Here are some of the pictures from Nigeria. I am having trouble with my blog page but will get more up ASAP.

Air Port Madness

Hey we are home! Here is the low down and the skinny on our wild trip home from Nigeria. We left Abuja at 9 pm and were schedule to arrive in Frankfurt at 10 am. Note: Before we got on the plane we went for a team hike IN OUR TRAVEL CLOTHES! We figured that we would dry off before we got to the airport but we were still muddy. We also managed to soak our tennis shoes so five of us boarded the plane in flip-flops. When we got to Frankfurt we found out that because of storms the plane from Frankfurt to PDX the day before had been grounded and thus our plane was over booked. The peeps at Lufthansa were offering €600 to the first 18 people to give up their seats. (That's $900 back here) We of course jumped on it and had our flights rearranged so that we would land in Philly at 5 pm and be home at PDX by 8:30. When we got to Philly US Air told us that Lufthansa hadn't actually booked us tickets but had just given us receipts to pay for them. We were able to get Amanda and Chad on the plane with all of our luggage. We then had to go to the Lufthansa desk to see if they would put us up for the night. When we got to the desk they were closed so we called their 1 800 number that was supposed to be available 24/7 and they weren't available( so much for 24/7 huh). Here is the situation, Scott is trying to reach the people who answer the phone 24/7, Katherine and Whitney were praying, and I was counting down the seconds before I went to the US Air desk and demanded to see the manager. When all of a sudden a Lufthansa employ comes out of the back room looking for us. She said she had seen us get off the plane but hadn't seen us make our connecting flight. We explained the situation and she took our paper work to see what she could do. Turns out that the mistake was by US Air but Lufthansa offered to put us up for the night and get us new flights with United. We decided to fly out to San Fran at 6 am on the United plane so she booked us a night in the Sheridon economy hotel across the street and gave us dinner and breakfast money. When we got to the hotel they told us they were over booked so they rewrote our form and sent us to the Sheridan's 4 star business hotel across the parking lot. After a good dinner and our first sleep on beds in weeks we were able to bathe and fly out for the west coast. When we got up we had a message from Chad saying that US had lost all of our baggage so we checked in Philly but it wasn't there. When we got to PDX we checked and they said it would take a few days but they would FedEx them to Chad's house when they arrived. We got a call from them when we were on our way home saying that some of the bags had arrived so my family went back and got 9 of the 11 team bags. (the other two will be at Chad's house by tonight) I want to say thank you for all your prayers and support. A special thanks to those who went out of there way to be at prayer every morning to keep us safe and to the Sabo family in Virginia who offered to rescue us from Philly if the flights didn't get worked out. I may post more later so stay tuned, Hopefully I will be doing this same blog again next year. Sincerely, DragonRunner11

Abuja Team (home coming) UPDATE

We just received a phone call message from Parker. (I'm assuming from Germany) He said there was a change in flight plans and that they would not be arriving at 11:30 am on Saturday the 18th at PDX as scheduled. He said they would be getting in around 8:30 pm instead. He didn't give any details about the change in plans, but told me he would call when they arrived in the States. I will update the blog as soon as I know some more details. Pray for their safe arrival home!

Abuja Bound Home Coming

Abuja Bound (Mod) Squad will be arriving at PDX (Portland Airport)

Saturday July 18th at 11:30 am

Lufthansa flight 468

See you all there!

Abuja Mod Squad in action (PIX)

Okata rides (no helmet law in Abuja)



Amanda, Whitney & Katherine doing battle with the weeds at church property

Chad with children

Scott needs cool shades too:)

Abuja Bound team in action July 14th 2009

How much do you know about the abuja team?

