A little different to Carnmoney...

I just thought I would share what church is like here:

Last time I was in Jos, I went to church with my Nigerian friends and absolutely loved the service, so that is where I went yesterday - COCIN Gwarindock (I'm pretty sure I haven't spelt that right but COCIN = Church Of Christ In Nigeria)

I took Neil, one of the Gappers with me, and my Nigerian friends were waiting outside for us. The service began at 8am! I barely make it to Carnmoney for 11am! We were the only "Baturi's" (Westerners) at the service. It usually starts at 9am but I was told this was a special service.

On the way into church, my bag was taken off me by a guy in a BB uniform. It was for security reasons. Thats what things have come to here! I think this was possibly the most interesting service I have been to in all my experiences of church here. Can you imagine this happening in Carnmoney? :

The typical way to begin a service here is to have "special numbers" from the choir, so this is how our service began - The choir sang, then the Womens Fellowship sang, then the Youth Fellowship sang (Breathe by Hillsongs, the first song in English!) The Pastor then burst into song and after this the praise band led us in worship (a mixture of English and Hausa worship songs) The worship was so uplifting and everyone was dancing and clapping! Yes, even me! During the worship, the first offering was taken.

This is the interesting bit - A lady from the congregation walked to the front. It turns out it was her 50th birthday. The service was a service of thanksgiving for her big birthday! Theres an idea John! ;0) This lady then got all her children to join her at the front and then they all started singing. It was like the Von Trap family singers, only they were slightly out of tune, and so was the guitar that the son was playing! When they finished singing, she got her elderly dad to join her and then all the extended family, which seemed like half the congregation!.....The second offering was taken while the family were still standing at the front. I wasn't too sure what this was for and then realised I had just given this lady a birthday present! My friends were part of the Youth Fellowship Choir so they were too far away to explain what was happening. Oh yes, how is the offering collected? Well, you go up to the front, row by row to put your money in the offering box.

Any visitors were asked to stand. Thankfully we didn't have to speak, that's the norm but there were so many visitors yesterday so we didn't have to. Eventually, after an hour and a half, we got to the sermon. The Pastor spoke on Matthew 28, the Great Commission. They are really blessed to have such a good Pastor at this church.

After the sermon, we had the 3rd offering! I was glad when the Pastor got up and said that it's usually only one offering but this was a special service.

We finished with some more worship, reading the Apostles creed and saying the Benediction together.

On the way out of church, my friends led us over to the Youth Fellowship who always have a time of prayer outside the church before leaving. They really look out for each other and are so open to speak out and say what is bothering them. It was such a special time, just standing in a circle, under the blazing sun, thanking God, praying for different issues and sharing what God is doing in our lives. I was invited to join the Youth Fellowship, so I probably will.

It's not quite Carnmoney but I really like this church. I knew the last time that if I ever came back to Nigeria I would definately go to COCIN Gwarindock :0)

So there you go, that's a little taste of what church is like here. You really just need to come and experience it for yourself ;0)

THE FIRST WEEK

So I have finally arrived in Nigeria and in some ways it feels like I never left. It feels really good to be back here, and so far I am enjoying my role as Short-term Facilitator.

From Abuja airport, I went straight to Jos and I arrived in Jos last sunday (6th Feb). This week, Jos has been peaceful but I would encourage you to never stop praying for the people of Jos. Things could flare up at any time. I don't feel in any danger. This is where God wants me to be. If the situation in Jos did become too much, be assured that Mission Africa will not put us at risk by making us stay. I wouldn't be here if they didn't think it was safe enough. Driving at night is the only time I am not keen to be out, so if we are out at night we will be travelling with others and we wouldn't be going very far, maybe just to friends compounds.

Speaking of compounds...I am sure you would like to be introduced to my housemate. Meet Ruth, the chick.....Ok, I am sharing accommodation with a girl called Niffer (Jennifer), who is also from Northern Ireland, though she reckons she is losing her accent and speaking more like a Nigerian, so she is glad to have me here. Guess what! She is working with the same organisation I did my Bible College placement with. They really are everywhere! Ruth is our pet chick! That was a surprise! Could we have a stranger pet? She even sits on your knee while watching a DVD! On the same compound, are Ricky, Angie and Noah Fitzsimmons. They are here with Mission Africa too, so it's nice to have them on the same compound and they have been a great help to me this week. While I have been trying to settle in, they have been helping Neil, our latest short-termer to settle in (He arrived last Thursday, the 3rd. Ideally, I should have been here before him).

