Questions to ask someone who has returned from a missions trip!

• Think of a Nigerian that made an impression on you and tell why.
• Tell about something funny that happened to you on your trip.
• Share about something that was hard for you and how you dealt with it.
• Share an illustration of God moving on your trip.
• Share 2 ways that you personally can keep ministering after your time in Nigeria.
• Share one thing you learned while on your missions trip.
• Share something that the MOM staff said or did that made an impression on you.
• Share something about the MOM staff.
• What was a typical daily schedule?
• Tell us what you did with your free time or recreation.
• What was your favorite meal? Share something that happened during that meal.
• Tell something about living in Nigeria that was difficult for you and how you dealt with it.
• Share one thing about the culture and how it impacted your life.
• Think of a couple of feeling you felt being new to the Nigerian culture. Think of 2 ways how minorities who attend your church may feel.
• Share how this trip has changed your view of the world.
• Name three things in the Nigerian culture that you experienced that was different than your own.
• Complete the sentence; “For me, Nigeria means…”
• Complete the sentence: “The things that I’ll miss most from my time on this trip are…”
• Share how this trip affected your relationship at home.
• What is the hardest thing you face now that you are back home?
• In what ways did your experience in Nigeria change how you relate to your friends who didn’t go?
• What is some attitude or behavior you thought of while in Nigeria that you want to start or stop doing now that you are back home? How are you going to carry through with it?
• Complete the sentence: “My hardest thing upon returning was…”
• Some people may think of your experience as a vacation or a neat trip. What would you say to help them understand it was more than that?
• In what ways did working at your ministry site strengthen your direction for the future or change it?
• In what ways has your walk with the Lord deepened?
• Share a story that illustrates God showing love through you to a Nigerian
• What did you learn about God and His character through your experience?
• Name 3 ways that the Lord ministered through your outreach and give and illustration for each.
• Name something that happened that you didn’t expect to happen.
• What did God teach you in relation to ministering the gospel to others.
• Name one area in your life that was benefited by going to Nigeria.
• Describe one that that has been difficult.
• Would you like to spend more time ministering in Nigeria? Why or why not?
• What is something that didn’t happen that you expected to happen?
• In what ways can you apply what you did in Nigeria to your lifestyle back home?
• What was difficult for you during this trip and how did you deal with it or are dealing with it?
• What was the most exciting thing that happened?
• Have you be frustrated at the lack of interest from others toward reaching the world? If so, what do you think you can do to help them be more involved?
• What issues are you now facing that seem difficult to handle?
• What you do differently if you were able to participate in this trip again?
• What was most important about this trip?

Back at home

Greetings all - the 2010 Nigeria team, plus 1 and minus 1 is back at home as of 2:40 pm this afternoon. It was quite the sight for the "plus 1" member of our team, Hassan Styskal to be greet at the airport by his new big sister and former Otutuluian, Hannah! Also at the airport was a more familiar face, that of Lydia Vonderhaar. They both pointed at each other as if to say, "Hey, that's one of my kind of people!"

Our "minus 1" is Renee Leachman, who was able to change her itinerary so as to take care of Nigerian adoption paperwork and appointments. Please keep her in her prayers as she quickly become the lone "enefu" on the orphanage compound. Also in prayer, remember the process she is going through, that she might be able to come home being an official parent of two lovely little girls.

I can't speak for the rest of the team, but my head is almost literally spinning right now. Traveling since 2 am Monday (Central standard time), 36 hours is a long time to be up without a lot of sleep. I have been through so many security checkpoints, I'm starting to reach for my baggie of liquid items for every corner I go around.

I had written a nice post about how you can help us share our stories with you last night, but it's on Stuart's computer, so I will have to have him upload it so that I can share it with you. The basic gist is, ask specific questions to particular scenarios of the trip.

Thanks for your prayers. God faithfully answered them all, and most of them in the way that we wanted them to be answered!

