Our New Home: Niger Creek Compound, Jos, Nigeria

We have arrived in beautiful Jos, Nigeria! The journey was smooth and fairly uneventful (Besides Katie picking up a stomach bug along the way and being sick the first few days in Nigeria. Thankfully, she is much better now). We have had an amazingly warm reception at the Niger Creek Compound where we are living in close proximity to the Abts (our coworkers at BRiCC) and 6 other missionary families. We have had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people and sharing meals with a few of them. So far we have had orientation on culture, going to the market, finances and technology in Nigeria.

Next week we will visit BRiCC for the first time! It was so exciting to meet the core leadership when we arrived and we are so excited to be a part of that close knit team. Some of the ideas they already have for us is for Katie to be a part of teaching a prenatal workshop with two nurses. This would make a huge impact in the Muslim community as death rates during pregnancy are very high due to little or no prenatal care and lack of exercise. It has also been suggested that Jeremy could plan a music festival to get some positive PR for BRiCC. We are so excited to see how these ideas grow and develop!  Please pray that God would show us exactly where He wants us to fit in.

 

We were so blessed and amazed by our new home! We are living in a large unit within a Triplex. We were shocked by how modern and nice it is (it’s even bigger then our first apartment back home). The biggest surprise for Katie was the washer and drier! Praise God, we don’t have to hand wash our clothes, but with the electricity out about 75% of the time since we arrived…never say never! Still, our house and new neighbors have been such a blessing and we are feeling right at home.

Please continue to pray that we learn the language and culture quickly and find our place within what God is already doing in Jos through SIM and so many other missions and development organizations. 

Here are some photos of our new place :)

This is our front entrance

In the Living Room with Jeremy's borrowed guitar

Our Bedroom

We were excited to find these beauties!

Our backyard

Basketball courts right outside our front door....

In Every High and Every Low

This song really encouraged me today. Its hard to fight uncertainty when it feels like we are swimming in it, but I know He never lets go of me!

Please Pray

Our tickets are booked for March 13th for the long ride between South Bend and Abuja, Nigeria! After we arrive in Nigeria's coast side capital, we will have a day long journey by car north to Jos. We couldn't be more excited to have our tickets finally booked, but we've hit a major road block!

OUR VISAS HAVE BEEN DENIED! They warned us that visas were difficult to obtain and apparently this happens up to 50% of the time, but it still hurts. The Nigerian consulate has cited that we didn't include all of the 20+ documents needed for our application, but they were all there. So SIM will be resubmitting our application ASAP. Our travel coordinator believes we may be able to still leave on the 13th, but can't guarantee it. Luckily, our tickets our transferable and we can change them until the 12th.

PLEASE PRAY:

1. That God would place the correct person on the job when our applications go through and that they will be granted quickly. We know that He works everything for good and trust His timing in our adventure.  

2. Please pray for God to continue to grow our faith.

3. Please pray for the strengthening of believers as violence against Christians escalates in Northern Nigeria. Pray that God would give us His words and love for those in desperate situations.

Our Olympic Moment

What an amazing and uncertain month! With our leave date changing every day as well as many joys and disappointments, we were starting to feel like a ship tossed by a raging sea. Still, God never failed as our anchor and provider.

Today we reached 100% of our support and we praise God for what He alone could do so quickly and amazingly! It feels like we are two of the joyful Olympians waving their flags and smiling ear-to-ear at the opening ceremonies. There has been so much that has lead us to this moment and so much more to come...

Please praise God who provides (with us) and continue to remember us in your prayers.

1. Pray that we use our time off work next week wisely and prepare thoroughly.
2. Pray that our visas will not be delayed any further.
3. Pray that everything would come together so that we can leave by March 11th as planned.