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Egbe, Nigeria COVID-19 update from C.A.R.E. Africa

Posted: April 8, 2020 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, People of Egbe

Here is an Egbe, Nigeria COVID-19 update from Emma Salako our CEO;

The news of this virus has really broken a lot of people down with fear, both old and young are so scared. For the past week it has been crazy! Shops were forced to close, banks and hospitals were not allowing people in without washing of hands. Food became like gold to find, prices of everything increased overnight and churches were not allowed to hold worship services. All schools were closed with no alternative way for the children to do school lessons. There was no traveling and markets were not allowed to sell. Anyone who opened their store or anyone walking about was getting caned and or harassed severely. Many people were saying it’s the end times as they sat home starving.

This week things seem to be getting back to normal. People are opening their small shops, banks are working half days, the motorcycle guys are transporting people around town again, gas stations are now open but schools and churches are still locked down.

home The CARE Africa kids, caregivers and staff are all in good health. We are checking on them regularly to encourage them to keep the faith and know that all things will soon be back in place in God’s timing. Today and the rest of this week we are going house to house to share small bags of rice and other provisions to our families to help sustain them the little we can. Please pray for the well being of our children and staff at CARE, pray for Egbe land, pray for Nigeria, pray for the poor, pray for the lost who are thinking that God wanted to punish them with this virus. Pray for all nations to feel the hand of God and see His power at work. Pray for God’s comfort to those who lost their loved ones during this hard time. Pray for the leadership of CARE not to give up or feel discouraged. Pray strongly that more people will draw closer to Jesus during this time and that many will come to accept Jesus.

Thank you all for your love. We just want you guys to know that we are doing fine here on the other side of the world and you are all in our prayers just as we need your prayers.

Voiceless and Exhausted

Posted: March 12, 2020 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Egbe, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, Oke Ere, Orphans, Patrice Miles, People of Egbe, Prayer, SIM, Sponsorship

“We need to take C.A.R.E. Africa outside of Egbe. There are so many voiceless and exhausted children in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole”

For two years this was a recurring statement in our team meetings in Egbe. How could we only help children in Egbe when there were so many children in other towns in need of help. We prayed and just never heard God tell us where, who or when.

Emma has had dreams for years of our expansion into other countries but I have always been the one to put God in a box and keep C.A.R.E. Africa small. About six months ago several of us started having dreams of expansion and felt God clearly directing us to the town of Oke Ere. So we put the word out that a team from C.A.R.E.Africa would be coming to Oke Ere. If God wanted us to open the doors of C.A.R.E. to other towns then He would have to bring the children.

In February a team went to Oke Ere not knowing if the word had gotten out and if anyone would show up. Over 100 mothers, grandmothers and children were there waiting on us! The need was so overwhelming. We were able to interview 12 families and make home visits to about half of them. This town with only three small churches and two schools has poverty unlike anything I have ever witnessed. We had one little boy who hadn’t eaten in days and when given food he ate like a dog. It brought tears to my eyes.

I thanked God for bringing the children. Now I needed Him to bring the sponsors!

Almost all of these kids are extremely behind in their studies. Many cannot read or write. A few don’t speak English. We are in the process of hiring special teachers to work directly with the Oke Ere children. We hope to catch them up so in September when the 2020/2021 school year starts, they will be able to cope in the classroom.

We need your help both prayerfully and financially.

We need to find sponsors for the children of Oke Ere. The need is great!

If you already sponsor a child I ask you to prayerfully consider sponsoring a second child. I also ask that you forward this blog to as many people as God brings to mind. Tell a friend, post on social media and pray for these children and their families. Also pray for the teachers that will work directly with them as it will not be an easy task. This work would not be possible without your faith, prayers and continued support. Thank-you!

Click on any child to learn more about them or visit our giving website at https:/give.icareafrica.org to see all the kids available for sponsorship.

Restored Hope, Mommy Favour

Posted: February 27, 2020 by dbeville in C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, Orphans, People of Egbe, Prayer, Sponsorship

Mommy Favour in a dress she designed and created.

Meet Joy. In Nigerian culture, women are often called by the name of their youngest child, so Joy is better known as “Mommy Favour.”