Travel Home

@8:49am from Julie:
"Team left Otutulu at 8 this morning, now we're 1 hour outside of Abuja. We are heading for quick showers then off to the airport. Renee stayed behind to work on adoption. Final visit to Lokoja orphange was difficult. We were informed that Wale had died. (this is the little child that Tammy Maisano's family supports) Icky hard reality that really hit home."

I wish...

Thoughts from Stu....

What an incredible trip. This has been tough to unpack in my head and verbalize much on this blog. I have seen much and experienced much. I am sitting here wishing....

I wish you could see the kids smiles at the orphanage.
I wish you could meet the community elders who came today to thank us for the work we are doing here.
I wish you could hear Julie's sarcasm (classic) and fantastic leadership.
I wish you could sing songs with the kids.
I wish you could see Adrienne getting her hair braided.
I wish you could meet Daniel and his family (incredible).
I wish you could see the faith these people have.
I wish you could have seen me & Doug get scolded by the Nigerian police.
I wish you could have seen Larry teach the kids in Sunday School this morning.
I wish you could see Kay playing with the kids during clinic.
I wish you could have seen Renee receive good news about her adoption after the visit from the commissioner.
I wish you could experience their culture - beautiful.
I wish you could see the cow being loaded in the back of the car.
I wish you could see Paul light up around the kids.
I wish you could have seen that judge with the funny, old school wig on.
I wish you could see the kids hanging on Matt.
I wish you could have seen the ruckus we caused at market.
I wish you could see the gas stations we fill up at.
I wish you could experience church this morning.
I wish you could see Adam loving on the kids.
I wish you could taste the good food we have eaten.
I wish you could ride like sardines in these little cars they cram us in.
I wish you could see Eric being such a great brother to Hassan.
I wish you could see the patience Ken shows in every situation.
I wish you could see Kyla tie-dying shirts like a machine.
I wish you could have seen the children's programs Cibolo did (totally rocked).
I wish you could see them laugh at our attempts at Igala.
I wish you could see....a lot.

I saw this qoute the other day and it would be appropriate now...
"Now I have seen, I am responsible."

Nothing but love, stu

As the Trip Continues, the Blessing Grow.

Hi folks, Renee here...

It's amazing to me to think this is the last full day the entire team will be in Otutulu. It's been another full one, but aren't they all? There's been a virus or something that a few of the kids have gotten... in most cases it seems to pass quickly, but the onset comes with quite a punch and it's pretty messy... and that's all I'm going to say about that!

Tonight will be my last night with the team because I'm staying on a little longer than the rest of the team and, if it's God's will, I'll get an audience with the Honorable Commissioner of Woman and Children's Affairs in order for her to approve our adoption of Oma and Anita.

I sit here at 4:00 in the afternoon, contemplating all God is doing in the lives of this team and the people we've been blessed to encounter and I'm blown away. Matt toting toddlers around, Kay jumping rope with the girls, Larry teaching Sunday school to a group of Nigerian children, Paul listening raptly to the beautiful voices of the women of M.O.M. singing hymns.... I could go on and on. It's so amazing to see how God chooses to use each of us; building unique and special relationships with our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world!

I'm going to miss being here with this team that God brought together, but they will be continuing their adventure and I mine. But we'll all continue to do as God directs. To the best of our ability, spreading His light and love...

God's Blessings for All!!!

lessons learned in Nigeria

Hello again, C4 friends and others following along. I just finished writing a posting on my blog, but thought you might want to see Leonard and Renee Leachman's little girl Oma, so please follow this link here!

As I was thinking of what to write here, so as to actually have content, and not just repeat my blog, or send you link surfing, I thought of a few things that we have learned here.

1) Improvisation is the key to live here. So many things will not work the way you want them to, or something will break and need to be fixed. In Stuart's kids camp today, we had balloon games planned to do with all the kids. 2 different age groups, in rotation, 3 rotations per group. But, when kids aren't used to having access to balloons frequently, you don't have an interpreter, and the grass has very sharp edges, balloon do not last very long for any games to be played! Also, I tried to repair several wheel chairs today and previous days, and I can not tell you how frustrating it is to not have a hardware store handy to by spare bolts, nuts, tools and WD-40.

