Sunday Entertainment

Sorry, no photo for this one. But keep reading because I think you'll be entertained :)

A few weeks ago I went to church where a lot of our kids from our Jos Care Center go. Alheri Church is a 5 min walk from where they live and has about 300 in the congregation. So I took Kirsten, a gal here for the summer, to the church since the boys were going to sing a 'special number', as they call them here. The boys were precious and the lead singer, Augustine (age 12), even dropped to his knees as he sang. Very cute. Then a guest speaker got up to preach about mathematics. Yep, math from the pulpit. It was pretty farfetched and I was kinda embarrassed because Kirsten was with me. The guy meant well, trying to tie in Scripture to explain how we can honor God in math. Or something like that. Sigh.

Well, I heard that our boys were going to sing again for the church today. I love to hear them sing, so I thought I would try Alheri again, this time taking a new gal, Lauryn, who is here for 10 weeks. Once again, the kids did a great job. Part of the service includes welcoming visitors, so Lauryn stood up and said she is here to serve with Gidan Bege. And then the pastor asked if she is married and she just looked over at me and I smiled and told her to sit down. So then the pastor changed the subject. Smart man. However, his sermon was on prayer. And he was doing a good job encouraging us in the necessity of prayer and using Jesus' prayers on earth as an example. I was relieved that this sermon was legit and so I relaxed. But, at the end, he said it was now time for the congregation to pray for one another. And he said that we need to pray for 'our sisters here from Gidan Bege' (Lauryn and me), that God will bring us our 'life partners' and that we will follow God's will so that we can get married. Well.
THEN he asked anyone to stand who wanted prayer for their life partner and Lauryn and I stayed seated. It was like there was a silent understanding that if we stand, we are putting ourself on the market. So finally the service ended and we walked back to the Care Center. Lauryn laughed and said " I wondered if they were going to start the bidding right there!" We just laughed and laughed and the kids joined in with us. I thought to myself that Alheri Church had earned a spot on my blog. So, there you have it.

We may not get solid spiritual food in church, but perhaps we can get a life partner. :)

Part of missionary life is the constant good-byes. Last week we said good-bye to Tim Schmidt, who may come back long-term at some point. Sure, saying bye is not always fun. BUT, there are definite perks, such as when they sell the things they no longer want or cannot take on the plane with them - like this bag of Starbuck's! Tim had a great stash of stuff and I bought alot of it - ranch dressing, starburst, flavored tea, crystal light packets, candles, hot chocolate...

So, while the mission family is sad when folks leave... we also line up to buy all their goodies they are leaving behind :)

My house

Lots of folks ask me about my house in Jos, Nigeria.

- The first pic is of one of my dogs, Chloe, on the pathway in my backyard.

- Second pic is of my house. I am blessed to have a house, as a single, as most singles with our mission have to stay in apartments. I live on a compound with other Nigerians, some missionaries and there are also church offices and a pharmacy. It is pretty busy and noisy. I wish I could take my yard and my house to a quieter place. Sigh. Count your blessings :)

- Water tanks. These babies are a huge necessity. The 'city water', regulated by the govt, is not always on. So when it does come, it goes into the black tank. Once that is full, I hit a switch and the water is pumped up into my 'reserve' tank, the orange one. We can go days without any water from the city.

- Mama Mango Tree. This is one of two huge mango trees in my yard. Unfortunately, the mangoes are so far off the ground that when they fall, they get busted. So I really don't get the benefit of the trees. Also, every item of clothing has to be ironed after drying on the line, to kill the eggs of mango flies. These babies, if not killed, can hatch under your skin. Yuck.

Food! While I was in the States I shared how we needed funds to provide healthier food to our children. God provided and here are a couple happy, thankful children! Here they are eating groundut and spinach soup - it actually tastes pretty good, despite the looks of it.

I had a good reunion with the Nigerian Missionary Children, whose parents live in the deepest parts of the bush to share the Gospel. About 100 kids live in a boarding school in Jos and I peek in on them from time to time. God provided a Nigerian nurse to care for them, too. Here we are at our party, with lots of coke and bread and butter - like I mentioned before, these are real treats for them.

