Today was another amazing, fun filled day! I woke up to Julie’s happy voice again and Pastor Marc came into the room so we could make pour over coffee since all they have is instant. We drank our coffee together and hung out. Julie offered Pastor her tenz unit when he mentioned his neck was sore from sleeping on the high pillows. He placed the suction cups to his neck and Julie cranked it and he jumped sky high when they zapped him! Pastor is sensitive lol It was HILARIOUS! He was in a trance afterwards because they felt so good. Julie may never see them again because he took it to his room lol
Julie gave me an elephant skirt so I wore that today! It was so much more easy to move around in since yesterday’s skirt was restrictive for jumping over puddles, lifting kids, and wandering in rough terrain to pet goats and dogs! Lol
At 7:30am here we headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Pancakes and boiled eggs were all eaten up! After changing, we went to Peter’s house for instructions and coffee. Peter talks like Trump with better hair using animation, volume, pronunciations, and hand gestures. I noticed when he said words like “wall” and “huge”. He is so good at telling us stories and the passion of the mission to reach Nigeria! He shared some interesting things with us. He said most Nigerians children and uneducated adults dont know how old they are and have to guess because they don’t know when their birthdays are. Also, the life expectancy for Nigerians is only 40 years old with sickness and tragic accidents, which is sad.
He prayed us out and headed to an urban all boys transitional house. Our trusty driver, Victor, who is also a volleyball coach at the local missionary high school, got us there safe! As we drive in, the boys were watching their laundry in bowls with chickens scattered around them. We met the pastor in charge of the boys and he gathered them in a cement building where we ALL sat down.
The pastor went around and shared the name of each boy, which mainly consisted of Bible names. One boy was named David so we called him “King David” who was supposed to be the best soccer player there! The boys sang us a welcome song which was super nice! Grateful for their singing, the team encouraged the boys saying that Jesus loved them, they were so special we traveled all the way to see them, and that we love the same God that they follow too. Hand and hugs were given to the boys on our way out.
The pastor showed us around, taking us through the rooms. Smelling musty, the cement walled rooms had writing on the wall with twin sized bunks along each side.
Fortunately, the boys were going to be moving into a new transitional facility located in a rural area where they could have more room. The boys were washing their clothes to get ready for that move. We were going to their new place next where we would meet someone totally amazing!
Anyway, we continued the tour with the pastor showing us a special needs boy lying on a bed who they found with wild animals living under a bush. They taught him how to walk 9 years ago and he knew how to shake hands which was big for him.
On our way to the kitchen, we passed a room of chickens that were clucking. Their kitchen consisted of a little closet of wood the boys broke up, a HUGE iron pot over a fire, and a little room for storing food like rice.
We said our goodbyes and I taught the boys how to fist bump with the explosion, which they ate up! Our next stop was the new facility for the boys! Soon their urban facility would be empty and then used for abused woman and widows, providing them food, a place to stay, and taught to sew.
We literally bounced to their new place since the roads in Jos are filled with puddles due to the rainy season and potholes. Many cars get broken axles because they are so bad. We ended up parking by this tin shack where we met 27 year old Lonz, aka “Chemical”. He never went to the university but is super smart! Get this! He found a way to convert plastic into fuel for cars. He noticed all the trash laying around and was curious about what the plastic was made of. His curiousity let him to make a contraption where he melts the plastic, mixes it with water and chemicals, and fuel comes out! They had this fuel tested and turned out it’s more efficient than regular gas and does not release any more pollution than the gas we are using now. Lonz and his invention are pictured below:
You can see the plastic bags he is recycling, where he is melting the plastic, and what the end looks like! We had to wear masks because of the chemicals that were being released.
He said that he is using his gift to help others. Right now, he wants to use the fuel for the church, but later he may release it to the public. Lonz grew up in the transitional home of boys and is now helping the facility by inventing new things to help. He said by next year he wants to make a fertilizer so they don’t have to buy it and make it better than what they ate using now. Also, there are plans of him making soy milk for the facility too sell and use for the boys. He wants to continue to extract chemicals for ordinary things around him and turn them into something to improve the ministry. He was super passionate and motivated!
It was funny to explain snow to him because they are only used to 2 seasons (wet and dry season) and most of the Nigerians are wearing winter coats even though its been 80° here because they think its cold. We shared some laughs.
We met back at Peter’s house to talk about our experiences over lunch when 2 more ladies from North Carolina joined us. They traveled from Abuja like we did the day before. After sharing about what VBS was going to look like, we drove to the orphanage where the VBS will be taking place to see the rooms where we would be leading crafts and sharing Bible stories. Along the way, I had to point out every dog, goat, and cow we seen. All the dogs around here look like Hunbun (my dog back home)!
The road to the orphanage was an adventure! Huge ruts filled with water was basically what the “road” was to get there. I will never complain about Michigan roads again! We finally made it to the Gyero Orphanage after nearly getting stuck! Good thing Victor is a great driver to maneuver around the deep trenches and mud!
We unloaded from the SUV and waved back to the girls in the window. They ran out to greet us with hugs right away! I showed them how to fist bump with the explosion and they loved it to. I told them that’s what we do in America but then I corrected saying that not everyone adds the explosion at the end lol
I asked them which house they stayed in and the girls got excited pulling us to their bunks. They continued to show us around from their chicken room to their school house.
When in the school house, we arrived with them singing and clapping. Then Hector, the VBS administrator, called us up to the front and introduced us to the kids and they started singing a welcome song to us! It was so cool of them!
We ended up meeting with the staff after that and decided which rooms to use for the VBS and once again we played with the girls who ran up to me and started fist bumping! They remembered! It was so fun playing with them! It was hard leaving them.
Yelling and waving, the kids ran after our SUV saying their goodbyes. We all promised them we would be back on Saturday.
On the ride back, we talked with Hector who shared that he married an American missionary girl and hasn’t seen her since she had to go back to Washington due to visa expiration. We shared with him about what America is like since, once his visa gives through, he will be going there.
We made it back to out bunkhouse for dinner where we ate spaghetti and fried plantains. After dinner, me and Julie watched YouTube videos on how to tie bubushkas (head scarves). Laughing non stop, we practiced tying them and got real creative!
It was such a great day! No hill climbing for today, but we stayed busy and had a blast! Stay tuned for tomorrow where we will be visiting the brothel where we will be sharing Jesus with prostitute woman. Peter says it amazes him that the madams let us in there at all because in the past, all 13 women walked out and left their old way to be cared for by the ministry they have, leaving them with no woman clients. Since then, they found more clients that we will be loving.
Pray for the woman who think they are trapped. It would be a miracle if they decided to follow Jesus and realize their value.
Thanks everyone for following along with our journey! I’ve been hearing great feedback from all who are reading! Love you all!
