Maranatha, “Come, O Lord”

Wow, what a week. As usual, so much has happened, and as I sit down to try and gather my thoughts, to present an accurate representation of everything God has been doing, I am overwhelmed…He has definitely been busy here.

Shortly after posting my entry last Saturday Alisha and I headed off to camp for the week. Bags packed, buckets in hand (for the bucket bath of course), and ready for action we arrived at the ECWA Camp Youth Alive (ECYA) campsite and began getting settled in. We started with registration for the campers and talked to them as they arrived, asking them if they had asthma, allergies, or any other conditions we should know about. There were about 60 campers, all between the ages of 12 and 15, and it was fun to see all their faces as they filed in. After registration Alisha and I took our things to our room. We would be living in the “director’s house” for the week, which was basically where all the administrative staff was staying. This included the assistant director, camp manager, sports coordinator, all the cooks, the Gills (a family from New Zealand who came out to help with the camp), and Alisha and I, the camp nurses. Although our house was a little farther out from the main hall and all the huts, it was nice because we had our own bathrooms, so we didn’t have to walk out to a washhouse. Actually, Alisha and I were spoiled, because we got to have a room all to ourselves, and it was the one room with a bathroom in it. There was another bathroom in the house that everyone else shared, and although we felt bad about having a room and bathroom all to ourselves, I have to admit that we enjoyed it.

At camp, every minute of the day is basically planned out for the kids, and consequently for the staff as well…and they were pretty long days. We would wake up each morning at about 5:40 and around 5:55 the staff would stumble groggily into the main hall for group morning devotions. After devotions a whistle would be blown (a very loud whistle), which was how they would signify transitions between activities throughout the day, and next “Capers” would begin. Capers are what they call chores, so the campers would do certain tasks (such as sweeping out the main hall, cleaning the bathrooms, cutting weeds around the huts, etc.) while the staff supervised. Immediately following Capers was “Bath & Dress” time, which is pretty much self-explanatory, so all the campers and staff would bring their buckets to the kitchen to get some hot water to bathe with and then head out to the washhouse. I have to admit, bucket baths isn’t my specialty, and washing my hair is kind of a pain (they don’t really wash theirs because it’s always in braids, which you’re not really supposed to get wet), so I was lacking in the hygiene department this week…but hey, it’s camp, what do you expect. Anyway, after bath and dress was “Morning Watch,” which is when all the campers and the staff do their individual devotions. Although I was always tempted to just go back to sleep during this time, I avoided that temptation and found that it was refreshing to have this opportunity to give the day to the Lord and really focus my thoughts on Him. Honestly, this individual time with God always seemed to end too soon, and the whistle would be blown, signifying the next event, “Flag raising.” This was definitely a unique part of the day that took a little getting used to at first, but that after a while it was something I came to enjoy. After individual devotions the girls would all walk single-file o the flagpole and line up on one side of it, while the boys came from the other side and did the same. Everyone would then be called to stand at attention, with their Bibles in their left hand, and the color guard would then march in with the Nigerian flag. Thus the ceremony would begin, the flag would be passed off to someone who would raise it up on the flagpole as we all sang the Nigerian anthem and said the pledge to the Nigerian flag…neither of which I knew, but I lip synched them anyway. After the flag was raised we were told to stand at ease, the assistant director would greet us, read a passage of scripture, and then have some of the campers pray. After this was done and any other announcements were made, the color guard would march back out and everyone was dismissed for breakfast. By that time we were all more than ready for it, because when you wake up at 5:40 and breakfast isn’t until 8:50, it give you a lot of time to look forward to the meal.

Although wary at first, I came to truly enjoy food at camp. I have to admit that their meals are all very heavy and starchy, but I can’t say there was really anything I didn’t like eating. There was this okra soup that was pretty slimy, but once you got past the sliminess of it all it actually tasted pretty good. So after breakfast, each hut would go off with their hut leader to have “Bible X,” which was their group Bible study time (I don’t know if you’re noticing this, but they spend a lot of time having devotions and reading the Word…which is so awesome). There are ten huts total, five for the girls and five for the boys, and most of them are named after fruits of the spirit, with a couple other random names thrown in…the girl’s huts were Peace, Patience, Faith, Hope, and Love, while the boy’s huts were Endurance, Gentleness, Boldness, Kindness, and Warrior. At breakfast I would go around and collect the keys to each of these huts from their leaders, because during Bible X it was my job, along with the two “Hut Chiefs,” to go around and inspect the huts for cleanliness. I thought I knew the definition of clean and had a generally good idea of what organization looks like, but evidently I didn’t…these huts were insane. They stacked all their mattresses and had basically one big, perfectly-made bed in the middle of the room, they had all their bags organized in one corner, their shoes had to be lined up in a certain way against the wall (and they would get points off if the types of each shoe were not grouped together), there could be nothing in the windows or on the floor, their surrounding environment had to be free of weeds and any trash, and any slight deviation resulted in deducted points…can you say boot camp? I can, boot camp. Well maybe it wasn’t THAT bad, but it was definitely different than any camp I was a part of as a child. However, despite the foreign and strict expectations and the harsh grading system, I soon adjusted and actually enjoyed nit picking the cleanliness of each hut.

