A picture website..

Check out some great pics. Visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/missionsvcc/ to check out nearly 200 photos from the trip. Photos on the main page display randomly... to see them in an order that makes sense, open up the Nigeria Jan 08 set.

A long, hot shower and my very own bed!

It's good to see Jesus at work in a culture very different than our own. And then it's nice to be home. Especially when your bus breaks down (TWICE) on the way to the airport and your new Nigerian friends have to pull strings to get you through the check-in process in order to make sure you don't miss your flight. Dang. This is a story worth telling. But we'll leave that up to each of the team members to pass along to friends and family who were praying so diligently... and of course to Dave.

Thanks for allowing us to be your representatives for this part of the Luke 4 Challenge. We are all honored and humbled to have been sent as part of God's greater purposes. And we can't wait to tell you more in person... as soon as we soak it all in ourselves, of course. And that may take a while.

In the meantime, we'll post LOTS more pictures, after a good night's rest (check back tomorrow!)

Kande

Ready or not, here we come

I type as the rest of the group busily prepares to leave the SSE house at least as good, if not better, than when we found it. We're packed and ready to head out to Abuja in a few hours. We'll likely wait in the airport after security check for quite a while... then on to Amsterdam with a 5 hour layover before we leave for Detroit. And this trip has been worth every bit of every hour of travel.

Last night's dinner that was hosted here at the house was attended by nearly 50 people, and we were treated to traditional tribal dancers. Very fun. It was cold here by Nigerian standards, so our local friends were suffering quite a bit. We ate ram and chicken and laughed and talked a lot... and exchanged a TON of pictures! Good stuff.

We miss you and can't wait to tell you more in person.

Sai gobe,

Mama Kande

Fun day from start to finish

We went back to see the kids from CLAF children's home today (where we built bunk beds and helped with a few home improvements, etc. on Monday). It was good for Dave, Mark, and Brad to see the facilities and to met Emmanuel and Kyenpia, since their assignments on Monday prevented that. Today, we basically just picked up the kids and took them to a private park with swings and slides, and some real, true grass. It as good to just be able to play with them, relax, get pictures with them, eat lunch together (meat pies... YUM!), and then send them back home with the care kits we brought. Great pictures of that I can't wait to show you.

Afternoon was spent in the market... probably too much time if you ask the guys and too little time if you ask the girls, which likely means it was just right. We had a little time to freshen up before dinner, which was hosted here for about 45-50 people. It as good to have SSE board members and staff bring their spouses, as did the drilling team. Dinner was roasted ram and chicken, barbequed right here on the property and it was delicious! Some members were a little shy about eating the intestines, but some went for it! OH, I almost forget... our entertainment for the night were some traditional tribal dancers. Very cool, special treat.

It was bittersweet to say goodbye to many that we've grown to love during our travels here since we likely won't see them before heading out to Abuja tomorrow. And yet we eagerly look forward to home and its warm familiarity after this experience of being completely immersed in a very different culture and economy.

Please pray for a smooth transition out of the SSE/B2B house we've been staying in... that we organize our time in such a say that we can bless Jason & Emilee by leaving things better than when we found them, but still be on time for departure. We also desire your prayers for our safe, timely travels and for the remaining meetings that are to be had in the morning - may they be productive and glorifying to God.

Sai gobe,

Mama Kande (Can't wait to show you my new decked-out dress!)

Very different experiences...

Very cool day today. Most of the group worked here at the Back2Back compound to prepare the place for rainy season (digging a trench, which is more physical labor than most are used to, so we have some tired backs tonight!) Some also got an opportunity to see a similar drilling rig to what we’ve purchased in operation, while Emmanuel, Dave and Kande went to meet with a group of pastors here in Jos. The pastors here are so impressive, with how little they have to work with. There were about 50 pastors there. Emmanuel introduced us, so we gave some VCC history, spent some time on mission, values and practices, and then talked about our core values. Even though the cultures are so different, there is always a difference between “church subcultures” and the particular broad culture of non-Christians in any city. You could see light bulbs going off with these guys. Then we did Q&A; it was totally fascinating. The questions were more about mechanics in an outward-focused church. Very cool. They were, of course, so appreciative and grateful. I think we actually stirred up a little trouble because of some of the systems/processes in the ECWA (Evangelical Church of West Africa) denomination, but they laughed about it themselves. The younger pastors were especially interested, as they are eager to reach out more effectively.

Afterwards we stopped to see a friend of Emmanuel’s who is a surgeon at the local ECWA hospital. Unbelievable conditions, but very good for Nigeria. He is actually an American who’s been here for seventeen years. What a model of sacrifice.

We left there and went to the ECWA seminary. We barged into a missions class and the professor invited us to talk about what we’re doing! There were maybe fifteen students in the class in old wooden desks with a wornout blackboard, open windows, and a mother with a nursing infant attending the class. The prof was talking about a shift in missions strategies from rural areas (traditional approach in Africa) to cities which are now overloaded and diverse. It’s an obvious mission field but a paradigm shift in missional thinking here. It was a clear fit with what we’re doing (as in: Greater Cincinnati is our mission field), so it was a great segue. This turned out to be totally a God-thing. As a matter of fact, during Q&A one of the students (who looked a whole lot like Spike Lee) spent about five minutes thanking us and remarking that the past thirty minutes had completely changed his view of ministry and were the most impacting time he’s had at seminary. No kidding. The students were all nodding their heads…and all we were doing was talking about our mission and values and spending time describing an outward-focused, relevant approach in whatever culture you’re in. I’ve never been in a classroom setting that was so much like a giant sponge. This was way worth the stop. We ended up being there for a good while and going over their scheduled class time by an hour!

It was a full day; we again skipped lunch but we did have dinner tonight at a Nigerian pizza place(!) with a Coke and, get this, ice. Beautiful. Much of the group was also introduced to Kande's favorite drink here - something called a Chapman. Yum!

The team is resting tonight, playing Scrabble, laughing, and sending emails home. It’s been a good trip.

Tomorrow we spend time taking kids from the children’s home (they prefer to not use the word orphanage) for an outing at a park. Should be a fun trip; and, as usual, Dave's hair will puzzle them.

The team is thinking more and more about seeing family and getting back to everyone we miss at home. It's been great, but we're all VERY tired!

Thanks for your support. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Today's Pictures

Kids enjoying the water. Lots of people worshipping. Dave praying for the SSE Drilling Crew.

WE DID IT!

Words truly cannot describe our joy and amazement... We drank from our first bore hole today! (Yeah, and no one is sick yet.)

Really... I'm not kidding. Words can't describe it. So after we recuperate from a day of celebration we'll try to figure out how to post a picture or two later today. Brad can't fathom editing the amount of great footage we got in order to capture the experience for you all back home. Pray for him!

Meanwhile, the girls got their missing luggage and nearly 100 orphan care kits were delivered to area pastors so they can distribute them to those in the most need in their congregations. God is so good.

And this is about so much more than water...

Mama K