Abner will walk!!!

I was recently able to travel to Kano, four hours away, to visit Abner. I was able to spend a lot of time with him. He was quite surprised and happy to see me. I also met with the therapist, Sheila, who will be working with Abner everyday. She did his first therapy assessment with me there and she concluded that, yes, Abner has a good chance of walking again! They have measured him for braces that will keep his legs straight and he will need to use crutches for now... maybe they can be discarded later. Sheila said that she has seen people like Abner walk well after just a couple weeks of therapy but that each person is different. It also really depends on his own cooperation. Poor guy was in quite a bit of pain during therapy. You can pray: for Abner's left leg, which is significantly weaker than his right, for good pain management, that Abner will not get discouraged, that his parents will be able to visit him soon (it has been over a month). He is called the chief by the nurses bc he has been there so long :) He has good friends with other patients and I was so encouraged to see the good care that he has received.

For more pics of our visit, click here.

Two years!!!

On December 28th, I will celebrate TWO years here in Nigeria! Can you believe it?! So much has happened and I have learned SO much. Thank you so much to all of you who have helped me to thrive here through your prayers and support.

To get more information on my last two year in Nigeria, please go to www.webmissions.net/erinrigsby

Sponsor a child!!!

We have hundreds of boys. We need help to care for their physical, educational, and material needs. You can sponsor a boy for just $25 a month! You will be given the opportunity to communicate via mail with them, if you choose. Please prayerfully consider adding a beautiful Nigerian boy to your family! How to give: Please consider a tax-deductible donation to sponsor a child.

Send your check, made out to SIM, to: SIM USA, PO BOX 7900, Charlotte, NC 28241. Please designate it "Urban Nigeria - #85550 - Child Sponsorship."

If you would like to donate online, please visit www.sim.org/giveusa.

Baptism

Twenty-nine of our boys were recently baptized! We piled into vans and headed out to Gyero, the rural/bush area where one of our Care Centers is located. It was a beautiful day with a bright blue sky expanding across the green land and hills that make up Gyero. We drove as far as we could, and then walked a ways to a small body of water. There were about 50 of us there, the boys and then those of us who came in support to witness and worship with them. The boys carried different expressions; of excitement, of contemplation, and of shyness. I could not stop smiling or taking pictures! All of them previously accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior, some of them years ago, and have shown a desire to serve and obey Him. Thank you, Lord, for your grace.

Bible Study

Every Thursday I meet with our Middle Boys (ages 12-16) for Bible Study. There are eighteen of them and we get into some really good discussions.We have recently been discussing the topic of Eternal Security. This topic has been debated among Christians for many years and it is no different in our class. I have role-played as a non-Christian, peppering them with questions about grace, forgiveness, and mercy and have learned a lot about what they believe. This is a big responsibility and blessing that God has given me to teach Truth to the boys, to expose them to the Bible, and ultimately, to draw them closer to God. Please pray that I will have adequate preparation time each week and that each Thursday afternoon, God will reveal to us Who He is and the reality of what it means to be a child of God.
Check out this link www.juststopandthink.com

Visit from team from Moody Church in Chicago

While I lived in Chicago I attended Moody Church. Last month eight people from Moody came to visit me and another Moody missionary, Claudia Long. Claudia has a camping ministry. So we combined both of our ministries by having my Senior Boys work alongside the team out at the camp, doing construction. The boys really loved this, many times stopping their work to talk and laugh with the team members. It is so good for my boys to have exposure to as many visitors as possible, to expand their knowledge of the Lord and of His world. I was blessed with the hard work of this team and their love for my boys. The boys earned money for their work, giving them such a feeling of satisfaction that they are begging me for another workday, even though the team is gone! Please pray for our Senior Boys to continue to mature spiritually and emotionally and that I will know how to encourage them as a sister in Christ.

