btw 2...

lesson for the day...my Mom sent this to me. I thought it was cute! A lotta truth in this one....you might have to click on the picture to actually be able to read the "lesson" underneath it....

btw...

I had liked this pic & wanted to put it up with my B'day pics...only trouble is...it wasn't taken on my B'day (ha)...this one on Malaika's B'day (left), 3 days b4 mine....isn't it nice (Mary's gonna kill me..)?

IT'S BIRTHDAY SEASON!! (isn't it always?? :) )...

My own....

I had my B'day the day b4 yesterday....(It's B'day season)--you all get to guess my age. (note: the younger you guess, the more I like you)

It was great fun....here are some pics:

I missed the first "significant" event of my B'day (photo-wise....I, myself was actually present at the event), which was Michelle & Joy taking me out to lunch, at a new sandwhich bar/bakery/pastry place, courtesy of some of our friends who donated the meal....we didn't have a camera with us then...but the "Chicken Fajita" was great.


Me with the B'day pizza that Richard made me (Mary helped) for my B'day dinner (If I say B'day again, slap me!--oops, I said it again). I do not lie when I say that this was THE BEST HOMEMADE PIZZA I HAVE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE. And I've eaten a lot of Pizza's (sorry, Stars! (My kid sis...hers come in at a close second)!


At my "B'day present"....the bowling ally...with beers (well, one...better than none--I look cheesy in this pic...oops.).


Chocolate cake (go figure...)....no that candle is not your clue as to how old I turned....(go figure again)...

As you can see....it was a pretty fun B'day (oops...again)....Thank you, Jesus! I'm another year older, but at least I'm not old..

My friends asked me to name what were some of the highlights of my last year (yes, we get 2 times in the year to reflect, don't we....(and hopefully more)...here are some of my answers:

--The time I spent in Iceland with my Mom & sister. It was an incredible vacation, as well as a mission with lots of witnessing & souls won & time with loved ones....great combination.

--ERC (see my earlier post on Eurock in the 'August' archives)

--Coming to Nigeria....it's been SUCH a time of learning, growth & fun here & it was a good feeling getting back to Africa.

That's just a few....others were the time I spent in Uganda...my visit to the States (after 6 years)...time with each of my family....I could go on & on...new Words I recieved from Jesus...exciting witnessing adventures & miracles of faith, supply, provision & healing in my own life, as well as those I came in contact with in the above mentioned places...

TYJ 4 a new year.

Proclamation of my own silliness...

So all was going well with the pics of Zaria & all....I had a couple cute chicks leave a comment...

Then 2 days after the post's up, another cute chick tells me she can't see the pictures.....WHAT?!?

My silliness actually started when I posted the original post somewhere under the last 2.....then when I realized what I'd done, I copied & pasted the post to a new one & published......sounds good, right?

But then when I deleted the original post, somehow it took the pics & now they don't show??? This is just my guess & I don't actually know what happened for real ('Blogger for Dummies'....?? Anybody got that book?--You can e-mail it to me).

So those pics will be re-posted soon! Stay tuned...

In other news:

While out today, Art & I sold 40 books to a staff of teachers at a government school....Awesome! The main items of choice today were 'Bible Basics', 'From Jesus with Love' (Success with ppl) & 'Hearing from Heaven'.....(see activated site to order your own copies...)
They were so glad to get them & we were sure glad for their support. The books will go a long way in not only their lives, but also the lives of friends & family who they'll share them with.

Josh is visiting from Lagos today. We had folks over from Ghana 2 wks ago....(btw....sort of late news, no? Ha!)

N-e-way....Peace out!

Enjoy you day!

Colorful Zaria....

How about some more pics....??

I had wanted to post these eons ago (I exaggerate--3 & a half weeks ago--roughly one eon)....

All these taken on the second of 3 trips I've taken up to Zaria. You'll know why I titled this post the way I did....captions follow each pic....



Kids going home from school....I just love the candidness (is that a word??) of this pic.....these kids obviously don't have much, but they're enjoying their day anyway. Also, notice how the little kid on the left is clearly feeling "grown up" as he walks with the "big guys".....ha!


I call this one 'cart kids'...the one on the far left was pleased as punch to have his pic taken...


'Bricks'



We just happened to be driving on the way to visit a friend one evening, when we passed this parade going through old town....we didn't stop to find out what the occasion was......only long enough to take this "snap"....



Some of the VVF women sitting on the porch of our center towards "completion day" of the building....


After the kid worked so hard at hacking the sugar cane, the least the little "tourist" could do was buy some of it. So I did!


These guys in their traditional clothing walking around with radio in hand is a typical 'Housa sight'.

These last ones taken at different stages of the same sunset....

Great News!

2 weeks ago, Michelle & I held a short meeting with the managment of a major bank's branch here in Abuja, who Michelle already knew from before & who had helped sponsor some of our past projects. She (branch manager (don't abbreviate that)) was very happy to get the update on the VVF projects in the North & right away let us know that their bank has a 'philanthropy something-or-other foundation', that actively supports charitys. She asked for a specific breakdown of the set-up & running costs for one VVF centre, which we gave her just before going on a week trip to conduct timely & other due projects with the (guess what I'm gonna say....) VVF women (you guessed it) in 3 centers up north. (See last post)

So you're probably wondering,

"Well?? What's such great news about that??"

Well the great news is that our application was reviewed in record time & APPROVED a couple days ago, resulting in their promise of giving 200, 000 Naira (rougly $1, 300) towards a year's running costs for one of our 3 centers. HALLELUJAH!!--NOW THAT'S GOOD NEWS!!


In other news:

--Met lots of sweet people while witnessing & fund-raising today who are ever enthusiastic about helping to continue supporting our work here. We were able to give them many of our beautiful books, Calenders & Children's products in return for their donations that will continue aiding the VVF, School & other projects.
Also gave out lots of activated mags today. Giving out the Word is such a good feeling.

--Wuse market was hot, yet breezy. I get such a laugh every time Mary insists on getting "strong tomatoes" after being begged to become a customer of some desperate market vendor.
Then telling them to "get out" when they quote a price that's too high (like 4 times what it should be just cuz she's 'Owebo'). You've got to understand pidgin english to know what I mean, but it really is funny.

I shall write an entire post on Wuse market when me gets around to it.....till then.

I'm back.....

Just got back from the whole "northern circle" yesterday. Went on 3 projects in 3 different towns, which included the official inauguration & handing over to the hospital of our center for recovery & vocational training of the VVF women in Zaria. This is why I've been a stranger....

Pics coming soon!

Stay tuned.....