Up & Coming.....

Just got back from an extremely interesting & intriuging 2 days in the North of Nigeria, where I helped with a project in Zaria....also passed through Kaduna on the way up....I'll put the semi-full story up soon...stay tuned....

New Year's Resolution 2007--Be Healthy.

Tip#1: Get Your Sleep....

I thought to share some of my recent research on health with you in light of my "self-reminder" to be healthy this year.
Here are excerpts from a newspaper article I read recently on the importance of sleep.


Americans (and I assume many in the working class the world over) accumulate sleep debt like gamblers racking up IOUs. Each weekday night they get an hour and 6 minutes less, on average, than the 8 hrs that sleep experts recommend, each weekend night half an hr less. By the end of the year they are short 338 hours—2 full weeks—of rest.
Like sleepwalkers, they are dangerously unaware of the risks to their health. Most ppl know that lack of sleep makes them punchy. They are wary of the drowsiness that can be a killer behind the wheel. Yet inadequate sleep is a workaholic’s badge of honor.
New research shows that sleep may well be the 3rd essential component of a long & healthy life, up there with a good diet and regular exercise.
The findings hint that long-term sleep debt could be a factor in the national epidemics of diabetes and obesity. Inadequate sleep could weaken the immune system, leading to colds & other infections. And there is evidence that the increase in breast cancer, and perhaps other cancers, could have a link to the modern human insistence on extending the day. To brag about cheating sleep may be akin to bragging about eating a junk-food diet or never getting off the couch.
Then there are preliminary studies tying lack of sleep to a decline in immune function. Robbed of all sleep, a lab rat will die after @ 2 wks. “They die of infection” said James Krueger, a neurologist at Washington State University. Human studies show that inadequate sleep changes white blood cell counts & immune response modifiers, biological evidence that the body is having trouble fighting infection.
Even if the possible long-term effects of sleep loss don’t worry ppl, those who try to cheat sleep may be getting less out of their extra waking hours than they think. A recent study showed that ppl who were awake for up to 19 hours scored worse on performance testes & alertness scales than those with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent—legally drunk in some places.
The irony is that although many of us trade sleep for productivity, we would actually be more productive if we slept more. We concentrate better and are less easily distracted when well-rested.
We are creatures with bodies that are finite and contingent. It is God and God alone who “neither slumbers nor sleeps.’ To sleep, long & soundly, is to place our trust not in our own strength and hard work, but in Him without whom we labor in vain. Get a good night’s sleep.

--From articles by Susan Brink, US News & World Report; Jeanie Lerche Davis, WEBMD News; Lauren F. Winner, Christianity Today; Rob Stein, Washington Post

7 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Today is a special day for me....January 10th, 2007, marks my seven-year anniversary in Africa. I arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, today in the year 2000, & experienced Africa for the first time.
Since then I've also experienced Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa & Reunion Island (I know, it doesn't actually count...I just wanted to throw that in there so you'll know I've been). Each place similar to each other, yet so different.
To commemorate my anniversary I'll tell you a story about one of my African experiences. True to tradition, it's gonna be a bus story: (Look for the word bus)

