Posts Tagged ‘Miles In Missions’

Free image“Come on kids, its time to go visit the M@sque.” I yelled. “Mommy, tell me again why I can’t tell them about Jesus when we visit?” Cason asked. I never thought I would be explaining to my 10 year old son why you cannot walk into a M@sque and start telling everyone about Jesus. It was precious conversation that I will never forget and a huge educational opportunity.

We have finished 2 weeks of our cross cultural training at CIT (Center for Intercultural Training) in Union Mills, North Carolina. We have two more weeks to go and it has been an eye opening experience already. They have helped us identify cultural, spiritual, and emotional issues that might arise while in the field. They are also giving us the tools to equip us once we encounter these hard issues. They want us to get uncomfortable in our American ways so we can truly understand how hard it is going to be in Africa. One of the uncomfortable assignments was to visit the primary Religious worship service for our country we are heading to. According to a 2011 report, about 50.8% of Nigeria’s population are Christians, 47.8% are M*slims and 1.4% adhere to other religions. So we decided to head to a M@sque along with 4 other families.

Nigeria Muslim Women

Nigerian M*slim Women

Upon arriving at the M@sque we were greeted by the parking director. “What are you doing here?” he asked. Telling him we just wanted to visit, he sent us in to find a congregation of men standing at the entrance. To say we were the center of attention would be an understatement. The looks and stares we received were just a little uncomfortable. Upon realizing there was a separate entrance for women, our group separated. We found the women’s entrance and immediately realized that our long skirts and long sleeve shirts were not the only requirements. Every women had on a head covering. The stares again were overwhelming and I was very uncomfortable. One of the missionaries I was with made her way to a table were one women was sitting and sat down. I followed her and we began to strike up a conversation with the Mu$lim women. She was from Nigeria….too funny!

I am excited about what God has in store for us in Egbe Nigeria and we would love for you to partner with us. We still need financial partners, 3/$100 partners, 7/$50 partners 9/$25 partners and 3/$10 partners. We also have 189 prayer partners and are wanting 400 prior to departure August 15th. To sign up to be a monthly financial partner click here. To become one of our prayer partners click here.

RXYes this was the question I received when talking to the physician assistant at my allergists office. I really didn’t know what to say except….”Are you joking?” I had called to request them to change Cason’s prescription for his inhalers. We needed to stock up on them as they do not sell inhalers in Nigeria. She wasn’t very helpful or understanding of our upcoming trip and ended our conversation with “They don’t have a Walgreens in Africa?”

I had never really thought about all the things we relied on until I had to pack it all up and move it across the globe. Medications are the hardest thing to come by in Africa. We will be taking a two year supply of all meds and 2 nebulizer machines just in case one bites the dust.

Once we started talking to friends on the field we found out a few of our favorite foods Marketdidn’t exist in Egbe either. Peanut butter, coffee and chocolate……oh no! There is a grocery store, but as you can see it is very limited. We were told we can order American food items from the lady that owns the grocery store. They take a few weeks to get to her and it is very limited. They mentioned Pringles being a commodity. There is no rhyme or reason to what flavor you get, but they can be ordered.

I know once we arrive and are immersed in the community helping the locals, orphans and SP workers, these things will not hold the same value to us. However, now standing on the other side of the globe and having taken for granted all of these wonderful things….I am in preparation mode.

We shipped over 30 lbs of coffee beans, 20 jars of peanut butter and 12 packages of chocolate chips among other things. The chocolate chips will be melted but we have been told to throw them in the freezer, then just chunk off with a knife what you need. HAHA, never thought I would be saying that. So, when you drink your coffee in the morning, make a PB&J sandwich or eat some chocolate….enjoy it and realize that you are very blessed to even have the opportunity to consume those items.

Thanks to our current 39 financial partners, visas and plane tickets for August 15th are in the works. We still need a few more people to partner with our ministry in order to be 100% funded. We are currently in need of 4/$100 partners, 9/$50 partners 9/$25 partners and 4/$10 partners.

