About two weeks ago, Courtney and I began our journey to
Egbe, Nigeria. Everything in the traveling process went really smoothly, so
thank you all for the prayers for safe and easy travels; God protected us the
whole way. We arrived in Egbe on the afternoon of the 17th and began
to settle into our new home, a little house within the orphanage compound here.
We unpacked our things and anxiously waited for the 33 boys
and girls to get home from school. Seeing their faces again was just as sweet
as we imagined it would be. The younger children warmed up to us almost
immediately, quickly getting back into the swing of sitting on our laps,
chatting with us about school, and asking us to play soccer with them. The
older boys were a little slower to get reacquainted with us, but now we’re talking
and laughing with them like normal.
To give you all an idea of what exactly we’re doing here,
I’ll describe an average day…
We wake up, eat a little breakfast, and get ready for the
day around 8. Then we go to morning devotion with all the other staff here.
It’s really special to be a part of those devotions and this staff in general.
We’re on the opposite side of the world with people we’ve known for only a
short time, and despite all sorts of barriers that exist between us (culture,
language, age, etc.), we are working with an incredible group of Nigerian men
and women for one common purpose: to glorify God. We all want to know Jesus and
make Jesus known to others, and that unites us in a unique and extraordinary
manner.
After devotion, Courtney and I go to work. For me, that
means working in the orphanage office with the accountant. Even after only one
full week of work, I learned so much. The accountant shows me the different
ways they handle particular tasks, and then I do some of the work with his
supervision. It was really exciting for me to take all that I’ve learned from
going to school for an accounting degree and apply it to a real company, with
real assets and liabilities that need to be managed. I’m aware that I sound
incredibly dorky when I enthusiastically talk about assets and liabilities, but
I guess that’s the difference it makes when you work for something you’re
passionate about. So that’s an exciting feeling for me!
Courtney goes to work at the local school here, called
Heritage. Courtney’s vision is to partner with the teachers and administrators
there to develop the staff, teaching methodologies, etc. This first week she
mainly went around and observed in different classrooms. Both of our specific
job descriptions and duties are still taking form and will continue to evolve
for the first several weeks we are here. The main thing we’re focusing on for
now is working together with the Nigerians here to figure out in exactly which
ways we can serve this community.
We get off work around 2:30 in the afternoon when the kids
finish school. When they get home, they eat, and then we have Tutor Time. This
is one of the most important things Courtney and I do with the children. We
split them up into groups of 2 or 3 kids, and we take each group, look at what
they studied that day in school, help them complete their homework assignments,
and prepare for the next day’s classes.
Let me be frank and say that this is an extremely difficult
and stressful time for Courtney and me. There are 20 children we work with. And
there are 2 of us. The kids range from ages 5 to 13. That means one minute
we’re helping someone add 4 + 1, and the next minute we’re helping someone list
the foreign influences on traditional Nigerian agricultural techniques. And
even within the same age/grade level, there are huge discrepancies in the
knowledge and abilities of each child. The kids are not perfectly behaved and
full of patience when we’re helping other groups, they’re not paying us
undivided attention or carefully focusing on our every word, and they certainly
aren’t eager to work on schoolwork when they could be playing soccer or taking
a rest. They’re children, and children can be hard to work with- especially
when there are 20 of them and you’re the one making them do math problems on a
sunny afternoon.
All of that being said… This is an extremely vital and
purpose-filled time for the ministry Courtney and I are aiming to have with
these boys and girls. Courtney is teaching three kids that are 11 years old and
older how to read for the first time ever in their lives. By the end of these
six months, Lord willing, these kids’ entire lives will be changed. The
possibilities for their future will be multiplied when they’re fully literate. And
I pray that when I slowly (and sometimes a little painfully) teach a child to
add “ed” to the end of verbs when they’re using them in the past tense, that
I’m teaching them small lessons that will add up throughout these six months
and end up making them better students with brighter potential futures and
abilities to contribute to society. When we look at the big picture instead of
the specific lesson of the day, we pray all the more for wisdom and patience as
we work with these 20 future engineers, business owners, pilots, nurses,
lawyers, doctors, and teachers.
After Tutor Time is complete, Courtney and I go back into
our house for about 15 minutes to laugh, cry, or scream about the experiences
we each had during the last two hours. On days where we do more crying and
screaming than laughing, we reward ourselves with one or two of the candies my
mother sweetly and insightfully snuck into our suitcases before we left. Then
we go back out to spend more time with the kids.
This time is the best part of our day! Being with these
children is just a blast. They are so funny, spontaneous, creative, clever, and
inventive. Some days are full of routine (hand washing clothes or playing
soccer), and other days are full of new adventures (trying to catch rodents or running
for cover during a sudden rainstorm). This is the time where we just get to be with each other. No agenda or objective,
just living in community and enjoying each other’s company. It’s full of love
and laughter.
In the evenings we eat dinner and finally get to see the
older boys, who have school until 6 pm. Since they’re much closer to us in age
(ranging from 15 - 20), we can relate to them in a different way than the
younger boys and girls. Sometimes we talk about future plans, sometimes we sit
around and tell stories from our childhoods for hours, and sometimes we grab a
deck of cards and do magic tricks. They’re a wonderful group of young men, and
we love spending time with them and pouring into their lives simply through
friendship.
We hang out until it’s time for the kids to go to bed, and
then we go inside and try and relax and get clean before heading to bed
ourselves.
So that’s an average day here! As the weeks go on, we’ll
continue to post on this blog to tell stories and share with you what we’re up to.
We so appreciate all of you, and we miss you very much. I’ll end by listing a
few prayer requests:
-Pray for Courtney and Hillary’s relationship with each
other. While we’re here, Courtney and I are sisters, roommates, coworkers, co-leaders
for Bible Study… everything. We’re each other’s primary source for community,
support, wise counsel, etc. Our relationship with each other is so critical to
everything else that we do here. Therefore, it’s going to be one of the main
things Satan attacks. So far we’ve been getting along great and haven’t had any
problems. But we have seen a few potential areas for tension in the future, and
so we ask that you begin praying for us now. That we will consider each other’s
needs above our own. That we will love each other like Jesus does- with
patience, grace, sacrifice, and kindness. That we will communicate well and
settle conflict quickly and sweetly. That we will experience joy together and be
able to process all of our experiences and feelings together.
-Pray for Courtney and Hillary’s relationships with the
Nigerians they work with closely. This is huge. There are literally uncountable
differences between the Nigerian and American cultures, and that’s one thing
that makes our partnership so beautiful and wonderful. We bring different
things to the table and are constantly teaching each other and learning from
each other. But there are many times when these differences cause
misunderstanding, conflict, and hurt. Please, flood heaven with prayers over
this situation. We need good communication, understanding, humility,
selflessness, perseverance, and of course love.
-Pray for Courtney and Hillary’s relationships with the
Lord. Days are busy and tiring here, and we truly have to fight for time with
our God. It is by far the most important thing we need to do, and yet it is
sometimes the easiest thing to blow off in order to get more rest or complete
more tasks. So pray that we would make time with our Savior and reading His
word our very top priority. Pray for close and intimate time with Him that teaches
us, helps us, and restores our soul each and every day.
-Pray for the continuing transition of moving here. There’s
new food, there are sporadic problems with electricity and water and Internet, we’re
away from our family and friends, and we’re trying to nail down a routine with
our work schedule/duties. It’s just a lot of new stuff to handle at one time,
and there are days when it weighs heavily on us.
-Pray for the children. For everything from their clothes to
their food to their schoolwork to their health to their hearts and souls. Whatever
is laid on your heart, pray for these sweet kids.
