! I am usually alone in the guest house. I don’t get to see them much, because I am finished with breakfast and in the hospital before they get to the dining room. Many evenings, I have missed dinner because of late cases, but the times that we have shared together have been good; hearing what they have done, and the stories of the C.A.R.E. Africa children, helps me to realize that there is another world out there in Egbe, that I rarely get to see. 
I recently read a book called God’s Smuggler. It is a true story of how a young, Dutchman by the name of Brother Andrew risked his life to bring faith and hope to believers behind the Iron Curtain. While reading the book I was continuously jealous of all the miracles Brother Andrew experienced. Some were as simple as a cake being provided for a meeting where he had no money to buy one. Others were big miracles like not getting checked at checkpoints where he had over 100 Bibles hidden in his car. I was so jealous and I felt if he experienced miracles in the 1930’s why can’t I experience God’s miracles in the 2018’s. I got on my knees and begged to see, hear, and experience God like Brother Andrew did. I begged God to “show up and show off” as I like to say.
Pray for me, for my family, for my husband’s media ministry, for my CARE Africa staff and for our school that we are starting in Egbe. My family and CARE Africa staff have experienced some serious spiritual attacks such as health problems, computers crashing, uncontrollable emotions/ thoughts, missionaries leaving, different cultural problems and even serious and brutal killings only miles from our home. There is sin in this world and when God is visibly doing big works in your life – evil is going to want to try and conquer it. There is a battle going on that our small, small minds cannot even grasp. It is a battle for our minds and souls and we know we are the winner, but there is nothing that says we will not experience suffering.
Family Based Care is all the rave at any adoption/orphan conference and in any article, blog or discussion regarding orphans and adoption. There are hundreds of studies that show most children in orphanages are there because of poverty, not orphanhood. Many children we call “orphans” have some form of family that would care for them if they had the means. Strengthening families is the best way to meet the needs of orphans and other vulnerable children.
They go to school for 8 hours a day in a Nigerian school system where cheating is overlooked and teachers send them on personal errands during school lessons.
Pray for the five teachers that we have hired for our school. They will come to our city, Jos, for three weeks in August for training. Their eyes will be opened to a different way of teaching and how they can truly make a difference in each child’s life at our school. 
I once heard a comedian say, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Well I can certainly relate to that sentiment. Many of you know that I’ve had numerous bouts with malaria since moving to Nigeria, but you may not be aware of just how many times I have been sick with it. From my count, I’ve had it eighteen times. My malaria is now a legal adult at eighteen. It can join the army. It has the right to vote. It can even buy a pack of cigarettes if it wants to.
Added into the mix were bouts with intestinal worms, E. Coli, Salmonella, and a newly diagnosed ulcer. I can truly say “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
So many questions, but there are no true answers to be found here on Jos. So, what can be done? Well, together with SIM, we have decided that I need to seek a specialist in Tropical Medicine and infectious diseases to get some real answers. After emailing at least sixty doctors throughout Europe and South Africa, I’ve found a doctor in South Africa that is willing to see me. I’ve made an appointment for July 5th to meet with him and he is ready to run a battery of tests to see what is going on. Please pray for this time. I will go alone and leave my family behind. I am not sure of the length of stay in South Africa, but I am expecting up to one month to allow for diagnostic testing and potential treatment. 
Miles In Missions 