Praise be to the LORD my Rock,
who trains my hands for war
my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1

This week has been so very exciting for us!  Monday morning we arrived at the airport.  We had a stopover in Newark, New Jersey, Frankfort, Germany, then finally at Abuja, Nigeria.  Art and Peter (the best driver EVER!) as well as Wilson and Tiwo picked us  and our ten 50 pound bins and 100 pound water heater.  We got a  lot of looks at the airports.  In Minneapolis a few people saw the tags on our luggage and said, “Thank you for helping these people”.  That was very unexpected and we were very humbled.

We stayed at the Abuja house for two days while we went to  the bank, tried to get a bank account, and can’t right now because of our Visa status.  Shopped for some items that we needed in Gembu, and I discovered that most Nigerian food is very spicy hot!  The girl at the restaurant had a very hard time understanding that I wanted spaghetti with no sauce, no meat, just margarine.  We have had time visiting with Art about how things are going at GECHAAN, what we need to consider for future as well as many other cultural tips and facts.

We left Abuja and arrived at Boko Friday night around 6:30 pm.  We met with Art and discussed more questions that we had.  We left Saturday morning at 6am.  We arrived at the spot in Bali where we were ambushed and Peter asked if we remembered where the incident happened.  Dan said, “I think right around here”.  Peter shook his head affirmatively and we talked a bit about that time when his hand was shot and he showed me how his pinkie finger still doesn’t work and yet the rest of his hand works well.  I though I might have issues as this is the first time we have been there since the shooting.  I thanked the Lord for the healing, friends, and process that we have gone through the past 2 1/2 years.  Shortly after we passed that spot, we saw the other vehicle traveling with us broken down beside the road.  Peter went and hired a mechanic, bought a fuel pump, and tools, and the mechanic and Wilson changed the fuel pump right there on the road.  We must have been an unusual sight, because we had a few children peeking out from the bushes watching us the entire time.  We arrived a couple of hours late to Gembu because of the repair.   Courage had a wonderful supper waiting for us and we unpacked our trunks and started to get settled.

This morning was church!  We went to the Mambilla Baptist Church and had a wonderful 4 hour service.  They weren’t done before we left, but we left at an appropriate time.  I loved the music, the drums, and the colorful clothing everyone wore.  Art introduced us to the church and we got to visit with the Village Chiefs wife.  We will be going to the Chief’s Palace tomorrow!

We had a lovely lunch of canned soup and Christopher’s wonderful bread.  We had some wonderful visits this afternoon from people from the church and I was excited to get to meet women that are teachers and active in church life and the community here in Gembu.

My requests for today is to ask for prayer in funding for different areas here at GECHAAN.  With the USAID grant ending and not renewed it cuts ways we can help the community in so many ways.  Pray for wisdom for Dan and I and that we make the connections we need to to continue God’s work here.