Paris Shorts

(Note: my email server has been having difficulty and has been down more than up of late. For those of you emailing me, please be patient.)

fountains, everywhere; ponds, in gardens; the river, The Seine; love the gurgling sounds

gardens, strolling for hours in just one and still missing some of the beauty

bridges, a new favorite is the foot bridge near the Louvre; evenings bring groups out in mass -- small huddles of friends, musicians, ethnic dancing, ... beautiful!

a boat ride on the Seine, followed by a jazz concert in a boat that's anchored, ... ahhhhhhhh

streets start looking alike -- narrow cobblestoned roads; tall buildings with ornate sculptures and charming windows with little balconies and flowers, lots of flowers -- just another row of "concrete" from the 1500s/1600s with a little 12th century stone buildings thrown in now and then. So mundane and hum-drum.

giant department stores in buildings that are more beautiful that the things inside; six floors of men's clothing, even!

designer fashions in little shops and big -- everywhere, truly everywhere!

cafes, brassieres, restaurants -- all with outdoor seating (all with smokers, too!), some with live music, all with wine and espressos -- the two apparent drugs of choice in the city :-)

saumon fume' with toast (and an egg, if wanted); slices of tomatoes and mozzarella with basil and olive oil; shrimp cocktail; cheese plates; creme brule'; I do believe we've eaten smoked salmon (lox) at least once each day!

churches/cathedrals from the 12th centuries and up -- exquisite accoustics, stunning stained glass, organs -- real ones -- virtually empty but for the tourists; Ah, we're going to Hillsong Paris Church tonight. It's a new plant from the Hillsong London crew so they fly in here on Friday, do 2 Friday night services, fly back to London on Saturday. Soooooooooo excited!

walking, metro riding, more walking (on sunny days, who wants to be underground in a stinky subway?) -- a banged up big toe from when Jim stepped on it (he still feels pain, more than I do, even!), aches and pains from all of the walking but, hey, I've got Danskos!

The only real negative on this trip is that I had a list of "must buys" -- items for ourselves and many requests for people on the camp. So, shopping has turned into "hunting" -- I just want to make the kill and get out, so to speak. And I still can't find a couple of things after a week-long hunt. 'hope to make final conquests today.

Shopping mixed with peaceful moments is the best way to survive -- so today, I'll stroll through Le Jardin de Luxembourg -- that'll be at least 2 hours of peace!!! And when the shopping gets crazy, one can always step into a small side-street and find a charming coffee shop that serves tea.. Starbuckssssss are popping up everywhere, but I try to avoid them ... just 'cuz.

Oh ya, did I mention? -- Le Tour d'Eiffel with lights blinking on the hour every night, Notre Dame, The Louvre, L'Opera, Champs Elysee, l'Arc de Triomphe, ...

So, you can see why I haven't been sitting at a computer in a hotel room very much. I'll load photos when we get to the B&B in Antibes this weekend. Jim's meetings have gone well but he's truly ready for a slow-paced rest on the Riviera!! We plan on avoiding a lot of the "must sees," choosing to relax and stay put most of the days.

Story, ... how telling

So, I've been enjoying this amazing book, Story, by Steven James. There's a lot to ponder. It's my latest "must read" recommendation. Some of what he says are some of the very words I've said in recent teachings in Colorado. He got it into print first and said it better. But it surely meshed with what I've been thinking and sometimes verbalizing. Excerpts follow:

There's a Jewish saying: "God created man because he loves stories." I think that has a lot of truth to it. But not only does God love stores, he loves the people whose stories are being told moment by moment across the globe. And I'm amazed that the story of my choices, mistakes, regrets -- the story of my life -- actually matters to God.

I think what makes us unique isn't so much our height or shape or fingerprints or eye color but our histories, our stories. We are our stories. And we only connect with other people when we know their stories. The more intimate we are, the more our stories intertwine.

When Jesus was born, the Word of God became flesh, enmeshed in a story. The storyteller entered the tale. The author stepped onto the page. The poet whose very words had written the cosmos became part of the text of this world.

It's so absurd, this king of the galaxies lying in a feed box for animals, this Creator crying in the stable. Anyone can see at this point that this story isn't man-made. Who would ever believe it? If I were making up a religion that I wanted people to believe in, I'd never insert stuff like this. Only God could tell a story this ludicrous and then claim that it is true.

Jesus, the real Jesus, is earthshaking. He will both calm your soul and send a tidal wave of truth crashing through your spirit. As soon as you try to figure him out or wrap your mind around him, you'll get lost in the mystery of this man.

child of heaven,

son of earth.
fragrance of light,
strength of eternity.
former of worlds,
shaper of souls.
storm of glory,
love of God.
tamer of tempests,
raiser of the dead.

offender of the religious,
befriender of the outcast.
lion of conquest,
lamb of sacrifice.
hero of the ages,
talebearer of eternity.
king of all kings,
servant of all servants.
calmer of consciences,
disturber of the peace.

He is the mystic, majestic, mysterious Jesus. Holiness wrapped in humanity. He sneezed, coughed, yawned, burped, and got the hiccups, and yet he could walk on water, step through walls, and raise the dead.

When you try to prod at him, he prods at you. And when you finally meet him face-to-face, he'll shake your world -- hardened criminals have been known to fall to their knees, shield their eyes, tremble, and weep at his feet. That's what happens when the veil is lifted and you finally glimpse his terrible, irresistible, glorious, soul-consuming love.

The story of God becoming man is incomprehensible. Only fools would dare to believe it. And the idea that God loves us enough to die for us? Preposterous. I'm staggered at the thought of the world-whisperer speaking my name, of the almighty breaking into song at the thought of me or coming to earth to die for me. Yet that is the truth, that is the mystery of Jesus.

Steven James, Revell Books, 2006

Way Cool!

So, I'm almost ready to take off but thought I'd blog quickly. You see, Prince needed to be leaving and so he asked if we could have a time of prayer -- Prince, Lucy, and me. So, they lead our time -- singing a few songs first, then each of us praying. Wow. They prayed powerfully and with such sincerity. I am deeply moved. They thanked God for Madame and Master and prayed that we would all be reunited safely after our travels. They especially prayed for safety for my flight and all. Each of them (Prince, Lucy, and Moses) will be traveling to their villages while Jim and I are gone. We'll be back here on May 19, Lord willing. And that day, our shipment is promised to be delivered. Yippee!

OK, heading out for the all night and next day flight!