We are excited that we now have 180 prayer partners! We still need more people to partner with us in this area too. We are wanting 400 prayer partners before we leave in August.

Do not let this blog leave the impression we are not ecstatic about this journey God is taking us on. We are so excited words cannot even begin to express it. I just felt that if the PA didn’t know there wasn’t a Walgreens in Africa…maybe you didn’t either.

Here are a few ways you can join this ministry. Click one option below:
1. Support this ministry monthly
2. Pray for the ministry
Still have questions about becoming a partner. Click here Miles In Missions

We need some prayer this week from all our friends, family members and partners!! A lot of events going on with Miles In Missions that God can really show off in and we are praying he does!

pinot's paletteWednesday the 17th is our first fundraiser event. Pray that we fill the place with 60 artists! Click the link to register Pinot’s Palette

daniel-study-picThursday the 18th we start our first Bible study with our friends from the Congo. We have been sharing meals with them and having fun for four months now. We are excited to deepen our relationship with them through the Bible. We asked them which book of the Bible they wanted to study and they wanted to study Daniel. Pray for us to overcome communication barriers and for God to show up and teach all of us more about him. Pray for Bible donations so everyone in the family can have their own Bible.

southeast christian church

Thursday the 18th are our interviews with Southeast Christian Missions Board. Please pray they hear our hearts and want to help us and the people of Egbe with the maximum support from the church possible. Pray for Lenny and I to experience a peace and calm through the interviews. Southeast Christians International Missions. Saturday the 20th Lenny is on a panel with 2 other missionaries at the Saturday morning Southeast Christians Men’s Bible Study. Over 500 men of God show up every Saturday 7-8am to study God’s word. Pray that God will speak to some of the men to become partners with us either financially or prayerfully.  Southeast Christians Men’s Saturday Morning Bible Study.

Thunder Over LouisvilleSaturday the 20th we are taking our friends from the Congo to their first Thunder Over Louisville and possibly our last. We are very excited to get to spend the day with them and watch them take it all in. Please pray for warm weather, a great spot to relax and watch the show and that no one gets lost. Thunder over Louisville.

Sunset Safari

Sunset Safari

We are so excited that Mollie Younger, owner of Pinot’s Palette has blessed us with our first fundraiser event. Wednesday April 17th at 6pm supporters will be instructed for 2 hours. Each person will receive a canvas, paint and brushes. At the end of the evening they will leave with a masterpiece, Safari Sunset. While painting our family will get to mingle and and pass out snacks. This should be a fun event and our family cannot wait to get to see everyone. Click on the following link to RSVP as we only have 60 spots. Pinot’s Pallete St Mathews. pinot's palette

Our departure date is less than 4 months away! Our home is SOLD and we move April 28th. In May we will be taking items down to our container in Ft Lauderdale that will ship to Nigeria. We will be shipping foods we cannot live without (coffee, peanut butter), household items, clothes, furniture and more. It will take almost 3 months for the container to reach Egbe. June we will spend the entire month in the hills of North Carolina for cross cultural training. In July we will be back in Louisville finalizing packing and saying good bye. August we are off and will not step fool on American soil for 21 months.

We are currently 40% funded and will not be able to leave in August unless we are 85% funded by the first of June. This event and many others will help us reach our goal. We cannot wait to get to Egbe to help the Nigerian people and the Egbe Hospital. There are so many ways you can support us and help the people of Egbe;

  1. Attending the Pinot’s Palette event
  2. Volunteer to make snacks for the Pinot’s Palette event
  3. Allow us to come and share our journey with your Bible Study group or office.
  4. Become a financial partner with us. DONATE HERE
  5. Become one of our 400 prayer partners. Email me to be added to our prayer partner list at Patrice@MilesInMissions.com