As soon as Bible X was over everyone would meet again in the main hall for a morning session, which involved singing “choruses” and having a speaker come to preach to the kids. Let me just say, I wish we sang choruses like they do…it was incredible. Everything was acapella as one staff member would lead the camp in song and all the campers would join in with these beautiful, powerful voices, harmonizing and clapping out fun syncopated rhythms. These “choruses” were not just a part of the morning service however, they were sung throughout the day…on the way to flag raising, while waiting for meals, during activities, at the night service, and basically any other time when they could be singing, someone would bust out in song. If I was ever not in the main hall when they were singing choruses I could still hear the songs, because their voices would radiate all throughout the campsite, and it always brought a smile to my face because I knew it was bringing a smile to God’s face as His children joyfully sang praises to Him.

The theme of the camp this week was “Maranatha!” which means, “Come, O Lord,” so each of the speakers that came somewhat directed the focus of their message on this topic. It was so inspiring to hear all the messages about being ready for Jesus’ coming and having encouragement to live as if He could return any minute. It is so easy to lose the excitement and anticipation of Jesus’ return amidst the demands and monotony of every day life, so it is always good to be reminded of the fact the He IS coming soon and we DO need to be living in a way that reflects an anticipation for God’s kingdom.

After the service each morning the campers split up to participate in different activities, and this is where my day would get a little bit stressful. But before I get into that let me set things up a little. During staff training Alisha and I were asked to be a part of leading an activity for the campers. After examining their gifts, talents, and interests, everyone picked an activity they would want to do with the kids, such as baking, dancing, singing, hiking, playing soccer, etc., and Alisha and I decided our best option would be teaching piano. I have taught piano before, so even though we had very little resources, I assumed everything would be fine and we could basically improvise to give these kids a foundational understanding of theory start to build in them a love for the instrument. We were told we would have two keyboards to work with and that there would be no more than four kids, two with each of us, which seemed pretty reasonable. Well, Alisha ended up not being there to teach, which I will explain shortly, and there was actually only one keyboard to work with. On top of it, although there were only four students, as promised, two were beginners, one had taken a year of piano, and the other had taken two years of piano, so they were all essentially at different skill levels. SO, there I was, one teacher, with one keyboard, four students at different levels, and an hour to try and keep their ever-wandering attention on learning this instrument. Patience is a virtue. Although I don’t believe I could have ever “lost my cool” with these campers, I definitely came close as I tried to work with each one, meeting them at their level, allowing them to play as much as possible on the keyboard, and attempting to drill foundational theory into their heads. Needless to say, I would often lose their attention as I focused on one camper and they would go off running around and doing other things, but I just hope in the midst of it all they had a little bit of fun and were able to actually “Learn ‘D’ Piano” as our activity was titled.

Lunch followed activities, and then came one of my favorite times of the day, “Rest Hour.” This title is a little deceiving, as it was never really a full hour, and most of the time it was not THAT restful, but I was still grateful. Some days I managed to take a little 15 or 20-minute nap, but others I would just read or journal. The whistle always blew too soon however, calling everyone to the next activity of the day, “Carnival Time.” This was always a great part of the day when a couple of the camp staff would entertain the campers, telling jokes and having them participate in silly games. Although I didn’t understand everything (because some of it was spoken in Hausa), I always loved hearing the camper’s laughter…such a sweet sound. After Carnival Time was “Craft Time,” and the staff was nice enough to let me join in and do a craft as well. The craft I chose was making a clock in the shape of Africa. First of all, let me just say that their crafts are hard core…they are not like the dinky little “make a picture frame out of puzzle pieces” crafts that most American children grow up with. These crafts are meant to help the campers develop skills they can use later on in life as a trade or way to help their families out and bring in some sort of income. So for this craft, the kids started out with some plywood, then they traced the shape of Africa, cut it out with a saw, drew designs, and then used glue and different shades of sand to “color” their designs. At the end, a hole was drilled in the middle so that the clock pieces could be attached, and VOILA! An African clock, in the shape of Africa.