Johnny

Johnny is a 16-year-old boy who lives in our Care Center. His father died when he was young. His mother, Mary, whom I have mentioned before, died of AIDS in June. The two weeks before she died, I spent a lot of time with her and Johnny in the hospital. When I received the call in the early morning that she had died, I wept for Johnny and I wept for the death of a young woman whose life was stolen by this awful disease. I immediately went to get Johnny at our Care Center and I held him as both of us cried. Then we went to his grandmother’s house to be with her and to make preparations for the funeral. Funerals are typically done the same day or soon after the death because embalming is so expensive. After a few hours, many of our boys came to the house to greet the family. The coffin came and in the small yard about 100 of us gathered to honor Mary’s life and to praise God that she had become a Christian just months before she died. The boys sang some beautiful songs and then we drove to the nearby graveyard for a final prayer.

Last month Johnny and John, whose story I have shared in the past, whose mom also has HIV, and I went together to the market so that they could make a cross for Mary’s gravesite. After they finished, we went and placed it at the site, along with two of our other boys. Johnny is close to his grandmother and he and I visit her often. Please pray that I will know how to love and support Johnny through his grieving process of his mom.

Update on Abner

After seven years of crawling on the ground as a result of polio, Abner is on his way to walking upright! (See blog on 8/23 for background on Abner.) He is in a hospital four hours away, but I was able to visit him recently. He is very happy, making friends with the other children on the ward. The ward is a big room with lots of beds lining the walls. There are cribs, too, with babies who have had various orthopedic surgeries. I enjoyed giving him small gifts, laughing with him, and praying with him. Both of his hips are contracted as a result of the polio. He has been on traction to gently pull the muscles of his legs straight.

On the 13th, he had a surgery to straighten one of his legs and a cast put on to maintain the position. In two weeks, the same operation will be repeated on the other leg. It is estimated that he will still need another seven weeks in the hospital. Please pray that he will not be lonely, for protection for his mother who travels back and forth from the village, and for complete healing so that he will one day walk again!

Exposure

Our oldest boys are called "Senior Boys."

They have been with us the longest and will soon be leaving us, transitioning into society. Our first boy "graduated" last month and is now attending YWAM Discipleship Training School in southern Nigeria! We want to expose our boys to life outside of our Care Centers, to give them understanding of all that God can do through them in the real world. To accomplish this, we took half of the Senior Boys to the YWAM base and the other half to Abuja, the capitol of Nigeria. Each trip was amazing and God really taught the boys a lot!

Highlights for the boys:1) First boat ride!

2) First elevator ride!

3) First visit to an airport!

4) Being served by people "higher" than the boys humbled them and encouraged them to serve the younger boys at our Care Centers.

5) Spending time with a wealthy, God-fearing man who testified that God honors integrity and that it is possible to be honest in a corrupt nation.

6) First time to see an automatic hand-dryer (pic on left).

Wish you could have seen this!

1) I see many different things being carried on the back of the motorcycles here, but this one took the cake - the passenger was carrying an entire car door! I just wish you could've seen it! I laughed out loud and was so bummed I was alone in my car with no one to share the moment with.

2) One night, on a recent trip to YWAM with our boys, I was eating dinner. I could not tell what meat was on my plate, due to the lack of light. So I asked one of the guys and he said, "Well, I was not going to tell you, but it is a chicken head and foot." What!?! I proceeded to pick up what I thought was the bone of the foot and soon discovered that it was the beak of the head! I screamed and busted into laughter. Apparently, honored guests are given these pieces. And I soon honored my boys with them.

3) Some of our boys recently experienced riding in an elevator for the first time. As we started moving up, one boy fell to his knees in sincere terror, exclaiming, "the end has come!"

HIV/AIDS testing

We recently tested all of our boys in our Jos Care Center for HIV. The day started by local ministries presenting education about HIV/AIDS. A special time was when Uncle Bulus, a man in his early 30's, testified that even though he discovered in 1999 that he is positive, God is still using his life. He said that he chose to not spread the disease, but to spread the message of HIV and of Jesus Christ! This was a real encouragement for all of us to see a healthy looking man who is living each day for Jesus, even though he knows the disease will eventually take his life. We have 68 boys in this center, and I knew that it would be very possible for some to be tested HIV+. Sadly, one of our older boys, James, tested positive. It is so hard for him and for us staff. We really need your prayers in how to care for him in all aspects and that God will free him from fear and despair.

