We're Here!

After nearly 48 hours of travel we have finally arrived in Jos! The flights were very long and left us tired, but excited to have arrived. =) The picture here is from the McDonald's at the Frankfurt Airport on a long layover.

After lunch we were able to purchase handmade clothing and purses from the Gidan Bege Widow's School, which is a ministry that serves widows by providing them a way to earn a living and learn a trade.

This afternoon we were able to visit CLAPAI (Childrens' Love and Protection Advocacy Initiative) to throw a birthday party for the children who live in the home and birthdays fall in the months of May, June or July. It was fun to see how happy the children were to see us and receive their own birthday presents. Tomorrow we will take the children on a field trip.

Thanks for all the prayers as we continue to adjust.

Friday Safari at Yankari

Today we went on a safari at the Yankari Nature Preserve. It was a 3 hour drive from Jos to the nature preserve. When we got there, we were greeted by baboons and warthogs. We got into two land cruisers and drove around for about 2.5 hours looking for animals. We saw a couple of large birds, some more baboons and some monkeys. We saw a whole bunch of elephant dung, but no elephants or other mammals. It was still pretty cool to be on safari in Africa.

After the safari we went to the hot springs in the preserve to go swimming . The springs were beautiful and the water temperature was perfect.

The most exciting part of the whole trip to the safari was the baboon that jumped in to the bus onto Rhonda's shoulder. He then jumped into Dan's seat and stole Dan's pringles can. Dan let a loud "girly" scream and scared the baboon so much it jumped out of the bus. (Just kidding about the scream, Dan actually tried to chase the baboon off the bus and it just stared at him until it got the Pringles, then it ran.)

The bus ride home went fairly fast and we had dinner at a cafe in Jos and most of the team had their first "Chapmans," a Nigerian fruit drink that is very popular.

We are going shopping tomorrow morning and then heading to Abuja to the airport for our long trip home. This is the last post from Nigeria. We'll see you all soon.

Block Party at Kisayip

Today was a totally awesome day. We went back to the Kisayip village to have a block party. We started the day by picking up the CLAF kids and packing them onto the bus with us. We headed to Kisayip and climbed the path up to a rocky overlook of the land that SSE and Back2Back are planning to develop just outside of the village. It was a beautiful day and Jason shared with us the vision for that piece of land. We prayed for the land and the future of the people who will be ministered to through the work of B2B and SSE. The CLAF kids lead the prayers for the vision of B2B building a home for them on the land.

After lunch we went to the village for the party. We threw the best block party that village has ever seen, okay it was also probably the first. About 40 men showed up to play soccer at the field with new goal posts we installed yesterday. We had over a hundred women and children show up to hang out and play games. The kids had a bounce tent to play in that was the most popular event of the day. The kids must have each had ten turns each in the bounce tent. Dana, Rhonda, Matt, Kathy & Kenzi (from Mexico) painted the faces of almost every kid. Dan, Jim, Tim & Ernie conducted a punt, pass & kick competition using an American football. It was quite funny watching soccer players try to throw a football. Cathy, Dan, Matt and others tried to lead a water balloon toss game that quickly turned into a water balloon fight with all the kids and most of the adults. Matt (the intern) & Jason and some of the ladies cut hair for about 30 boys. Eddie (the guard) got a bunch of the women to play tug of war which was very much fun. We gave away 100 pounds of oranges and a bunch of little bags of clean drinking water.

Diane and Jeanette went back to the clinic to work with the doctor. They saw over 60 patients and took care of many different types of injuries and illnesses. They will have to tell you the rest when they get home because they went to sleep early.

On the way home we went four wheeling in the bus across the crop lands of Kisayip. Several children from the village ran alongside the bus the whole time we were four wheeling. They either ran fast or we were driving very slowly.

We brought the kids back to the house with us for a dinner party. We had traditional Nigerian foods and traditional dancers performed for us. We gave the kids who have birthdays in September, October & November birthday presents and we celebrated Matt’s birthday.