The day then continued on with outdoor games. Let me just say, kids have way too much energy. After getting out all their yelling, screaming and running around, everyone came in for dinner, followed by the evening program, nighttime devotions with each hut, and then bed. Considering the night program finished around 9:30 or 10:00, I would go back to the house, possibly chat with some of the Nigerian staff, journal for a while, and then finally go to bed around 11:00 or 12:00…by that time I was usually rather exhausted. As I said before, they were pretty long days.

Aside from all the planned out activities, I WAS there as the camp nurse, so I spent a lot of my time talking with and caring for different campers, giving out medications, cleaning little cuts, and assessing each situation. Praise the Lord there were no serious injuries or ailments while I was there, only minor sicknesses and conditions. Honestly, the majority of people just had headaches, some accompanied by a cough, with a few cases of “runny stomach” (which as you might guess would be diarrhea), heartburn, and a couple fevers. There was one boy who got a bad rash on his legs, another boy who got kneed in the head playing soccer (yeah, there was a nice sized lump there), one ear infection, one eye infection, and a couple of other weird cases, such as a girl not being able to swallow. There were actually two cases of malaria during the camp, one in a camper and one in a staff member, and through it I learned that malaria for them, and malaria for a “Baturi” like me, are quite different. Their reaction to malaria is not really severe at all, in fact malaria is quite common, and basically presents itself as a fever, headache, and weakness, possibly with night sweats or dizziness as well. It comes and goes pretty often and is easily treated. Overall, even though I was kept very busy and it seemed there was always someone who needed something, I was so grateful there were no serious problems during the course of the camp.

When I say I was grateful there were no serious problems during the course of the camp, I really do mean that, but only in the case of the campers. Something happened that Alisha and I didn’t expect…Alisha got sick. It started off on Sunday as a migraine, so she mostly rested at the house and tried to avoid light and noise as much as possible. Her “taking it easy” didn’t help with her ever-growing tiredness however, and what was thought to be just a migraine led to a fever, dizziness, constant fatigue, continued headache, and overall weakness. She stayed in bed most of Monday and Tuesday, trying to get up a little on Monday, but finding that it drained the little energy that she did have, leaving her worse off than before. I would bring her meals and Ibuprofen throughout the day, but she seemed to not be getting any better, and her symptoms were starting to look frighteningly like malaria. So, despite her stubbornness and desire to stay at camp, she went home Tuesday night so she could see a doctor and figure out what was going on. Although of course I wanted her to feel better and was glad for her to go home to get some rest and proper treatment, I was of course very sad for her to leave. Not only is there the fact that I love being with her and experiencing everything with her, it was her birthday on Wednesday! She was being sent home on her birthday!

She was tested and it ended up that she didn’t have malaria (thank the Lord), but she does have some sort of virus, which unfortunately there is no way of treating. The good news is that she was able to come back for a little while on Wednesday to hang out and say goodbye to everyone, so I did actually get to be with her on her birthday…and I have to say, the most glorious part of that day was sitting outside with her, soaking up the warm African sunshine, and eating the peanut M&M’s we had brought from home and been saving for over a month…talk about self-control. I do not know why God works the way He does, and although I was not planning on being “camp nurse” by myself, and of course Alisha was not planning on being sick, I believe that God uses what we don’t plan for or understand to grow us in incredible ways. The means and measure of that growth is not always evident, but I know it is there. As I listened and talked with Alisha while she struggled though her frustrations, my heart broke for her and her pain over longing to serve and be healthy enough to take part in and experience this ministry. I saw her anger at why God would allow this to happen, why He would bring her out here and then render her “useless,” and although I saw in her bitterness, frustration, and stubbornness, I also saw in her a grace and humility that I don’t think she recognizes yet. Her going through this whole ordeal and working through these issues helped me to think through them as well, because honestly, if I were in her position I would react in the same exact way. Through her struggles I’ve begun to learn valuable lessons such as God does not need me to get things done…I have no strength on my own…often being still and silent before the Lord is the best way to glorify and honor Him…I am part of a body, and sometimes certain parts of the body need to rest and let the other parts do their job…and last but certainly not least, God loves me for who I am, not for what I do.

I wrote a little something a while ago called, “Child of Grace,” and since I sometimes seem to be able to express myself better through more than just plain text, I thought I’d share it with you, because it deals with some of the thoughts, feelings, and lessons I’ve been learning lately:

There comes a place when nothing can allay my restlessness,
A place where mind and body don’t agree,
When devastating silence somehow forces me to hear,
And once I close my eyes, only then I truly see.

There enters in a thought that slowly permeates my mind,
A subtle truth that somehow lingers on,
When people fail to meet my subconscious expectations,
And joy seems so far off, its fragrance almost gone.