Victim of polio

Abner, 14 yrs old, was struck with polio at age seven, and has crawled on the ground ever since. Last year, a team from the States visited the school Abner attends (Evangelical Missionary Kids School, where I help with the health care). God gave them compassion on Abner and as a result, they have sent in money to sponsor a corrective surgery for him! The hope is that he will soon be able to walk with the aid of braces! He had the surgery on July 28th. Please pray for healing, the therapy, and the many long hours he spends alone in the hospital (he is 4 hrs from where I live, and even further from his parents). I will keep you posted.

What I love

1) Playing in the rain with my boys, after 6 months of dry season.

2) When little children run and jump into my arms.

3) The way Nigerians are so quick to help someone in need.

4) Going to the market and talking in Hausa, buying fabric, and bartering for the best price.

5) Packing 18 of my boys in my truck (not against the law here?)

6) Caring for two HIV+ widows, whose sons live in our Care Center

Each staff member is assigned to three boys to spend time with each week, to encourage and pray with them. My boys are Benjamin, Matthew P. and Matthew A. Each of these boys has a past of neglect and abuse. Now they are thriving at our Care Center. I love spending time with them. Recently I had them over for dinner at my house. They have never eaten at a restaurant, so we pretended that my house was one, complete with background music and a candle. I fed them Chicken Pot Pie, plantains, rice, corn, and muffins- a big change from their usual meals. They were SO thrilled! The entire meal they just exclaimed over the food and also all the way home! One even said, 'Auntie, I want you to be my mother.' Definitely the food talking, but sweet words to my soul. Times like that fills my heart with inexpressible joy and thanksgiving for being here in Nigeria.

HIV testing and miracle

HIV TestingWe have decided to test all of the boys in our Care Centers for HIV. Although none are showing signs of the virus and many are not in the age range of expected infection, we decided it is best to not distinguish between them. Testing all of them also allows for pre-test education about HIV/AIDS. If they test negative, then we can use that as a platform to encourage them to continue to live a safe and pure lifestyle to remain negative. If they are positive, then we will be able to better care for their physical and emotional needs. I recently traveled to one of our Care Centers in Makurdi, a town four hours from Jos. This was the first round of our testing and all 22 boys are negative! Praise God! However, two of the volunteers and one of their babies are positive. We are now providing medicine and education on how to prolong their lives. The leader is an amazing man who will be able to counsel and encourage them. We have more than 100 more boys to test, so please pray for the pre-test counseling and if any of our boys are positive, how to discreetly and compassionately handle the situation.

Miracle! Last August when I visited Makurdi, I visited a woman who had been bedridden for two years. Apparently, she had received an injection and for some reason, became immobile due to stiffness and intense pain in her legs and back. No one had been able to help her. God gave me the opportunity to pray over her. When I visited Makurdi a couple weeks ago, she WALKED to visit me at the Care Center!!!! God has healed her! She said that nothing specific happened. Just one day, she could walk. What a blessing to see how powerful our God and the name of Jesus is! She still has some stiffness and pain, so please pray for complete healing! See pics of this miracle!

Off to the Theatre!!

Not to watch a movie, but to have surgery! "Theatre" is the term used for operating room. About a month ago I was at our Care Center and I saw Bola, a man whom I had only met briefly. I greeted him and reintroduced myself and told him I serve the boys as a nurse. Bola got really excited because he is the director of Christian Medical Fellowship in Nigeria and he wanted to see if we had any boys that needed surgery! Talk about a Divine Appointment! Over the next couple weeks, I assessed the boys and had a list of them to be seen by a surgeon. This resulted in four of our boys having surgeries to repair hernias and to remove cysts. Mama Kaka is a widow who lives with and cares for our boys, and she also had a cyst removed… one that caused pain for over 20 years!! All this was done completely free, thanks to God and Christian Medical Fellowship.

Off to the bush!!

I recently traveled to a village, where there are few Christians. However, there is a new church being built and the Believers grew from one last year to thirteen now! We received the blessings of the local chief to be in the area and we showed the Jesus Film and had drama and music that was very clear in the Gospel. During the day on Saturday, Dr. Cindy and I gave immunizations and saw patients. Last year, seven children died of measles. We praise the Lord for the ability to immunize against measles and also polio and tetanus. While we were doing the clinic, our Nigerian colleagues were visiting all the nearby villages, sharing the Gospel with them and inviting them to come to church in the new building. God has provided a pastor and a Nigerian missionary in the area, allowing for continued evangelism and follow-up.

