What Exactly?

I have recently been appointed as International Marketing Coordinator for INTERCEP. So I asked, what exactly is my job? The answer, “Anything pertaining to that which effects marketing and sales.” Oh. That clears things up.
So, I’m doing a little bit of this and a little bit more of that. Mostly right now I am scrambling to get our stuff in gear for the upcoming workshops in February.
Being the first month of the New Year, I have just received my first salary. It is gone already! It went to make seven new doors for our boy’s quarters (B. Q.) where Ebenezer, our new Executive Agricultural Administrator, will be staying until his new house is ready on our farm land. Presently he is staying in our guest room until the B. Q. is ready.
I appreciate the opportunity to use some of my gifts other that wifing and mothering for a change. Not that I don’t love doing those two things. I do. I also appreciate the salary so that I can contribute to the household economy.
Pray for me. Off I go on this new adventure.
Jen

If You Can't Stand The Heat ...

I used to love Billy Joel growing up. One of my favorite songs was "You've got to learn to face yourself ... PRESSURE ... you're just like everybody else ... PRESSURE." For those of you who followed the pop icon of the 70's & 80's you know what I mean. I also loved to play the position of point guard on my elementary, junior high, & high school basketball teams. I can still hear Coach Don Walker's screams ringing in my ears, "BRAD, MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN." I don't know if I'm a glutton for punishment but I seem to get caught up in stressful situations.

Yesterday marked the countdown of 1 month until our 1st of 2 workshops with Healing Hands International from February 11-22. The first one will be brand new for all of us on "Food Preservation for Borno Women." It will involve underground pot-in-pot storage, solar drying, smoking, canning, and pickling. The equipment needed for this workshop is far greater than any materials that we ever needed for our first drip irrigation workshop in August. Therefore, Jen is running "helter-skelter" throughout the town with Comfort Misari (the INTERCEP secretary) searching for the needed supplies and personnel to create them.

I'm also feeling quite a bit of tension right now in raising the necessary funds for our leaking water reservoir, the upcoming food preservation workshop facilities, & the operational expenses for both workshops. Additionally, to manage the 4 way partnership between INTERCEP, Arewa Aid, the Wulari-Jerusalem church of Christ, and Healing Hands is delicate. We see the unbelievable potential here for influencing the local people to consider the implications of following the Gentle Healer but everyone has expectations. For people mired in Nigerian poverty, it's difficult for them to even consider taking on volunteer ministry. Most people in Africa are merely struggling to survive to feed their families, thus, to ask them to give of their time, resources, and sweat is an amazing sacrifice.

Hence, to make these upcoming two workshops on food preservation & drip irrigation for Borno youth a success we need one thing right now: PRAYER. Jen & I spend many a sleepless night tossing & turning wondering how all these issues will be resolved: funding, inter-agency partnership, integration with the local church. The One to whom we pray is in control of all of these matters but we need to be reminded that He is. We know that the LifeGiver has all of the financial resources in the world and will open the storehouse of heaven if we are faithful. The Prince of Peace can resolve any conflicts of interest that occur when competing assumptions meet concerning how each party will benefit.

On the night of February 22nd, we will be kicking back with Dave Goolsby & Randall McCadams reminiscing on the topsy-turvy moments from these two workshops. However, until then we really need all of you reading this to be on your knees on our behalf. The resources needed seems overwhelming, the cooperation for all 4 partners needed appears to be quite a stretch, and the ultimate impact in Maiduguri and Borno State is unknown. We believe that the more that we intercede before the Maker of Heaven & Earth that these issues will begin to resolve themselves. Please approach the throne of grace requesting that we will trust and obey ... because there's no other way.

Creating Connections with the Community

They came in a large group of 6 this morning. Bounding through our black entrance gate, the eyes of these 5 women and 1 little girl were transfixed at every corner of our drip irrigation farm. They couldn't believe their eyes. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, sweet corn, and zucchini growing in the middle of the dry season. They ended up staying for an hour asking about how all this really works.

Most of us struggle mightily to stay connected to our neighbors. We pass them and extend greetings and talk about the weather. Yet, there's little to keep the conversation going because we are so busy. Maybe a discussion about our children may keep us talking a few minutes longer but we are really ready to get on to the next item on today's agenda. Still, there's something amazing about agriculture that really keeps the conversation going that we've discovered.