"It was during the Summer of 2002 & I was taking a road trip from Kenya, where I lived, to UG, & then to join Aaron & his team for a 10-day missionary seminar in Zambia & then back up to my home in Kenya. I was accompanied by Jer (Tina's brother), who was 15 at the time, & we had just completed a 50-hour train ride from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, to Ngola, Zambia(that's right!--50 HOURS ON A TRAIN), after a 24-hour bus ride (there's the word) from UG to TZ..... Now we were to get on a 2-hour bus (there we are again) ride from the Copper Belt to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, where we were to call Dar (TZ) & get the number of Aaron & them so we could meet up, as was arranged before we got on the train from Tanzania.
And what do you know, due to the fact that the road was mainly holes & bumps, the 2-hour ride from Ngola to Lusaka seemed longer than the whole 50 hours we had just spent on the train. I COULDN'T WAIT TO GET OFF!! That was definitely the most uncomfortable bus ride of MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!--Nearly as bad as the time I got the last seat (the very back) on a night bus from Kampala to Nairobi & got a seat right on the left wheel (think bumps)....but that's a whole 'nother story in itself.
So we get off the bus (rueing the minute we got on it) & drag our stuff to a pay phone & stick the few Kwacha change we have in the coin slot & call TZ...Mary picks up & ever so sweetly tells us that she had not recieved any e-mail from Aaron & therefore didn't know where he was staying. I had nothing to say except "Ok....um...we'll look around for him"!
What? In a city of 3 million ppl that we'd never been to before? I guess I was speaking faith....what else could I speak....besides, my Kwacha were ticking away....
I hung up the phone & told Jer, "Let's pray!!" And that's exactly what we did...we called on the Power of the Keys of the Kingdom that the Lord would lead us exactly to where they were & that we wouldn't have to look long either. With that, we set off & dragged our bags to the first hotel we saw, which happened to be called 'Cairo Hotel' (the bus had dropped us smack down-town).
We walked in to the reception & asked "Are any Missionaries from Family Care staying here at your hotel?" "They're preparing for a seminar & they should be in a group of about 10 or so...?"
And I still remember this part like it was yesterday.....The receptionist pulls out a flyer advertising the seminars, with Aaron's picture on it that the team had been passing out & asks me, "These people?"
"Yes?" I said, half questioning!
"Oh, yes! They're upstairs!" was her reply.
Jer & I were stunned!!! It wasn't that we didn't know the Lord would honor our faith & lead us (He had no choice, right?)...but we just didn't know He'd do it so soon. I could hardly believe it!
We flew up the stairs to their room & told a bunch of just-as-surprised-people-as-we-were the story of how we had found them by a prayer. It was incredible.
The seminars were a Blast & several other adventures followed, which I shall relay to you another time......stay tuned.....

Paid Holiday.....Jesus Foots the Bill!!

Just got back from a wonderfully relaxing 6-day holiday at a 5-star hotel that was all DONATEEEEED. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! I thoroughly enjoyed myself....a big room all to myself (most of the time), beautiful pool, nice gym & squash courts, exquisite 5 star restaurants & 6 fun friends to share it with. What more could one ask for at the start of the year? (don't answer that!) Thank you, Jesus!


The only decent group shot we got of all of us during our four-course meal on the last night of 2006. You should've seen this guy (apparently he was some famous Nigerian singer, who happens to be a friend....popped in the place to say hi & I made the mistake of asking him to take a pic of us...he did the whole "around the clock" thing & took at least 6 pics of us...this is the only one I could use.



I have an excuse for all these fuzzy ones.....no one knows how to use my camera. Or could it be the fact that the guy taking the picture probably had 2 much to drink.
Anyway....all of us during some of the first moments of 2007....


This one I took.....there wasn't much happening at our hotel's club (Sheraton), so we went to the Hilton for the real New Year experience....

All 4 girls enjoying the "jungle within"...l-r Angela, Mary (holding Jolena, Angela & Richard's baby) & Michelle...I told you Nigeria had cuties..... Michelle black & whitified this pic...gave it a nice look (not that it didn't already have one....)



This place was called "The Obudu Grill". It's an excellent high-standard Steakhouse with GREAT food & a very classy air. We ate their 2x....this is the first night we ate there & I've having Ostrich steak (yup, that's right all you in the U.S.--I'm actually eating Ostrich)...my red drink is called Chapman & it's a Nigerian special (I'll explain later).


WHAT THE???....NO WAY!!! Ok, that has got to be the largest pepper shaker in the world. I think it also doubles as a fire extinguisher in case the chemical reaction of the pepper hitting your steak causes an explosion.....

more later....hope you had a good New Year :)

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!!