Of English and lost languages

Our English is vanishing too quickly! Fortunately 2 Canadians have arrived on the camp so that might help us maintain some decent grammar. Jim works, mainly, with expats from other countries. So he experiences English with a twist all of the time -- and the twists are always different!

For most people on the camp, English is their second or third language so it's very poor. For the Nigerians, it's definitely their second language and it's been quite altered. After listening to it for three months, here's my basic analysis of Nigerian English: many folks have a fairly good vocabulary, but I would call it King James English. This comes from the missionaries who brought in King James Bibles and started schools and churches. Most churches still use KJs versions of the Bible, in fact. So, vocabulary includes: provoked, annoyed, disturbed, scarce, ...

After being sick last week, when I was walking a worker said, "Madame, you be scarce dees days." Translation -- I haven't seen you lately! Consistently, they never are "worried" but they are always "disturbed." Lucy talked of needing to buy clothing for her mother because she needed to "cover her mother's nakedness" -- definitely from the Old Testament, aye?

So, I can use words like marvelous or beautiful, not just "good" or "nice." But, the real struggle is the lack of grammar and syntax. Key words are missing in every sentence. "Helping verbs" truly are a help but they're rarely used. Tenses are mixed up in the same sentence. And I don't know why but everyone mixes up "he" and "she" -- for instance, sometimes calling their mother "she" and then "he" in the same sentence.

So, imagine Prince, trying to learn Chris Tomlin's song "Indescribable." I'd written out the words for him and explained most of them to him. So, I heard him sing, "non ken fattum." That's "none can fathom." I asked him if he knew what that meant. "No, Mom." Imagine the tough time I had not laughing when I explained that it meant that no one can understand/comprehend!!!

Jim's in Geneva. I fly all night tonight and join him tomorrow evening. Then it's a week in Paris and 5 days in Antibes (between Nice and Cannes). No shipment at our door, yet! 'gotta run to the gym. I'm late for my trainer. He will be annoyed or disturbed or something!

Delays and Delights

A brief overview of the week:

Delay: Our sea shipment has been in the port for 3 weeks and was PROMISED to be here by today. Maybe we'll have it before I leave for Europe next week.

Delight: Jim leaves for Switzerland on Tuesday and I'll leave on Thursday. He has work in Geneva and then in Paris. He works; I plays!! :-)

Delay: I haven't been off of the camp all week due to sickness. Viruses spread pretty easily around here due to our close living conditions. The doctor at the clinic thought I had worked out too hard at the gym on Monday morning. Let's see --- a fever, chills, nausea --- from a good workout on a bike and a rowing machine??? Hmmm ... Not!

Delight: Getting to sit around all week, hearing stories from not only Prince, but also from Lucy and Moses. They want to prove that Prince is not the only one with story-telling prowess! These lives, I'm telling you ....

Delay: After my passport was in the Immigration office for 6 weeks, sitting in somebody's "in" basket, we discovered that my resident visa has still not been processed. So, I'm getting my passport back today so that I can travel next week. When we return, we'll try again -- for the third time!

Delight: Eating an Italian meal in the home of a woman from Venezuela and a man from Austria. The nine of us at the table spoke, as our first language: Spanish, Italian, a Nigerian dialect, German, and English! Amazing stuff, I'm telling you!

Delay: The remodel job we anticipated in our kitchen (and hoped would happen while we're traveling) won't be started until sometime after we return.

Delight: Jim and I will be spending 5 days on the French Riviera in Antibes (between Cannes and Nice) after his meetings in Paris. Can you say "ahhhhhhhhh!"?

And one final delight: At the Mango Tree Fellowship, today, a couple of people chose to become followers of Jesus!! Way cool!

Delights definitely win over all delays!!

A Nigerian Dinner

Lucy fixed our first ever truly Nigerian dinner. I had told her, before she started cooking and with Moses as a witness, that I wanted her to remember that even if I didn't like the food I still liked her!! I had to remind her of that during the meal. It was a meal that was difficult to swallow at times.



The gare was fine -- it's very mild, dried and ground casava that tastes a bit like rice. It's sticky and hard (Lucy made a soft version for Jim and me) and very bland. So, that was no problem other than the fact that we were to eat it with our fingers and roll it into a ball as we visited. Every child's dream -- to play with their food and not use a fork!! So, I repeated many times how much I liked the gare. It's not that I LIKED it, I was just able to swallow it!

However, the soup -- well, that's a different story!! The taste wasn't so bad -- spicy, salty, fishy, ... But the texture (or "textency" as I like to say) created a tendency to gag. I think it was the stringy okra. I just begged God to keep me from gagging all over my plate. And I survived. Jim was pretty silent as he ate. He was amazingly "full" long before the typical time for his "fullness!" The dried fish that was used in the soup was ... strong, to say the least.

So, we had a good time laughing a lot. Prince was convinced that Lucy is an amazing cook and assured Moses that Lucy is quite the catch! The Nigerians gobbled down the feast and were thrilled that we left so much for them. And, Lucy promises to make us some soup without the fish and okra and with more veggies next time -- that will include waterleaf and/or bitterleaf. Ummm ... we'll see how we do!

I'm teaching Lucy to crochet. She can't wait until the day that she will have a unique, one-of-a-kind top and shawl when we're done with this project. She's highly determined.

Lucy is a trained hair stylist so we're trying to figure out a way for her to work for us less hours and begin to build a hair styling business. The rent for a shabby (that's a mild term for it) shop is astronomical. So, we're developing a plan for her to have a portable shop. We'll see how that progresses.

Every day brings new amazement -- Lucy's finger is permanently disfigured because one of her younger sisters bit it just a couple of years ago when she was trying to kill Lucy. This same sister is requiring that Lucy, as the first issue, give her N25,000 to take her final exam so that she can graduate from secondary school at the age of 24. Lucy knows that she must comply or she will be disowned from the family.

And Lucy is wanting to bring her mother here for a time of peace because the younger siblings are stressing her mother so much. Her mom has survived almost 30 years in a brutal, violent, loveless marriage. Only during the past few years has Lucy's father become a decent guy. This occured after he turned his life over to Jesus. Prior to then, Lucy's family was living off of palm nut remnants; Lucy's mother had only the clothes on her back; Lucy became her mother's best friend and confidante when Lucy was only a pre-teen. So, Lucy doesn't understand why, after life is better and the kids are growing up, that her mother would want to leave her husband. She endured so much agony. I tried to explain to Luce (I call her this for short -- she loves it!) that sometimes our energy is used up when things are reallllllllly bad and when it improves we have no energy left to give. Her mother is old before her time.

