Evil for Good

God used a stolen Ipod to change someone's destiny forever.  Let me explain...

Two weeks ago was my first time to spend the night with the kids at our orphanage in Gyero (20 mins outside of Jos).  Right before going to bed I realized my Ipod had gone missing.  After looking for it a great deal of time, we concluded that it was stolen.  With no way to search 60 kids at 10 o'clock at night, and thinking the culprit would sell it first thing the next day at the market, I was content on being Ipodless.

So, you can image how surprised I was to got a call from one of the house parents the following day informing me they found the Ipod on one of the kids.  Unfortunately, the kid who took it was Simon, one the boys I went hiking with the previous day.

Simon is a 12 year old boy who I'd formed a quick bond with in the small amount of time we'd gotten to spend together.  He was brought to the orphanage after both of his parents were killed in June of last year and his uncle didn't have the resources to take care of him.

After talking with his house parent I knew he'd be apologizing the next time we met.  Knowing that he'd already receive punishment, I really sought out what I'd say to him at this time.  I felt that God was telling me that above all, just tell him that He loves him no matter what.

The following week I went back out to Gyero to spend the night. During worship that evening Simon came up to me and said he like to talk with me.  After everyone left, I pulled a chair up beside him and ask what did he want to talk to me about.  Too ashamed to look at me, he stared at the floor and said he was sorry for taking my Ipod.  I told him that I'd already forgiven him and that no matter what, I'd always love him but more importantly God loves him and there was nothing he's done or will do to escape that love.  Informing him of that brought about a sigh of relief on his face.  It continues to amaze me how His ways are not my own--but always so much better!

After talking for about 10 to 15 minutes, I asked Simon if he'd ever accepted Christ into his life and if he knew what that meant.  He informed me that he'd thought about it a few months ago, but never did.  I briefly explained to him once again what it meant to accept the free gift of eternal salvation given to everyone, and told him that I'd love to pray with him if he ever wanted to give his life to Christ.  To my surprise, he was ready then and there!  So that night, I had the amazing opportunity to pray with Simon as he admitted that his sins separated him from God, he believed that Christ died in his place to pay for those sins, and he invited Christ to come into his life.

Simon and I

Only In Africa

After being here for 3 weeks now, I've started to observe many things that I find to be unique to Africa.  So, in an attempt to share these with you, I've decide to start a monthly picture series entitled "Only In Africa".  I hope you enjoy it.

This makes me smile every time I drive by.  For those of you who've heard my business idea on funeral services, I think the business may have just gotten a new name.

Sunrise at Gyero orphanage

Maybe they have these is NY, but I've never seen one in Austin

It tasted just as bad as you'd imagine

Kaduna Medical Trip

Earlier this week I joined one of our nurses on a visit to the care center we have in Kaduna.  Kaduna is about 4 hours NW of Jos and is the 3rd largest city in Nigerian.  The purpose of the trip was to give the kids their 2nd round of immunizations for hepatitis and polio.  

When these kids enter the orphanage, 99% have not received any of the basic immunization that we take for granted in the US.  It's very disheartening to think that much of the sickness and disease here is curable and even preventable.  

Take polio for example.  Polio is a viral disease that invade the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis.  Although the polio vaccines was developed in the 1950, the disease cripples thousands of people every year.  Sadly, you see the effects of this terrible disease daily as kids, paralyzed from the waste down, with skateboards for wheelchairs uses theirs hands to propel themselves from car to car begging for spare change at crowded intersections.  To think that this condition could have been prevented for about $10 breaks your heart.

Knowing this, you can know image the joy I had giving the kids their polio vaccine.  With two drops on the tongue, they're 2/3 of the way to never having to worry about contracting this horrific disease.    

Sheri Hills

Last Friday was a national holiday for all of Nigeria. To make the most of the day, the westerns and nigerian house parents from one of the three centers in Jos, planned a get together for some fellowship.  We had a potluck lunch followed by a hiking adventure to the top of Sherri Hills.  Other than having to sneak off to discard one of the nigerian dishes I mistakenly thought looked tasty and got way too much of, the day went great.  I should have gotten the hint went none of the nigerian were touching the dish.

Amos and Jimmy squeezing there way through the cracks in the rock to make it to the top.

The view of a small section of Jos from the top.

First Tears

I cried last night, not because of being homesick or because of a physical injury; but simple because for the first time, living in a third world country really hit home.  

What would you do?

Poverty and oppression is something Nigeria is not lacking.  As you navigate through the day you're approached numerous times by kids, women, and those suffering from physical deformities begging for money to simply eat.  Last night, as I was reflecting on the day, I felt the presence of the Lord in a way I haven't felt in a long time.  Tears began forming as a particular beggar came to mind that I had seen the past few days. He sits outside on a mat of a store where I shop because he's paralyzed from the waste down.  Feelings of conviction came about as I started to realized that I was already becoming numb to the oppression that you are surrounded by here.  What was it about this guy?  Why did I feel so much compassion for him?  Was it his genuine smile, his physical condition, or his sheer hopelessness. 

