Into Africa

Our family left Wenatchee on a cold 14 degree Thursday afternoon, drove to Seattle for a wonderful but brief dinner with family and a couple friends, and began our trek to Emi-woro on Friday. God provided a way for our many pieces of luggage to arrive at the airport at 8 a.m. (thanks Kevin), so Devin left the house and enjoyed a very organized rush hour for the last time for two years! The boys and I were able to sleep in, have breakfast, and spend extra time with family, arriving at the airport at 10:30, just about the time the ticket counter opened.

Our next blessing was when we learned the flight was very full and the information we had about Devin’s guitar being counted as a carry on was not going to be true that day. We were troubled by the cost of the extra bag ($250!!), not because it wasn’t in our budget, but because the Lord had provided a way for us to take everything we thought we might wish for at almost no charge. The January team is bringing a library of books and other extras for us for free. This would free our budget up to bring the shipment of donated goods from the Wenatchee Free Methodist Church up from Lagos to Emi-woro when its container will finally arrive. We had trouble getting our carry-ons to 18 pounds the week before and had decided to go ahead and spend $250 once – not too bad for two years out of the country – but now $500?? Yikes! When we got to the gate, we were charged only $200 J

It takes a long time to fly from Seattle to Frankfurt – about 10 hours – but this is not long enough to need sleep if you are Ben Myers, even on Benadryl. Devin got some great sleep, and Jack got an hour or two, and Ben and I had a great time enjoying the videos and the in-flight computer. It showed the time remaining, where the plane was on the globe, and other interesting things like outside air temperature. I expected a long nap for the Frankurt to Abuja leg of the flight, which was just under 6 hours. No such thing. Just a few winks for Ben and I. It was the peace of God which surpasses all understanding that let us fly through customs, receive help immediately and step through to find Phyllis and Clement waiting. Ahhhhh, Africa!

The boys had some pretty good enthusiasm! In God’s mercy the timing of our trip is the best even in the small things. This is the coolest and driest time of the year! Jack said he enjoys the feeling of the air. Traffic is crazy, as was reported. The trip in to the airport had Phyllis and Clement stuck in a traffic jam for four hours, but our travel was without interruption. God is already answering my personal prayer about the exhaust. I had been somewhat sensitive to exhaust, especially diesel, for years, and you throw in a bunch of dust and my body was not feeling the best after the short drive Saturday. The next day was equally thick, and I had no problem!

There was no option for two beds, or rollaways at the hotel, so we enjoyed a good night’s sleep in a bed for four after bucket showers (Ben and Jack love that!). Actually, I hardly slept (this theme is continuing) because of the guests in the hall, the generator out the window… Thankfully, I had plenty of time to pray with much thanksgiving!

We slept a little late and had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, and when we arrived in Emi-woro, we had missed church. Still, many people were milling about and we greeted many, many people throughout the day. We were served a wonderful afternoon meal of roast and potatoes! Our caterer, Pastor Bassey, made us feel very welcome and very full! Before the night fell, the boys were playing with many children, with Ben on the perimeter and Jack taking charge. Devin was welcomed back as a friend, and I was loved on as a long lost Auntie.

We know that we are in the right place at the right time, and we are listening for direction. Phyllis leaves early Friday morning for the US, so we have much to learn, many people to meet, but it is God’s plan, His place, and He is in control.

Praise Him for our loss

We had to put our dog to sleep this week. We were hopeful that his medicine was working, but he took a turn for the worse, and we knew we would need to put him down. It is amazing how resilient kids are, and we are thankful for that, and we know in this case a covering of prayer for our family is making this as easy as it can be when you lose a friend.

We praise Jesus that we are having conversations like "I know you have to ask Jesus into your heart in order to get to heaven, but could He have told Toa about Himself? I mean, Toa might be in heaven if it is beyond our wildest dreams..." (Jack), and "Why didn't God heal Toa? We prayed for him like a thousand times!" (Ben). It is true that Ben in particular has mentioned Toa in prayers twice a day for months, but we didn't see him healed, and that is tough. As a parent, I am sad for the tears, which keep coming, but so thankful for the conversations. I choose to thank God that the boys will remember disease, not Africa, taking their pet from them, as hard as it still is.

Overwhelmed

Imagine, if you will, entering a room filled to the brim with items donated to supply all your needs! Then imagine entering another, larger room, even more filled! This was what we experienced Saturday night, and we are OVERWHELMED! "And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

We have this little "need" right now of over $100,000 to supply the expenses for our two year mission trip. That is a lot of money! We sat at the Missions Executive Team meeting just a couple of weeks ago, when a remarkable woman named Iris Bolstad said that maybe she would do a silent auction. We only had one date to work with, so she had to put it together in a hurry - and boy, did she. We have a large church membership, but even then, the outpouring was overwhelming. One room was filled with new items, donated primarily by First Fruits, but also by other generous donors. The entire gym was filled to the brim along all the walls with donated items. There was a lovely rummage sale, a silent auction, and a whole corner dedicated to shoes donated by Palmer Shoes (the quality shoe store downtown). Beautiful baskets, furniture, jewelry, services and lodging filled every inch of about every table the church owns, I think! There was a baked potato dinner, and ice cream for dessert, all served up with wonderful smiles.

One of the best particulars of the event was the minimal programming. We had fun listening to Pastor Mike auction some "precious" items, laughed with Pam Harris as she shared about our friend Stephanie, currently in Malawi and Burundi, and our hearts ached as Pastor Les described the corruption in the Free Methodist Church in Southern Nigeria, including the takeover of the other Hope Academy. Our program was brief, less than 10 minutes, but we shared our hearts and a video that shows how God is bringing His Kingdom to Emi-woro and using the Free Methodist Church, especially WFMC, to do it. The rest of the time guests could just visit and shop. It was truly lovely!

