Please Pray!

Sorry it has been so long since our last update! As you might have guessed your prayers are being answered and we are starting to find our place in BRiCC! It is amazing to think about all the things we have been able to get involved with in the last few weeks. 

One of our biggest blessings has been finding a national church that is both incredibly welcoming and inspiring. Jeremy and I were invited to share with their youth fellowship (by a coworker at BRiCC) a few weeks ago about waiting for a mate, dating and marriage. This was a humbling and stretching experience for us. Today, we returned for church, the pastor asked Jeremy to preach a short sermon on May 18^th. Please pray that God would give him an encouraging word for this church which has stood strong in the midst of a M* community as salt and light longer than any other in Jos. When we asked how we could encourage the pastor, he asked for prayer and support as many of the church members are now too afraid to return to the community, impacting how many pastors they can have and how many missionaries they are able to support. Another ministry worker then spoke up saying that it is now too dangerous for the pastor to continue living at the parsonage within the church walls and they are trying desperately to raise support for a new home for him as well. This is the cry of the persecuted church! God has already protected it miraculously from bombings and we know that he will not fail them now. Please pray that he will meet their needs as they trust him.  

Things at BRiCC are also going well. The soccer matches that BRiCC is sponsoring have started and the final will be on May 9^th. A Christian Band that Jeremy has befriended has agreed to play before the final match and he is helping to organize that concert. Please pray that God would give him wisdom and resources as logistics here are very difficult.  Jeremy has also been asked by a friend to help a small church outside of the city by teaching their musicians more about music. Please pray that he would be able to find the time and transportation to make this happen. 

Tomorrow the women’s health education program that Katie has been involved in planning will begin with a trauma healing class. Please pray that God would bring in the women he wants to attend as signups have been low. There is a certain group of women within the community that these classes would be extremely beneficial for. We have approached them, but they are hesitant to attend because many are illiterate. There are many other ways that the enemy could use to discourage them from coming. Please pray that nothing would stop them from coming! Please also pray for all those involved in teaching the classes that their information would be clear and easily accepted by all who attend. 

Katie is also excited about the possibility of helping the women’s skills coordinator to collect the stories of women who have already gone through the baking and cosmetics program at BRiCC. Success stories are such an encouragement here and will help attract more women to become involved in programs that not only help them personally, but help to build relationships that bring peace to this still broken community. 

Please also pray that God continue to align our hearts with his will for BRiCC and Jos in general. We are so humbled by and excited about what He is doing here! 

Celebrating with some of BRiCC's newest graduates

From Jeremy

This week flew by, BRiCC has a course for unemployed women to learn skills; cooking and cosmetic making, such as lotion and soap. So this week was the end of their classes and we were able to test out their products. The cooking techniques they are learning rival those of American standards. They have a man and a lady that teach them how to cook cake, meat pies, spring rolls, and many other things with good hygiene and good quality ingredients. This is all taught on traditional ovens over coal fires. With these classes there are also relationship building exercises and the women learn how to cooperate with different people.

Katie has started working with women that want to speak English and she meets with several ladies throughout the week and speaks with them. They are also teaching her Hausa, and she has said that she is learning more Hausa than they are English J. Katie received a gift from one of the students the other day (see photo) called Baken Ido (hard e on the Ido) literally “black eyes” these grow on trees and you crack the shell and then suck on them and they taste like strawberries, they also have a very hard seed in the center of them. It is amazing how God can use something as hard as a pebble and create life out of it! Kind of like me hard exterior soft and loveable inside :)...

There is also a possibility that I (Jeremy) could join a group on a weekly or biweekly basis to play music and sing at a transition house, I am going to try and get a local band to come and play a concert as well, please pray that they would be willing to do that. The transition house is a great ministry that works with children (mainly boys) that were orphaned or sent away from their families for differing reasons.

Life in Jos

Life in Jos has many ups and downs. Some of our biggest ‘ups’ are the relationships we are developing. The tight knit community of missionaries here (from at least 3 different organizations) has been a huge help and encouragement to us. We are also starting to develop relationships with the people who visit BRiCC to learn new skills, English and just to build relationships. It is so humbling to realize how much we are learning from the people around us, from basic things like how to bleach fruits and vegetables to more important things like how to build relationships and live more like Christ. 

We are deeply touched by the faith of both the missionaries and nationals here as they worship God in churches guarded by men with guns and metal detectors. This is real faith, to continue to build life and strive for peace in a city still scared by violence. Please pray that we would continue to learn from those around us how to be more genuine believers.

 

As with any venture that is worthwhile, we are also seeing challenges. Building relationships and trusting people is not always rewarded with mutual respect. Our hearts go out to those around us who have been affected by widespread corruption, but still find the strength through Christ to treat others with love and forgiveness. 

God is doing amazing things in Jos and in the hearts of his people! We are so encouraged to hear about the dreams of those from the M*lm community He is calling to himself through relationships built at BRiCC. Please pray that Katie will be able to develop deep relationships with around 10 M*lm women she is beginning to practice English with. Also, for wisdom as Katie helps to plan a women’s health seminar with a few nurses that has the ability to improve the lives of many in the M*lm community. Jeremy is beginning to get involved with planning a presoccer match concert that will help get BRiCC’s name out into the community. Please pray that God will give him wisdom to plan this and to encourage the members of a Christian band he is getting to know. Jeremy’s humble heart and quick progress with Hausa is opening up a lot of friendships for him in the M*lm community. Please pray that he will have opportunities to share Christ’s love with those who so desperately need Him. 

These are some Nigerian dancers who came to entertain a short term group that stayed on our compound

This is our neighbor's dog hoping Katie drops her chicken

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.