Sunday's crisis

We have received a lot of emails from people who are concerned for our safety and the ministry of Back2Back since this past Sunday's crisis. Thank you all so much for your prayers and your emails and your concerns for our well being.

It was and always will be a tragedy when innocent people are killed and wounded in events that take place around Jos, Nigeria. These incidences are more than just religious crisis. It is a battle going on since many generations past, and it has many contributing factors, but a lot to do with land and wanting to "claim" it, no matter what the cost.

Will you join us in prayer as we continue to seek out the wisdom, wisdom that comes from above.

"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:2b-5

We trust that God's vision is larger and deeper than ours. We thank Him for opportunities to minister and serve the larger body. Thank you for all of you who have joined with us in the ministry of the orphan child.

mercy party

These are our friends Ibro and his wife Mercy. They had us over for a birthday party for her (she turned 35). It was so fun to be there and to celebrate her life with them. It is always a joy to be somewhere as a friend, verses a "ministry moment". Not that those are bad, but there is something special about being invited as friends. We are grateful for them both.There was some grilled goat offered with a spicy rub on it. Through time, I am beginning to enjoy spice a bit more and more. I think I am turning into my grandpa Hamilton. I remember when I was little thinking he put tons of pepper on everything. Anyway, I think living in Mexico and now here, a little bit of spice makes everything taste better. For me anyway, John wouldn't agree.
Below is a picture of Ibro and Mercy's two children. They have a girl who is a bit older than two and Mercy just gave birth to a new baby boy who is about 6 weeks old. Even though Zizza (the girl) has moments of learning to "love" on her brother, she definitely has other moments when the "love" is more genuine. We caught one of those moments below.
Aren't they cute!!!!

ice cream party and pizza

For Christmas, my parents gave all of their grandchildren $30.00 USD (16 of them). But, the gift itself was for them to see the joy in giving, so a letter was written to each of them about it and what they had to do was find a "cause" or a "need" other than their own life that could benefit from $15. They could keep the other $15 for themselves. After they gave their money to wherever they chose they then had to write a letter back to grandma and grandpa about where the money went, etc...

So, majority of my nieces and nephews proceeded, through time, to hand John and I $15 to go for an ice cream party for some children we work with. We were overwhelmed with the amount handed to us that there was enough for not only a ice cream party, but also a pizza party as well.

Yesterday afternoon, we took a children's home we work with (OLA) and took 12 of the children to a restaurant, called Summerland, for ice cream and pizza. When we arrived there I started finding out from the children one by one as they were ordering ice cream, they had NEVER eaten ice cream before. NEVER!!! They had NEVER been to a restaurant before. NEVER!! And they had never had pizza before. NEVER!! The manager who was running the ice cream parlor asked one of the girls who was 19 if she liked ice cream, she said she didn't know what it was and has never had it before. You should have seen the man's face, he was floored, from that point on, he was giving double the portions for half the price. It was a blessed day.

Emilee, she was telling us later she had to show the kids how to hold the pizza (with your hands) because they didn't know what to do with it. How cute!! In the end, they behaved quite well in the restaurant and ate all their food (we also ordered Jollof rice, just in case our great idea was a bust. I think they liked having it as an option). Afterwards, we took them to my kids school (Hillcrest) to play on the elementary playground. It was such a fun day. I hope it is one that is not quickly forgotten.

We are blessed for sure and Gus, our son, said to me near the end of the day, "they really had never had ice cream before" I think my whole family was overwhelmed with our own blessings and was reminded of how good we have it, even if it can seem that we are sacrificing.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL MY NEICES AND NEPHEWS WHO DECIDED TO GIVE THESE CHILDREN SUCH A FUN AND ADVENTUROUS DAY. ALL WHO WERE THERE HAD SUCH A BLESSED TIME!!! WISH YOU COULD HAVE ALL BEEN HERE WITH US!!

track meet

Yesterday was one of the two track meets we are going to have this season. I have six runners (5 guys, 1 girl) and they ran their best times and I was proud of each and every one of them. These are just some pictures taken of the runners praying before the run, the starting line and the last one is I am not sure. I am sure I am giving some words of advice or wisdom.... hehehe

It is amazing the heat they run in. I remember running in the middle of the afternoon for my track meets, but I don't recall the afternoons getting in the 90's, but they do well. I guess it is just what you get used to.

I have convinced the team that running is mostly mental, so they will say often to me that "today is a strengthening of the mind exercise right, coach!!" It is always weird to here them say coach...
Anyway, track meet number one has come and gone. I am grateful. I am off to take a couple of group members that are here to OLA (one of the children's homes we minister alongside) and then take the kids for pizza and ice cream. Pictures to come....

contrasts

These two pictures are just what is on my mind today. Today I miss my family. It is such a stark contrast between when this winter / s'more making day was taken verses one month later being in Africa and dancing and sweating and just enjoying different family.

Two worlds, two families, two days, wanting both......

It is a joy to obey the calling of Christ, but today it feels a bit torn in my heart.

local establishments

Local gymnasium (it is a bummer when there is a huge drop off if you were to fall off...). Thanks John for sporting off some of your talent.

Local chicken mart. You buy them live or dead. Once you kill them and drain the blood, you can throw in boiling water for five minutes and then the feathers slide easily off. (for the record, I do already by mine in a meat market, killed and frozen. BUT, I have tried this before)

Local laundry mat. This is a common sight here, especially during this dry, dry season of time. I am grateful for our washer and dryer (even if we cannot use them often), it beats the river and rocks.

family moments

John's dad and his wife are leaving tomorrow. It is always sad to say goodbye to family when they come to encourage and bless. We are grateful for our time with them. We were able to celebrate Gus's and John's dad's birthdays this past weekend (they are both in April - yes, we were really early, but it was fun to do with Dale in town).

The other two pictures are just of our new outfits before church. If you can see, the girls have totally different clothing styles. They both were able to design their whole look and style and so here was the final result. Sami's has frills at the bottom and Sarah's is more of a chinese look, simple little collar and hemline. In the end, it fits them both well. Thank you Dale and Eileen for being here and loving on us. We are grateful!