Love from home and further challenges

Sorry about the time delay between blogs, I will attempt to be more diligent in future! Something I’ve been thinking about lately is how loud Nigeria is. Nigerians seem to have this ability to filter noise. Nigeria is a noisy place, from the honking of motorbikes and cars constantly trying to convey they are free for passengers or telling traffic they are there, to the insanely loud music they play (with terrible sound systems). I have yet to hear any music played quietly or without some kind of distortion due to the level at which is being played! But people are loud too. I was at Gyero the other day playing snakes and ladders with the kids and walked away afterwards with a headache from how loud they talk to each other. Even downtown, if you see tow people talking in raised voices, it seems as though they are fighting in public and having big argument with raised voices, but seconds later they'll be smiling and holding hands again (the men), and they were just having an incredible passionate and animated conversation! Everything here happens at full volume and raised voices does not indicate that there's a drama, it's just communication! When I was at camp the other weekend, one of the priorities in the middle of the African bush was the sound system and in all our hours of free time during the programme, music was played so loud that you had to yell to be heard by the person sitting right next to you. Nigerians don’t ever turn music down for the ease of being heard, they just shout louder!

That being said I LOVE the music here! It’s so catchy and up beat. My favourite song right now is called ‘Chop my money’ by two brothers called P-Squared. Check it out on Utube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17vC8qZILJE&feature=relmfu). Chop is slang here for lots of things, you can chop bread (eat bread) or chop money (spend money), you can actually chop anything really!

I received my very first care package from home the other day which was so exciting! I don’t think I can quite convey how awesome it is to receive things by mail here. They take months to arrive but the wait is worth it! It’s just so nice to have a reminder from home and a few comforts in the way of familiar food items. Made my week! If anyone else wants to send me something, I’d love you forever!

Parcels go to :

ECWA/SIM HQ
PMB 2009
Jos,
Plateau State
Nigeria.

I experienced my first proper lightening storm the other night and I have never seen anything as incredible, there is nothing I can compare it to. I’ve been in thunder and lightening storms before with the occasional sheet lightening and thunder but for about an hour, the whole sky was constantly lite up by fork lightening, it was just spectacular. The thunder was too far away to hear but on other occasions when it’s close it is so loud it’s excitingly terrifying! Makes you really reflect on how huge God is! Speaking of the elements, I got caught in my first torrential downpour the other day. It was nice because even though I was saturated, it was still warm, so weird to get used to. The temperature is really perfect at the moment because of the rains every couple of days, I’m actually able to sleep under a sheet now!

A few of you may have seen some very formal photos of me with a hot date on Facebook....let me give you the context. The seniors who attend the high school here have what's called a Banquet (instead of a formal or a ball as we have back home) where they all get dressed up, arrive in limo's and have millions of posed photos. It is hosted by the class below them and is a celebration before school breaks and they graduate. Anyway, Sterling got asked to be the professional photographer and insisted on bringing a date if he was going to do it for free, hence I tagged along. It was a really fun night in the end, despite being surrounded by 16 and 17 years olds, and the Nigerian guys provided entertainment when they refused to remove their sunglasses inside.....it's all about having 'swag' you see :) The theme was 'A Night in Paris' and the hall was decorated really well, they had some musical numbers and even a dance group come and perform. The highlight was drinking Fanta out of champagne flutes! haha

It’s a funny time here at Challenge compound right now. We’re in a real state of transition. There are 3 missionaries heading back home permanently in the next month, one missionary has left for 7 months furlough already, our compound parents are away for 3 months, then another lady is gone for 3 weeks holiday to Europe next week so it’s just my neighbour Fiona and I left to represent the Challenge crew! The ‘Summer’ in Nigeria is always a quiet time as a large percentage of missionaries (with children at Hillcrest school in particular) go back to the States for 2-3 months while school is out on break. So it’s going to be an interesting time. We are expecting Challenge to fill up again with new short termers in June and July with more people arriving so it’ll be good to get to know and welcome new faces, and not feel like the the most inexperienced in Nigeria! I won’t be the newest arrival for much longer! I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that my time in Nigeria will have seasons, different periods of time with different people and different group dynamics, but I’m sure each will bring with it blessings in different ways.

Another challenge to come will be acting as Health Care Coordinator for SIM Nigeria for 2 months while the current coordinator is home in the States. This will involve giving advice and consultations to SIM missionaries for all health related issues and treating or referring accordingly. It’s a massive job on top of all the orphan care I’m also solely responsible for at the same time while my ministry partner Kelly is also away, so prayer for this would be amazing! I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed to be honest, it will be a real baptism by fire!