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Happy New Year!
I love the fact that, here in Nigeria, the first time you see a person in the new year, you greet them with “Happy New Year!” It could be June, but if it is the first time you see them that year then “Happy New Year!” So, although 2018 may be starting to feel less than shiny new to you by now, we greet you with a Happy New Year!
We had a busy but surprisingly restful Christmas break. I say surprisingly because looking into it I was concerned by the very low number of days that were not already filled up. I like time to chill out at home without too much planned and there was a noticeable lack of those sort of days! However, God is good and he gave us rest in other ways this Christmas.
We were able to take a short trip to a game reserve about 3 hours drive north-east of Jos with several other families. There is a hot spring there which feeds a beautiful river with a white sandy bottom that stays at a beautiful 31C. We spent most of our time there in the water, relaxing, swimming, snorkelling, chatting. We then had a fairly quiet New Year back in Jos with a New Year’s Eve BBQ (something that would have been distinctly chilly in the UK!).
After New Year we spent about 4 days at a retreat centre in Miango, about half an hour’s drive from Jos for the SIM retreat. SIM is another big mission here in Nigeria and they had asked Tim if he would come and lead the worship for them during their retreat. I helped by doing projection (of words and presentations) and leading a small group. Dan helped by swelling the number of teenagers! Despite having ‘jobs’ to do there we were also able to rest and enjoy hanging out with other missionaries. Tim however took the whole recreation side of things a little too seriously and managed to pick up a bad ankle injury during their annual adults vs youth football match. He is now hobbling around with a brightly coloured ankle.
Thankfully one of the SIM missionaries is a physiotherapist and she offered to do a home visit to see Tim in exchange for a good meal. As good meals are not too hard to come by in our house we were very grateful for this offer!
There was another, much more serious, medical issue that we were involved with over the break. An American friend of ours gave birth (in the early hours of New Year’s Day) to a baby girl who quickly developed breathing difficulties and ended up having to have a medical evacuation a few days after she was born. She and her parents are now in South Africa and she is doing so much better. Although the situation was so hard and scary, we were able to see God’s provision time and time again though it. We have a Nurse who recently joined SIL Nigeria, when we have not had one for years previously. He was able to be a massive help in so many ways. The baby needed a passport in order to be able to be evacuated and at one point (when she was on 24 hour oxygen) we thought that she was going to need to be driven to Abuja (the capital, about 5 hours drive from Jos) in order to be issued with one. However the embassy ended up issuing it without requiring this and they even sent representatives to Jos with the passport. We had the impression that only the mum would be able to travel with the baby in the evacuation but in the end the plane was able to take both parents as well as the baby. It is such an encouragement when we can see God’s hand even in the midst of hard times!
CLICK THIS LINK For an exciting story about God using translated scripture to reach people.
We are starting to make plans for our furlough in the UK this summer (June-July 2018). It might seem a little early but we want to see as many of you as possible and that requires serious co-ordination! Thankfully that is one of Tim’s strengths!
Thank you so much for all your prayers for us, we are deeply grateful! If you are able, please take some time to pray for these things:
Praise
Rest over a busy Christmas break
God’s hand through the baby’s medical evacuation
Prayer
That God will continue to heal the baby and bring peace to her parents
A good transition back into school and work routine
Plans for furlough to take shape in God’s way and time
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