My goals are simple this year.....I resoluted to (according to what Jesus asked me to do when I talked to Him before the close of the year):

Be a better disciple & do what Jesus wants me to do this year

Hear from the Lord more in prophecy for myself & others

Claim the keys of obedience & fortitude

I thought to post my sister's New Year card as well, as I quite liked it....enjoy it while it's up, as any protests from her side to my posting this without her permission will result in me taking it down.....enjoy!


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH......200777777777777777777777....WOW!!!!

I missed Boxing Day!

Well...I thought maybe something for the mid-way point (sort of) through the 12 days of Christmas....

I'll show you a couple more pics of my Christmas celebrating over the last few days & maybe give you a couple more Christmas thoughts.

But first I'd like to thank the Lord for all my friends and family & greater Family all around the world....I am so blessed to have so many friends & loved ones in my life....through e-mail and my blog I recieved more than 25 personal Christmas cards & Christmas greetings from family & freinds from Holland to Iceland to the States to Mexico to Nigeria to Belgium, etc., etc., etc.,
....I know, it's not THAT many....but certainly enough to praise for. TY, Jesus for all my friends! I just hope Jesus got the same Christmas attention I did....(somehow I think between us all, He did)

This pic of us early morning on Christmas eve (maybe 11 o clock, heh, heh!). Art made these with the layers & all....I won't even tell you how long it took him, but I will say that despite the bottle of brandy sitting there, it's not "arrrrgh" we're drinking--it's coffee/cocao...with a little twist.-Yum!


This one during our C'mas dinner that same day--at night! (Is any of this making sense?) Richard took the picture!


Me happily recieving my gift early 25th!--Happy Birthday, Jesus! OOPs--Maybe I should give it to Him!--Well, I figured He was happy that my getting the 212 reminded me of Him giving me His whole life?? Somehow, it figured...Merry Christmas!



Baby's first Christmas!


I took this one of everyone on Christmas Day, which also happened to be a friends's Birthday (far-right with the XCecosdE!se on his shirt). Richard cooked some pasta & we brought wine & stuff...it was fun! P.S. THERE ARE SWEET CHICKS IN NIGERIA!!!!



We ate at a nice Indian restaurant on Boxing Day for Simon's Birthday. The meal was donated....I had goat ribs with Naan & dips...yay!(sorry, no pics)

For dinner tonight we had a picnic at the park (the reason this is noteworthy is because I've been in Africa nearly 7 years & it was my 1ST PICNIC IN THE PARK). The fact that the park was actually safe was phenomenal (of course, we didn't stay too late) & the fact that I didn't get bit by a mosquito is even more outstanding....

That's pretty much my Christmas so far! Peace! (on earth, good will....I'm really stretching this Christmas out to the max, aren't I?)

Christmas Thots

(Jesus speaking:)
A gift that I would desire is the gift of recommitment. Search your heart & find that love for Me, that passion for My Kingdom, that desire to leave everything else but Me behind, and then recommit yourself to Me for the coming year & beyond. This can all happen in a few short moments of prayer--no big ceremony is needed, as I will look on your heart & I will love and appreciate this precious gift that you are giving Me.

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS....to all my friends & aquaintances whos e-mail addresses I don't have...and to all of you out there, really. Wishing you the best Christmas you've ever had...God bless you!





Christmas Thots
) You can be a Mary: Be willing to be whatever God wants you to be.
) You can be a Joseph: Take God at His word even if you don't understnad, and give His plan your best shot.
) You can be a shepherd: Get excited about the Good News, ad tell as many people as you can.
) You can be a wise man: Worship Jesus, and give Him your most precious gifts.
) You can be a star: Reflect God's light and point the way to Jesus.
) You can be an angel: Loudly proclaim the good tidings.
) You can be the Baby Jesus: Lay down yourself to help others live.





A Christmas story!
This is the most powerful story of forgiveness I've read all year....enjoy!


There Are No Coincidences

By Warren Miller

For three days a fierce winter storm had traveled 1,500 miles across the North Pacific from Alaska, packing gale-force winds and torrential rains. In the North American Sierra Nevadas, the snow was piling up and would offer great skiing once the storm had passed.

