At a moment's notice

And this is what missionaries sometimes feel like...

ok, so perhaps a couple of us had too much fun with the ol' photo booth program. Some pictures just have to be shared.

I suppose I should use this opportunity to share a little story. A common adage around here is that in Nigeria, you need to be ready to preach, pray or die at a moment's notice. Just the other day...

**We were throwing a little program for all of our camp staff from Jos, intending to feed them, entertain, encourage, and then challenge them towards discipleship. And preferably, that would have been the order. BUT, since nothing goes according to plan here, one of my colleagues and I were an hour late to the shindig due to extended cooking time. I tried not to show it, but I was kind of freaking out because I was supposed to be orchestrating this thing. Anyways, we get there and the 3rd member of our office team, Shammah, is up, preaching away. I rush in and just break into a huge smile, watching the impromtu-ness of Nigeria at it's best. And you know what, it was a fantasic message. I certainly couldn't have done that!

**Opportunities to pray are PLENTIFUL. Ok, so I guess they are plentiful no matter where you live, but as a friend of mine said, "Out here, everything God says seems to have an exclamation point on the end." For instance, in the states, we pray for safe travels, 'journey mercies', etc. But here, it's not just something nice to throw in a prayer. We are ALWAYS praying for people as they travel with great sincerity. So many factors that can make a pleasant 2 hour drive to a village turn into a living nightmare. Tire-busting potholes covering 80% of the road, huge trucks with no regulations on the load their carrying, cars passing on both sides while oncoming traffic isn't budging, and then...we have the various traffic stops where "officers" set up road blocks so they can "inspect vehicles." Anyways, all this is to say, that the nature of life here demands constant prayer. Which leads me to the final thing...

**When someone dies here, quite often, family and friends won't REALLY know the cause. A typical story will be told like this: Man had an injured leg, so he went to the hospital and died. That will honestly be all the details you get from the family, not because they are witholding stuff from you, but because that's all they know! Strangely, I find the acceptance of death refreshing because our western culture likes to believe that one's invincible...and that promotes such a false sense of hope. Don't worry, I'm not eager to die, but the fact is, at a moment's notice it could happen and I better be ready.

Ku yi mani addu'a = pray for me