Lucy told her mother, on a rare and short phone call, that she has another mother and father. Her mother wasn't threatened by this at all -- she actually said it was an answer to prayer. So, Luce has adopted us, I guess you could say!

Just two years ago, Lucy "met" a sister whom she hadn't seen since the girl was 4 years old. The family was struggling so much, financially, that someone from another village took the girl in as a "daughter." When the girl reached the age of 20, she contacted her family. I really am not surprised by anything I hear anymore.

Lif is tough here. "Big land, tough people." That's a motto that Lucy told me today -- it describes this place for sure!

We're not in Kansas anymore!

Every once in a while it hits me -- we're in Nigeria. That may seem strange to you but life just keeps hopping and we get rolling and suddenly something doesn't go the way we'd planned or expected and then ... whoa, what was I thinking? This is a different place with different ways and, well, different everything.

The problems come when I have expectations or make comparisons. Like, if I expect the bus for the ladies' outing to leave at 9:00 sharp because the invitation said "9:00 sharp." Would you believe a not-so-sharp 9:36? Or like, when I expect the plumber to come back after his break because he said he was coming back after his break. Well, maybe the break really was 4 days!!

Comparisons kill. Like, when Jim's been working hard all week and needs a total break and I think, "let's go out and catch a movie at a theatre." Oops! the only movie you can catch around here is one of those in the stack a guy is carrying down the street and that's probably a pirated and lousy copy. No theatres, that's for sure! The popcorn here, if you can find it popped from a specialty shop, is sugared and not salted. The microwave popcorn in the stores is about 8 times the cost of U.S. microwave popcorn and I've only seen it once, even at that high price.

Litter --- if you throw trash out your window in the U.S., not good, right? Here, whenever you're done using something you just let it drop to the ground. We have a trash can in front of our house. Usually, during the dark of night, I pick up the trash around it and throw everything inside the bin because the workers think throwing it in the area is better (and it is) than just dropping it. I have to pick it up at night or the workers say "Momma, you shouldn't be doing that." But they just pick it up for me that time without rethinking and adjusting the habits and patterns that made the mess in the first place!

I know I'm headed for trouble whenever I think or say, "in the U.S., we ..." It's really not good for my health! Like, "in the U.S., we grout the tile before we install the toilet because then we can grout everything." See, that just gets me going down the wrong path.
"In the U.S., we put a drop cloth down on the floor before we paint the ceiling."
"In the U.S., we use spoons to eat soup; fingers don't work so well."
"In the U.S., we stop at red lights. What does a red light mean, here? Stop? ... Really?"
"In the U.S., THAT word means something reallllllly bad. What does it mean, here? ... Yikes, sorry I asked. ... Jim, remind me not to ask so many questions!"
"In the U.S., we use Restrooms for purposes of urination." (Imagine seeing a guy "using the restroom" next to a sign that is painted like grafiti on a building and the sign says "Don't urinate here.") "In the U.S. we try to obey the signs."

So, expectations are bad for our health and comparisons kill.

I learned that the hard way, yesterday. I had my second little melt-down since arriving -- in, of all places, a McDonald's imitation -- the first fast food chain in Nigeria -- Mr Bigg's. Now, if I'm even willing to go into a REAL McDonald's, you know I'm a desperate woman so imagine my level of despair as we went into a Mr. Bigg's! Prince ordered spicy chicken and rice (not your typical MickyD's fare!) and Jim and I ordered non-spicy chicken and rice but they were out, so I ordered a "beef burger" but they were out and then Jim had ordered slush drinks, but the machine was broken, so I went outside to pout and pray about my stinky attitude and in the end, Prince and Jim ate spicy chicken that even Prince thought was too spicy and I ate a "beef burger" that somehow appeared out of nowhere -- nowhere I want to see, that's for sure! I apolized to Jim and Prince for my behavior and I started to cry when I was explaining it to a bewildered Prince (a guy, by the way, who had previously complimented me in that I wasn't like a typical woman and was "straight thinking" like a man) and to a not-too-bewildered hubby while all of the tables were filled with guys watching football on TV, until the power went off, that is.

And then, the pastor this morning said in his message "stop your weeping and persevere!" right to my gut and I heard him (and God, really!) and decided I'd talk about it on my blog and then quit whining! So, thanks for letting me spill all of this stuff (I don't even have to pick it up because I'm in Nigeria, after all!) --- I feel much better, now!

More photos

These things are loading better, lately -- just 10 - 15 minutes per photo with a higher success rate for each attempt, so, here are some more shots, or snaps, as they say here in NGA.

Easter in Nigeria

The Easter weekend is a full four days with Friday and Monday as national holidays. What a time of celebration! We went with Lucy and Moses (and Prince, of course, or we can't go anywhere!) to Lucy's and Moses' mass, area-wide church meetings in the "Civic Center" on Friday evening. I was so discouraged because I had thought my Nigerian English comprehension had improved but I only understood about half of what the pastor said. It was encouraging, in a strange sort of way, to learn that Lucy and the others had a difficult time, too. The sound system wasn't too good. This is soooooooooo often the case. During the closing hymn, "It Is Well with My Soul," the power went off and things actually sounded better. Everyone kept singing acapella, with drum beats and trumpets keeping us together. Cell phones came out of pockets everywhere and the little flashlight features came on -- voila! a candlelight service!

In their denomination, women must wear headcoverings, so, I used a scarf that Joey had brought me from a missions trip to Cambodia and our gang called me an A-free-kan woe-man. Jim wants me to wear it more often -- no way, too hot!! Anyway, the service was ok but not something we really want to repeat.

So, Easter morning, we went to a different church, yet again. Nope, we knew very soon that this would not be a repeater for us, either. Our visiting weekends are about done and then we'll settle in, soon, somewhere. But it is exciting to see what God is doing around the area. We see many patterns and rituals that make us question, once again, our own patterns and rituals. No matter the denomination, tongues speaking occurs -- some very publicly, some very privately. No matter the denomination, dancing happens, not the typical "white folk" swaying, I mean all out, serious dancing. So, I'm slowly starting to move around more. At home I feel very free to dance that way, but it just doesn't seem right seeing an old white lady dancing like these limber Nigerian gals. Jim just stands and closes his eyes in worship and never sees that others are dancing. It's definitely not his style and that's a-ok.

