Guest Blogger: Culture

It is an amazing thing in our world today that you can get on a plane; travel thousands of miles in a relatively short time, and step off into another world.  Yet, God has given us this great opportunity to see life not just from our perspective, but with His eyes.

So many times I forget that the rest of the world does not live like I do and in ministering to them we must meet them where they are. My trip to Nigeria opened my eyes to another culture, one in which I was the stranger.

As it happens, my first cultural experience outside of the airport dealt with food. After flying into the capital city, the next morning we set off for Jos. Trey assured us that as we left the busy city, we would find a place to eat. After a while, we came to a roll of shacks. Trey let us know this is where breakfast was. With some reservation, I followed my son as he led us past the first row of shacks to the shacks behind the shacks.  Trey proceeded to order an egg sandwich. The man pulled out a fresh egg and cooked it over an open flame.  Following a long trip and now a ride on a hot dusty road, I decided to drink my Diet Pepsi and wait. My son looked at me like “suit yourself” and we continued our trip. Actually, I didn’t go hungry in Nigeria and tried some new foods at different places. I was continually amazed at my son and daughter-in-law’s ability to adjust to their surroundings and meet people where they are.

There are many things that are just a part of daily life in Nigeria but completely different from my life in the United States. I like to think of myself as a person who can “rough it.” In my younger days, I enjoyed camping and hiking for days at a time. I have however, become accustomed to living my daily life knowing I can turn the lights on when I want, wash clothes, turn on the air conditioning, or use various appliances whenever I wish.  In Nigeria, the only thing certain about the electricity is that at some point in time it will go off. You might be sleeping in bed with the ceiling fan running and suddenly everything goes silent.  The silence may last a few hours or many days, but as if a surprise at Christmas suddenly everything will be running again. This inconsistency in electric power has influenced how people in Nigeria live their lives. They perform those tasks that require electricity when they can, not knowing how long it will last.  They aren’t particularly bothered or annoyed by it; it is just a part of life. On a daily bases, there are many things I have learned to rely on, but few of which really matter in task of carrying out God’s mission. They are simply things I have grown accustomed to. God asks us to meet people where they are not considering our needs, but their needs as we share God’s love.

Being from Arkansas, I am a great fan of Wal-Mart. Everything you need in one place. If you can imagine, the Nigerian marketplace is an even bigger economic/social gathering than Wal-Mart. It is a narrow, dusty road and crowded with wall-to-wall people all who have gathered to either sell or buy.  They were selling everything from raw meat to fresh milk and fresh milk is the hot item. Milk seemed to be a luxury item in Nigeria and is only sold in the market when available. The buyer must be at the “fresh market” at just the right time, if they want the white nectar and if they are fortunate to get some they get on their Nigerian network of communication to let others know. Trey and Kristen had made relationships with some of the locals and they were able to guide us through the marketplace.  I was definitely thankful for the help, but even more amazed at how these relationships had been formed in such a short time. In this culture, relationships are key to sharing the Gospel. The missionaries are strangers in a foreign land. God uses different relationships each day to work His plan in this crowded and sometime challenging culture.

Culture - The dictionary defines “culture” as “the behaviors and beliefs characteristic to a particular group.” That definition leads me to question the culture of “the church” today.  Do our behaviors reflect the belief that we believe Christ return is imminent?  Do we cross any barrier in the belief that that we must carry out the Great Commission? It is humbling to know God has called us to reach our culture. It is our turn.

Chandler Renee - three months & Owen Willis - one year

Today is a special day in our family, not only because Chandler is 3 months old, but because her cousin (our nephew) is one today!! We are so thankful that Owen entered this world one year ago today. We were in Vancouver at the time and patiently waiting his arrival announcement. One of the best things about being able to go to the states to have Chandler was meeting Owen. He wasn't too sure about Chandler in the beginning, but eventually warmed up to her. Happy Birthday, Owen!!