All of us have to eat. In Maiduguri, we can't just run out of the house to Publix, Kroger, or Aldi & pick up something to cook for supper. In Borno State, you have to plan your meals and be very selective of the open air market food that you buy. Most folks in northeastern Nigeria buy every commodity based on a relationship not simply on the value of the item to be purchased. This has made our drip irrigation farm all the more signficant: we are not only selling vegetables ... we are building relationships that will last!

The notoriety of the INTERCEP drip irrigation farm in Maiduguri has reached a level that there is a daily line of people at the INTERCEP office requesting to be on the list for our next workshop. Borno State agricultural development project men are begging to be invited to a women's workshop on food preservation! Culturally, men & women don't mix at occasions like this in northeastern Nigeria but these men know the value of the instruction that will be imparted. As goodwill continues to be fostered with our local community, people begin to ask questions about the force behind our efforts. This opens doors for conversations concerning the One who gives water, sunlight, and healthy soil to all.

We have a community in the western suburb of Pompomari in Maiduguri that is hungry for decent daily meals. We also have neighbors that are thirsty for drinking water during the long dry season from November to May. Our friends surrounding this small 2 1/2 acre piece of land are always inquiring about how they can be involved in sharing the good news of vegetables in the desert. The local people are beginning to see the value of teaching self-reliance through hard work, ingenuity, and diligent management of resources. All of this leaves us with an incredible network of people yearning to know more about the Bread & Water of Life!

Treasures

The last time I was in the States, Brad, his sister, Lori, and I helped my mother-in-law to clean out her garage. So many of the boxes in the garage were filled with books. Books that belonged to her late husband, Tom, and herself. Brad and I were interested in several of the books and Mom Blake graciously allowed us to help ourselves to the treasures. And treasures they really did turn out to be.
While Brad and Musa were most recently in the States and the rest of us were in Nigeria I had time to read many of those books. It’s amazing what you have time to read when you don’t have a husband to “distract” you in the evenings!! (But, oh, how I love to be distracted now that he is back!)
The following are my thoughts on some of those books as well as others.

So Helpless, Yet So Loved

Some time back I read Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning. The outstanding point to me in his book was the idea that if you know that you are truly loved and accepted unconditionally by someone, it frees you to show almost limitless compassion to others. The confidence you gain by the knowledge and deep heart understanding of that love is powerful. I realized how much God wants to spend time together with me. I likened my time together with God to time I spent relaxing with my baby sleeping on my belly. Nothing can compare to that bond. I came to an exhilarating comprehension that God’s love, unlike human love, is unfailing. And I realized that if I could try to show unconditional love to those around me then I could help free them to also be more compassionate and loving people.
While Brad was gone I took on many responsibilities that were new to me. I gained a confidence in my ability to accomplish things I did not know I could do. All the while I knew it was only God’s power that enabled me as I met frustrating challenges of the third world. I knew just how helpless I really was without Him.

Confidence or Pride

However, I struggled with the feeling that my newfound confidence was somehow prideful. Yet I knew I was giving all glory and praise to God. Then I read something in one of those treasure books that put my feelings into the words that I could not find. It is a book by Joy Turner Tuggy. She quotes Douglas N. Sargent, “It is one of the deep paradoxes of the Christian life that such acceptance of self must go hand in hand with a genuine despair of self. It is this despair which leads to that utter and complete dependence on God Himself which enables Him to mould us, by His Holy Spirit, into the kind of saints which He would have us to be.
“Confidence in self despair” as Charles Wesley put it.

Will My Real Husband Please Stand Up?

As a side note, I have to say that I now understand what is meant by God being a husband to the widow. I am not a widow, but I was without my husband for a few months, which was not fun. I can tell you that during those three months while Brad was gone and I was here with two little ones in a third world country, I was never afraid. I never felt alone. I was never at my wits end as to what to do. God protected me and sheltered me from all harm and fear. He made a way in the desert. That is what a husband does.

Falling in Love with Brad…..again!