Other patterns we see everywhere are: the leader shouts "In Jesus' name" and the folks respond "Amen!" and this continues, back and forth, a lot. When the leader shouts "Praise the Lord" the group responds with "Hallelujah" and that seems to usually occur when there's a pause in the speaker's thoughts or a pause as they wait for a musician or some such thing. During prayer time, everyone prays out loud -- it's very powerful to be a part of. Some of the churches guide us in our topic of prayer -- praying for our repentance, praying for our family, praying for the church, praying for the nation, ...

Offering is more of an act of worship in many of the churches here -- more so than is often the case in the U.S. Each one lifts his/her envelope with the tithe/offering and prays aloud before the ushers pass the bags. Sometimes people file up to the front with it. Sometimes there is more than one offering -- a bit offensive for us foreigners, that some of the places are allllllllllllways asking for money. That is probably our greatest struggle. We are tired of being treated with special honor because of our white skin -- which is spelled m-o-n-e-y. Every church wants us to sit in the front, meet with the pastor, give them our address and phone number, etc. Prince, who is the group's skeptic, thinks it's all about money. Lucy and I think that often it is just a genuine "welcome" and heartfelt appreciation. (with the full awareness that if we settle in, we'll probably be good for some sizable, by Nigerian standards, gifts!!)

We remain a bit concerned because some of the pastors are millionaires and we don't want our money going into their pockets. Many are honest millionaires in that they don't take a large salary from the church but they have many in the congregations who lavish them with gifts. For instance, if a pastor has prayed over a man's wife for healing and the woman is healed, then that man will bring baskets of food, financial gifts, etc., in appreciation. Prince knows of pastors who have received MANY brand new cars as gifts and, always the skeptic, he thinks the giver is doing it out of more than gratitude -- it's gratitude mixed with trying to buy more blessings from God/this pastor. Because the background of most of these people includes signs and wonders from evil spirits, cults, etc., they carry a bit of that mindset of "keep the gods happy" into their Christianity. Yes, it's a bit confusing. And then throw into the mix the poverty and desire to receive material blessings -- well, it's ripe for the "buying off God" philosophies!!

So, we still see this polarization of materialism versus legalism. Of course, the churches that grow the fastest have the materialistic emphasis while the holiness churches struggle with low numbers and are a bit over-the-top in their piety! Here's an example of the phenomen that might help you see what I mean -- one week, a church we were in announced that the next Sunday was "key holder" Sunday. When "key holder" Sunday rolled around, the church was PACKED and the energy was high. The music was frenetic, to say the least. By the time the speaker got up, the people were psyched! Cut to the end of the service -- the ushers passed out a key holder to each person. Some folks came to multiple services to get more key holders, a problem the pastor addressed in his message. Then, for about 20 minutes, everyone was guided through prayers that they shouted and begged of God, kneeling, weeping, etc. -- they were asking God to give them a key for their key holder by the end of this year, specifically, a key to a new house, apartment, or car. They left believing that God would give them a key, indeed.

This lead to quite the discussion, later, with Prince and Lucy. P and L both said that God gives us keys by giving us jobs and the strength to work. Prince said, "I've never seen a house fall down from heaven, have you, Lucy?" So, we talked through the many ways that God does, indeed, work miracles in providing gifts to us through others -- prompting someone to bring something to us, guiding someone to send money in the mail, helping someone return borrowed money, etc. Anyway, all of these experiences cause us to re-think our theology, that's for sure!!

Lastly, I'll tell you about last night. What a deal! A concert at a church that included -- rappers, dancers, children's groups, contemporary soloists that were fantastic, traditional warbling-voiced soloists, instrumentals, and ... even a choir singing excerpts from Handel!! (I fought back the tears!) The strange, but fun, feature was a comedian reminiscent of Mark Lowery. He mocked the traditions of these churches, like "God is telling me that He has a message for someone sitting in a white chair" -- there are 1500 white chairs and nothing else in the whole place. Or " some of you young men have pains in your stomach, put your hand over your stomach, now remove it, is the pain still there? God is telling you ... (giant pause) ... you are hungry -- eat something!" The people were roaring with laughter and hooting and hollering. Interesting!

Prince about has a Chris Tomlin CD memorized, we listen to it in the car so much. He loves "Your Grace is Enough" -- that's way cool!

Thus endeth the post-Easter ramblings!
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Sights on the streets

The streets weren't as packed as usual due to the holiday weekend. So we could travel more steadily, more easily getting photos. But realize, this is about 1/10 of the typical amount of vehicles and pedestrians.












Look closely -- that's a wheelbarrow being pulled by an okada (motorcycle). We've also seen passengers carrying long planks, metal beams, dead goats, ...






OK, this one isn't actually on the streets. We were having a little fun on Prince's motorcycle -- okada. Jim's company won't allow us on such things on the streets so we could only ride in the camp. It was still fun!

Lucy's Day

Lucy Sunday Umoren;
local name: Ndifreke, meaning "I shall never forget" (ND for short!)

Thursday was Lucy's birthday. She's now 26. It turned out to be a spendid day for her in oh-so many ways. Early in the morning her fiance arrived at her maid's quarters. Tuesday, he had been a total jerk (details, I will leave to your imagination) and she had broken up with him. After kneeling in front of her for four hours, weeping and begging for mercy, she forgave him. He truly is a sweetheart as he requested to speak with Jim and me to beg our forgiveness as well -- for hurting Lucy. So her day began much better than I had thought it might.

I let her have the TV on all day (something I can't stand) and she could watch whatever she wanted as she worked. OK, a whole day of Nigerian soaps is a bit much so I don't thinkI'll be making that offer again anytime soon! I had Lucy's wrapped gifts out for her to see all day. She kept squeezing the packaging and giggling! She said the wrapping was so beautiful that it didn't matter if the box just had a brick inside, it still made her soooooooo happy!

We added some people to the dinner plans so I added beef filet to the prawns and we were off and running with dinner preparations. I'd never used a rice cooker before but the facilities office delivered one to me a week ago (I hadn't requested it and am still waiting for what I did request but they said they thought I'd like this) so I'm now hooked on cooking rice in a rice cooker -- no burning, always done to perfection, and it stays warm for hours without getting sticky. I'm sure some of you are familiar with one. I told an Indonesian friend that I was afraid to try it and she just laughed and said that she's afraid to cook rice on the stove but that it's impossible to fail with a rice cooker. Indeed!