Egbe Nigerian HomeWell its not official so we are trying not to get too excited but….Check Out Our New Home!! It is so nice to have a vision of where my children will sleep, our family will enjoy a meal with new friends and where we will sit and study God’s word with others. Our family has experienced an emotional roller coaster the past two weeks, so this news from the field was so exciting. We are driving back from Charlotte where the entire family was in missionary training. While there my Father was admitted to the hospital for aggressive chemo therapy for a rare lymphoma cancer and brain tumor. Lenny received a phone call that his grandfather was given a week to live.  Our Louisville home received a full price contract. Yes, all of this in 2 weeks. Needless to say when Abby Anderson, who is on site at Egbe sent me the email saying that House #10, the Pharmacy house, could be our next home….we were revived and excited. God seems to give us just enough light everyday to take the next step in this faith walk. Even though it isn’t guaranteed to be our new residence, I am already placing my furniture and dreaming of visitors knocking at the door.ourhousefron2

Please continue to pray for our family as the countdown is starting. There is still so much to do and support to raise.  In the month of April we will be packing up the house and moving in with parents, making final transitions out of jobs and  presenting to multiple Bible study groups asking for support. If you have a Bible study group or work group that we could come and spend 15 minutes with showing a quick video about the project, we would be so honored to have that opportunity.

Egbe Living RoomlivingroomEgbe Nigerian kitchen Egbe Nigeria Master BedroomBedroom 2 in Egbe NigeriaEgbe BathroomEgbe Nigeria ShowerEgbe Nigeria Toilet

SIMGO 2013

SIMGo Spring 2013 team heading to different locations all over the world!

When you think of missionaries, what is the first thing you think of? I used to always think, “Someone who needs money.” Yes this is true as we cannot help people without the support of our financial partners, but this isn’t God’s sole purpose for this calling. He doesn’t just want physical needs met. He wants our spiritual needs met as well. So many wonderful people I come across say they are so sorry they cannot support us right now because of their financial situation. My response is always the same. “You can support us through prayer!” “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” Luke 10:2.

As you can see in the picture above a few peoples faces are whited out. This is for their protections as they are heading to countries were they could face persecution or even death because of their faith. As we head to Nigeria in August we are heading into enemy territory. Satan does not want us there. We will need prayer for our marriage, our children, our health, days of travel to get to the site and our sanity. Once there we will need continued prayer for our ministry to the Nigerians, re-building of the hospital our family transitioning into home schooling and God’s leading with our involvement with the local HELP orphanage. Will you pray for us? We need 400 prayer partners that will receive a weekly email from us with prayer requests. Will you please consider being one of our prayer partners now and for the next 2 years. Please email me Patrice@MilesInMissions.com if you would like to become a prayer partner for our family.

Africa ShotsYellow Fever, Typhoid, Rabies, Polio, Meningitis, Hep A & B, Tetanus are words I never thought I would hear myself saying 9 months ago. If you had asked me in June of just last year if I would be watching my children get vaccinated for things I never even knew existed….I would have told you that you were crazy! That is how God works….when you let him. Day 4 of SIMGo and we are surrounded with like-minded people all heading out to different places all over the world to work for God’s glory and not theirs. I am so honored to hear their stories. From saving children’s lives, to God showing up with resources when they thought all was hopeless to standing on a hill watching the radiation cloud in the distance in Japan at the wake of the tsunami. WOW is all I can say as I stand in amazement of the purpose driven life these people lead daily. I am so excited and spurred on to live a life full of meaning and purpose where at the end of the day I may still be exhausted, but for such a fulfilling reason. Helping people learn about the fire inside of us and the promise of eternity through the Egbe Hospital Revitalization Project.

Our departure date of August is growing closer and SIM will not allow us to order VISAs or plane tickets until we are 85% funded. Please prayerfully consider being one of out $25, $50 or $100 monthly senders. God calls us all to missions….some he calls to GO, some he calls to SEND and some he calls to PRAY. Please let us know which one he is calling you to by emailing me at Patrice@MilesInMissions.com or visiting our website at www.MilesInMissions.com and clicking on the GIVE button.

