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Wow, it has been a while! Sorry about that! We have had a rather busy couple of months. The heat is still with us but the rains have started so we are in that suspenseful season where the heat and humidity gradually build over several days and then finally the rain comes and we all rejoice in the refreshing smells and cool air until the rain stops and the cycle begins again. It may seem weird to those of you who live in rainy Britain to pray for rain but we regularly do!
Tim in a role play during the training
So, last time I wrote Tim was about to head to the UK. He made it there and back again safely and had some helpful training in-between. The challenge for him now, as with any training really, is to see how he can apply it in our Nigeria context.
I met my two major deadlines, just. One was a data set listing all the 500+ languages in Nigeria and detailing any linguistic and literacy materials that exist in those languages. We had a month flat to put it together but I felt satisfied with what we produced. It was encouraging to see just how many Nigerian languages have had some sort of work done in them that could pave the way for scriptures in that language.
At the start of April we had our annual Staff Conference where we all gather to think and talk and pray about what God is doing through SIL Nigeria and what He wants us to do next. Which reminds me, one of the projects that Tim has been working on with a team of others, is to get a website set up for our organisation here. You might want to take a look at https://nigeria.sil.org/
Then, immediately after Staff Conference Tim drove to Abuja to drop off the two SIL Area visitors who had come for the conference and to pick up one of my great friends who came to visit us. I (Ali) have known Olga since university, she was one of my bridesmaids and now she holds the honourable position of being the first non-family member to come and visit us purely for the sake of seeing us! We had a great two weeks together, only slightly marred by my developing mild malaria in the second week.
Looking forward, Tim is off to the UK again. This time for the Elim Missionaries conference and then the Elim Leadership Conference. We had debated a bit about whether or not he should go for this but decided that as we are having some support issues it was important for him to be able to go and talk to people face to face. Now, it turns out that some of the people he was hoping to see will not actually be there so please pray that God will use this time well and that what our Father has planned will happen!
By the time you read this, Dan’s school play will have been performed once on Friday evening and awaiting a second performance on Saturday. His end of term is also approaching with final exams and projects. Dan will finish school for the year by the end of May and he is looking forward to more restful times over the summer!
And finally, a thought. Ultimately we all choose what we invest our time and money in. Tim and I believe that what we are doing is investing our time in God’s eternal kingdom, if you would also like to make an eternal investment in time or money, do get in touch!
Thank you so much to all of you who have already invested in his kingdom through us, whether in prayer or financial support or in being there for us. You are storing up treasures where moths and rust (and Brexit ;-)) can not destroy!
Praise
Great visit from a great friend
Helpful training for Tim
Prayer
Dan to have energy and focus for the end of term
Tim’s trip to the UK to be safe and bear fruit
That Ali can trust God as she tries to catch up with her back-log of work