Day 13 (Monday Madness)

Today we had two jobs to do as a team, 1 was to sift the sand pile in front of Josh’s complex to make gravel, and 2 was to level the two squares next to the stage so they could be concreted and used as storage space. We weren’t able to start till noon because of a leaders meeting in the church so we stayed home and had a team meeting until noon. At noon Whitney and I started work on the sand pile while the rest of the team began work in the sanctuary. When they got there they found out that the meeting didn’t end at noon as we thought but rather at two. They spent the two hours helping the crews work o the basketball court. At about two thirty Whitney and I joined them and we started work on the storage space. We ended up working until six thirty and had to stop then because prayer meeting was starting. After the prayer meeting the church celebrated Sam’s 35th birthday party with a German chocolate cake. The basket ball court has been bricked around and we will start work filling it tomorrow. Hopefully the team members will have the option of getting their hair braided tomorrow. Stay tuned to find out!

Day 12 (Second Sunday)

Today the team split as Chad and Whitney went with Okay to one man village while the rest of us taught Sunday school classes. This week Amanda taught the older kids from the book of Esther while Katherine taught the younger kids about knowing Christ personally. All three lessons went well with no incidents (Godswill was a little quieter today) and we met as a group after Church to enjoy minerals together. The minerals were provided by a couple who were celebrating their first anniversary by bringing minerals and doughnuts, and singing a special number. That seems to be the way the celebrate any occasion, let the person get up and sing a special number. I think we have heard like three special numbers for the anniversary and for birthdays. After that we went to the Green Apple for lunch as a team. Here we had jollof rice, and geri and soup (Scott). The rice was wonderful; it was like beef fried rice with a whole lot of spice to it. When we were done with lunch we went to the basketball court for one more day of hoops before we had to go. Chad’s team did good as usual, My team did ok, and Katherine didn’t play this time because she was wearing sandals. When it was time for us to go most of the people there asked us to come back next year and play again (most of them knew Chad from last year’s team). When we came home that night I picked my hair into a fro just to prove it could be done, and we sat an discussed college football for an hour. More later from Abuja.

Day 11 (Ground Breaking and Great Fellowship)

Today was the day that the team broke ground on the basketball court. Chad and Katherine worked all day at the court helping the masons and laborers, while Whitney and I blazed a trail through the weeds to Prince’s house, and Amanda and Scott studied for their upcoming lessons. After the work day was called we went as a team to the big youth game night. Alex and the church choir put on concerts, they served doughnuts and mineral, and we had multiple appearances by the team members as guest something-or-others. Scott was the guest speaker, Katherine was called up to give her testimony, Whitney was asked to do a guest concert that we postponed till Wednesday, and I was asked to get up and do a stand up comedy routine (I declined this but I will get even with Beth for this one) and to close us in prayer (which I did). It was a great time of fellowship that we got to share with the church here in Abuja. The story behind us getting the basketball court started was amazing in its self because the masons told us there was no way we would be able to get the sand for the concrete during the wet season. It took several days but Chad and Sam managed to find some in a neighboring village and get it delivered to the church. We also had two guys that were willing to drive to a town two hours away to find rims and backboards that were suitable for play. The rims that they use in the park here are just rebar that is bent and welded into the shape of hoop, and their backboards are just plywood. The rims haven’t been delivered just yet so keep praying for that and hopefully they will be good enough to last. More later from the Abuja Blog Squad.

Quick update. We also went to the orphanage with the girls house group and spent an hour with the little kids. It was good to bless them and the workers there. The sad thing is that the orphanage is supported by churches here that send teams over to walk the property and hand a check to the workers without touching the kids. While we were there the first time a group of men showed up in a nice car and got out and talked to the lady in charge of the nursery house while the rest of the workers kept the kids from touching them. The people at the orphanage are totally blessed by the way that the Calvary people want to be hands on. Beth, Jenny, and Nikki go there at least once a week to play with the kids. Prince and Flo went there after their wedding reception and spent the afternoon playing with the kids. While we were there all of the older girls wanted to know if we had pictures of the wedding. They ended up watching the video of the vows that I had taken over and over with Beth for close to half an hour. Sorry I missed this before so hopefully you all find this update. Parker Smith

Day Ten (Marriages and Markets)