Everyone tried and most ate a lot of the guacamole and pita bread "chips." I told them that the guac was Nigerian food. "Huh?" they questioned. Well, all of the ingredients came from Nigeria, so .... They didn't buy that argument.

I wouldn't let Lucy help with anything -- I told her she was my Madame for a day. She kept giggling and offering to help. When Jim thanked God for the food, he prayed especially for Lucy. That meant a lot to her. Everyone actually loved the dinner and Prince said, "now, THIS is food, Momma!" Carrot sticks, not something they'd seen before, were a great hit and disappeared quickly. And Prince and Moses loved the baguettes with mustard -- a French delight. During dinner we were playing Nigerian music -- until Jim just couldn't handle the volume anymore. Everyone laughed when "Master" turned it off.

After dinner, I had a "special" hat for Lucy -- a clown birthday hat (something she never had as a child). So, as she moved to the "sitting room," we would say living room, I gave noise makers and balloons to her friends -- 'sounded like the last ten seconds of a tied basketball game around this place!! Lucy was so appreciative of her gifts -- what fun.

Finally, I brought out shortbread (I had found out that she reaaaallly likes it and didn't know you could bake it yourself) with one candle that sang "happy birthday to you!" Believe it or not, she refused to blow it out because of the melody still playing so we listened to that silly little music box for 15 - 20 minutes until the flame burned out and the battery died. She danced next to it the entire time. And when she left for the night, she asked if she could please keep the little stump that remained. Amazing!!

Before we wrapped up, we had Lucy teach us some Christian songs in her dialect -- Ekwiabo. What fun! And then Moses prayed over Lucy and the evening was complete! She's still floating with the love she felt on Thursday!!

Around town and at home

These pictures are taken from inside the "golf course/country club" looking out. Now, this course was rather feable, but it's amazing how great it was to just walk around in something so open. The "members only" restrooms weren't fit for anyone, member or not. The greens weren't very and the grass needed weeding something fierce. Yet, with all of those negatives, these folks were staring inside with such curiosity and wonder. It made us feel amazingly grateful.









A typical scene along the roadside in the "country."








Jim is flying into a village near the ocean via some sort of small amphibious (is that the word?) plane tomorrow morning. I'm sure it will prove to be quite an adventure!

I got these three pictures loaded on in just one hour -- that's progress! Of course, I'd tried three other times earlier today.

Our search for a church where we truly want to plant our roots and get involved is proving to be disappointing. Sunday, we tried to get to two churches. We missed one completely and completely wished we'd missed the other one. I realize that sounds a bit harsh, but ... legalistic is not a strong enough word to describe this one. Women not only wear head coverings, they can't wear jewelry or makeup, and they must have their ankles and wrists covered (in addition to everything else.) I felt like a true infidel!!

Materialism or legalism, that seems to be the options thus far. But this weekend we'll visit two other churches -- one is Lucy's church. Actually, we'll be at the Civic Center with all of the parishes in her denomination in this region on Friday evening. And then on Sunday we're going to a church that Prince has been confident we'd like all along. He warned us of his concerns about the church that disappointed us so much. I told him that next time we'd listen to him. But we want to be careful not to be too critical. Certainly, the people in each of these churches are dear. But we'll be here a while and so we need to find something we can fully support.

Prince and Lucy and I went to the river beach yesterday. We were out because we'd gone to the fruits market and as we were driving (better stated -- sitting in traffic) I said something about the river. Lucy seemed so interested in going there that Prince turned around and we headed to a beach. Lucy's lived here 6 years and had not been to a river -- and the place is filled with rivers. She was utterly delighted with the canoes and fishermen -- hadn't seen anything like it since she was 5 years old. As Prince later told me, Lucy is such a country girl that she can't imagine just heading out and seeing something. The only parts of the city she's seen is what she can trek to and even that is limited to only the places she has to go. She's never seen the ocean and it's about 45 minutes in crazy traffic. She's never been on a plane, of course. She's never seen a salt and pepper shaker before ours'.

Lucy's birthday is Thursday and I'm fixing her a birthday dinner -- guacamole with pita bread (we mix our trans-continental cuisine, here, out of necessity!), prawns, rice (cooked in our new rice cooker), veggie salad, and shortbread with pineapple and pawpaw slushies. Prince will join us, too. We've got a few little gifts and some fun birthday hats, a birthday banner, and a candle that sings "Happy Birthday!" I'm tempted to do more for her but she's never had a dinner, a party, ... nothing. So, I don't want to overdo it! We'll play this great Nigerian game that we bought -- Lucy says she grew up playing it in the dirt under a tree.

Tomorrow, Prince and I are going to get started on writing his stories. We'll start with what the elders told him about when the first white missionaries came to his village. He warned me that it's a bloody story but he wants to start there. This guy is such a great story-teller. He used to drive a bus/van for the engineers headed out to the rigs. So, he hung around with other drivers waiting for their next orders. And during those times, he did what he does so well -- he entertained them with stories. Those drivers are begging him to come back so I told him he'd better plan on visiting them once a week.
Here's the story teller in action! Notice Jim's trousered knee, below -- he's getting a relaxing break from his rigorous work!
Don't forget that you can always double click on any photo you'd like to enlarge for a better view!! Enjoy!

Images and imaginations

It's actually Saturday, the 8th, but because I got one photo loaded on Thursday, it shows that date. Internet difficulties and lack of time require that I leave these as is. If you want to see the pictures and there are only boxes, click the box and the picture should appear. I'll try to fix it when I have another two hours!! The above pics are from around the camp. The igret bird is high up in a palm tree. They are beautiful birds who especially love to hang around when the grass is freshly cut. These images took about two hours to load so I'll leave the rest to your imagination as I fill you in on some stories -- ever so quickly, of course!

Briefly, Prince's father's memorial service -- 2 days of feasting at his father's house. Prince was responsible for all of the food, etc. He rented 300 plastic chairs. His siblings helped with expenses, fortunately. At the end of it all, he still owed the village elders a goat in honor of his father. He didn't have the money and promised them he would deliver the goat as soon as possible. They were not happy but accepted his promise. Well, a man unknown to Prince arrived at the house and apologized to Prince that he couldn't get to the village earlier. He explained that he loved and respected Prince's father and that he wanted to present a gift -- yep, over near the road was a huge goat. So, the elders danced for joy that the duty had been fulfilled and all debts were settled. Before Prince left the village on Tuesday, the elders told him that if he marries and returns to the village to live in the next 5 years, they want to confer on him a chieftancy title. This is quite an honor. Already Prince is regarded as a source of wisdom for the villagers. He has sat with the elders on and off for years and has learned the entire history of the village. And he has great discernment. He says that when the first man arrived at his home to ask Prince for advice, Prince was only 17.

