Miles In Missions

The response after our latest blog post was remarkable, and we are exceedingly grateful. To give an update, Tobi’s current hospital bill has been paid. Nonetheless, he is still here and accumulating a bill. Donations can still be made, and art can still be yours! Doctors hope to have him released within 2-3 weeks. We have placed an order for his drawing supplies to come with a volunteer this weekend, and Tobi will begin preparing all his generous donors with his work!

However, the story continues. His “friend”, Folake, has equally matched Tobi’s faithfulness and endurance throughout this time of suffering. Folake has remained by Tobi’s side since January, loyally tending to his every need. All the while, sleeping on a mat beside him every night for the past five months. Caretakers at Egbe Hospital bear the responsibility of providing food and all basic needs for patients. Consequently, making part of Folake’s daily…

Nick and I both have been very blessed with remarkably healthy lives. We have never found ourselves sick or injured for an extended period of time,  never confined to a hospital room or bed ridden.  However, we can imagine it to be a rather unpleasant, miserable, and gloomy experience -even if it is to be in the western world with plush medical amenities!

Meet Tobi Jimoh.  Tobi has been at ECWA Hospital Egbe since January as result of a badly broken leg (femur, fibula, and tibia). Tobi works at a block factory, making cinderblocks.  While using a machine his leg became trapped inside, snapped, and undeniably left mangled.  Upon being rushed to the hospital our medical team was able to treat Tobi’s injury, but without an orthopedic surgeon the only option was to set the bones through the use of traction.  The less than luxurious traction bed became Tobi’s home from January until April as the weight and pulley system slowly worked to…

Yomi working on generators as Jesse watches on.

Just recently we hired a new worker amongst the Egbe Hospital maintenance team named Abayomi a.k.a. “Yomi”. Yomi has family from Egbe, but has been living in Lagos, Nigeria for several years. Lagos is located on the south west coast of Nigeria and actually ranks as the fourth most populated city in the world! Yomi works on big ships coming in and out of the Nigerian ports and specializes in large engine work such as generators. Yomi immediately became a great asset to our team. We ourselves have three large generators running our hospital and housing compound from which we rely on heavily day and night.  His skills are tremendous, his personality a match with the other guys, and he has even been teaching some of the other mechanics in the work shop many things they did not know!  However, when Yomi came to us…

Selah meeting her cousins for the first time.

Tomorrow, my brother-in-law and his family will get on a plane, and fly to Africa. I won’t see them again for three years, except by some emailed photos, or maybe a choppy Skype connection.

I joke that I am going to sabotage their trip to the airport. And part of me really wants to. Because deep down, I really don’t want them to go. I have enjoyed having them and their three sweet girls around the last six months. They were the first to teach her how to have a proper tea party, and make elephant noises, and sing “Let it Go” at the top of their lungs. As they ran barefoot through the grass in the summer, she chased them. As they danced wildly in the living room in the winter, she imitated them. She adores them, as if they were her own…

In the month of February Nigeria will hold its Presidential and National Assembly elections. Looking into the past, such times as these have proven dicey and filled with excessive violence. Nigeria, already in a season filled with relentless cycles of violence and distress this can only add to the mix. As of Monday reports of political disturbances have already begun in Jos, Plateau State and once again news broke of fatal attacks by Boko Harram in Baga, Borno State.

I don’t write out of fear or to trigger alarm directing you back to a previous post entitled Safety In Gods Will. The security felt when writing this blog has not wavered, even as I now write living in country.  The only deviation from now to then is due to these facts: I have recently walked the streets of Jos and been in the market where reminense of bomb explosions can be seen…

Bolu in his school uniform

The past few weeks have had its share of frustrating moments. Poor internet, malaria, and temperatures rising to the 100’s. It is safe to say we are now out of the “honeymoon” phase of mission life and are now experiencing the realness of our new home! However, when times of doubt and frustration hit, God never ceases. He comforts and brings us joy even through less then “happy” circumstances. Our new life may not be as “easy” as the life we once knew, but we can say with ease it is one we LOVE!

Bolu and I during Saturday tutoring.

This simultaneous feeling of disbelief, sadness, and love especially hit last Saturday during a tutoring session with the orphans enrolled in CARE Africa. As we were busy working through advanced math problems, preparing for test in computer science, and checking through homework one of…

1. One-Fifth of Sub-Saharan Africa’s Population Lives There

Of the estimated one billion people that live in sub-Saharan Africa, 168 million of them are in Nigeria. And it’s rapidly growing. By the year 2050, researchers estimate that the population will reach a whopping 440 million. 50% of Nigerians live in cities, most notably greater Lagos, which has between 17 and 20 million residents.

2. It’s Famous for Butterflies

The area around Calabar, one of Nigeria’s regional hubs, contains the world’s largest diversity of butterflies. A good way to see them is to tour Cross River National Park, where over 300…

Now into our fourth week of school we are already having a great time learning and laughing together!  We are LEARNING as we begin establishing a routine and strategy for our days, and discover what does and does not work inside a less than typical classroom setting.  For the kids the books are filled with new subjects to learn, and as for me the subjects may be old, but still ones I must RE-learn.  Predicates, action verbs, spelling list, phonic sounds, word problems and read alouds have come back to haunt me!  All those things I thought I had left far, far behind!!! Through learning we are also LAUGHING!  As I said school in Africa is just a little more quirky and we just have to laugh at our daily struggles and mishaps.  Science experiements have already failed miserably, but we just move on! Unexpected bathroom visits are a commonality…