BEFORE THE COCK CROWS

It's always good to walk away from church on Sunday knowing for certain that you have a specific work to do in your life. Well, church here is different in a variety of ways, but after a recent service, we needed to take action in an unpredictable way…

Pastor was preaching on Ecclesiastes 3 – a time for every purpose under heaven. Well, at the same time and in the same space as church, two of our hens were trying to lay their eggs. If you have never been around hens beginning the process of egg laying, let me tell you, they make quite a fuss. Ours are especially fond of laying around the cement bags stored in the assembly hall out of the weather. Our wonderful rooster was backing them up. Imagine, five minutes of preaching interrupted with 4 minutes of crowing and bok bok bok-ing. Of course, some kids chased them out of the assembly hall, sneaking back in to sit quietly. Then a few minutes went by and there they were again BOK BOK BOK COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO! This time I had to chase them out myself and tried to guard the entry. Very noisy. One snuck in behind me and while I was trying to shoo her out the other entrance, the others came in too! This time we chased them way around the other side of the building and into the bush. Whew! At least ten minutes went by before they were back!

And on and on… People (especially the children) were cracking up, but the sermon kept on. Finally Pastor John says "leave them be." I mentioned that they were new to laying and had to make a big deal of it! Everyone in the church understood, we ignored as best as we could, and the preaching went on!

Now it is a time to build… a henhouse!

SEE WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE

Some people have asked us, have we seen God working miracles around us?

I see supernatural protection over us every time we go out in traffic, but this is a time I missed. Some of you are familiar with Bassey's beef casserole (YUM!!). It's steaks pounded to perfection and roasted in a delicious sauce full of onions and served with mashed potatoes… YUM. Well, the beef casserole was in the oven for a while before we realized we had run out of propane – known as cooking gas around here. It was about 4 p.m., and Devin had been on the road quite a bit this particular day. So, Bassey jumped in Big Jim and together they headed out for town, about 25 minutes from here. On the way into town, they suffered the fourth flat on a particular tire that, months ago, suffered a puncture when it crossed over a piece of rebar – known as iron rod here - marking the corner of someone's cassava farm. It has been repaired repeatedly, but he had made a commitment to me to seek out a replacement that very week. Let me tell you, in Nigeria you keep on fixing things as long as possible. Well, anyway, it was just a flat, and on a rear tire, so he stopped and changed it along the roadside and went and collected the propane.

On the way home, they felt a huge wobble in the front end, so they pulled into a fuel (say foo-WELL) station. They saw a softball sized blister on the front tire, and stood debating how to move. They had no spare??? The station owners told them they would take some money to watch the truck overnight, he should just leave the keys. Devin is a trusting guy, but… As they stood, they heard a huge POP! They looked, and the front tire now had steel belt coming out of a six inch split. Devin told Bassey, "it's holding air, jump in, let's go!" They drove the rest of the way home, no problem. He even drove a half hour the other direction the next morning because it was urgent he go to the bank.

So, can I call that a miracle? Well, I choose to honor God as our protector and provider, at the very least. Having a blow out on a front tire along Ajaokuta road in the dark would certainly be a stressful end to the day, to say the least. The new tires were expensive, but thanks to the wisdom of Pastor Les, "you'll probably be driving more than you can imagine," our auto budget is appropriately cushioned. I see it as a small miracle, and that's that!

SO THANKFUL!

These boarder children, I love them so much. Lawal was in the parlor a few days ago with a high fever - so high he was panting. I gave him cold water and acetaminophen, and tried to fan him (but he couldn't take the chills). I got him to stay under the ceiling fan at least by putting a Tom and Jerry DVD on the TV. After about 20 minutes his fever started to come down and he went back outside to lay in the shade. In the morning he went to the clinic and now, after two days of malaria medicine, he is fit as a fiddle.

The past few days he has brought me "bush fruit." Before he was sick, I saw the kids eating something and asked what it was, where it came from, what was its taste, how do you eat it…? He went to this tree on the other side of the river and brought me some. Again today, he brought us a little bowl of washed up bush fruit. These kids are so sweet to share what they have!

I am so thankful for the day-in-day-out relationships. To hold these kids hands, sing, receive from them, clean their wounds, tease them... It is giving me the time and trust to testify. Little by little.

Tonight I had the privilege to teach Bible study. Jack and Ben had their picture Bibles and had a little Bible study time with the boarder kids. I wasn't even upset that they skipped class. They started out on the perimeter of class (held in the Assembly Hall), but mid-lesson I had to say, "please, I know you are trying, but your noise is too distracting. Either move away or come to Bible study and sit down." They left, it was quiet, that's all I knew.

At dinner they told me they read from the Children's Devotional Bible for 45 minutes. Then they went to play soccer until dinner. Baruwa asked if they could keep the Bible for a while, and Jack said sure, just bring it back at dark because we would use it in the morning. Baruwa just brought it back.

God is so in love with these kids! All this love I have in my heart for them is just a taste of His love. I am so thankful to share it!

IT’S SO EASY!

When we were in Kenya, there was talk of "member care." Although the focus for the discussion was how the home office could support the field missionaries, it turned to the subject of the missionaries helping their support to support them. So, here is some of that for you!

It's so easy to turn a 7-year old boy's day around. We had been driving for an hour or two. Drive. Stop, heat, drive, stop, heat, wait… We went to the bank, which is connected to the post office, and suddenly the day was a great success for Ben!

For $2.30, Auntie Beeshee sent two drawings/cards from her children and two Air Heads candies. Air Heads! She used a regular 6" x 9" envelope, but she did have to take it to the post office and fill out a form that they attached to the front of the envelope. I am not exaggera ting when I tell you that a small act like that sends a big impact across the ocean. It communicates love, we miss you, and you are not forgotten!

A regular sized envelope (to send a card or letter) is 98 cents. You can drop it in your mailbox at home!