My new home...

Greetings everyone! I arrived a few days ago at the JETS guest house. JETS standing for Jos ECWA Theological Seminary... and ECWA standing for Evangelical Church of West Africa.... SO, the full title of where I'm staying is the Jos Evangelical Church of West Africa Theological Seminary Guest House... what a mouthful. The new housing is great and I love everything on the campus. There is a research library here so there are TONS of great seminary level books that I will be able to access while I'm here. There is also an internet cafe which I am in right now writing this blog.

The only thing that isn't awesome is the power... or the lack thereof. Its something I'm used to at this point though. NEPA, or Nigerian Electric Power Association is in charge of all the electric work here in Nigeria. To give you an idea of how well they do their job... the majority of Nigerians refers to NEPA as No Electric Power Anytime. Haha, so we never really have electricity. It can get hot at night when your trying to sleep and makes it hard to do anything after the sun goes down, but its not so bad. Its actually a pleasant surprise when the power does come on, which usually only lasts for an hour or two. Many places, like this internet cafe, run on a generator 24/7 to make sure they have power. In any means, it has made me see more of the blessings that I take for granted in the states. Next time you hit a light switch and the light comes on.. thank God!

I stayed with a local family here in Nigeria last night and got to meet the 2 sons and 2 daughters. It was a great stay and the entire family was so hospitable! Their daughter has also been showing us around the town and teaching us how to shop in the market and get a taxi when we need to. We are going with her into town tomorrow to first pick out material, then take it to a tailor and get some real custom Nigerian clothes made. So that should be alot of fun.


I will start work with EMS on Monday, which is the ECWA Missionary School. It is a school for children of missionaries who are out in the bush and there is no school there for their children to attend. We went and visited today and got to meet all the children and teachers. It is going to be a lot of fun I can already tell and there will be some great opportunities to help impact some children's lives. So... that is about as far as I know what I will be doing, I will keep you all updated as I find out myself. Brittany and myself have a fair amount of free time at night, so I will have plenty of time to get in the Word and literature from the research library... as well as play some guitar =P

I can't thank you all enough for the prayers. They are more valuable to me than gold. Please keep praying for me and Brittany as we stay here in Jos. It is a new experience for both of us. When Chuck and Derek left, we both felt some feelings of anxiety because obviously neither of us have ever been alone in another country for this long of a period. God is going to grow us so much through it I know, so please keep us in your prayers. Please pray that I use all of my free time wisely and come closer to the Lord through it. Pray for my work at EMS and that I will be able to permanently impact several children and their walk with the Lord. Pray that the children will permanently impact me and my walk with the Lord =P Please pray for continued safety and provision from the Lord and that God will continue to shape me and grow me into the man he wants me to become. I have a long way to go until I become that man, but I'm starting to get glimpses of what he looks like more every day. God bless all of you and I hope to keep hearing from you!

Grace and Peace from God our Father