What is God Saying?

Jesus loves the children, all the children of the world. Red, Yellow, black, and white, Jesus loves the children of the world. The youth in Nigeria are included. Nigeria is full of youth! Oh, so many youth. That is why I am doing what I am doing for the cause of Christ to know they have a future and calling in lIfe. They need to know about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. What does that look like? Youth need direction, guidance and peace of mind that only Jesus can fill completely, even though they don't know it . Jos since last December 26 has been in crisis once again. Nigerian youth need ministry. Youth have been involved with a lot of the fighting, and many are put up to doing this at some leader's beckoning. Things have been happening! What do youth think of all this? How do they feel in a city under attack with bombs, fighting and killing. What do they fear? What is their future? What is their hope? Where do they turn for help? What did it accomplish in the aftermath... dead mothers, brothers, sisters, Uncles, Fathers, and... friends. It will never be the same.

Here it goes for another try, after a long blogspot silence. Can you guess why? ECYA is growing and the office of four is hopping with ideas, requests, and doing their parts; vehicle and campsite repairs (house); travels in fund-raising for Jos campsite development; ECWA Christian Education Department meeting and seminars, keeping up with my house help, ECYA meetings, ECYA Newsletters, finances, ordering t-shirts, checking the food market, crafts, rounding up the cooks for camp or week-end retreats, inquirers for using the campsite and follow-up, SIM-Nigeria meetings and SIM Missionary Fellowship Get-Togethers, with our annual conferences in January, visits with camp staff and campers (they find my house), visitors to see the campsite, ECWA (Evangelical Churches Winning All) General Church Council annual and quarterly meetings, ECWA District Church Council visits for ECYA preparations and supporting their invitational programs, attending Women's Fellowship Conferences, a-h-h Muslim holiday...a chance to breathe and catch-up, ECWA Church ECYA awareness every Sunday in Jos 5-DCCs and many others, calling locally Nigerian monthly ECYA supporters in their committment, and following up ECWA churches in support of the year's camp, rumors of political/social rumbling of something to happen cautious movement calling for attiude of prayer, opportunity of seeking local funding for ECYA from a Nigerian Foundation, campsite bookings and all this spells for successful annual ECWA Camp Youth Alives!

It's not mentioned that electricity is on, and off a lot of the time, just when you want to print it out and have it done! Water scarcity (and petro), too, is a problem at times, and you fill all the containers from your compound for a Nigerian family on the mountain to have some water for their family for cooking and bathing when all their sources are dried up or drive round and round using a whole day to fill your vehicle's tank. Waiting for the electrician to come to the house, taking time from the office and he doesn't come. The Christian Education Department generator engine blows up, and it is not available to use when you most need it to get ready for your meeting or camp! Campers, camp staff, and others drop in the office sharing, talking and presenting ideas or their needs. Need to get this office work done. Noisy office atmosphere of the department talking and laughing or when all the Women Fellowship leaders come in waiting to see the accountant and pick-up their uniforms while you are trying to talk with someone in the office. You arrive home in the evening to work on getting your prayer letter out, and internet service is down or experiencing "browning" light to do laundry and can't. Evening just sitting and relaxing doing nothing. A visitor comes to your house, and tells you about their dire need for help and you are having no money in hand to give.

Youth is what it is all about! In the midst of all this, are struggles in work relationships, figuring out in juggling how to get those to the campsite, while shopping and finishing stuff in the office for camp opening, running errands for the office, Christian Education Department challenges, personal computer blacked-out.. loosing all my e-mail addresses and set-up, adjusting to a new laptop and Windows 7 after using a 6" laptop for six months (thankful); travels to Lagos by luxury bus (interesting trip), and learning about my truck in Jos had been in an accident (no one hurt), campsite guard's health issues or happenings, funerals, weddings, and.... strangers who come to the campsite causing alarm to Akim and his family and guards... The Lord is sovereign and protective.

In the midst of it all is "the joy of the Lord is my strength." My solitude is having early morning times with God and in His word (never enough time). Reading devotionals that direct my heart on Him and just being quiet in His presence. Singing songs of praise with my cassette tape while driving to the office in the morning and praying. Seeing lives changed in camp and hearing reports from pastors, parents and friends of their joy in their member, son/daughter or friend's change serving God. Camp staff sharing how camp grew them, and annouce they are graduating university, got a job, or getting married. Having opportunities to pray one on one with each who come to the office. Monthly Camp staff Discipleship meeting and outings. Meeting the women weekly worshipping and praying together; sharing in their lives, and receiving encouragement and counsel. Sunday worship at Plateau Church and Mid-Week Prayer meetings and fellowship afterwards with the members. Getting a call/text from a friend with words of encouragement. Visiting my Nigerian family and being called "Granny," with a little girl and all her cousins all running welcoming me with a hug. Yes, it is worth it all. God works in a willing heart and He does the rest. I trust Him to do more in the days ahead! "Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it." II Thess 5: 23.