Today we got to witness Prince’s second wedding. Just in case you are wondering in Nigeria they have a three-fold marriage process. 1. The traditional wedding 2. The court wedding and 3. The church wedding. The traditional wedding is to get the parents permission to marry the girl. The court wedding is their legal marriage and the only wedding required by the government. The church wedding is an American style of wedding I think, and afterwards the couple is allowed to officially say they are married and live together. It was very interesting because they do four weddings at a time to save time in court. Prince and Flo’s wedding was in the third set so we witnessed a total of 12 weddings in one sitting! The funny part was that Prince and Florence want to save their first kiss for the alter but the judge required that they kiss at the wedding to make it official. Before Flo even saw it coming, Prince kissed her on the cheek and they sat down laughing about it. The judge didn’t think it was good enough so after Prince told the audience to look away he kissed her on the other cheek. Afterwards we had their reception in a park were they served egg rolls and minerals. For you oeebos an egg roll is a hardboiled egg inside of a dinner roll, and minerals is what they call soda here. After the time in the park we headed to the trade village market which is right in the center of downtown Abuja. So picture down town Portland and right in the middle is this walled in village of huts with thatch roofs. It was totally awesome! There we found hand carved masks, chess sets, djimbes, and animals. There were also clothes, animal skins, and leather goods there. As Amanda put it “Its not about spending money, it’s about getting things.” My favorite buys were the Djimbe and the Ghana trade beads. Afterwards we went to AJ’s Pizza, “The only pizza chain in Nigeria” as the sign puts it. The pizza was god but the time spent with the team and the rest of the gang here was what made it special. We are hoping to go to the trade market again later next week so we will keep you informed. From your friendly neighborhood blogger, DragonRunner11.

Day Nine (The Breath before the Plunge)

Due to rain and lack of funds available the five musketeers (the team minus Chad) were stuck in the house while Chad and Josh went to the bank. We ended up spending the day deep cleaning the inside of the apartment and preparing for our Sunday school lessons that we will be teaching on Sunday. We spent some time as a team worshipping and praying before doing a short devotion. Afterwards we had a really good talk and then rested for the up coming work. More to come from the Abuja Blog Squad.

Day Eight (Weeds and Wheelbarrows)

Today the team was cutting weeds out in front of the church so they could use the field as a parking lot. When we cut the weeds we were using hoes, scythe, and machetes. We ended up clearing close to an acre of weeds while we ended up acquiring blisters all over our hands. We had a guy named Jeffery who showed up and wanted to work so he went and got a wheelbarrow and helped Amanda and I fill the floors in the Sunday school huts. This is were Sam comes into the story again. After working on his day of we made it up to him by paying him for his labor and giving him the next day (today) off so he could rest. Any way, Sam shows up in his nice jeans and a white basketball jersey just to check on the stage that had been concreted. He needed to throw water on it so it would dry hard in time for the service that night. When he saw us weeding he rolled his jeans up to his knees, turned his shirt inside out to avoid stains, grabbed a scythe and a machete, and went to town. He ended up cutting down as many weeds as the whole team in less time with his dress clothes on! The guy is this absolute servant/workaholic that is always just a phone call away when we need him. That night Chad taught what looked to be the first topical study the Nigerians have ever heard. Honestly I don’t think they’d ever turned to that many references in one night. It turned out really good and the people were blessed by it. Quick update on the braiding attempt by Katherine and Amanda, IT LOOKED HORRIBLE! I looked like a combo of Medusa and the psycho waiter of bedtime stories. Any it lasted two hours, and I got lots of crazy looks from the girls and Okay. More later from the Abuja Blog Squad

Day seven (Rest and Rain)