Ubadire Timothy Nwaogwugwu -- that's Prince's name. His father always called him "Prince!"
So, this guy has amazing stories -- if he hadn't learned, first hand, the fear of God if he lies, I'd think he was "shining us on" -- an expression I've told him about. But, we believe he's sincere and just a very stubborn adventurer -- including surviving in a small boat on the open seas for 2 weeks, without food and water for a few days. He says that they looked like dead men when they arrived on the shores of Equatorial Guinea. They frightened the local children away!

So, anyway, starting on Monday, I'm going to sit at my laptop and type while he talks. I told him we've got at least two books, here -- one about his life thus far and one about his village history. Lucy's had a hard time getting work done this week because Prince is such a fascinating story-teller!! Anyway, thanks, Linda for the idea. I'll get a draft finished and then start looking for a publisher, I think. I showed Prince a book about an American woman living in Lagos in the 60s and told him that people love this kind of stuff. None of the village history is recorded but it's all logged in Prince's brain!

The Mango Tree Fellowship (my name for the Friday gathering of workers for worship and teaching from noon to one) -- about 25 guys this time. One gal finally joined us, too. I don't know why more of the maids don't join us -- I couldn't even get Lucy to go. She likes to go back to her quarters during lunch break. Most of the maids live on the camp and most of the men live off of the camp -- maybe that's the difference -- the guys don't have anything else to do during lunch. Anyway, it was a great time. The preaching was the best I've heard in Nigeria. The teacher was the foreman of all of the workers. We are going to visit his church this Sunday. So much of the emphasis, here, is on gaining material wealth. It has disturbed us a bit -- 'seems like a "come to Jesus and he will make you a Big Man!" approach. So, it was refreshing to hear Freedom, the teacher, say "don't chase after miracles, chase after righteousness!! God is a God of miracles but, most importantly, He wants your whole heart!"

I had to have a straight talk with Christian yesterday. I'd been hearing reports that he lies and many of the residents won't buy produce from him. Well, it seems that he lied to me about his age. He says he didn't know is age -- which is entirely possible in the village, but he was born here in the city, so..... I'm skeptical. I told him that I can't work with someone who lies to me, that I didn't want to make a quick decision, that I needed to pray and think, but that I was very disturbed (a common word, here) and would not buy anything from him while I thought about it. (I don't need any ve-ge-tables, long "a," right now because we're eating out 4 days in a row due to a golf tournament in which we are guests -- they're recruiting future golfers and Jim's clubs are in the sea shipment.) He's very long-faced.

Speaking of the sea shipment. It's here in the port!! They are promising us that we'll have it in 3 weeks -- that's about 2 months earlier than typical so ... we'll see. But, in the meantime, they have Jim's passport. And mine is still in Abuja, awaiting a residency visa. So, we can't go anywhere fast. But we do have photocopies for emergency.

OK, gotta run! (Actually, strolling is the Nigerian way!) We're off to the golf tournament. Jim is working such long hours, this will be a welcome break!

Friendly Faces

I've got so many photos I'd love to share -- time only permits me to load a few at a time.
Here's Jim with Prince and our car -- all three are certainly good lookin', don't you think???





One of the resident girls.











Three drivers. Everyone poses whenever they see me walking about with my camera. I do think I'm going to have to take most floral photos on Sundays (when few workers are around) or I'll use up all of my ink and photo paper printing copies for all of the dear people who ask me to take their photo!!



Another child living on the camp.