I am loving watching Chandler grow. This month has been a big one for her. We started using cloth diapers (check out BumGenius diapers!) and she loves to sit up in her bumbo. At 2.5 months, we got on a plane and moved back to Africa with her in tow. You wouldn't believe how much baggage a baby adds (ok, maybe you understand). Within 2 nights of landing, she had adjusted to the new time zone. She slept through the night here before we did. Chandler is really great with people. She doesn't mind being passed around and will give just about anyone a smile. She gets lots of attention here. I'm afraid of what will happen when she's back in the states and doesn't get that much attention. :)

This month she continues to roll over from front to back. She's started reaching for her toys on her bouncy & play mat. She's also started gnawing on her hands... which I read is NOT a sign of teething, but appropriate development for her age. Just yesterday while on her back on her play mat she rolled up on her right side. She's definitely strong! She's also started a real laugh that doesn't sound like a cough, but you may have to work for it.

Excited to get on an airplane!

First day in Africa

renting in africa

As we were getting things ready to move into our house we had many, "that would never happen in America" moments. I'd love to share some of these with you. These are in no way to hate on our landlord or property.. just things we found to be funny.

• The fridge doesn't really close... so we put duct tape on it to help. It doesn't exactly do the job, but it'll do until ours gets here.
• There's not a toilet seat in our bathroom. When we asked the landlord about it, he said that we told him we had our own plumber coming and he should get the toilet seat for us.
• We noticed the ceiling fan in our bedroom didn't seem to be going as fast as the other rooms. We asked the landlord about it and he said just to use the AC unit in the room. (obviously AC is better than a fan, but more expensive for us) So we just switched that fan with the fan in Chandler's room-to-be.
• We had to wait for the lady living on our property to move out before we could move in.
• They changed the mosquito netting on the main rooms of the house. It was great until we realized it has a green tint & therefore everything we look at out our windows does as well.
• Typically, when you move into a rented apartment or home, it's fairly clean. We spent approximately 3 days scrubbing this place down. There's still places I want to clean again.
• There are things that we have had to put in because its not common to have here like a hot water heater, washer & dryer hookups, kitchen cabinets... when we move out, we will take all of that with us. And the toilet seat.

We really do love our new little home. It's 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (one in the master bedroom with a bidet), and a mother-in-law suite that we can only use the living room & bathroom (the rest of the suite was negotiated out of the contract for the landlord to store the furniture we're currently using). We have nice little living room/dining room and a very little kitchen. All of the rooms came with built in closets, which can be difficult to find. We have some other things we plan to "work" on... like we really need some kitchen cabinets up :) But enjoy our before pictures.

disclaimer: this house is a MESS. Remember, these are before pictures :) And I had a sleeping hubby when I was taking these pictures so I don't have one of our Master Bedroom yet. It looks like the other bedrooms... just bigger.

walking in the gate

front porch with Chandler's new toys we were given!

Thanks Hobby Lobby for our Welcome sign

living room/dining room with our lovely temporary furniture

living room/dining room

tiny kitchen without cabinets

bathroom - french style

toilet on the right

shower & sink on the left

spare bedroom

Chandler's soon to be bedroom

Master bathroom (avec bidet)

Guest Blogger: Travel

I asked my father-in-law (a.k.a. Trey's dad, a.k.a. Carl) to share some stories about his experiences in Nigeria. He came to visit (and bring goodies) in January. Being his first time to really travel internationally, he had some really hilarious stories. Not to mention, most people don't choose to visit Nigeria with so little traveling experience. So he's written a series of blogs to share some of those stories with you and give you insight into our lives here.

I will admit up front that this is the first attempt of writing a blog. When Kristen asked me to write this blog , I began to think of what my topic would be and decided on “Firsts”. I want to describe my first overseas travel adventure.

I often heard the quote “go big or go home” as it described different types of adventures.  Let me describe the different emotions that I experienced before this adventure began; apprehension, do I really want to travel 26 hours in economy seating; fear, can I handle this trip; questioning, do I have what it takes to go into a country like Nigeria; uncertainty, I have never done this before; but the emotions of love for family and excitement to see God at work in their lives nullified every negative emotion I had. So I decided to go big and the trip began.

The plane trip was bearable and we arrived in Nigeria. Our layover in Paris was cold with blizzard like conditions and when we arrived in Abuja, Nigeria it felt like walking into an oven. I was anticipating a grand reunion with Trey, as I knew he was outside the gates waiting on us, but that was to be delayed. Evidently, the Nigerian immigration officers also heard the quote “Go big or go home” because they told this big boy to go home. This was a first. I had never before been told I was not welcome in a country. After about 45 minutes of conversation, begging, and convincing that I was going to be a grandfather and I have to get the 6 bags of gifts and baby items to Trey and Kristen, they finally let us in.