Today was the churches day of rest but for our team of six it was a day of restlessness. So we called up Okay and headed of to the market. We ended up taking a very round about route that started with a trip to mechanic village. The village is basically a junkyard with scattered houses were the mechanics live. We went to Okays mechanics house to check on his car which has a broken crank shaft. When we got there they were on lunch break eating Gary and Soup (read day five) in the house which is made of scrap tin and surrounded by wrecked cars. After a quick talk with him we headed back to the market. We got to the highway and were standing there trying to hail a bus when a guy in a flatbed truck used for hauling livestock showed up and offered to give us a ride. We hopped in and had the ride of our lives in this huge cage down a highway in Abuja. Okay video taped us while we had a dance party and got the craziest looks from the people driving by. When we got to the market the driver gave u the news that the ride was absolutely free. When we got to the market we spent the first few minutes looking for soccer jerseys but had to take shelter from the rain quickly as it started pouring. When the rain let up we went to the fabric store to look for material for our Nigerian outfits. We then proceeded to get towels and light bulbs, after which we got a bus and headed home. The buses here are old Mitsubishi vans that are missing windows and the doors don’t close most of the time. There were some times when we hit the bumps that you could feel the frame on the bus bend to sickening angles. When we got back to the house Chad went to check on the stage project, this is where Sam comes in. Sam is the percussionist at the church and is Josh’s right hand man. He has a background in real estate so he has been helping us with all of our building projects. When Chad had called him up to get some masons to try and finish the stage while Prince was out on visitation, Sam had come down to help get things set in order. He decided to stay and supervise the work to make sure it got done right and ended up skipping his day off and started mixing and moving concrete so they could get it done on time. The stage project turned out perfect and just in time for Prince to get home and see it. Right now while I am blogging Amanda and Katherine are trying to do my hair in corn rows. More later from the Abuja Braid Squad.

Day six (Clean Up Crew for Christ)

Today we woke up and had our team devotions, afterwards Chad and Josh went out on business while the rest of the team cleaned up the compound that Josh lives in. This basically was weeding and picking up trash for about to hours. The way they pull weeds here is awesome. They get these crazy looking hoes and just hack the weeds of at ground level, and then we pick them up and pile them in a compost pile. We later went and worked on filling in the stage which was long and exhausting but we got the whole thing filled and packed in less than one day which was awesome. When we got back from that the Neighbors had all come and talked to Josh and thanked him for the work that we had done. One of he neighbors wanted to know “What kind of people are these?” they told Josh that they had had neighbors that were Christians and some even pastors that would gladly clean in front of their own house but never the whole compound. They were all blessed by the work that we did for them and we were blessed to hear that. More later from The Abuja Blog Squad

Day five “Sunday School and Swallow Food”

Today was the first round of teaching done by the team, in the older class (1st-4th grade) Were Parker teaching and Scott keeping order, and in the younger class (pre-k) were Whitney teaching and Katherine holding down the fort. Both classes went well with Whitney teaching on Elijah and me teaching out of Matt 5. The biggest problem with teaching Matthew five is that there are some pretty deep topics, such as, Divorce, oaths, Loving your Enemies, and Lust. We had a pretty good talk about lust though. Chad had walked in and was listening when he asked the class if they knew what lust meant. They of course said yes and went on to tell us that before you are saved you are “lust” and that once you are saved you are not “lust” anymore. Scott explained it to them how lust is wanting something that isn’t yours his example was the candy he had in his hand. He then asked one of the kids to give us an example of lust. Up jumps Godswill who had been sitting in the back wearing his Barcelona jersey with Ronaldinho’s name on the back. He told us the following story. “So lust is like when you grow up and get a wife and your wife can’t cook good for you, so you start lusting after your neighbor’s wife because she can cook really good.” When he was done Chad asked if this was a sin, his straight faced reply, “NOT IF YOUR WIFE CAN’T COOK!” Scott and I just about fell out of our chairs laughing while Cad stepped in and set things straight with the class. After church we went to Thrills which in Nigeria is pronounced “trills”. Here Me, Scott, and Whitney had to try the national food known as “Gary and Soup” (aka Swallow Food). Gary is basically corn meal and water rolled into a ball while the soup is a spicy yet very slimy concoction with a hunk of meat inside it. You eat it by tearing of a piece of Gary, dipping it into the soup, and swallowing it whole. THERE IS NO CHEWING INVOLVED! They made up for the lack of chewing with the meat though because the beef is extra chewy here. Scott loved it, Whitney liked it, I didn’t really care for the Gary but the soup and meat were really good. Afterwards we went to the basket ball court in Karu Site, the neighboring town that is a ten minute Okata ride away. It is also the only basketball court in the area. Here me, Chad, and Katherine participated in three on three basketball while the rest of the team played football (soccer) with the kids. While we were there we got to see the bush that Kaela fell into during the football game last year. More later from the Abuja Blog Squad