Living

I'm finding it increasingly more difficult to find the balance between living in the midst of all of these stories and writing about the living! I don't know how the days pass so quickly but they certainly do. Updates:
1. Lucy is at about 80% health and steadily improving. She is amazingly grateful. Humbling, indeed.
2. Prince leaves this afternoon for his father's memorial service. Yesterday, Prince brought Jim back from meetings at about 2:00 p.m. Jim forgot that he was going to call me if he wasn't coming home for lunch. Well, of course this was the day that I got the best-ever head of leaf lettuce. It was fresh, crisp, and good-sized -- rare in these parts. Christian (the produce guy) was so proud of it! So, in celebration, I had fixed a huge salad for lunch -- shredded fresh ginger root and fresh lime juice was the dressing -- using what I have is a fun adventure! So, when Jim walked in with Prince (Jim was just going to say "hi" before he went back to his office) Jim saw the table set and the salad bowl filled and said, "big ogologo wahaala!" -- ogologo is a word for "tall man" and wahaala is "problem" -- I doubt they're ever put together in that way so Lucy and Prince burst into laughter. Anyway, Jim was full from his lunch meeting, Lucy was too sick to eat, and Prince had not eaten so I said, "Prince, please sit down and eat lunch with me! Lucy can eat a cracker." Prince took one look at the salad, turned to me with a funny smirk and asked "Is this food?" He certainly has had most of the ingredients before but never together and never without rice or gare -- they eat high carb, heavy food. Prince was a trooper and ate a plate-full of salad. But we had a lot of laughs over lunch. Like -- he said that if his mother had given him this food for breakfast when he was a boy he would have told his friends that he had not had breakfast! So, I explained that Nigerian men are not alone is this belief and that Jim used to call salads "chick food" but now he's well trained. More laughter. When Jim brought out Salad Cream, a sweeter version of Miracle Whip, Prince began to actually enjoy the salad!!
3. Names around here continue to amaze me! I went to a fellowship, yesterday, of Christian workers and the names included -- God's Time, Gospel, and Praise. But imagine this, an Indonesian man told us that he had been with another company guy and they'd met a Nigerian man and asked him his name. He said, "God knows," and the friend of the guy we were talking with kept saying things like -- "I'm glad God knows, but I don't know it. Please tell me what your name is!!" Reminded Jim and me of the "Who's on first?" routine! (His name IS God Knows.)
4. Our first Bible Study for couples started small. The night didn't work for some folks. So we'll try another night and see what happens. But we still had a great time of cross-cultural fellowship over our Bibles and in prayer. Listening to another person pray in a language I don't speak is, somehow, quite meaningful! God is amazing!
5. I attended a Friday fellowship yesterday. It's one hour of worship (our clapping hands are the only instruments), prayer, and a short teaching with Christian workers on the camp. I was told, "meet us under the mango tree." After figuring out which tree that would be, I got there late and was still early! Usually there are 15 - 20 people but this Friday the camp was abuzz with work because two new families arrive today. So it was about 7 black guys and one white woman. But I loved it! I almost wept just hearing these guys pray -- crying out to God with such gratitude for their health and their ability to work and then begging God for the salvation of others around them and for the rescue of this nation. They were so thrilled that I was there; I told them that I plan on being there every week that I'm here and that I will try to bring others with me. Jim can't attend, though he would love to, because he has meetings (which we now know include lunch!) on Fridays.
6. Last night at a party with residents I had a great visit with a French guy who's married to a Nigerian woman. They've been here 10 years and are soon to be transferred. He said that he's looking forward to living in another country but that he somehow feels, deep down, that he'll never find a place quite like this. We had a great visit about politics, the census, the upcoming election in 07, the future of the nation, etc. Totally intriguing!
7. After Prince gets back from the memorial services, I'll tell you more about the whole thing. It's really quite a lot of pressure on him as the first issue male -- paying for food for the feasts with the whole village, buying gifts for the village in honor of his father -- two days of music, dancing, and memories. Whew, it's gonna be a heavy time, I believe. Just thinking about Prince, makes me grin -- he's told me so many stories already -- like the way he was fascinated with cars at a young age. His father could tell. So, they had an old, cheap car and his father was afraid that Prince would try to drive it sometime. So, the dad put the only key on a chain around his neck to keep it safe. One time he handed the key to Prince to go to the car and retrieve something. Prince quickly grabbed the stuff, made an impression of the key in a damp bar of soap, and returned to the house. Then, he saved money for a verrrrrrrrry long time and paid a blacksmith to make a key. He waited until his father left one day to another village (without the car) and his mother had trekked to a farm to work. Yep, he successfully drove the car ... until a co-worker of his mother saw him, told his mom, ... big trouble from Momma! BUT his father had forgotten something, returned home, saw that the car was missing, reported it to the police, ... yep! Big wahaala! The punishment Prince received was equal to child abuse in the U.S. It definitely taught him something, but the wrong something. He learned that he could endure anything up to death. So, he took the car again about a month later, and then again, ... which lead to his career, beginning at the age of 17, as a driver. The money he spent supporting his father, mother, siblings, siblings' education, etc. caused his father to long-ago forgive him for his naughtiness!
I'll have more pictures posted by tomorrow, I hope.
I'm tellin' you, I love this place!

Always something!

We can be confident that there's always a new learning opportunity around here!
Here's a quick overview of recent events:
1. The Census was extended through Monday evening. Crazily disorganized -- the news changed regularly on what the schedule was going to be. For most people, the word-of-mouth system didn't work so well. Even in my small world, I'm aware of many people who didn't even get counted. So, the results are -- an inaccurate count, loss of wages, heavy loss of money for companies that had to sit on their jobs until today, frustrated people, but many happy folks who had a holiday and got to enjoy their families. Boy, was the traffic crazy today, though. Prince took me out to run errands and I do think the entire country was out running errands!!

2. First experience with malaria; Lucy got it. She'd been feeling sick on Saturday but I didn't know that because she got stuck off of the camp Friday night and couldn't get back due to the census. So, Monday morning she somehow got back though no movement was allowed. I could tell right away that she was not well. Eventually, I just let her go to her quarters and sleep. Today, she didn't show up for work and she couldn't phone me because she had no working phone. So, skipping the details -- I visited her this afternoon and she looked BAD! She said she'd had malaria once and this felt the same. Malaria kills -- always -- if it's not caught in time. Usually about a week after onset of symptoms its over. So, she said she was planning on trekking (that's walking a long distance) after dark (to avoid the heat of the day) to a clinic to get tested. She really doesn't like to ask for any help and she tries to maintain social boundaries.

Well, I threw those crazy notions out and called Prince. He came back on the camp, got our car, picked me up, picked up Lucy, took her to the clinic and stayed with her during the waiting for the results. I stayed in the car because I knew if they saw a white woman, they'd charge double! She tested positive so Prince then drove to a pharmacy where they talked with a nurse and got the right meds.

The toughest part for Lucy was that I made her sit in my kitchen when we got back while I cooked her something to eat so that she wouldn't get sick when she took the meds. Another maid is going to stay with her tonight. She's got to take the meds during the night and for the next 3 days and then all should be well. She had no money and no one to help her get anywhere. So, it's easy to see how millions die of malaria each year. They are afraid to spend the money on a test, or they simply don't have the money nor the access to a test. Simple solutions aren't so simple, here. So, I'm thanking God for Lucy and for His protection over her.

3. Prince is another amazing guy! I'm in awe of the survival skills of these folks! He's 30, the eldest son (the first issue), and has put 3 brothers through the university while he's been driving bus, taxi, and now driving for Jim's company. His father died a year ago, yesterday, and the memorial service is this weekend. Yes, it's one year after the person's death. I'll write more about that, later. Anyway, Prince would love to have had a university education or to have gone to the U.S. for work but nothing has worked out so far. He's lost a bundle of money twice, trying to help out family members. But he keeps saying that He knows God will provide for his needs and that maybe he'll even get some extra blessings! I love visiting with him about politics, Nigerian traditions, etc. He's very bright, as is Lucy, but they've just never had the opportunities we take for granted in the U.S.

'gotta stop for now. Jim's here and we're fixing our first local crab, tonight, for dinner. Also, the power just went out -- fortunately my laptop has a battery and the phone lines are not effected! But it does complicate the dinner prep. Oh, it's back on already!!

More photos

View of the front door from the patio entrance.

















It's hard to tell, but these are tall trees.

Feeble photo attempts

This has been an all-morning project, with many failed attempts at loading photos. So, I'll be happy with these two successes for now and will try again, later. Here are two house photos, for the many of you who emailed requests for such things! For a larger view, just click the photo.


This view is from our dining area, into the sitting room, with the patio just beyond.






This is a closer view of the patio.