The Povision for The Land!

In January 2008, an e-mail came that the two parcels of land adjacent to the far end of the campsite boundary, mountain side was also wanted by associates of the Jos University Teaching Hospital. This upped the land price from $ 69, 000 to $ 90, 000. (62 plots: 50 X 100 feet). It would not be good to have houses built in this area next to the boy's division of the campsite or for the whole location of the campsite. It was imperitive that ECWA Camp Youth Alive have this land for it was in between the river and our boundary, and not very accessible getting in and out of this area for anyone. It only seemed natural these two parcels of land to become a part of the existing campsite, after having re-surveyed the beacons of the campsite boundaries in acutally seeing this end of our boundary in relation to the mountain would give us a complete block along the river for the campsite, last October 2007. I visited the landowners in October, before leaving Nigeria for furlough, with my ECWA bothers over the interest of having this land for ECYA. Since then, I was sharing this need. I spoke in January to two of my churches about this land, and asking them to pray for the $ 70,000 needed to purchase the land. I had written and called many of my supporters about it. Prayer request were sent out for this need, both here in the USA, and in Nigeria by the ECYA office team. (Rene, Akim and Shammah). The ECWA -SIM Land committee met with the land owners asking them to give us time to raise these funds. The pressure was on ECYA by the JUTH associates and the Landowners for the money. The matter was urgent.

Meanwhile, I was reading the whole of the book Genesis, and passages were coming off the page about the power of God working. The story about King Abemilech asking Sarah to come into his presence, thinking she was Abraham's sister, and God would not let Abemilech touch her. God judged Abemilech, and cursed his people in closing their wombs, because Sarah was Abrahim's wife. He protected Abrahim and Sarah, and restricted anything from happening to Isreal. This passage impacted my heart in that God can do this for ECYA today in these contemporary times! My heart was heavy, and helpless in waiting upon the Lord about this land but this gave me a sense of His peace and hope! Responses were coming in from prayer supporters to wait on the Lord for nothing is too difficult for God. My churches were praying for this need, though helpless themselves to assist.

On Valentine's Day morning I read and wrote down Isaiah 28:27: "And all this also comes from the Lord God Almighty, who is wonderful in counsel and magnificient in wisdom." On this Thursday, February 14, 2008 it proved to be a wonderful day of news! In the late afternoon, while visiting Mom at the South Shore Health Care Center, my brother got a cell phone call from Carolyn of SIM-USA in trying to get me! We happened to be together, and was informed a $90, 000 check came in that day for the two adjacent parcels of land for Jos Nigeria campsite! It was only within two weeks I made this office aware of this crucial need. "You are kidding? God you are wonderful!" He is alive, and answering this ECYA urgent need! Carolyn and all the office had been praying and the whole office was rejoicing in the recieving this $ 90, 000 check! I hugged my brother as He too was estounded of what he heard! I went in to my mother's room of the Heatlth Care Center, and said, "Mom, (she knew something was a miss), you know the land we are trying to purchase, well, just this afternoon a check for $90, 000 came into SIM-USA for purchasing the land from a USA donor! when I mentioned this to her the week before she said, He owns the cattle on a thousands hills..." She looked in amazement, and tears flowed down her face (My face, too). The joy of it all was too astounding for me to contain myself, and anyone I told in the family or friend's facial expression was one of awe, and utter amazement! They were just as happy, if not more than me, for this miracle of provision. That evening, the verse I read, Isaiah 28: 27 came back to me and personally marvelled at how the Lord had affirmed again "that all things come from Him!" I'm still aglow, and hope I never lose this joy of the hand of God on His servant, humbly ministering for ECYA and its future. My faith is enlarged again, ( so is AKIM"S, Rene's and Sahmmah's) and in His awesomeness. The rippling affect of this answered prayer is giving "my supporters" an opportunity to praise and worship God for seeing this prayer answered, and increasing thier faith to trust God more for thier own personal needs. My joy is seeing the response of others upon hearing this news! Praise the Lord!

Something New

It been great to be back here in the States since November for these six months. So much is happening in the ECWA Camp Youth Alive ministry over this last term in Nigeria. Much of the time here, so far, has been just relaxing, spending lots of time with my sister Judy and the family, and getting settled here. This week, I am at SIM-USA Missionary Retreat in Charlotte. We are about eighteen of us SIM missionaries at different stages, representing all the continents of the SIM world. So much is happening here in the US office for us to understand matters that personally affect our well-being long term, and understanding the SIM-USA organization and happenings for preparing for our ministry of home assignment. What is so neat is how we are helping each other in where we are presently in our lives . For me, it is finding the help I need setting up the computer computer for "blogs," skype, and stuff! They are cheering me on! I'm so excited, and feelings of "being charged" is coming back to me. Maybe that's why it important for me to being here.

My First Post

This is my first posting.