Mommy Favour grew up in Egbe and completed secondary school (high school). After Favour, her daughter was born, her husband moved to Lagos for work and was never heard from again. Alone and unable to find work, she could not pay school fees for her daughter to attend school. She wanted something better for her and Favour, so she registered with a seamstress in town and trained for 3 years. She completed the program, learning to make high-quality work. However, to follow protocol, a student must pay for their certificate of completion, buy a sewing machine, and pay for a graduation celebration. Together these requirements were going to cost her over 100,000 Naira. This equals around $300 US. She was unable to save enough to pay these high fees. In Nigeria, it is against regulation to sell seamstress work until you are certified, so Mommy Favour was back to where she started – alone, unable to work, and unable to pay school fees for her daughter.

Joy & Mommy Favour and her sewing machine.

Mommy Favour learned of C.A.R.E. Africa through word-of-mouth in Egbe and began to hope when she applied for the program in 2016. At just 3 years old, Favour was bright and beautiful. The following year, when she was old enough to start nursery class, Favour was accepted into C.A.R.E.’s program.

Mommy Favour joined C.A.R.E. Africa’s seamstress program, learning to hand-sew bottle cap trivets. Each handmade trivet takes about 10 hours to complete! She immediately set a goal to make forty trivets so she could buy a sewing machine. She did it! Now she diligently continues to work in the seamstress program making trivets and sewing clothes saving for her certificate and graduation.

All of CARE Africa’s “Joy Trivets” are tagged with her picture.

Please consider sponsoring this beautiful family. They are very grateful for the opportunities they are empowered with through C.A.R.E. Africa. Sponsorship commitment is $35 a month. We are seeking two sponsors so Favour can continue her education and Mommy Favour can continue her seamstress work. Click https://give.icareafrica.org/careafrica/festusfavour. You can also support her through the purchase of her beautiful trivet’s at www.CareAfricaStore.com

Favour modeling the new girls’ dresses that can be purchased at http://www.CareAfricaStore.com

Opportunities to Serve

Posted: February 20, 2020 by Patrice Miles in C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe, Egbe Hosptial, Egbe Nigeria, Medical Missions, Miles In Missions, Mission Trip, Mission Trips, Missionaries, Nigeria, Orphans, Patrice Miles, Prayer, SIM, Volunteers

“There are so many opportunities to serve here in Egbe that would really make a difference and nobody really knows.” This was the topic of conversation when I visited Egbe a few weeks ago. Since I left Egbe, Nigeria in 2017 for Jos, Nigeria, the ministries there have been growing as fast if not faster than C.A.R.E. Africa. It was amazing to see them all a few weeks ago and hear the needs. From teachers, music instructors, medical doctors and nurses, to robotics, auto mechanics and construction the needs are plenty.

As I was putting together the C.A.R.E. Africa flyer for the Mobilizing Medical Missions conference I am attending in Houston this week, I was encouraged to share with you the opportunities to serve in Egbe short term and long term. See the list below and please tell everyone you know that God can use the gifts he has given them to make a difference in this small town of Egbe, Nigeria. Email me for more information at patrice.miles@sim.org.

Pray for our team from C.A.R.E. Africa and also ECWA Hospital Egbe this weekend as we scout out Houston at the M3 Mobilizing Medical Missions Conference for volunteers wanting to answer the call of Matthew 28:19 to go and make a difference.

C.A.R.E. Africa
Nurse Educator
ElementarySchool Teachers & Trainers

ECWA Hospital Egbe
Family Medicine Physician
Ophthalmologist
Dentist
Physical Therapist
Anesthetist & Nurse Anesthetist OBGYN Specialty Surgeons
Physician Assistant
Hospital Administrator
Construction Manager
Maintenance Manager
Electrician
Plumber
Auto Mechanic
Hospitality Manager

Centenary Computer Center & Music Academy
Music Instructors
Art Instructors
Computer Teachers
Hardware Engineering
Robotics Teachers
Stem Advisor.

Fulani Bush Camps
Elementary School Teachers & Trainers

Nigeria February 2020 Trip Photos

Posted: February 12, 2020 by Patrice Miles in African School, AWANA, C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe Hosptial, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Mission Trip, Mission Trips, Missionaries, Nigeria, Orphans, Patrice Miles, People of Egbe, Prayer, SIM, Sports Outreach, Spring Of Life, Uncategorized, Volunteers

Words and pictures cannot describe the fruitfulness of our 1st trip of 2020. God used all of us and the gifts he has given us to encourage all the kids, caregivers and staff at C.A.R.E. Africa and Foundations Academy. Take a peak below and pray about joining us on my next trip in June. Email me at patrice.miles@sim.org for more details.

Books, Books, Books! We will take them!

