Sannu!

(Which means "Hello” in Hausa)

Greetings from Nigeria! Wow, I can still barely believe I am here, and so much has happened since arriving that I don’t even know where to start. It has only been about four days, but I have experienced so many new sights, smells, sounds and places that it’s hard to sort everything out in my mind. I will start off however by saying that God is good. Every step of the way during our travels went so smoothly, and there were really no glitches at all. I mean, sure it was a REALLY long trip, but considering all the things that could have gone wrong, we were definitely blessed. Flying from San Diego to San Francisco to Frankfurt and then to Abuja was the first leg of our journey, and it took from Monday morning until Tuesday night to get that far. Once we were in Abuja, which is the capital of Nigeria, we stayed at a guesthouse overnight and then had a four-hour drive into Jos the next morning!

Since arriving on Wednesday afternoon everything and everyone has been so incredible! SIM has taken such good care of us and really made things easy as we’ve been settling in and adjusting to life here in Nigeria. We’ve had a schedule laid out for us this first week and a meal plan to eat with different missionary families here on the compound each night. SIM has six different compounds here in Nigeria, and Alisha and I are staying at Evangel, one of the bigger compounds, where the hospital is located. When we first arrived we were shown to our apartment, which is actually a really nice little place. We have a cute (ha, well I don’t know if cute is the right word, but it IS nice) little kitchen, a dining area, living area, and then our bedroom with the bathroom attached. It is clean and well furnished, and it even came with mosquito nets ready for us in the bedroom! Ha, I have to say, watching Alisha wrestle with hers the first night trying to figure it out is pretty much one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in my life.

The first day here we had lunch and dinner with different families and were able to get started right off with some authentic Nigerian dishes. We had meat pies with Jelof rice for lunch, and then for dinner we had pounded yam, and it was all really tasty! The families here on the compound are all so sweet, welcoming, and fun to talk to. Everyone has a different story and a different role in all the amazing ministries going on here. There is however a common love for Nigeria and passion for furthering God’s kingdom through what is being done, and that passion is definitely contagious!

Thursday and Friday were our orientation, and thankfully we were able to sleep in both days and try to beat the jet lag, which I believe I have been able to do! Thursday was the “business” orientation, so we got to go to the SIM/ECWA (Evangelical Churches of West Africa) headquarters to go over travel and financial details and meet all the people on staff here in Nigeria who have helped to get us to this point and who will be working with us throughout the rest of the trip. Friday was then the “cultural” orientation, and I have to admit it was the more exciting of the two! Alisha and I went out with Kauna, a Nigerian who works with SIM, and got to experience and learn about the market, bartering for fruits and vegetables, buying fabric to make Nigerian outfits, going to the tailor to get the fabric fitted, and most exciting (or life-threatening of all), taking a taxi!

The drivers here are CRAZY…there are really no rules of the road, well at least none that are followed, and there are SO many motorbikes, which are mostly used as taxis. When you take a car as a taxi, they pile three people in the front (whether there is meant to be three people or not) and four in the back, so it is very cozy. You have to be aggressive in order to drive here, because no one waits for anyone else, there is constant honking, and literally 24-7 congestion in the streets. Everyone J-walks, it’s just how they get around, so I’ve been getting used to doing that without feeling like a felon. In fact, Alisha and I got to have our first little adventure on the way back from the tailor yesterday, because Kauna took a taxi back to the office, so the two of us got to walk back through the market to Evangel by ourselves. It was definitely very exciting! We couldn’t stop smiling at each other as we maneuvered through the people, motorbikes, and cars, both with eyes sparkling and thinking to ourselves, “Wow, we’re really here, on our own in Nigeria, walking through the market!” The people call out to us “Baturi” or “Oibo” as we walk by, which means “white person,” but it is not an unfriendly term, and we’ve actually come to find that everyone here is very kind and welcoming. Greeting the people around you is a HUGE part of the Nigerian culture, and there is a definite focus on people rather than on tasks, and on an event itself rather than on being on time…quite a contrast from life in America, and as different as it may seem, I’m pretty sure the people here have it right.

There are actually two other young medical students staying at the Evangel compound right now, Tim and Dan, who are our neighbors from Northern Ireland, and Rachel, who is at school in New York and is staying with one of the missionary families. It has really been fun getting to know Tim and Dan, and last night we all hung out, played a few rounds of the card game “Hand and Foot,” and just visited. Alisha and I couldn’t help but laugh at their awesome accents and all the different words they use…for example, one of my personal favorites is that they say, “nibbles” instead of snacks, and I can’t help but smile every time they say “just a wee bit.”

(Random funny/weird little add-in story): Last night when Alisha and I came back from dinner we got dropped off in front of our apartment, and as we were walking toward our gate we saw one of the guards kind of hunched over in the bushes. It was pretty dark, so we couldn’t quite tell what was going on, but as we got closer I saw him raise up what looked like a machete and hack down at something in the bushes. He did this a few times, just wailing on who knows what, and then as Alisha and I quite timidly made our way closer and passed him on our way to the gate, we saw him pull out of the bushes the biggest rat I have ever seen in my life…its body had to have been literally at least a foot long…and that is not just an “I’m a sissy little girl” exaggeration…it was HUGE. Well, all I have to say is it’s a good thing we have a brave guard (with a machete) to save us from gargantuan Nigerian rodents! Anyway, moving on…

Today was awesome because there was a big game of ultimate Frisbee at Hillcrest, which is the school where all the missionary’s kids attend, so we got to go and meet a lot of the other short and long-term missionaries that are here right now…and there are a lot of them! It was so much fun to see all these amazing people from all different corners of the world who have come to this place with a passion to live for Christ and share His love with the Nigerian people…and of course the game of ultimate Frisbee was super fun too!

Well, to finish off this rather long introduction to my adventures in Nigeria, I want to share with you part of a “Prayer of Surrender” that I wrote to God in my journal while on the way here…

“…I want to enter into these next six weeks with a completely open mind and heart to what You have planned, not what I want or expect to happen. So I offer to You all my expectations and trust that you are in control. You work when I don’t always see it, You move when I can’t always feel it, You speak when I can’t always hear it, and You WILL be glorified whether I give you the glory or not…so knowing that, I just ask that I would have a right heart before You, and that You would use me to further Your kingdom…in whatever way YOU have planned.”

As I finished writing that God brought to my heart Proverbs 16:3,9:
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed…In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”

I want to say to all of you, na gode, which is “thank you” in Hausa, but really I cannot thank you all enough for taking the time to read about what is going on in my life right now and supporting me with your thoughts and prayers…Alisha and I can definitely feel them! It is so humbling to be supported by such amazing people, and I thank God for you all! Right now I am praising God for our safe travels here, good health so far, the amazing SIM missionaries and staff who have welcomed and oriented us, and of course for God’s faithfulness!

PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Continued heath for both Alisha and I
-Confidence and energy as we start working in the hospital on Monday (So exciting!)
-Patience and wisdom for the missionary doctors as they deal with the day-to-day struggles of ministry work

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment…

On board and excited for our first flight!

The entryway to our new apartment...

My bed for the next six weeks...

The wall surrounding our compound...lots of barbed wire

In the front yard with Lovely Lish...I just adore this girl!

The weather has been beautiful but sporadic...sunny and then seconds later pouring rain!

A bird's eye view of the market...busy, busy, busy.

From inside my first Nigerian taxi!

Kauna, Alisha and I during our cultural orientation...so much fun!

That's it for now...Blessings on you all!