A day

It was a good day, but very full:

- Went to SIM office to download emails, get money, greet people

- Off to Gidan Bege to meet Mrs. Gona, who has been caring for the Nigerian Missionary Kid's since I have been gone (praise God). What a joy-filled woman. We talked about the need for better food for the kids (working on it), medicine, how her own kids cannot go to school because no money to pay for the school fees, and then we prayed together. Look forward to getting to know her more.

- Our weekly management meeting of folks in charge of various parts of the entire ministry (medical, outreach, sports, etc). It is a colorful array of Americans, a Canadian, a Danish, and Nigerians. We are all trying to understand one another's cultures and today was a trying one. It had to do with the issue of money. Hmm. I hate money sometimes. It ended Ok, but will take some time and lots of prayer to really get to the heart of the matter. Do we as Westerner's cripple the ministry because we have access to funds and have to make decisions on how to spend them? Do the Nigerians depend on us too much? Not questions to be answered quickly. Sigh.

- Greeting the kids at Gidan Bege (these guys are waiting to be transferred to their permanent home in our Care Center in Gyero). Greeting folks here is super important and if you neglect this - wow - you have really offended them. So, gotta be sure to do it.

- Rushed back home for lunch (yummy Nigerian rice - food discussion is for another blog). Met the electrician bc my lights keep flickering and find out I need another stabilizer because the current keeps fluctuating, which can either blow my lights and electronics or not get enough power into my fridge. Also may need a new car battery to run my little lights when our electricity goes off. Man, am glad for Mark the Electrician.

- Try to keep my dogs from attacking said Mark the Electrician's friends who came to greet him (they do not like men).

- Off to Transition House to see some sick kiddos. Thanks to some handy kits I got donated, I was able to test three of them for Malaria - all of them have it. Treat them and explain meds to the uncle (staff in the house). Care for some wounds, decide a kids tooth needs to be extracted and will call dentist, arrange for an uncle to take three different kids to different appointments tomorrow (yeah for delegation!), meet with the head cook about the list of food to get this week for the kids.....

- Back home for dinner, a chat with Harvey, a missionary who has been here for 41 years (!) and here I am.

Well, not sure all this will interest many of you. But, hey, it is my blog :)

Girls!!! I finally got to meet our precious girls, who are new to our ministry. They are precious, trusting and oh so fun. They are all dressed up for my welcome back party in Gyero - our rural Care Center.

Presents!!! Thanks to donations, I was able to give each child a new bag, which is very helpful as they have to share cupboards.

Gyero!!! Our rural Care Center, about 40 min from where I live, is set in the beautiful countryside and the kids are so sweet. We had a wonderful welcome back party with gifts (for them), bread and butter and cokes (super special treats).

Prayer - please check out the monthly prayer calendars at http://www.webmissions.net/erinrigsby/support.htm

First legitimate blog from Nigeria

Yes! The 10 boxes made it with me to Nigeria. Yes! I was able to sleep on the planes (at least a little). Yes! I survived the trip to Jos, even though we got stopped on the road for an hour by some lovely people - but were allowed to pass with no harm done. Thanks for praying!!!

Now I have settled in bit, wanted to share my welcome back party --

Before I went to Transition House, where the kids live, I called and let them know I was on my way and Alex said to wait twenty minutes. I knew something was up. So when I arrived, all the staff were outside to greet me and welcome me back. As I hugged them, I kept looking around for the kids and they started laughing. "Ok, I said, " I love you all but I really want to see the boys." I was told that the kids were hiding and that I would have to find them. I figured it was pretty tough to hide 70 boys, but it took awhile for me to find them. Finally, a little black head was spotted peaking from behind a wall and off running I went to get them! It was a wonderful reunion with lots of laughing and whistling and so forth. After praise and worship, I passed out bread and cokes. THEN came the gifts of jersey's for every boy, which they loved!!!



I am still trying to figure out how to get these pics in place on my blogs, but here you go. Will figure that out another time. :)

My dear friend Laurie, from Chicago, passed away last Monday, April 23rd.