There manifests a hope that seems alluringly to rise,
A breath of sweet security near by,
When perfect love becomes an achievable desire,
And worth is in my being, not in how hard I try.

There is a peace in letting go of everything I am,
A life that can be found in death to self,
When certainty’s replaced by a willingness to serve,
And passion in not felt, it’s lived and carried out.

There found in You is all the strength that I would ever need,
A wholeness that is felt in just one place,
When pieces start to crumble under weight I cannot bear,
And I am overwhelmed, I look into Your face,
For in Your eyes I’m what I long to be, a child of grace.

So although I greatly missed having Alisha by my side, camp in a nutshell was quite amazing. The staff was an absolute blessing and joy to be around, the campers were sweet, the days were fun-filled (although long and exhausting), and as ready as I was to come home, take a nice shower and sleep in past 6:00am, a huge part of me really wanted to stay. I was greatly blessed by the experience, and I hope that I was a blessing to everyone around me. Speaking of blessings, when I did finally get home Thursday evening, Alisha had written this beautiful letter to me saying how blessed she is by me and being my friend…I won’t go into everything she said, but it really touched and humbled me, and I couldn’t help but cry as she shared her heart with me…and of course she started crying toward the end of it…so there we were, just sitting on the couch, crying together…we are such girls, but I’m so glad.

Due to the inability to properly celebrate Alisha’s 20th birthday on the actual day, this weekend was somewhat dedicated to its celebration. The guys were sweet enough to bake a cake for her after dinner Thursday night, on Friday I put up some birthday decorations and a poster I’d made for her before the trip, and then Saturday we had some friends over for a little birthday dinner…and of course I had to make another cake for her, because everyone deserves at least two cakes on their 20th birthday. I know it wasn’t the ideal birthday scenario, but I just hope she knows how loved she is…because it’s a lot.

One new exciting development is that another short-term medical student just arrived and will be living with us for our last week and then staying in the apartment for another five weeks after we leave. Her name is Gemma, she is from Northern Ireland, and she is actually friends with Tim and Dan from their school. She is such a sweetheart and Alisha and I are already loving her company. Oh yes! And another exciting development! As of yesterday morning my computer charger was completely useless, therefore rendering my computer itself useless as well. I had gone to see one of the SIM staff that is in charge of all the technical and computer work to see if there was anything that could be done, but he said there really wasn’t, and hopefully if it was under warranty so the company would replace it, which was honestly the answer I was expecting. However, after I got back from hearing that news, Dan asked if he could mess with the cord a little, and I figured sure, why not, it’s already broken and useless anyway, go for it (I didn’t really think he would actually fix anything). So he busts out his little pocketknife, some foil, and scotch tape, and inside I’m kind of rolling my eyes, but after he finished and asked if he could try it out, he plugged it in and it worked! I was amazed, and oh so grateful…all hail Dan, master computer charger fixer (or something like that).

Well, coming to the end of our fifth week, I don’t even want to think about the fact that there is only one more left. I pray that these last days would be just as stretching and eye-opening as the rest of our time and that God would continue to get the glory through everything I say and do. I am praising God this week for ECWA Youth Camp Alive, for the incredible staff and all the campers who were saved or rededicated their lives, as well as for the fact that none of them had any serious injuries or illnesses. I look forward to the last week in the hospital, hopefully working in obstetrics and gynecology, I’m sure it will be a great experience…and as usual, God is so faithful!

PRAYER REQUESTS
-For Alisha’s health, she is not getting much better and it has been a week now. She barely has any energy, and if she so much as walks to a neighbor’s house she is exhausted and needs to lie down. I know she is frustrated and in pain, so pray that she would be able to regain enough strength to spend some time in the hospital this week before we go.
-For the senior campers at ECWA Camp Youth Alive this week, that God would work in mighty ways and bring more of His children to himself through the program there.
-For Gemma as she settles in and adjusts to living here, that she would be rested and prepared for her experience.

Silly camp nurses...waiting for campers to arrive.

CRAZY DAY!! Ha, I love having an excuse to look ridiculous...

"Craft Time" African clocks...I was so proud of myself for sawing that out all by myself.

Gorgeous Nigerian sky...it is always so beautiful here.

The camper in the middle was named Delight...I just love that, they have the greatest names.

Serving up a spaghetti dinner with Rene - now that's a lot of noodles!

Treating a rash on one of the camper's legs.

Although I would much rather NOT be awake at 5:45 in the morning, I guess this sunrise does make up for it just a little bit.

Uncle David, or shall I say "King David," which he transforms into while wearing that outfit...this guy was so hilarious.

Happy 20th Birthday Alisha!