Tiny update on Abuja Bound

Parker phoned today to give us an update. The call was a bad connection which resulted in it being cut short. (about 3 min. enough time for a "Hi" and...)
He did say the team (Abuja Mod Squad) is all alive and well. They have had some setbacks on the construction of the basketball court but was unable to give us the details. Whitney is doing well on a different Malaria preventative medication. As some of you know, she had an allergic reaction to her first medication which caused breathing difficulties. Chad had her phone home and consult with her travel doctor in the states. He put her on a different medication that the team had with them and so far so good. Thanks for your prayers.
For all you bloggers out there (this includes you to Pastor Larry)(in the great country of Brazil) Parker, in his own defense said that they loaded a large blog update for the team and it was rejected last night...that is why he called today!! (next year we send them out with a Global Phone or a Satellite Phone :)' )
He was telling me about some other short term missionaries who were in Abuja ( besides our group) just as the phone went dead. I caught about 4 or 5 names. It sounds like God is moving in that area.

Abuja Bound update

Parker sent a short e-mail:
He said everybody is doing well (out side of a small cold running around the team)and they are working hard. He said the Internet is sketchy down there (and I quote) "we can only get on blogger on good days, and if a good day doesn't fall on the same day as a day off from working here, we aren't able to get anything loaded up." He said tomorrow they will start work on the basketball court and said he would try to get a blog up date as soon as possible!

Abuja Mod Squad

The Abuja team on the way to the mountain top

Here is the first picture of the Abuja team that we have received. This must be day two or three when they climbed to the top of the mountain. They are all looking good and in good spirits! All of the team called home on the 4th of July to talk to their parents and families...it was good to hear their voices and get a quick update on their trip!!

Abuja Bound

Last American meal for awhile. PDX Airport 6/29/09

(Wendy's and Jamba Juice!)

ABUJA BOUND TEAM 2009

PDX Airport 6/29/09

Day Four "Happy Fourth of July"

Today we got up at six to help with the project of cleaning up the church property. We had close to an acre to weed and surprisingly with the help of the church we got it all done before noon. We proceeded to mark of the dimensions of the basketball court and the stage. They are going to finish putting in the brick perimeter for the stage tonight and we will help fill it in over the next few days. Prince and Okay taught Chad how to burn garbage in Nigeria. It involves a pile of garbage and several gallons of gasoline, and you can probably guess the rest of it. Needless to say it was exciting to watch as Chad and Okay almost got singed by the huge flames. The wildlife on the church property is incredible rangeing from the grasshoppers of all sizes and colors, and the multiple types of lizards to the scorpions we found in the wood pile. Once the Nigerians found one scorpion they went through the wood looking for others and smashed them all. While we were hoeing up garbage we uncovered a lizards nest filled with eggs. we pulled a few out, took pictures and put them all back were they came from. When we got back from the church we were treated to an American fourth of July. Josh fried hamburgers, Beth made a macaroni casserole, and Jenny made home made apple pies. Afterwards Josh called us out for the big treat of the night. Nigerian Fireworks! note. these are totally illegal back home. These were roman candels on steroids! Five minutes after we lit them Okay showed up and wanted to know what we were doing. He said he could see and hear the fireworks from his house a few blocks away and figured he should walk over. A couple hours later when we were all in bed for the night, the police showed up and knocked on the door. We didn't answer and they left shortly. Thank you for all of your prayers and Happy Fourth of July!
The Abuja Blog Squad

Day three, "The Climb"