Census Nonsense

So, since Nigeria had their first "legal" election that didn't end in a military coup, this is their first attempt at a census. It's political, of course. Some think it's a valid attempt to account for everyone so that in the next election in February, the voting rosters won't get so corrupted. Others think it's a way of actually manipulating the names and locations of people so that certain states can get more power. All speculation -- all based upon distrust from many years of instability. Anyway, what we know is that this census-taking is crazy!!

First, it was supposed to begin on Tuesday across the whole nation and last through Saturday. That meant a lot of lost revenue, etc. so they altered that plan on Sunday and announced that it would be regionally organized and that our area would have the census this Friday and Saturday. (Of course, most of the people don't get news because they have no TV and the lack the extra cash to purchase a paper so the news is announced the good-ole-way -- word of mouth.) So, plans have been changing around here all week. First, the word was -- no movement all week. Then it was -- no movement Friday and Saturday. Then, Jim got two opposing emails late last night that lead us to total bewilderment. So, this morning, Lucy (who is staying at the maid's quarters all week just to avoid confusion and getting stuck off-camp) said that the census began this morning -- hearing it from a worker who snuck down the streets early.

Indeed, no contractors or workers who live off the camp have arrived, today. So, the census has begun. What does that mean? Well, everyone has to stay in their residence until a census-taker has counted their heads, filled out papers, and marked their thumb with permanent ink. Then, they are free to move if they carry their papers with them. Most of the average Nigerians have no address. And you thought "turn left at the big oak tree just past Pete's red barn" was bad. In the cities it's more like clusters of families, maybe 20 groups, all living in one area that has no address -- shanties attached or leaning on each other. In the villages it's just huts under trees that are accessible by river or by foot paths. Certainly, these areas have never been mapped. (In fact, getting a detailed map of the cities is even impossible.)

So, I figure that the officials already have a number in mind. To be accurate they should probably say that Nigeria's population is 250 million, plus or minus one hundred million. In the mean time, people are without income for three days -- a serious thing when you eat what you earn each day.

And about pictures. Many of you have emailed requests for more photos. I spent 2 hours on it already this morning to no avail. With dial-up, very slow dial-up that is, the ability to load photos goes in spurts but you never know it will it's a good spurt until you try. So, I will try again. Thanks for your patience!

Good things

We continue to feel grateful for our experiences here in Nigeria. Jim is enjoying his work, though the pressure is very high. I love the flexibility he has -- home for lunch very often, home to work on things on his laptop in the evenings. Right now, we are both sitting in the patio, each on our laptops, working under the inspiration of the trees, flowers, and gurgling fountain that provide our backdrop. (OK, with the occasional squawking of birds that are like crows with a priest's white collar.)

We'll eat at the clubhouse, tonight -- sitting out by the pool. We can eat a huge meal, each, for about $8 to $10 U.S. dollars. Then Jim will go back to his office to finalize his presentation for a meeting with clients tomorrow.

Tomorrow, Jim will walk to work (about a leisurely 3 minute stroll) and then meet our driver later in the morning for the drive to the client's office. Yes, that's another good, actually fantabulous thing -- we got our car and driver, provided by the company. When Jim doesn't need him, Prince, our driver, is available to take me anywhere I need to go. First, about the car and driver, then about where he took me today: the car is a brand new -- still-had-the-plastic-on-the-seats Honda Civic that is a beautiful metalic bronze-like mix between gray and tan. What is that color called? See, my English is fading! And Prince is a very experienced driver who has worked for Jim's company a long time and speaks English, Pidgen English, Yoruban, and French (from years of living in Cameroon and another French-speaking African country). He's a great asset -- describing all of what we see as we drive and throwing in a lot of politics as well! For instance, he predicts (as we've heard from others) that Nigeria will become 3 nations sometime fairly soon -- the Hausa in the north, the Igbo in the east (remember Biafra?), and the Yorubans in the west. We shall see -- unity is not a word to describe anything we see here, even inside the camp when I think about it.

So, Prince took me, Lucy, and a friend from Brazil, Daniela, to the most local of all truly Nigerian markets -- Borokiri Market. The smells about knocked me out when we got out of the car to begin our adventure. I thought I was going to insult everyone staring at us by, right in front of them, vomiting on their trash piles. That's where the horrific smells were originating -- for the most part, at least. But I begged God to help me keep control and smiled, stopped inhaling, and moved forward. Next time we go there (and we will, for sure 'cuz we loved it!) I'm definitely taking my camera. This time I wanted my hands free for shopping.

We had already determined that we didn't want to buy any food items -- buying flour out of an open basket that hands have been in and birds have flown over, well, let's just say that I'm not turning any of that into a sheet of cookies! The fish were attracting flies more than people. The little snail-like seafood things were, well, stinky! OK, you get the point. No food was the best decision. So, we moved on to the area that had other products -- about a 20 minute stroll past vendors that were shouting "ogibo" (remember, the "g" is silent so it sounds like o-ee-bow) which means "white" or "white person." They shouted a whole lot of other things that we couldn't understand but Lucy assured us it was all nice! Sometimes they shouted out "African Woman" (but it's pronounced -- af-ree-kaan woa-maan) to Lucy. We were quite the oddity, Daniela and I, because this is not a typical shopping place for expats. In fact, we are the only 2 on the whole camp who would think of going to this market. We felt totally safe, which is the concern of the other women on the camp. We just, definitely, needed showers upon returning home and we definitely didn't drink anything -- even if it was in a bottle.

Anyway, this bargaining routine is getting to be fun! I got a clothes drying rack, one that I'd seen in the standard "super market" for 7500 naira. OK, drum role please -- I got it for 2000 naira. I'll admit it, Lucy was a huge help and Daniela needed one, too. So, after he got down to 2500 for one, I said that we needed two and we'd give him 4000 for both. When we started to walk away, he readily agreed! At another stand, I got 2 handmade baskets (woven from thin palm-tree strings) each for 150 naira. So much fun! 1 US dollar is exchanging for around 145 naira right now. Yep, that means a basket that is a large fruit basket size, handmade in the state just north of us, without flaws, for about a buck!

So, next time we go -- Daniela, Lucy, and I -- I'll take pictures. Lucy had such a blast -- even riding in the car was a total treat for her -- waving to workers as we drove out of the camp.

I'll write more about her, soon. I've learned so much about her difficult life. What a dear!

Before I close this out, a bit more news: I'm going to start teaching a children's Bible class and Jim and I will be starting a couples' Bible Study in the home of an Indonesian couple who are very sweet and so wanting to grow in their walk with Jesus.

So many good things, all from the Giver of all good things!