In the foothills of the Sierras in the town of Grass Valley, California, the streets were flooded and in some parts of the town, the power was off where fallen trees had snapped overhead cables. At the small church, the heavy rain and high winds beat against the windows with a violence that Father O'Malley had never before heard.

In his tiny bedroom, out of the darkness the phone rang. As he picked up the phone, a voice quickly asked, "Is this Father O'Malley?"

"Yes."

"I'm calling from the hospital in Auburn," said a concerned female voice. "We have a terminally ill patient who is asking us to get someone to give him his last rites. Can you come quickly?"

"I'll try my best to make it," O'Malley answered. "But the river is over its banks, and trees are blown down all over town. Look for me within two hours."

The trip was only 30 miles, but it would be hard going. His progress was slow and cautious, but he continued on toward the hospital. Not a single vehicle passed him during his long, tense journey. Finally, in the near distance, he could see the lights of the small hospital, and he hoped he had arrived on time.

With his tattered Bible tucked deep inside his overcoat pocket, O'Malley forced the car door open, stepped out and then leaned into the wind. Its power almost bowled him over, and he was nearly blown away from the hospital entrance. Once inside, the wind slammed the hospital door shut behind him. He heard footsteps headed his way. It was the night nurse.

"I'm so glad you could get here," she said. "The man I called you about is slipping fast, but he is still coherent. He's an alcoholic and his liver has finally given out. He's been here for a couple of weeks this time and hasn't had a single visitor. He lives up in the woods, and no one around here knows much about him. He always pays his bill with cash and doesn't seem to want to talk much."

"What's your patient's name?" O'Malley asked.

"The hospital staff has just been calling him Tom," she replied.

In the soft night-light of the room, Tom's thin, sallow countenance looked ghostlike behind a scraggly beard.

"Hello, Tom. I'm Father O'Malley," and he began to say the prayers of the last rites.

After the 'amen,' Tom perked up a bit, and he seemed to want to talk.

"Would you like to make your confession?" O'Malley asked him.

"Absolutely not," Tom answered. "But I would like to just talk with you a bit, before I go."

And so Tom and Father O'Malley talked about the Korean War, and the ferocity of the winter storm, and the knee-high grass and summer blossoms that would soon follow.

After a couple of hours, and after about the fourth or fifth time that Father O'Malley asked the same question, Tom replied, "Father, when I was young, I did something that was so bad that I haven't spent a single day since without thinking about it and reliving the horror."

Father O'Malley gently said, "I'm sure that God will forgive you, Tom, whatever it was you did. He is love. He wants us to confess and to receive His forgiveness. He wants you to be free of whatever it is that has plagued you for so long."

"Even now, I still can't talk about what I did," Tom said. "Even to you."

O'Malley silently waited. Finally Tom said sadly, "Okay. It's too late for anyone to do anything to me now, so I guess I might as well tell you."

"I worked as a switchman on the railroad all my life, until I retired a few years ago and moved up here to the woods. Thirty-two years ago, I was working in Bakersfield on a night kind of like tonight. It was Christmastime."

Tom's face became intense as the words began to tumble out. "It happened during a bad winter storm with a lot of rain, 50-mile-an-hour winds and almost no visibility. Two nights before Christmas, the whole yard crew drank all through the swing shift. I volunteered to go out in the rain and wind and push the switch for the northbound 8:30 freight."

Tom's voice dropped almost to a whisper as he went on. "I guess I was more drunk than I thought I was because I pushed that switch in the wrong direction. At 45 miles an hour that freight train slammed into a passenger car at the next crossing and killed a young man, his wife and their two daughters.

"I have had to live with my being the cause of their deaths every day since then."

There was a long moment of silence as Tom's confession of this tragedy hung in the air. After what seemed like an eternity, Father O'Malley gently put his hand on Tom's shoulder and said very quietly, "I know God can forgive you, son, because I can. In that car were my mother, my father and my two older sisters."