SIMGo

Posted: March 9, 2013 by Patrice Miles in SIM
Tags: , , , , , ,

SIM LogoWe are excited to have arrived safely by car to Charlotte NC for SIMGo. Our family will spend the next two weeks digging into policies, procedures, finances, cultural training, internet, security and much more. We start off together every morning with the SIM family in prayer for missionaries in the field. Lenny and I then take the kids to MK (missionary kids) school. The kids will have everyday filled with world view education. They will only spend 1.5 hours on their school work that they brought from home. The other time will be devoted to learning about Nigeria and other people groups. They will even learn about the Fullani children and have a trip to a museum. Lenny and I will be meeting with the SIM staff to work on finances & budgets to GO, security and internet, cultural training and much more. We will have lunch and dinner as a family with SIM and then the evenings we will be on our own. The weekends have some free time but we will have an international night with a Latino church at Good Shepherd.

Next Steps for our family;

1. April: Purchasing 2 year supply of clothing, supplies, food and driving to Fort Lauderdale to ship on  large shipping container to Egbe.

2. May: Packing and moving into parent house.

3. June: Cross cultural training for 1 month in South Carolina at CIT.

4. July: Return to Louisville to finalize everything and say good byes

5. August: Leave for Egbe, Nigeria!

Meet Joseph & Grace from Eruku, Nigeria. Eruku is on 9 km from Egbe hospital. Lenny received a phone call from Joseph about a month ago after our article in the Southeast Outlook went live. Joseph immediately told Lenny that Egbe hospital saved his life and he wanted to meet us. We met at Starbucks for almost 2hrs listening to their story and sharing ours. Joseph was a very sick child and practically lived at Egbe. His parents would ride him on a bicycle to the hospital and he says he would not be here today if God hadn’t used Egbe hospital.

Grace won the VISA lottery and was selected to come to Louisville almost 20 years ago. They moved and have raised their children here and visit their family back in Eruku as much as possible. They plan to come home to Eruku in  Decemeber and have invited us to their families home for all the holiday festivities. Grace says we have never seen Christmas celebrations until we have come to Africa.

This testimony encourages Lenny and I in our mission to help the Egbe people. Lenny will be working alongside the Egbe men to disciple them but also to show them how to keep the hospital running so people like Joseph can continue to be helped. Grace’s mother who is 83 years old still comes monthly to Egbe to get her regular check ups. The kids and I look forward to meeting her and many other hospital patients. We plan to visit with them regularly evangelizing, encouraging and helping anyway we can. We are so excited about fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives in Egbe and pray you will consider partnering with us on a monthly basis in this amazing mission! Click the Give button above to partner with us.

Appeal Letter Mailed

Appeal Letter Mailed

We are so excited to have started the process of fundraising. Over 500 letters went out over the past 30 days and we have already seen God bless our ministry through this. We received our budget from Egbe and we were a little shocked at the amount. We will need $6,500 a month in support for the next two years. In addition we will need $25,000 in one time set up costs. We were amazed to find out the Egbe team has committed $1,000 a month to our budget. In addition we have filed our application with Southeast Christian Church. They will give up to $2,000 a month towards our budget once approved. We won’t know until May if we are their 62nd approved missionary. This process has been very humbling and we are excited to open peoples eyes to the blessing they can experience by supporting this ministry. Our family will be heading to SIM for two weeks starting March 8th. We will be attending training all day on fundraising, culture, budgets and more. There is a teacher on site that will keep the kids up to date on their school work and will also be educating them on Nigeria. Once we return Patrice will complete her transition out of her Realtor role. April will be our first month with very little income and possibly packing and moving to our parent’s house. The date is set for August and starting in April we will be focused on fundraising and preparing for our journey. Please prayerfully consider supporting us by clicking on the donate button above.