2) I have asked the question - "What is your name?" a lot this week. When you have 150 dark skinned children, the girls with braided hair, the boys with shaved heads, and they are all about the same size and body shape, and you have a hard enough time understanding their names and accent. Oh boy. It would take me a month here to learn every one's name. One boy was kind enough to take a crayon and write his name on the skin of his chest for me one night - Iko. I laughed, but I can recognize him now!

3) I appreciate napkins and running water to wash my hands. On previous missions experiences, I had come to appreciate hot and cold running water, but now I will just appreciate having any water at all that can run from a faucet into a sink. You don't know what that means.

4) I am humbled by the things that I want, and what I really need in life to live. I have not taken a single thing out of a refrigerator this entire week. We need refrigerators, really?? No, we don't. You can live without them, and quite well, for the food that we have eaten this week.

I am running out of time here in the office, so I will say good night. I hope to blog one last time tomorrow night, and give you a few hints at how you can make our homecoming a profitable one for everyone involved!

Live To Tell,
Adam J

Follow the links!!

Apparently, everyone was too tired to blog last night after our big day with clinic and the commissioner, the media and all the rest. We woke up to a huge rain storm yesterday morning, and we weren't sure exactly what the day would bring. God worked it out to his plan, which also included just the Commissioner coming, and not the Magistrate. The media came out, did some interviews, and hopefully will present the entire piece in a positive light.

We had a busy, fun day today, going to market, but both myself (Adam) and Stuart have blogged about it on our personal blogs, so if you want the rest of the story (or all of it!), you will have to click the links below.

You can get Stuart's page here, and my page can be reached here.

Thanks for your prayers. We are all in good health and spirits, and praising God for the relationships He is building and continuing to grow!

Wed. night, Day 1 of Kids camp

As if we didn't already have enough fun, crazy, and amazing things happen here with our team in Otutulu, today Stuart Chapman got to lead his first day of kids camp. Stuart helped put together a variety of activities and crafts for all of the kids. We split them into 2 age groups, as they go to school in the different age groups; age 3-8 in the morning, and the older students in the afternoon. So, we got the reverse of that, the older kids first, and then the younger ones in the afternoon.

We got together in one of the 3 abandoned chicken coops behind the orphanage. Stuart taught the students how to say "Howdy" today, and got some good video with plenty of volume for Doug Burford!! Too fun. One of the daughters of the orphanage director, Daniel Edeh, was our interpreter for Stuart's teaching time. She had to be taught the meaning of one word in particular that Stuart kept using that she didn't understand. Omele (O-Mey-Ley) didn't know what Stuart meant when he kept saying "y'all".

We split the kids into 3 groups, and had them do two activities, and a craft. The craft for today was tye dye, which was a big hit. It's funny to see the team walk around with dyed hands! I hope we will be able to put up pictures later on of 150 tye dyed shirts that the kids might be wearing! The activities were field games (lead by yours truly, with help from Doug Dorsey and my lovely wife Adrienne) We introduced the game of crab soccer - which translates as kakara futbol, and also red light/green light, or Lo/dago! I wasn't sure who enjoyed the games more; the kids, or the aunties and other adults from the community that were spectators! We all had a blast, despite being tremendously hot in the afternoon.

The other fun event was the activity of bubbles. I don't know how many hundreds of little tubes of bubble soap we brought, but we obviously didn't get enough. The tears, and scuffles over who still had the bubble solution left was evident to all!

The other neat activity of the day was the mid-day trip to swim in the river. A group from our team took the top students (7 of them) on a 10 minute hike to wade into a small clearing of a nearby river. It was very refreshing for us to be able to cool off, and for the kids, it was a great treat and reward for their hard work. It was funny though that after 20 minutes of swimming, the kids were all shivering cold and had goose bumps on their skin, while the team was greatly enjoying the comfort of the river. It was also a neat walk through the countryside, as we passed a burned off area that some folks farming had cleared to plant crops. At one end of the field was a 10' high termite hill. It dwarfed Stuart, to give you an idea of how tall it was.