MY CHRISTMAS SO FAR.....

Traditionally, the Christmas "season" in Africa, doesn't really start till, I'd say, the first or second week of December (at least in most of the African countries I've been to)....Many in the working class here only get off work around Christmas Eve or Christmas day, through to New Year's & then it's right back to work come like, Jan 2nd, or so. Kids usually have holiday from around the 1st or 2nd week of December...So I've been used to a sort of late start to Christmas each year...

However, Christmas started way-early for me this year (YES!!!)....first noteable C'mas event being Christmas dinner at a friend's place somewhere around Nov, 25th...the tree being up in our own house & Carols playing about a week prior...


Pretend Karaoke to a 50s-Blues song I'd never heard....



Dancing to another "50s-Blues-song-I'd-never-heard" with Rachel....GREAT fun.



Rima & Elene admiring cute baby Alexia...


At the Christmas party Family Care organizes yearly for underprivileged kids...In collabaration with several local companies & many individual sponsors...the First Lady of Lagos State (Governer's wife) also attended this year (you can see her in Blue)..I was so glad to have been able to help....I enjoyed it immensely.


Next 4: Rima, Rachel and I helping direct an impromtu nativity play with the kids in between the games and the lunch....







Group shot


One I took during a Family Care Christmas party for friends here up-country....L-R: Mary, 2 friends, Arturo & Angela...


Yay....lots of fun....let's see what else I'll find in this "Yuletide-time"...Hope you enjoyed...

Remembering Uganda!!

Hey, everyone!
Long time, huh?
I'm realizing that no one is appreciating my Christmas message so far..... :(..judging by the lack of comments at least...

But what is always popular (hope I'm not going solely for popularity here) is PICS OF AFRICAAAAAAAAAAAAA.......so without further ado, I give you 'Remembering UG' (that's Uganda, just so you know).

It was my home for 2 years & many an adventure & lesson were had there. It's still the home of some of my dear friends & who knows, it just may be "home" again one day. But till then, you all get a peak into what I was up to during those 2 years & this also serves (or should) as a reminder for everyone out there to keep praying for our work there & for the people of Uganda.


Ok, there's a reason for this fuzzy pic...this is me performing with Tina, Heather, Julie & them in UG when I first visited there in 2002 & was still living in Kenya (where I lived for 4 years, by the way....we'll have to do a 'Remembering Kenya' post sometime as well)...so you're seeing me when I was first introduced to UG.


Ok, we're gonna try to somewhat keep the chronological order here....let's see how long it lasts....
This is a couple days after I first moved to UG, a friend invited our whole team & kids to a pool for the day...I'm playing with Kaycee & Kingdom...(Boy have they grown since then...)



Ok, moving right along...on our way up to visit the Ik tribe (that'll be another post one day...actually, maybe not, it was 2 years ago & it's on Nikki's blog...but I'm writing a book (did I say that out loud?)...so you'll hear about it all one day...
Pictured is our friend Katerina, Nikki, John Mark (an Ik himself) & myself....recognize me?



In Ik land itself (as you no doubt guessed..) I should've posted the cool pic of how you get into one of the villages...you have to croutch down & squeeze through a little opening in the stick wall...it was cool.
Once in Ik land we brought each village (that eventually spread out to reach all the 6,000, or so population of Ik) Bible tapes with hand-cranked tape recorders & school supplies, as well as took their plight & needs back to Kampala with us, which turned out to be the key in them being recognized/noticed as a people (most Ugandans didn't know they existed) mainly due to an art exhibit that Nyx did for them at the Sheraton. (Again, see her blog for the full story notcheaperbythedozen.blogspot.com)


"Beer corner"--4 of my good friends...l-r: Nikki, Celly, Tina & Sunshine I love them & miss them...especially Tina & Sunshine who I worked quite closely with. GBY, guys!
Here you catch a glimpse of Uganda's number 1 beer (acc. 2 Me), 'Club'.