Posted: January 22, 2020 by Patrice Miles in C.A.R.E. Africa, Miles In Missions, Missionaries, Nigeria, Orphans, Prayer

books donation 2 Starting January 2020, our school started an after school reading program. Many of our children are behind in reading due to lack of an education or the quality of the education they were receiving before they came to us. A few days after starting the reading program we received a call from the hospital that we had boxes to pick up that had come on the last container shipped from the USA. We were so encouraged and surprised to find a large donation of children’s books!

afterschool The next day our staff went through all the books. There were so many that we are having more shelving built for the library. The icing on the cake was that there were multiples of the same books. This may not sound like anything special, but for us it was! Now, at the after school reading program, all the kids can have the same book and read along as others read. This will help speed up their reading and comprehension skills as they are able to follow along and not just have to listen or read on their own.

We are so grateful for this donation and encourage anyone and everyone that has books they would like taken off their hands. We will take them!! Email patrice.miles@sim.org.

Nigeria Trip 2020

Posted: January 9, 2020 by Patrice Miles in C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Mission Trip, Missionaries, Nigeria, Orphans, Patrice Miles, Prayer, SIM, Volunteers

In less than a month, I will be headed back to Nigeria with a team of servants going to help make a difference in the lives of so many kids, teachers and staff. It is always overwhelming to put together the schedules for the team. I wonder how each team members gifts can be best utilized in our ministry. I alway want everyone to have the best experience and to leave Egbe, Nigeria forever changed. I am challenged to not just make it about the experience but to also make sure that my staff on the ground are encouraged and inspired. This isn’t an easy task and only with the Lord’s help can all the pieces fall in place for a team with so many gifts and talents.

Meet the team!

Stephen and Diana Beville from Louisville, Kentucky.

Diana and Stephen visited Egbe, Nigeria in 2014 before C.A.R.E. Africa had started. They helped us put together the new pharmacy at ECWA Hospital Egbe. Stephen is a solution architect with GE and Diana runs our C.A.R.E. Africa markets while also working part time as a career consultant for people with disabilities. Since their last visit they have helped me put together the U.S. C.A.R.E. Africa legal side with accounting, board meetings, taxes and 5013c status. They also started the C.A.R.E Africa markets and our Etsy store. Diana visited us again in Jos, Nigeria in 2018 to run our children’s program at our SIM Spiritual Life Conference. They will be serving in our new seamstress program, documenting our Caregiver cooperative initiative and doing interviews with C.A.R.E. families.

Kathy Matheny from Louisville, Kentucky.

Kathy is the President of Cardinal Planning & Design. Her company did our land surveys years ago when Lenny and I were in construction building homes. They have been supporters of our ministry in Nigeria and now Kathy is excited to see what she has been investing in. This will be her first visit to Egbe, Nigeria. She will help lead worship at AWANA, teach elective classes, serve in the library at the school and assist with interviews.

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Michael Beaumont from Bluffton, South Carolina.

Michael is the lead pastor at Live Oak Christian Church. His last visit to Egbe was in 2014. This will be his fourth trip to Egbe. He is the Pastor at Live Oak Christian Church. He will be leading a one day retreat for the C.A.R.E. Africa staff through a curriculum he created called Leading Healthy. In addition he will help with AWANA, our Sports Outreach and our weekly staff devotional and caregiver meetings. He will assist me with looking at land options for C.A.R.E. Africa’s new center.

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Scott Beebe from Bluffton, South Carolina

Scott is the founder of My Business on Purpose and helped C.A.R.E. Africa create our vision, mission, values and goals. He helped us document our practices and coached us through the stages of his model to get us to where we are today. He will be joining the team to do leadership training, serve at AWANA and Sports Outreach, assist Michael at our one day retreat and visit all his old friends as he is a native of Egbe, Nigeria and has visited too many times to count.

We are so excited to see what God is going to do with and through this team.

We need your help!!

We would love to take any of the following items with us when we go.

New or Used Soccer Balls in good condition.
Used Laptops in good condition.
First Aid Kits
Board Games
Used Playstation.
Overcomer Movie
National Geographic Magazines/Science Magazines.
Bibles.
Cake Pans all sizes.
Muffin Pans regular size.
Clothing and shoes starting at size 5T and up to Men’s and Women’s small sizes.
Monetary donations would also help us purchase needed items and/or cover any baggage fees. Any monetary donations can be given to our general fund atgive.icareafrica.org or checks can be made payable to CARE Africa and mailed. Email me at patrice.miles@sim.org for our mailing address.