A Village Experience – Amenities Include:

•cold bucket bath in three-sided stall made of straw

• freedom-of- the-bush bathroom

• a 6ftx6ft tent to be shared by you and your equally filthy colleague

• wet-ones galore

• early morning wake-up call by local roosters

• a guaranteed audience at all times

For more pics, click here

Meet DanLadi

Dan Ladi is a ten-year-old boy who has lived at Transition House (TH) for a couple years. He used to be involved in the occult, which caused his family to fear him and want to endanger him to protect themselves. God rescued Dan Ladi and brought him to Gidan Bege, where he began to be freed from the occult and showed a desire to change his life. In June 2004, Dan Ladi and the other boys in my Family Group (seventeen boys I spend time with each month), watched the "Jesus Film for Kids". He was really affected by it and the next day he prayed to receive Christ! Talk about coming from the darkness to the light!

One day recently I noticed Dan Ladi was sitting by himself with his head in his hands. I sat next to him and discovered he was sobbing. Once he calmed down, he was able to tell me that he was crying for his Father, because he was not a Christian. Dan Ladi, who is now experiencing life free from the occult, faithfully intercedes for his family. Join Dan Ladi in praying for his family, especially his dad who is an alcoholic. And pray that Dan Ladi's faith will continue to grow and that he will be strong and resist sin.

Meet the Musa family

John, 17 and Peter, 12, are brothers who live in one of our Care Centers. Their father died four years ago, leaving their mom, Rebekah, to care for five children. Her two daughters turned to prostitution and her oldest son became an alcoholic. John and Peter both began working to help their mom with the income. One of her daughters has two children, Jerry and Blessing, and she left him with Rebekah to care for. Rebekah became sick often and she worried about the futures of John, Peter and Jerry. Rebekah and John and Peter visited Gidan Bege and decided it was best for the boys came to live at Gidan Bege to ensure that their spiritual, physical, and educational needs were met. In November last year, we discovered that Rebekah is HIV+. I connected her to Spring of Life, a local HIV/AIDS ministry, who is caring for her in her home. I recently went with the boys to visit Rebekah. It was a fun time as we sang songs together and the boys told her about what they are learning in school. However, Rebekah is not getting better and the boys could sense it. Please pray for the Musa family and for me, that God will give increased grace and wisdom. Also pray for Jerry and Blessing, that a loving Nigerian home will be found for them.

Christmas andd New Year's memories

Although this was the first time I was not with my family on Christmas Day, I had a very memorable First Christmas in Nigeria! We had parties at our Care Centers, where each boy received a new outfit! They were so excited and thankful! I spent Christmas Eve and Day at our missions retreat center, Miango. On Christmas morning, a small group of us met at 6am and drove to two nearby extinct volcanoes. As the sun rose and painted the sky all shades of oranges and pinks, we hiked up the volcanoes, pushing through the grass that was taller than us. As we hiked, I stopped along the way to take pictures, attempting to capture the majestic artwork of our Creator. We were surrounding by flat plains stretching far into the horizon, scattered palm trees, and the silence of the early morning. I could imagine people in the nearby villages waking up, building fires, and celebrating the birth of Christ in their very special, simple and reverent way. The knowledge that Jesus' life was being celebrated all over the world that day sent peace and joy into my soul. It was a moment etched in my memory forever.

New Year's Eve was also memorable as I arrived at TH at 11 p.m. and joined the kids in praise and worship. We also had a time of confession so that the kids could go into the New Year with a clean heart before God. The kids confessed to stealing, anger, and lying. It touched my heart when one of our youngest confessed to stealing from three of his friends and asked them for forgiveness. We had a powerful prayer time and then more praising and dancing!

The next day 40 of our young boys were invited to a program in a garden/park run by a local Nigerian lady. Her generosity blessed us so much! I got so much joy watching 'my boys' playing on the playground, eating good food and competing in a dancing contest! It was the best New Year's of my life!