The room was decorated in red, with white cross and Myers prayer card centerpieces, set on giraffe fabric. It gave a great feeling of an event! They raised over $7000, with an additional almost $20,000 in monthly pledges of $20 and up. It was such a fun night, with many hands pitching in and many guests - maybe close to 200, since all the chairs were full and then some - enjoying the fun. God sure pours out the supply! We are over half way funded!

Compassion

We have been struggling with our dog and the lack of a cure for his allergies. He seems happy enough, but he looks awful, he smells, and he leaves a little snowdusting of skin behind. Yuck! I was speaking to my friend Marie, who has experienced a miraculous healing in her dog, and she said she'd pray for us. She gave me such insight and turned my frustration and helplessness into praise! She said that, since we are going to Africa, we will very likely see some disease and things that are just unlovely. Perhaps we are being given this time to experience loving the unlovely. I had a chance to discuss this with the boys and I am praising this trouble! I also had a chance to discuss it with the Lord, and confess that I have fallen short!

Love that moves me!

I had the privilege today to speak about Nigeria to the Mom's Bible study at WFMC. I was so happy to be in the room, hearing the coos of all the little ones, hearing the women dig into Esther, just loving on each of them. But when I stood to speak, it was like I was hit with a wall of love. Seriously, it was like a wall. I was stunned for a moment and had to steady my breath. I love how God knits our hearts together when we have Christ inside and the common bond of children. I didn't even know that many people in the room...

Yikes and Yippeeeee

Whew! 4 more shots down! Only one more each to go. Well, and a flu shot. Oh yeah, and a TB skin test - again. I can't say it went well with Jack - Yikes. In fact, I was shocked at how it went. But hey, it's over for this week! Yippeeee! Jack and I spent some time in prayer after the whole meltdown, and the Holy Spirit showed him a light bulb when he asked "what do you think of me?" I asked what he thinks that means, and he said (with the first smile in an hour) "obviously that God loves me if he thinks of me like a bright light!" God is good. Grace is amazing!

For those of you considering coming to serve in Nigeria - our family is getting some shots that short term visitors don't have to get, so don't think it is always such a process!!!

We started Precepts this week - Hebrews. Although I admit I fell asleep during day one of the homework - a few times - it is nice to be back into a structured study after following the Holy Spirit all summer. Devin and I are also getting ready for the Perspectives in World Missions course, with the first of three sessions this weekend. It has massive amounts of required reading, but it is WONDERFUL. We are taking the online (remote) session, so we will spend most of this beautiful weekend in front of our webcam with headphones. At least a gentle breeze should flow in the window. The kids are looking forward to movies every night!! I think we may arm wrestle for the privilege of going to Jack's soccer game on Saturday.

Suck it up!

It's just rough sometimes. Immunizations for Nigeria has been a rough spot! I have hit dead ends for weeks on end! The first round of shots was in our wonderful doctor's office, familiar and (although it was still shots), not so bad. It was simply the updates on U.S. shots. Then came the pursuit of "everything else." I am sure, without exaggeration, I have clocked at least 6 hours on the phone. It is the trouble with living in a small town, I suppose, but nobody would treat the boys. We knew we would be in Portland, so we visited a Travel and Immunizations clinic. 7 injections for me, 5 for Jack, 4 for Ben, and it didn't go well. Plus we get 8 days of every-other-day pills that make me nauseous! Oh, and it was $2600! Jack and I got the flu symptoms, which made the drive home from Portland miserable. I had to pull over and rest - but I'm thankful for the cool weather and the boys' video games that made a nap in the van possible - twice.


I have much to complain about how that clinic handled us, but suffice it to say that I should have put my foot down at the time - the highly upset person waiting in the lobby caused us to be pushed out before the process was complete. AND for 3 more days I have been on the phone trying to get the days 7 and 21 follow up shots for rabies. In Portland, that is not a big deal, but if you live in Wenatchee... I am not kidding when I tell you that I finally had a long talk with the state health department and contacted every possible place in Seattle, Yakima, and Spokane - to no avail!


BUT - after a copious email to my doctor detailing all the things that wouldn't work, and practically begging him to get it from the E.R. - HE IS! So, we are spared two more drives round trip to Seattle (or Portland, since I was striking out in Washington) for the day 7 and day 21 shots. Oh, how we love Dr. Kolde and happy endings! Thank you Jesus!!!


One sad note, we had the TB skin test and were told to have it "read" just by showing it to our doctor on Thursday or Friday. When we went in at 1:30 p.m., we learned it needed to be read by 11:30 a.m. - so we have to repeat the test. Bummer! Especially since we sat next to our doctor at soccer for an hour Thursday night and could have said "look!" The document clearly states that it needs to be between 48 and 72 hours, but I didn't read it. I just trusted the doc in Portland. Bless her heart. Our appointment was certainly stressful (imagine chasing a boy around the room with a loaded needle), and I'm sure the complainer following us didn't offer to buy her lunch! She has left two voice mails for us, giving us information she would have told us in the appointment. One said - "as I was lying in bed thinking of your family last night, I remembered..."

So, sometimes you just have to SUCK IT UP. As I dropped off my boy at school, I said - you're feeling bad today, and emotional, so give yourself extra grace, give extra grace to those around you, but finally, SUCK IT UP. I have been repeating the same to myself.

So...
I have learned to be more persistent and protective of our needs. I'm sure glad I wasn't already in Nigeria for all of this.

Pray that my boys will be up for more shots by Tuesday!!!