Today we decided to go with the girls from Beth's house up the mountain to the tall tree. This tree is right in the middle of a clearing and is so tall it can be seen from miles away. We started our walk at eight in the morning and I have no idea how long it took us to reach the top but it was several miles of up hill climbing. When we reached the top we were able to look out and see all of Jeqway and most of Abuja. It was well worth the time and effort spent to get up there. After a time of prayer and a short Bible study we hiked the last fifty or so feet to the top of the ridge so we could look over into a neighboring village. The people there are shepherds that don't speak English and have limited access to the gospel. One of the missionary couples here in Abuja is preparing to go there when they have the chance. Later that day it absolutely poured. We took the opportunity to use the warm water and wash our hair. It was all fun and games until Josh locked us out and we ended up washing our clothes to :). After we dried of we went to church for the youth night that Chad was teaching. While Chad was in the middle of his lesson we were again attacked by bugs, but this time it wasn't a swarm of fling critters it was a lone butterfly. This huge black butterfly took a liking to Cads hair and was absolutely relentless about landing on his head. This went on for five-ten minutes before the butterfly got tired of his hair and moved on.

Day Two "Okatas and Orphans"

Today we took our first Okata ride. An okata is a motor bike that will seat two people and is used as a cheap source of transportation. They sound and look way more dangerous than they actually are though. We took the Okatas across town to the local orphanage were we hung out with the kids for half the day. These kids were so cute. The ranged from infants to maybe eight year olds in the house that we visited. The girls sat and held the babies while us guys took turns singing the kids with our arms (exhausting!). While we were there on of the little boys managed to catch one of the crazy little frogs that they have here and use it to scare the rest of the little kids. These frogs have a fairly good sized body and these teeny tiny legs, so the don't hop they bounce. It took a while to calm the kids down and Beth confinscated the frog and released it back into the bushes. We are looking forward to seeing these kids again if we have the time these next two weeks.

Nigeria

Day One, "Of Travel and Tragedy"
We made it, after a day and a half of flying we landed in Nigeria. We made it through the pasport checks with few questions. We easily found sixteen of our bags and after a quick search we found the other two. When we got to customs the poor guy doing baggage checks was so overwhelmed by the amount of bags that we had and the line building up behind us that he checked one bag briefly and sent us on our way. When we got through customs Josh, Prince, Okay, and Beth were waiting to pick up. The ride to our "hide out", as prince called it was like a live version of the cruising usa video game. If they had had sidewalks here in Jeqway we would have been driving on them. The house is awesome. It has tile floors, two bathrooms with toilets, a kitchen, and two bedrooms. We spent all day Wednesday recovering from the jet lag and then went to the mid week service at the church. While we were there Prince anounced that Terisa, the worship leader at the Cakvary in One Man Village, had died the weekend before. She was the worship leader here in Abuja when the team was here last year and lead worship for the Galatians conference that the team did. The church here in Jeqway took it really hard and it is going to devestate the church in One Man Village when Pastor Godfrey tells them tommorow. Please remember her family and the believers here in your prayers. The wildest part was that we were attacked by thousands of bugs during church that night. They were these huge winged things that we found out later from an elderly Nigerian are "edible and very good for you".

Update on Team Abuja:
When they arrived at PDX to fly out to Nigeria, the ticket counter said they had to many suitcases. Chad had arranged with the airlines that each team member could take in one extra (large) suit case per person (all supplies for Josh and our team eg. waterpurifier system etc.) Now the counter person wanted the Team to pay $250.00 per bag extra. (x 6...you do the math) Chad showed him the letter he had received giving them permission (humanitarian reason) to have the extra bags...the ticket man said it's not on the computer so it's not official. After attempts to soften his humanitarian side failed, we suggested he call the head office, which he did...long story short the person on the other end of the phone said they were good to go! In fact they were booking the luggage all the way to Abuja (which means no customs in Germany) GOD IS GOOD!!
We got everybody something to eat (they called it the last American meal for awhile) before they left. We prayed with them one last time and saw them off. They looked like a team designed by God to do great things! We were so proud of them! (of course two of them are mine) They seemed bonded, focused and ready to serve. I will Include a "send off picture" with my next entry. One of the team is having stomach problems so pray for the Team that God would strengthen, uplift and protect them to do the work He has called them to.