Well, that about does it except for one big thing. We will be doing another clinic at the orphanage tomorrow. The word has spread, and we are expecting 3 distinguished guests. The first is the area commissioner of women and children affairs. The second is the local judicial magistrate. Both of these people are important figures in the adoption processes that happen, and their presence here could expedite the adoptions that the Leachman family are hoping and praying for. The third guest would be both print and video media of this region of Nigeria. It could mean a lot for the orphanage in presence, and possible assistance from the government (currently they receive no help from any government agencies.)

So, please be praying for us tomorrow. If you find yourself awake at 3 am, we will be starting to "open our doors"(even though most of our work is outside!) to an expected 400 patients. Please pray for good weather, patience and endurance for our team and interpreters, and that God would be working through the presence of this orphanage, their staff, and our team and work here!

Good night (O-Low-Dew-dew) And thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Adam -for the team!

Dog tired but pro

Well, I am the blogger for the evening. I will do my best to give you highlights of today. We started the day off with devotional lead by Renee and then quickly scurried off to do clinic. We did two sessions for the children and staff of MoM. Everyone worked soooooo hard and did their jobs with smiles and love, even when exhaustion set it. The team is awesome!! Today was also the day to slaughter the cow. The children were chanting "we are going to eat cow tonight". I did not witness the slaughter but many of our people did. Tonight we had a huge celebration and everyone ate meat and rice. You would not beleive how happy and excited all the children were. The best was when we closed and Matt, one of our teens was asked to close. He did not hesitate, he got up in front of over 150 people and delivered a beautiful prayer. We were all very proud!!!! Well still much to do this evening so I must run. Much love to all at home and thank you for the prayer!! Julie

Day Two - Learning, Serving, and Soaking it All In!

Agba (Hello) from Renee Leachman, your poster for the evening,

Today was a VERY full day! It was our first day of "scheduled activity" and it was a busy one!

There's lots of learning going on...

For those that are new to M.O.M., they're learning their way around the compound. They're learning the names of several of the children and they are learning this place is the filled with the work of the holy spirit! For those that are returning, we are getting re-acquainted with old friends, refreshing our memories of the difficulties the residents cheerfully overcome day in and day out, and getting a reminder of why we wanted to come back.

We began by heading to Crystal's home for breakfast, since she's been hosting our meals. So breakfast at 7:00, then setting up clinic for the villagers in Otutulu. That was interesting, with two doctors, folks working triage, and the stagers (aka traffic cops), navigating patients from triage to the docs, then from the docs to the pharmacy, and last but far from least, to the prayer station. The estimate is we served about 200 patients. It was a full day and very rewarding, knowing that many of these folks wouldn't have access to medical services without groups like ours coming to provide it. And the fact that every person was prayed for was amazing... that's every person, Muslim or Christian! That in itself is a big part of the reason why I come. The folks at M.O.M. and many in Otutulu are Christian, so the opportunity to support the work done by our Christian brothers and sisters is fulfilling. And the chance to pray for non-Christians and share with them the love of Christ is where it's at!

Simultaneous to the medical clinic, there was a lot of love and fun with kids of M.O.M. I hear they can do a mean ring-around-the-rosie... just ask Kay Dorsey when you see her (she was phenomenal).

And of course, I certainly can't forget to mention the cow that Stuart Chapman, Doug & Matt Dorsey, and Eric Styskal wrangled and brought back to the orphanage. That's a story that one of "cow boys" ought to share, but don't worry... they arrived safe and sound and so did the cow!

After dinner, devotional, and clean-up, it's late and time to call it a night. It's a lot to absorb and we've only been here a few days. Soooo much more to do and see and learn. Thank you for your prayers... they are such an encouragement!

God, have your way with us!!