One of the books from Grandma’s garage was Love Life for Every Married Couple by Dr. Ed Wheat. It is an old book, so I wasn’t sure it would have much to say that I had not heard a million times before, but something in the title “Love Life” made me pick it up.
I was wowed! According to Dr. Wheat every married couple can experience those tingly feelings and warm fuzzies, flying sparks, racing hearts and twinkling eyes with each other. Is he serious? As I read, I discovered, yes, he is very serious. It is what God intended for us.
I was excited. I literally started falling in love with Brad all over again just from reading the book even while he was all the way on the other half of the world. Amazing! People started saying things to me like, “Jen, are you losing weight?” “That new dress really suits you.” “You look fantastic.” “You are really getting excited for Brad to come home, aren’t you?” I found myself driving down the street in the middle of mad traffic with a huge grin across my face and no help for it. Of course, you know what was happening. I was falling in love!
Now that Brad is back please pray for us that we can take Dr. Wheat’s advice and make this romance a long term reality. So far, so good! Get the book!!!

Quirky People

I love the Mitford series by Jan Karon. Karon is among my favorite authors. I think I am not alone. Living in the third world makes me homesick for small town American life some days. The Mitford novels make me feel like I’m home for a little while. I re-read them now and again.
I once found myself wishing that my life could be more like that of Father Tim and his pretty wife, Cynthia, with all their interesting friends and small adventures and ordinary days. Then, a revelation. Wait a minute. That is my life. All those quirky people with their annoying habits. Those are the interesting people. All those unexpected and frustrating things that happen. Those are the small adventures. And all those boring days when I feel like I’ve not accomplished enough. Those are the ordinary days.
I began to appreciate my life and the quirky people in it a little more. Those quirks are actually the endearing traits that make folks more interesting and lovable. It’s all in the perspective.

Not My Business

One book I thoroughly enjoyed and would love to read again someday is Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. It is amazing to me that he went about his life’s work never making requests for funds or workers from anyone except God. And God never failed him. All that was ever needed was always provided on time.
I wondered if I could have as much faith. Then I read a concept that almost floored me with it’s truth. My book is actually with a friend so I cannot quote for you, but here is the idea. Whether you send your servant for a small item that costs little money or for an enormously expensive item, it makes no difference to him. The money is yours and he will bring the purchase to you. He is only the servant. It is not his business how little or how much the item costs.
You know where I am going with this. I am that servant. Whatever God asks me to do, he must provide the means. Whether little or much, whether easy or difficult. God cannot deny himself. If I am doing his will, then it is not my business how he will provide. Mine is to trust and obey.

More than a Story

The walls in our house are quite bare and drab. In fact, they are in sore need of a thick coat of new paint. But, lacking the funds to paint at the time I decided on an alternative. As I read Bible stories to the kids and practice reciting books of the Bible, instead of putting the visual aids back in the cabinet for the next time, we now post them on the walls as a daily reminder of what we have learned.
The kids love this little twist on Bible story time and enjoy telling curious visitors about the stories. Just the other day our wash lady, who happens to be Muslim, was studying the pictures and talking to our teenage girls about the stories. We told her the version of the stories from the Bible and she told us her understanding of the stories from the Quran.
I was curious about her interpretations and decided to read the accounts in the Quran for myself. I realized that her versions of the stories were not really in the Quran but were simply folklore. Most Muslims do not actually know what is in the Quran, but rather, simply follow tradition. The Quran actually tells Muslims that if they want to know more about these things they should seek out the people of the book (Christians).
As I continue to teach Bible stories to our children, perhaps visitors like our Muslim wash lady will find interest in the beautiful story that unfolds before them on our no longer drab walls.

Children Pray

I love to hear my children pray. With bowed heads and eyes closed, holding the hand next to them, they pray, “Thank you, God, for this food that Mommy cooked. Use it to make us strong to serve you. Please heal Daddy’s leg. Bless Grandma and Mom-ma and Pop-pa in America. And thank you for that special day when we picked up Daddy and Musa from the airport. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
They don’t understand it yet, but they are little children kneeling before the throne of a great King, pouring out their hearts. My heart is full as I kneel there with them , also silently praying that the great King will draw them to himself, giving them knowledge and understanding that I cannot give them.
May my own prayers always be as simple and heartfelt as those of a child.