Let me describe traveling in Nigeria. Picture a driver’s education class of 100 extremely competitive fifteen year olds with the task of arriving first at a destination point. Now, picture the road as a mountain road of Arkansas with major pot holes every few yards; this was what it was like. Oh, by the way, the 6-hour trip from Abuja to Jos also included about 10 – 12 checkpoints with armed military and local authorities controlling your forward movement.  Got the picture?  I sat in the back seat on the passenger’s side and at every checkpoint all these people (children and adults) would come up to my window. They would try to sell me items, etc.  I could not figure it out, until I was told that the person in that seat was seen as the one in authority. At one particular checkpoint, the armed authority provided us with memories. As our driver was out of his car arguing with him (remember he is armed) and my son in his kindest voice (right) saying he was not getting our passports, I felt that I would have a great illustration for my next sermon, JAIL. We made it through and continued our journey to Jos.

Arriving in Jos at the compound, the gates closed behind and the driver unloaded our luggage. To say I was excited and thankful is an understatement. The next day was an adventure because I experienced riding with Trey for the first time. I tried to forget the time that I taught Trey to drive when he was 15 years old, but it all came back to me. My ultra-competitive son was behind the wheel in Nigeria and he was going to win the game of being first to the destination. A new emotion now occurred on this trip. I will let you figure that one out. God spoke to me in a very clear voice, let go and rely on those who I have placed before you. Now remember, I am in the rear passenger seat, the seat of authority and I am suppose to rely on others, the kids. But I did, and Trey and Kristen were not only my guides and they were the leaders.

Let me jump ahead to our return home. This time the journeyman in Jos was our driver. She had been there for 2 years. I thought we needed our driver from before, I was wrong, she and Trey were more than capable of handling the roadblocks. One stop I was called the long lost Commander, I was impressed for a short time, but I came to believe that he was saying I looked like his Commander, let’s just say a big boy. Another stop was humorous; I was in the front passenger seat, because that is where us big boys sit when it is a full vehicle, and the huge armed authority came to my window. Picture this, he is taller and bigger than I am, he has this intimidating machine gun, he is not happy, he is Nigerian and my communication in Nigeria is not great. He said, “Are you coming from Jos?” I heard, “My name is John.” So I responded, “My name is Carl, how are you,” with my biggest smile. I thought he was being nice. I think it tickled him because he smiled large and let us go. Hey if you are ever in trouble in Nigeria, just say “My name is Carl,” you will be ok.

We made it to the airport, said our tough goodbyes, and began our travels home. This was the first time I ever entered our home country through customs. What a safe and incredible feeling it was to be back home. I am one who takes that for granted. What a first! I will share with you in a later blog about the Culture and Ministry that I experienced in Nigeria.

after one week in Benin...

We've been in Benin for over a week now. We know what to expect concerning living in West Africa. There's not many differences from one country to another. However, we've been pleasantly surprised with some things.

1. So far we've only lost power twice for long periods of time... and by long periods of time, I mean a few hours... not days.
2. Being in a former French colony means we get some GOOD bread. And today I calculated that I can buy a loaf of FRESH French bread for about 25 cents... not to mention I didn't even have to go to the store to buy it. The "bread lady" rang my door bell.
3. The restaurants. We found one called "Saloon" that is decorated like an old wild west saloon and serves BBQ. Who would've thought.
4. ICE CREAM. In Burkina Faso, we enjoyed ice cream from a shop called Festival des Glace and sure enough we have it here. In fact, we have 2 of them :)
5. They have wi-fi! Woohoo! No longer paying for internet by the hour or megabyte. We can now pay a flat fee for an entire month! It's still not as fast as America, but we can download things over a few days and it not cost a fortune.

We are all adjusting well to the time change. It only took Chandler 2 nights to be in the correct time zone. It took us longer! We plan to move into our house tomorrow. There are still a few things that need to be done, but that can be done while we're there. Our stuff is beginning to make it's way to us from Nigeria. Pray it makes it quickly & that they have no trouble on the way. We miss our couch & recliner :) No, but really, we cannot wait for our stuff to get here and really make our house into our home.