Greetings from Otutulu!

I am your host tonight, Adam Jacobus, and I can tell you it has been an amazingly, head spinning experience!

We safely arrived last night after dark at the MOM orphanage here in Otutulu, which means about 1:30 or 2:00 pm for those of you keeping score at home! We are 6 hours ahead of US Central time, but worlds away in other ways! Our internet service is limited to the times that they can run the generators here to provide a limited amount of power to the 3 main buildings of the orphanage, and then Crystal's house (Crystal is the american missionary teacher friend of Julie's.) Basically, when the generators go out, every goes black!! All of us are carrying our water bottles and flashlights with us where ever we go!

Although our flights were simply long and uneventful, we landed just before 9 am local time, got through customs, and waited just a short while for Julie to show up with our vehicles. She brought a chartered multi-passenger van, and the smaller station wagon that belongs to M.O.M. We stuffed a good portion of the luggage into the station wagon, along with Paul in the front seat, while the rest of us jumped into the van. The bigger issue was the amount of luggage - 24 checked pieces weighing between 40-70 pounds, and then 12 carry on bags, plus a few other pieces. The only item lost was an umbrella stroller - go figure, a gate checked item for Hussan Styskal!

We shortly found the inspiration for Walt Disney's Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - when the steering wheel and horn are used more than the brakes, you are in for one adventure. Going to the Lakoja baby orphanage was not that big of a problem, but there were only 13 passengers in 12 available seats. After lunch and the baby orphanage, we added the adoption families and Daniel, so we lost some of our luggage in the station wagon, repacked some bags, and headed out with now 15 passengers. We got to visit the new orphanage construction, and then back tracked to pick up some of the 12 year old students from the MOM orphanage who were testing in Lakoja. So, our passenger list totaled at 19 for the next 4 hours of so, again, still on Mr. Toad's wild ride!

Our arrival at the orphanage was precluded by the last stage of road, which isn't so much as road as much as "dry river bed" mixed with roller coaster. Up and down, left and right, inching forward, backing up, and preparing to meet Jesus at any moment. We offered several times to get out and walk, but our driver just kept on going! We finally rolled into the orphanage after dark, and were mobbed by kids, our van cleared out of all luggage, and then we were a little bit lost (and in the dark!)

So far, the majority of conversation with the children has been "What Is Your Name?" with emphasis on each word! The universal language of the smile and handshake has been unmistakable.

Today was a new experience for everyone involved, because it included church service here at the orphanage. Some of us got to sit in with the children's Sunday school, and all of us were able to participate in communion. It was fun to sing the old hymns in English out of a small hymnal, sitting alongside Nigerians singing in Igala. How awesome is our God to be worshiped in a world of languages and cultures!

Today, with the exception of the adoption sendoff, was a day of rest. Tomorrow, we will be hosting a medical clinic, and having 200 children surround us at all times, asking "What Is Your Name?"

Our posts will most likely come during these evening hours for us, or early afternoon for you! Thanks for your prayers while we are here. Currently, we are all in good health and spirits, and look forward to the adventure God has brought us on.

Tammy Maisano and others that were asking about Baby Ann, who has hydrocephalus. She is still alive, and doing as well as possible. The care that she is receiving is remarkable.

Alright then, I've written a novel. More tomorrow after more rest, and more water to drink!

@ 9am per Leonard:
"They arrived at MoMs ...praise the Lord !"

@ 11:14am from Julie:
"Laughing right now because we are beginning a 5 hour drive and are packed like sardines. We have all the luggage and had to pick up 4 teens that needed to go back to Otutulu. Renee and I have a 14 year old girl on our laps wearing braces that must weigh 50 pounds! Praying for numbness to set in."
Kristin: "So, Julie, you really want us to pray for numbness? I don't think I've ever prayed for that before!"
Renee: "Yes..PLEASE!"

@ 7:16am from Julie:
"C4 has arrived safe and sound with all thier luggage! Been driving about 2 hours and should reach Lokoja orphanage in about 1 hour. Some sleeping while others are oo-ing at the crazy driving and traffic."