So what have I been doing in my first week?

When I first arrived on Sunday, I went straight to Pamela and Musa's house. They are also here with Mission Africa. They had me for breakfast and lunch, which was a lovely way to begin :) Pamela gives orientation to long-termers, so she has been helping me settle in and it's good to know that she is there to help me anytime and I can go and talk to her about stuff whenever I need to. I knew Pamela and Musa before I came here, in fact I have met most of the Mission Africa staff through Mission Africa events.

Throughout the week:

• I have given field orientation to Neil


• I have got back into driving here (Luka, our Mission Africa driver took me the first time). Driving in Nigeria is totally different to driving at home! For a start, we drive on the right here, and there aren't really any rules on the roads, apart from tooting your horn when you are over-taking. I don't mind driving here, but please continue to pray for my safety while driving, or being driven to other areas.


• I visited Open Doors on Tuesday. It was great to see the kids and staff there. I received a very warm welcome, but I did notice that it is a lot quieter than usual. Not only are some of the kids not going to school, because of their parents being afraid to come to Jos (many live outside Jos), but within the past year, one of the teachers, Uncle Sunday, and two of the children died. One of those children, was a little boy called Miracle, who was always the first person to greet me. Even though I know he is not with us anymore, I did find myself looking for him. You could always hear him before you saw him, he was always singing! So I found that difficult. Open Doors really need your prayers. They have been through so much throughout the past year, and the whole school has been affected. I still plan to help at Open Doors when I can. I love those kids so much and feel this is where I can use the gifts that God has given me, plus my degree comes in useful for Speech Therapy, and it's where I worked on my Gap placement.


• City Ministries is one of the main ministries I will be assisting here in Jos, to equip them with short-termers to help them in various areas within their ministry. They are based in Jos and they mainly work with orphans and streetkids. They have 3 Care centres in Jos, but they also have Care Centres in other areas. One of those areas is Kagoro, which is a town less than 2 hours from Jos. I went to visit the centre on Wednesday. There is so much happening in that area, ministry wise and the Care centre only ever get summer teams going there, so the Gappers are going to be spending 4 weeks at the centre and helping with the children there and hopefully assisting in various ministries in the surrounding area, including film outreach - showing the Jesus film to surrounding villages. I am really excited about this and I hope the Gappers are too. This is one place that really need help, and it will be a great opportunity. It will also get the Gappers out of Jos for a while, on the run up to elections. I will be back and forward to Jos during those 4 weeks.


• Meetings - I had a really good meeting this week with the head of City Ministries (Peter Freithiem), to arrange the outreach in Kagoro and to organise each Jos based Gappers placement. Anne Karen, who also works for City Ministries has offered to help me and give me advice. Part of her role here, is to place people in appropriate ministries.

After the 4 weeks in Kagoro, myself and all the Gappers will be going to Ogugu, where the rest of our short-termers are working in Mission Africa's own ministry, Advance (Advance action against aids). While we are there, we will also have our Gap retreat. This is the plan anyway, but plans always change in Africa.

It has been quite a busy week, so today I think I will just chillax! Please pray that I will not lose sight of God in the midst of all the busyness.

Thank you so much for all your prayers!

All systems go!

This week has been a little crazy. On Monday I went to the Nigerian Embassy in Dublin to submit documents for my Visa, came home again and then today we had to go the whole way back to Dublin...to collect my Visa! :0) Yes that's right, now I have my Visa, and flights booked, so I am ready to go! Well...almost. Thanks go to my mum for all the driving up and down to Dublin!

I have seen God's hand in all of the preparations so far and I don't doubt for one second that He will be with me as I travel this Saturday! (5th Feb)

Thank you to all those who have been supporting me in prayer up until this point. God is in control and he has been answering! :0)