Of late.....

Well, a couple new excitements of late...

The Labor Union went on strike for a week, in favor of getting the government to lower fuel prices, as well as to take back the rise in the V.A.T. that had been placed, bringing tax up an additional 5 PERCENT!!!--So they got their way...fuel's back to 75 Naira ($80 cents) per litre & the VAT isn't upped...they had a couple other demands as well...I can't quite remember what they were...
I heard that life in Lagos pretty much came to a standstill, but for us, it was ok, actually. The strike itself was a peaceful demonstration, but the fact that it's labor union means almost everything stops. Thankfully, a lot of workers supported the strike, but still kept working.
Our teachers still came to school & the Sheraton staff kept working, so I still got to go to the gym....:P(Hallelujah!)

In other news,
We had a special occasion with about 20 (out of 150) kids of our Secondary school, who were invited to the Japanese embassador's house for a Haiku competition (a type of Japanese poetry). He made it real special for them & showed them a nice documentary about life in Japan (which half of us missed, cause we came straight from our house, whereas Simon had gone ahead to pick up the teachers & kids & take them to the emabassador's house..he, thankfully, was on time), followed by a question & answer session, a prize giving for the competion's winners & a lunch together. Each student got some books about life in Japan as well. We all, teachers, missionaries & students alike, enjoyed the event.

We got to spend some good time talking with the embassador & his wife (who was cute...) afterwards. Turns out 4 out of 6 of us missionaries present had been in Japan at some point.--Perfect!!

One interesting thing was how the embassador compared life in Japan with life in Nigeria for the students, bringing out the similarities in both cultures almost every time he answered one of their questions, helping the students to relate to the Japanese people. A truly wise man (especially when you know what a feat that is....)!--bringing out the similarities, instead of focusing on the differences.

At top is a picture I took of most of us, with the embassador & his wife:
L-R: (Simon, Mary, Michelle, the embassador's wife, the Japanese embassdor, Richard & Arturo)

HAPPY B'DAY, BLOG...

I started my blog a year ago this month...cause to celebrate...
I'm surprised I've lasted this long...not that I haven't enjoyed it...just that I've been so busy. That's my only regret, really...the fact that I haven't been able to post as much as I would've liked...but that shows that I am busier "doing" then "talking"....so that's a good thing (there's a plus side to everything). This Blog B'day, is also responsible for the few changes you've seen to my blog...I wanted to change my profile pic 2, but...wow...major frustration. That one I've worked on for nearly a whole day & could never get it right. I can't quite seem to paste the right HTML on the picture. HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLPPPP!!! Any advice?

When I figure out this whole link thingie, I'll make a post comprised of past posts most noteworthy...there ya go!--That's what I'll call it too!

Meanwhile, wish me a happy birthday!

If any of you have a thought on which post you enjoyed the most, I'd like to know...or if there's anything specific you'd be interestd in seeing me post....hey, doesn't hurt to know.--Doesn't mean I'll post it, but it's good to know what people think.

BACK IN AFRICAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

It feels so good to be home. I got back about 3 days ago...

Thanks to everyone who prayed for me, arriving back here was not stress-free, but it was safe, Glory to God. I'm back in Africa...

Not only am I finished with months (literally) of traveling, but being back amongst the alive & vibrant people of Nigeria, as well as the freedom that I've always felt here, is a great feeling.
I already made two new friends, one on my flight from Spain to here & then another on the flight from Lagos to Abuja (which was a complete hassle, btw...)

This is my first June in Abuja & It's rainy season here...as we were landing in Abuja, I noticed that this normally dry, almost semi-arid region, has turned to some lush, grassland (??)...I realized that even my coming back from the States & Europe exactly at this time was the Lord's mercy on me, as it made the transition from the West to the tropics smooth & easy. Hallelujah!

After the story that follows, you'll know I'm back in Nigeria for SURE: After landing in Lagos at 10 p.m. & haggling with the taxi driver that took me on the hunt for the hotel where I spent the night, I got back to the airport Friday morning at 9 a.m....after buying my ticket for the 11:15 flight to Abuja on Virgin Nigeria airways. I spoke to the supervisor of that flight, and showed him a brochure of our missionary work & he agreed to waive the fee for my 25 (?) kilos of overweight luggage (since it was a domestic flight, the weight allowance was only 20 kilos)...He also shared his heart with me about the need for safety & protection in his job & asked me to pray for him, which I promised I would do on the plane (which I did). We exchanged information & I was off...
I happily went through the security check-in, where the woman behind me was asked to wait her turn at the red line...."What red line??" I thought to myself...well, never mind...
After waiting till 11:15 (the time we were meant to fly) I called on the Power of the Keys that the Lord would have them be ready as I told Him I was really ready to go (remember the story of 'Stop The Train'??)...about 30 seconds later they announced that they were ready to board...

"Yes!!"

Soon I was in my nice window seat & shortly after, ensued the said conversation between myself & my new friend from Zenith Bank, who was very impressed with our work & asked me lots of questions about living by faith & why I would want to leave America to be a missionary.
About half an hour later (remember, we already boarded a half hour late), we were told that the pilot forgot some document & went back to get it....within about 20 minutes of this announcement, the poor air hostesses were getting bombarded with all kinds of questions & being asked for every which form of compensation apart from sexual favors (as far as I understood, anyway).--Poor girls!...My friend & I were pretty much the patient ones out of the lot, which resulted in us getting some water...(?)

To make a long story short, at about 1 o clock (again--on the 11:15 flight) they had us change planes & they combined us with the 1:15 flight & we ended up flying out at 2:00 p.m. WOW!!

What can I say...I'm back in Nigeria....

Prayer request!

This is the biggest benefit of this blog....instant prayer chain...

Would you all mind praying for me tomorrow...I'm going to be flying back to Nigeria (at long last)... I expect a good flight and trip, generally, but it's always good to ask for prayer.

Here's the rest of a prayer request I sent one of my friends in Kenya today via e-mail:

"Also, tomorrow my flight gets into Lagos about an hour after the last domestic flight leaves from Lagos to the city where I leave. This means that I'll have to stay at a hotel one night & take taxis there & to the domestic airport the next morning.... please pray that everything goes smoothly & that I get to the hotel ok (as Lagos isn't exactly the worlds safest city) & that my trip & flight up to Abuja the next morning will be smooth ? Thanks soooooo much! I'd really appreciate that! I'm putting up a request on my blog as well."