Update from Abuja

Here's an email we got from Josh Baley, missionary at CC Abuja regarding the team!

"Well Praise God the team made it safe and sound with absolute no problems getting thru customs, all of the luggage arrived and the members, not different body parts but the team of 6 =)

They are doing well but we are having a problem getting the info up ontheir blog so please be patient as we work on the problem..

Take care and please continue to pray for them and me, one of the team members is having stomach issues.

Take care and may the Lord continue to richly bless you!!"

_____________________________________________
We'll keep you updated as we hear more from the Team!

Our team

Hey you guys I wanted to give you the inside scoop on our Africa team.
Chad Weaver is our team leader. He led a team in Abuja last year and is doing a great job this year of coordinating and organizing our team. His heart for going to Abuja is to bless the pastors and to encourage and bless them. Chad graduated from the School of Ministry a few years back and is currently on staff with Real Life College Outreach.
Amanda Hershberger is another returning veteran from last years trip. She is looking forward to going back to the Abuja church and fellow believers there. She is the one team member that is not a School of Ministry grad yet.
Scott Griffiths is the tech guy and team genius. (from left to right, Parker Smith, Scott Griffiths, Amanda Hershberger, Katherine Hellesto, Whitney Smith and Chad weaver) After he gets back from Abuja he will be going to Iowa to get his masters in particle physics, and he also recently graduated from Cornerstone School of Ministry.
Katherine Hellesto is our soccer expert (ever so important in a country whose national sport is soccer) and part of our medical team. She graduated from CSOM in 07 and is now pursuing a degree in nursing.
Whitney Smith is the other part of our medical team and is currently in a pre-nursing program. She will also be our worship leader while we are in Nigeria. She is another 07 grad from School of Ministry.
Parker Smith is the blogger and helps guy on the team. I graduated from School of Ministry with Scotty G and 20+ others. I'm not sure what role God has for me in Africa but I am open to whatever God has for me.
Our prayer request right now is that our visas would be approved and delivered quickly. We greatly appreciate your prayers and support. That's all for now and until next time, we are Abuja Bound.

Port-a-Floor

This week the Nigeria team had the opportunity to set up the port-a-floor for the OSU graduation as a way to raise money. We were blessed with help from a whole lot of people without whom we would still be out there today. After the floor was laid we played the first annual football game in Reser Stadium. I had the honor of being on Chad Weavers team and winning 7-4. In other news Calvery Softball defeated the Bohican Bullets 14-13 in seven innings. I will post more when I have more to say until then we are Abuja bound.
Parker Smith

Corrections

A typo I'm the support letter I sent out was pointed out to me and I thought I would correct it real quick. We will be in Nigeria from June 28-July 19. Not July 9th as the letter said. Thank you for all your support. God bless

Shasta

Recently I was able to go to Diet Shasta with Real Life. Most of the Nigeria team was there hanging out in the sun trying not to get burned. For me one part that was wild was the drive up. One question I have is Who names some of these places? Seriously, some of these people had either too much imagination or too little. Lets start with a few towns, for instance, Talent. Why would you name a city Talent? not sure yet but I'm still thinking about it. Moving on, You have all heard of a bedroom community but have you ever heard of a bathroom community? Let's put it this way, we were driving through a shower when we passed Curtin and were coming up on Drain. Who would wan't to name their town drain? Next were the creeks first we have the "Little Muddy Creek" then we have "Dry Creek" but my personal favorite is "Jumpin Joe Creek" You just have to be thinking about what was going through the namer of this creek's head when he named it, and who is Joe? Why did he jump? It would be worth looking into. On a more spiritual note Shasta was an absulutly awesome experiance were I had the chance to make real friendships with real christians. Thats all I have to say for tonight. As the title says we are "ABUJA BOUND"!