I received the message when I arrived in Nigeria on Wednesday. It is such a shock and it is difficult to grieve when I am on the other side of the world. I take some comfort in the fact that she and I had a wonderful time together in Chicago when I visited in September. Here is a pic of us enjoying a Chicago Bears game together.

Back In Nigeria!

Just a quick post to let you know that I have arrived safely in Nigeria. The 40+ hour trip was pretty uneventful - which is a great thing!

I cannot get online every day, which is an adjustment, and it makes it a bit difficult to get a good blog to you at this point. I am borrowing my friend's computer at the moment and wanted to just send a shout of praise to God for His faithfulness and protection.

More to come!

Dreaming of a white... Easter?

What a treat to watch snow fall from the Texas skies the day before Easter! My parents and I marvelled at how beautiful the snow looks against the green grass and trees.

I have two more weeks in the States and lots of things are extra special to me, because I know I will be saying good-bye to them soon...cream cheese, constant electricity, anonymity, cream cheese, quiet afternoons, card games with my families, pizza, broadband, good water pressure, Sonic Drive-In, no lines at the gas station, mexican food, Wal-Mart, movie theaters, and of course, Starbucks (thank goodness for those gift cards!).

But wait, what am I thinking? I can look forward to:

mangoes, tropical storms (those are incredible!), palm trees, dancing in church, walking everywhere, bargaining for food prices, seeing my two dogs, spending time with my dear friends Ritmua and Lami, and ......

SEEING MY BOYS!!!!! WHOO - HOO!!! I am SO excited to see the kids!!!!

It is ok to ask

What a gorgeous Texas morning. I sat on the front porch and just drank in the silence, the sweet smells, and the incredible sunrise. I just love it when trees come into bloom after the rains come.

The thunder and lightning are so powerful and to me, communicate God's power and sovereignty. The rains bring freshness, vitality, and rebirth to our land. God's might is displayed in our lives and He desires to bring His power and rebirth into our lives each day.

My mom has been pouring over Nehemiah and I had to ask her why. I mean, I just naturally turn to the New Testament because it is familiar to me. The Old Testament sometimes seems daunting and really intense. Know what I mean? She said Nehemiah is a great book to read if we feel God is moving us to a new place in life or if we need direction. Cool. Because that is where I am!

The past few months of rest and healing have been incredible and my eyes have been opened in many ways. I praise God for doing a new thing in my heart and for allowing me to return to Nigeria (soon I hope!) with a new song to sing.

So I started reading Nehemiah this morning, while on the front porch. Good stuff. Intense stuff. I need to remember that this man was just that - a man. And yet, he called on God's power and God showed him favor.

I love it in Chapter 2 verses 7 and 8 how Nehemiah was not afraid to ask the king for help. The text note shares that we should not be reluctant to ask others for help. People will usually surprise us by how willing they are to help us meet our needs, whatever the need may be.

So, take it from Nehemiah, who first asked God and then asked man. It is ok to ask for help.

Pray for sick children

Over the past two weeks, 10 of our kids in Nigeria have been hospitalized for various reasons, at various times. As you can imagine, this is very difficult for the children and for the staff to handle. I have called Nigeria a few times and prayed with the kids who are sick. The staff is really doing well and we are thankful there is a hospital nearby.

It is possible, even probable, that this is a spiritual attack that is being manifested in physical sickness. God has protected the lives of the children and not one of our kids in the 11 years the ministry has been running, has died. We are still trusting He will return Usseini, but only He knows.

The reality is that many children in our ministry have come from satanic or islamic backgrounds. God rescued them out of Satan's army and the enemy continually fights against us. This has happened since day one of the ministry. However, this is the first time that so many children are being affected physically.

Whether it is a spiritual attack or a coincidence that all these kids are sick, they still need our prayers.

So can you please pray, for 30 seconds each day, for the physical and spiritual healing and protection over the children and the staff in Nigeria?

