Greetings from Jos Everyone

Sorry it has taken so long to post updates. The internet as well as the phone service is very faint and unreliable here. So keep that in mind... I will try to post as often as possible, but those times might be few and far between.

The trip started fantastically. The flight to Detroit was short and sweet, I got to meet Robert, an oil pipeline worker headed up to kalamazoo, michigan. The leg from Detroid to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Abuja were both around 7-8 hours... a very long flight but the time went by quicly. We made our trip on the "Flying Dutchess" which was a dutch airlines... meaning all the flight attendants and pilots spoke dutch... =D the plane was crazy... every seat back had a tv monitor in it and each person could individually select movies, music, games, and tv to watch or listen to. There were probably 30 new releases in the movies category alone... so it helped the time pass by on the flight. I spent most of the time listening to music and staring out the window though... the view was too good to pass up.



The flight from Amsterdam to Abuja was breathtaking. The Sahara desert is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. For HOURS, all you could see was sand dunes in every direction, as far as the eye could see. It was a very reassuring thing to see from up in the air... any and all anxiety I had coming in was blown away just seeing the wonder of God's creation. I can't imagine what it would be like to be down in the desert itself.

We arrived in Abuja late on Monday night... about 4 pm lexington time, but 10 pm there. Praise the Lord that we made it through customs with absolutely no questioning or searching. We were carrying several laptops into the country and they might or might not have accepted our reasons for bringing them in. We PACKED into one car and made it to the guest house that night... 5 people... probably 8 suitcases... fun times



The city of Abuja was amazing... its hard to explain how the traffic works here... its chaotic to say the least. Its very exciting and the city itself is beautiful. We stayed at a guest house that night and met with several of Chucks contacts the next morning. We met with a man named philemon who was in Chicago at a UN meeting on aids only a few weeks ago. We met with several other people and had alot of needed conversations. All the food up to this point has been different... but good. Most everything is somewhat spicy here.

Later that day, we took the three hour drive up to Jos where I am typing to you now. Jos is absolutely beautiful! It is beyond anything I can describe to you... when you see the city and all the people and the chaos... its amazing. I wish i had more time to talk about Jos, but I will have to do that later, I'm rushed for time right now.



I want to thank everyone so much for all the prayers you have been lifting up. It has been SO apparent to me that God has been with us in absoulely everything we have been doing. From safety, to provisions, to timing of events that only God can coordinate. Please keep praying, it makes such a huge difference in our success here. I have been learning so much in only the few short days we have been here. My perspective on everything in this world is changing and God is showing me what the world is really like outside the box I've been living in.

Tomorrow bright and early, everyone except Chuck is headed to Benin City to do some work with NIFS. We will be conducting and recording interviews with college students on the topic of Sex, Relationships, and Power. The recordings will be used for content on the next up and coming T4 Global chip... the impact this can have can be HUGE... so please pray for us the next 3 days as we will be in Benin. I don't have time now to talk about Benin, or the many other things that have been going on. I have to be back in my room by 10 pm... which is in about 10 minues... because the german shepards get let out on the premise for our protection. They are here for our safety.. but will gnaw us just the same =P

So over the next 3 days, please pray for safety as we drive to Benin City, its a 10 hour drive... so it will be a long day of travel. But we will get to see almost the entire spectrum of people as we drive from Jos to Benin City, so it will be an amazing experience. Pray for provisions in Benin and pray for success in our interviews. Pray that the college students will be open and that our questions will strike to their hearts and invoke responses that can help to change the hearts of others listening in the future. Thank you all so much for the prayer up to this point, please keep praying, it makes a world of difference. Please continue to pray for me as well, and that God grows me each and every day and that I can draw more near to Him than ever before. I apologize if any of this didn't make sense... I will try to update this blog after we return from Benin on Sunday night... so until then.

Grace and Peace to you all from our amazing Lord Jesus Christ