@3:01 from Renee:
"We're all on board and awaiting take off!"

@2:17pm from Renee with C4 team:
"In NY, walking to the connecting gate for the flight to Abuja. God is good! So far all bags and people account for! Watching our crew stand in line to get their passort checked before boarding."

@ 1:36pm from Julie:
"Adoptive group still on their 9 hour journey back to Lokoja to rest for the night. Stopped 4 different times so far by police and other men...."

@9:36am from Julie:
"People with nails on boards asking for money. If you try to drive away they throw the boards under tyour tires. Fun, fun, fun...Will leave early in the morning to head for Abuja to pick up C4 team."

From Leonard via Facebook @ about 8am:
"The C4 Lamplight mission team / 2 Nigeria has cleared security....the countless bags carrying medical supplies are being loaded onto a big plane ~final stop Otutulu Nigeria!Thank you PAPPA for your amazing love ! Grace and Peace ...."

@ 8:22am from Julie:
"We just now finished at the Embassy after 8 hours. We finally received all visas. Much thanks and love go out to Ken, Meghan, Eric, and Renee. Without you I would never have gotten my visa and would have lost sanity! Love and Hugs."
Thank you all for your constant prayer! God heard you as He always does.

Contacts have been made with both Homeland Security and Kay Bailey Hutchison's office to help solve the issue with Hassan's visa. We now wait until the Nigerian embassy re-opens tomorrow. Continue to hold Julie and the team up in prayer. They are feeling all of your support already.

Please, please pray for Julie right now if you can. It is feeling quite lonely as she tries to work through this visa issue long distance. She is now not just a leader, but a scared mom.
Kristin

@ 7:30am from Julie:
"Vonderhaars and Neeley's visas were approved, Styskal's was not. U.S. left out a simple receipt for our fingerprints and unless I can produce then no visa. I will do my best when the U.S. is open."
Obviously, much prayer is needed for the rest of this process for Julie and the Styskal family. Julie seems calm and said "it's in God's hands now."

@3:47pm from Julie:
"Starting to bed down. Everyone is uneasy about tomorrow's visit to the Embassy. men spent alot of time together this evening in prayer for favor. Please ask everyone to pray that our visas may be granted. We go at 10am Nigeria time/4 am CST."

@ 6:32am from Julie:
"Finally off of Victoria Island! The place is a madhouse! Clinic all went well and we received all our paperwork. Tomorrow is the big day at the Embassy. We will know then if the visas are granted."
Please pray that their visas are granted and for thier continued safety...and that Michael won't take any more forbidden photos! ;) Kristin

@1:52am today from Julie:
"OK, we just had quite the exciting moment. Police stopped our car and were very upset that Michael had taken a photo of him. It is against the law to photograph police. Our driver begged for Michael but the man was still mad. Michael had to get out in the middle of the freeway to apologize and delete the picture. Things only settled down when another policeman came up and saw Chris Vonderhaars' soccer shirt! We were released and sent on. Just a bit of Nigerian excitement for our white friends."

@ 11:00am CST from Julie Styskal:
"We are all now in Lagos and survived clinic. The kids all got their shots. One child, Rose, vomited 3 times! Chris Vonderhaar has been doing an awesome job...even helping to clean up the puke. We go tomorrow to hopefully get papers to allow us to go to the embassy. Roads are horrifying but we are just embracing the adventure. Lagos is a bit rough."
Thank you for your continuing prayer support for Julie and the Vonderhaar's!
Kristin

Nigeria Team #1

As of today, Sunday June 2oth, we know that the first Nigeria team of Julie Styskal and the Vonderhaar family have arrived safely. They are currently in need of prayer for finding lodging in Lagos (near the Embassy). Also, please pray that they are able to connect with all the people they need to and complete the final steps for the adoption of Hassan Styskal and Lydia Vonderhaar. We will keep you posted...
God Bless,
Kristin Burford