With colleagues & friends @ Nyx' farewell...


A group shot at the end of one of our wonderfully inspiring Sunday fellowships...


With Jakisa & Farida...


This orphan had a party at our house with about 10 of his peers...


Doing a Latin one with Tina during one of our Benefit concerts for a Tour
company....That girl can really shake it!!


With Joanna, & friends after teaching a 12 Foundations Bible Class...


a beautiful late-afternoon Kampala sky....

First Christmas Post!

Hey, everyone!
How's your Christmas season treating you so far?? It's interesting how no matter where you are in the world, with whichever type climate, or culture, Christmas is Christmas...whether or not each Christmas will be as "traditional" as you're used to, that's another issue! But personally, it's great anywhere around the world.--I always THOUROUHGLY enjoy Christmas.
Here we've already been to several Christmas parties (one of them being one we threw for about 300 orphans last Thursday...that was quite the event...let's see if I manage pics of the event on this blog) & the house is fully decorated & carols being sung or played daily as of about 2 weeks ago?

This is a great Christmas story. I'm just putting it up here, as I've forwarded it to everyone in my mail box...but of course THE ENTIRE GLOBE is not in my mail my box...enjoy! If you've already read it, I apologize....you'll find something new next time.

Thought For the Day

SAINT FRANCIS & THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CRECHE

By Curtis Peter Van Gorder

As a young man, Francis of Assissi loved material things, especially beautiful clothes from the shop of his wealthy merchant father. One biographer describes the handsome, young fun-loving Francis as “the very king of frolic.” That changed at the age of about 20, after he went to fight in a skirmish with a rival city. He was taken prisoner, held for over a year, and came home very weak from a serious illness.
At some point during his ordeal, Francis realized that there must be more to life than shallow pleasures, and he came to the conclusion that real satisfaction was to be found in loving God and doing what God wanted him to do—love others. He was disowned by his father for giving away family wealth, surrendered whatever other worldly goods and privileges he had, and wandered the countryside, improvising hymns of praise as he went. Others, drawn by his sincerity, zeal, and joy, joined Francis in his vow of poverty—the beginnings of the Franciscan Order.
Francis loved people, from the rich and powerful in their palaces to the beggars in the streets. He also loved animals and is said to have been able to communicate with them. He also is said to have tamed a fierce wolf that terrified the villagers of Gubbio, Italy, and he petitioned the emperor to pass a law that all birds and beasts, as well as the poor, be given extra food at Christmas, “so that all might have occasion to rejoice in the Lord.”
Francis was always looking for new ways to make God’s truths easily understandable to others. At Christmastime, 1223, while visiting the town of Grecio, Italy, he had the idea of showing people what Jesus’ birthplace must have been like. He found a mountain cave near the village and fashioned it into a rough stable. St. Bonaventure (a.d. 1274), in his Life of St. Francis of Assisi, gave this account of what followed:
“Then he prepared a manger and brought hay and an ox and an ass to the place appointed. The bretheren were summoned, the people ran together, the forest resounded with their voices, and that venerable night was made glorious by many brilliant lights and sonorous psalms of praise. The man of God [St. Francis] stood before the manger, full of devotion and piety, bathed in tears and radiant with joy. Then he preached to the people around the Nativity of the poor King; and being unable to utter His name for the tenderness of His love, he called Him the Babe of Bethlehem.”
Saint Francis is also considered the “father of the Christmas carol” for having been the first to include carols in Christmas worship services. As a boy, Francis had perhaps learned more in the school of the troubadours—itinerant composers and performers of songs—than from the priests of St. George’s at Assisi, where his father had sent him for an education. It’s not surprising, then, that joyous music became one of Francis’ favorite items of worship. That joy was contagious, and still is.

This story taken from Activated Vol 7, issue 12--December 2006! If you would like to receive December’s issue of Activated or subscribe to the activated magazine, simply log on to www.activated.org to find out how.