Wednesday Evening

Just a quick evening update. Kande & Mark joined us for dinner tonight and told us all about their advenures for the past two weeks. They're both doing well and have spoken at many churches.

This evening's entertainment wasn't quite as exciting as the bonfire last night. We didn't hear the dinosaur, but spent much of the night playing very loud card games named Peanut & Pit. Evenings here are interesting because once we get home from our daily work projects we have no option, but hanging around and entertaining ourselves. We are a very entertaining group!!

Krista & Mike C., if you are reading this, please respond so that your parents know you care.

Dan's family, thanks for all your prayers and comments!

Everyone else, thanks for responding. We greatly appreciate all your prayers and encouragement!

Wednesday at Kisayip

Today we went to the village outside of Jos called Kisayip. Some of the guys dug holes and installed soccer goal posts. Actually, they started digging the holes and the men from the village took over the digging and completed it much quicker than we could have without their help. The cement will dry overnight and tomorrow we will have a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the soccer field. We also built desks for the students at the school. Last year one of the teams from the US poured concrete floors and built benches. We got to build the desks to complete their classrooms. The kids helped build and sand the desks and were very excited to go to school tomorrow with actual desks. Diane and Jeanette (who are both nurses) worked with the village doctor at the clinic and treated over 35 patients. A couple of other people hung malaria nets over the beds in the infirmary at the clinic. It was a very busy day, but we got all our projects completed.

Everyone is still healthy and having fun. Tomorrow we are going back to the same village and taking the CLAF kids with us to have a block party for the people in the village. It will be great fun.

Tuesday at CLAF

We started the day by visiting a small business called Gidan Bege a seamstress shop that was started by a local ministry to provide jobs for widows. We bought miscellaneous Nigerian apparel for our families & friends. We also got measured for Nigerian clothes.

We spent the rest of the day working at the CLAF (Children's Love Advocacy Foundation) house. A young couple named Emmanual & Kyenpiya run a school for kids who have been orphaned by AIDS. The kids stay with them during the week and return to their relatives for the weekend. We did many projects around the house as well as playing with the kids. Diane & Jeanette did medical check ups for the kids and ladies who work at the house. They also cleaned the kids' ears & taught the ladies how to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Tony, Matt, Ernie, Tim (from Mexico), and Matt (the intern) mixed sand, rocks & cement to repair the porch and install a swing set. Jim & Dan hung doorway curtains for all the rooms to keep mosquitoes out. Cathy & Rhonda hung hooks for lanterns so they can have light at night since the house has no electricity or running water. Dana built a table for a drinking water station and learned how to draw water from the well, mix it with Pur, and end up with clean drinking water. Kathy & Kenzi (from Mexico) taught the Nigerian ladies how to salsa dance.

After we finished all the projects, we played with the kids. We brought footballs, wiffle balls & bats, soccer balls, and Frisbees that were all in motion at once. We also colored, painted nails, and made bead jewelry.

Everyone is in good health and having a great time. We built a bonfire tonight at the house where we're staying and learned the answer to the question, "How many batura (white men) does it take to start a bonfire?" The answer is 5 batura to discuss and plan and one Nigerian man to actually start the fire. When you see Dana, ask her about the dinosaur that lives next door and makes loud noises.

Day 1 in Nigeria (Monday in Mangu)

We all made it safely to Nigeria. Our rescheduled flights were very smooth. We spent Sunday night in Abuja and this morning drove to Jos. The drive was beautiful. We went directly to a village outside of Jos called Mangu. We met the borehole team there and watched them work on drilling a well. We played soccer and other games with the kids. Matt painted fingernails of many small children. The village kids successfully wore Ernie out playing soccer. Dan & Cathy got to assist the drillers by cleaning mud out of the out of the mud pit and installing pieces of drill pipe to the drill string. Rhonda taught the girls a New Zealand stick game. Tony & Dan played soccer while dodging goats & motorcycles in the playing field. Jeanette got mobbed by kids who wanted Spierman coloring sheets. Dana & Jeanette learned Hausa from the kids. Everyone on the team enjoyed meeting the drill team and Daniel.