Today I made it my mission to show him Christ's love. After spending the morning visiting the one of our care centers I intentionally stopped by the market to find him after lunch.  Sure enough there he was leaning up against the same trash can as the previous days with a piece of cardboard wedged between the can and the lid to to protect him from the afternoon rains. I sat down next to him and introduced myself.  I pointed at my chest and said "Dustin".  He then pointed at his chest and said "Adam".  Quickly realizing that his English didn't go past hello I offered him my leftover lunch, a bottle of water, and some crackers that I intentionally bought for him. As I left I just said to him "Yesu Allah"  which simply means "Jesus God".

It's difficult....it really is.  You want to share everything.  Why are some so blessed and others not?  We truly live in a fallen and broken world...thank God it's only temporary! 

MTV Cribs (Missionary Edition)

I'd like to formally welcome everyone to my casa!  Follow me as we take the grand tour...

Here's the view of the entrance to my estate from across the street.  I chose to go with the two-toned crimson and yellow gate and discolored concrete wall to surround the palace.    

Meet John, one of the full time security guards.

Here's where I park all my classic cars. Just behind my garage you'll notice my pad. 

Now, come on in.  Here we got the kitchen...take notice of the new light grey linoleum floor I had specially shipped in from Egypt.

Here you're entering the theater room.  This is where you'll often find me with my feet up watching the latest episode of American Idol (the 50' plasma is behind the green curtains).

Now for the master bathroom.  This is where you can often find me taking leisure baths and very low pressure showers after a sweaty nights rest.   

Last, but certainly not least, we've got the master bedroom.    

On a serious note, things a going great so far!  I've actually been so busy with orientation and meeting new people that I just finished unpacking today.  Over the next few week I'm scheduled to start visiting the different care centers and outreach ministries throughout Nigerian...not just Jos.  This will be an important time as it will lay the foundation for the rest of my time here.  I'll keep you posted as things progress.  Thanks for your prayers and support.

Departure & Arrival

I made it! Let me give you a run down of how the past 48 hours have looked.

We checked into the airport 4 hours early so I’d have plenty of time to leave and go eat one last American meal.  Thanks to Dad’s “reliable” navigation system, a place called Wings and More sounded like a great last meal.  After a scenic route by the nav system we were surprised to see that Wings and More had closed.  With time of the essence now, we were forced to eat at Tony’s Seafood and BBQ in a near by strip center...now if that doesn’t sounds like a good meal to go out on, I don’t know what does.  Much to our surprise though, Tony and his staff ended up knowing a things or two about seafood and BBQ     

After finishing up at the restaurant we went back to the airport for the final goodbye.  Although al of use were very sad, everyone handled their composure better than I expected.   

Fast forward 24 hours and we landed in Abjua, Nigeria...finally, welcome to Africa. Going through customs at the airports went better than expected although I was quite intimidated when four dark skin muscular customs agents with automatic rifles swarmed me from different angles.  What do I do...can you imagine? You're tired, not thinking straight, nervous, all alone in a new place you feel all sorts of emotions and you don't know what these men are going to do. In a deep african voice they ask you:

“What are you doing in Nigeria!” 

“How long are you going to be here!” 

“What are in these boxes!”   

I answered all there questions with flying colors until the head guard ask me how many Bibles were in my bag.  For some reason I straight up lied to him and said “one...I believe.”  I had no idea why I just did that because I clearly knew I had packed 3 in Austin. 

“All this stuff and only one bible?” he said as he responded with a puzzled look.  At this moment my stomach turned and heart may have even skipped a beat.  My emotions flashed back to my teenage years when I was often caught in a lie.  

“Well...maybe two” Great, now if he searches my bag he’s clearly going to see that I lied twice.  After a nervous pause the soldier smiled at me and said that he went to a Christian church and gave me the green light to move on.  Thanks/forgive me Lord :)

After the intense encounter with soldiers to my relief, my driver was waiting for me to take me to the guest house where it was time to a good nights rest.

The next morning we left for a 4 hour trip to Jos.  Half way there we had to stop to refuel which gave me the first opportunity to really see a little of Nigeria.  The local station seemed to be the place to be with almost 50 people there and only one car getting gas.  I quickly became an attraction to about 10 to 12 kids as they surrounded the front and passenger side of our car and just stared at me.  I smiled, waved and said “hello” but got no response.  At this point I concludes that they didn’t speak english.  You can image how awkward things got as the silence continued for three or four minutes.  Finally as we were pulling off one of the older boys shouted in broken English from the back of the group “what’s up my brother?”  Simply shocked that he spoke English I responded with a good ol’ white person “hello.

The driver dropped me off at my new home for the next 18 months.  There I met some other missionaries I'll be working with.  We all had dinner together and spent a few hours chatting.  I wanted to get to know them so I put off unpacking until after dinner. This turned out to be a little mistake since right after dinner we lost electricity.  Plus I left my bedroom light on during dinner which has attached a group bugs to hangout on my bed.  So I got on the computer hoping the power would come back on but it’s not looking good.  

Well I guess I’ve procrastinated long enough, time to go deal with the bugs... lesson learned the hard way.  I’ll upload picture of my place in the next few days.