You can Email me at patrice.miles@sim.org with any local donations I can pick up or I can give you a shipping address.

Unequipped and Not Good Enough

Posted: December 25, 2019 by Patrice Miles in C.A.R.E. Africa, Miles In Missions, Missionaries, Nigeria, Orphans, Patrice Miles, SIM

Whatever your title -teacher, mom, CEO, wife, business owner, friend, leader, sister, pastor, husband or father…do you ever feel unequipped and think God totally picked the wrong person for the job?

When I first got back to the U.S. in May I knew my role with my ministries was going to look much different. I needed to learn to speak at events and churches, network with people and businesses and create awareness of what God is doing in Egbe, Nigeria. I begged God to help me become that person who can engage a room full of people in easy conversations. I watched Ted talks on public speaking and tried to do what they did but I sucked at it. I would get mad at myself for not being able to be a great advocate for C.A.R.E. Africa and our other ministries. What is wrong with me? Then one day I read a blog about a teenager who didn’t meet the criteria for the job.

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She was Young, Inexperienced, Simple, had no Training, Poor, and a Virgin!

But…… God chose her to be Jesus’ mother. Her willingness was the only qualification she had.. Luke 1:38a, b: “‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’”

Mary had every reason to feel unequipped, yet she was told she was chosen and she only had one question: “‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’” (Luke 1:34, NIV)

The angel Gabriel in Luke 1:35-37 reminds her that what seems impossible to her is absolutely possible with God.

I look around and see amazing nonprofits run at such a professional level. I continue to think they are so much more qualified than I am…. I don’t even have a college degree!

But I am reminded this Christmas season that all God wanted from Mary was her willingness and that is all he wants from me too. He has given me all the gifts necessary to be a great mom, sister, friend, daughter, wife, advocate for my kids, staff and caregivers in Nigeria, marketing manager, child sponsorship manager, missions trip leader, speaker, fundraiser, CEO and whatever other role necessary. I just needed to lift my willingness up to Him and let Him help me be the best version of me.

Are you feeling unequipped for the role you are in? Should God have picked someone else for the job? Well you should know that God loves to show off and take ordinary people and do extraordinary things through them.

God doesn’t want us to perform for him. He simply wants us to say “YES” to Him.

When you see the manger scene this Christmas, look at Mary and be reminded of her “YES”. Lift up your willingness in all areas of your life – at work, in ministry, at home, with family, friends and neighbors. Let’s make our greatest desire in the New Year to be all God has called us to be and nothing more.

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#Giving Tuesday is Today!

Posted: December 3, 2019 by Patrice Miles in #GivingTuesday, C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Fundraising, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, Prayer, SIM

There is Black Friday, Cyber Monday and then #Giving Tuesday! Today is the day to participate in this global event! If you didn’t read our blog last week of how you can help, here it is again!

Two years ago we were struggling with getting our kids to and from the C.A.R.E. Africa center for A.W.A.N.A. and other programs. We started a bus campaign and raised $10,000. It wasn’t enough to get a bus but it did get us a minivan. Our minivan has been a huge asset over the past two years. From bringing teams to and from Egbe from the airport, to transporting the kids all around town, to making needed shopping pickups in Ilorin and taking our secondary school kids to University visits. This vehicle has blessed us abundantly but we have grown.

In the last two years we started a school, Foundations Academy Egbe. With over 70 children in the school, our needs for an actual bus have become more urgent. Currently our driver makes several trips to and from the school everyday to get all the kids home safe. The wear and tear on the vehicle and the amount of kids we have to pack in each trip is getting overwhelming. We need your help!

In one week on December 3rd it is #Giving Tuesday! would you please consider donating any amount toward the purchase of a bus for the school. Help us “make the wheels on the bus go round and round” for the C.A.R.E. Africa kids. Click https://www.donorrise.com/careafrica/bus

Cyber Monday Deals at our Etsy Store!

Posted: December 2, 2019 by Patrice Miles in C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe, Etsy, Miles In Missions

Several of our handmade hand bags are 50% off today only for Cyber Monday!

Do you need a Christmas gift for that special someone? Buy from our Etsy store this Christmas and help empower a Nigerian! Our new beautiful labels attached to every item, will tell that special someone at Christmas how their gift helped C.A.R.E. Africa, Children at Risk Empowered! Visit http://www.CareAfricaStore.com to make a purchase today!