Yep, that's me on the radio!!!! How fun is that? I was invited by Steve Burke to join him and his colleague for an hour of discussion of missions, my life in Nigeria, and how BIG our God is. I really enjoyed it. It is a local station (Temple, Belton, Killeen) KTEM 1400AM. The show will air this Sunday 10-11am. It was a great experience and I pray God uses it to move people outta their comfort zones and into His battle - the battle of Hope.

This week, Temple Bible Church hosted the

African Children's Choir. I felt right at home among these beautiful children. They are from Uganda and are seven to ten years old. Just like in Nigeria, they called me Auntie. :) ahhhhh.

I enjoyed cooking a meal for them at the church, watching them sing and dance, and also joined them on an outing to the Inflatable Funland! What a trip. The children have been on tour since May and sing 4 times a week. It was so fun to see them enjoying themselves so much. I joined in on the bouncing for about 10 seconds before my lungs told me to stop (bummer) but it was worth it!

My heroes, the children who, in the face of suffering, poverty and death, choose joy and contentment because they know the ONE who will save them from this world.


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Let's Go Bears!!!

I may be from Texas, but I LOVE the Chicago Bears! BUT, I was sure glad to be rooting for them while sitting in my parent's warm house in Texas. :)

And yes, if da Boys were to be winning, I would be rooting for them too...

pic with childhood friend, Rebekah, and her precious baby Gillian Grace on Game Day

Thanks for visiting my blog. I have archived all entries from my previous site so that you can see what I've been up to the past 3 years. Please take a moment to read some of the entries, as I hope they will give you a peek into the lives of some of my favorite people - the orphans and street children of Jos, Nigeria.

I am new at blogging, so please bear with me as I continue working on this site to make it attractive, yet simple and engaging. Your comments, questions and suggestions are appreciated.
In the past, I was limited in my ability to share with you my heart and my experiences. But now, with this blog, I hope that this will be a way to connect on a more personal level.

You may also check out my website for pics, video, and more information about Nigeria: http://www.webmissions.net/erinrigsby

To facilitate prayer for Nigeria, I send out a Prayer Calendar each month. Click here for January:
http://www.webmissions.net/erinrigsby/januaryprayer07.doc


At the moment, I am in Texas. I had planned on returning to Nigeria this month. However, I am being treated for a bacterial infection in my lungs and have been asked to remain in the States for the time being. I am hoping to return to Nigeria sometime in March.

Passion 07

Even though I am not in college, God opened the door for me to attend Passion 07 in Atlanta from Jan.1-4th. During my college years, the Lord greatly used the ministry of Passion to draw me close and to send me out. Check out the website http://www.268generation.com

23,000 college students gathered to worship our Savior and to learn how to be used for His glory around the world. Part of impacting the world, was using the resources God has given us.

We were given the opportunities to buy verses to help in translation of the New Testament for 2 people groups http://oneverse.org, buy bricks to help build a Freedom Center in northern Iraq, sign a petition against child trafficking, and much more. Also, we were able to express our passions, loves and commitments through 'Graffiti Art'.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars came out of 'poor college students' pockets as a response to an overflowing love for our Lord. And many have committed to serving Him overseas and in America. Praise Him.

He is God

Hope you had a great Christmas!

Thanks to many of you emailing me, I realize many folks are praying regarding my health and I want to give you an update. I will not be able to return to Nigeria in January as I hoped.

I saw my pulmonary doctor yesterday and because I still have a cough and lung pain and a small hole in my lung, his wise recommendation is that I remain in the States for now. When I pressed him for a time that I might be able to return, he suggested we be flexible, but perhaps in March. I am continuing to take medications to kill the bacteria in my lungs. The doctor asked that I focus on resting, so for the time being, I am not available for any speaking engagements. Resting sounds a bit boring to me, but wise and just what the doctor ordered. :)

I realize that the Lord answered our prayers for a wonderful doctor and God placed Dr. Beckendorf in authority over my health. Because of this, I am at peace.

Although this is not what I had planned... that is the beauty of it - that the LORD is in control and His ways are better and are full of love and wisdom.


"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine." Isaiah 55:8

"We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9

Content to trust,
Erin

www.webmissions.net/erinrigsby

Christmas with the family

Merry Christmas 2006 !!!!