Towards Sustainability

In early December the Self-Sustainability Dept. of Mashiah Foundation gave out brand new treadle sewing machines to five of the women in our program. Over the years we have given out more than 100 sewing machines. This is an incredible gift to the women as it allows them to do much of their work at home without always having to pay transport to come to our sewing center. The machine is a big step on their road to being able to take care of their families.

These are always times of great joy--and always kept a secret until the staff come dancing out with machines. The recipients are often overcome with emotions. I haven't seen Nigerian women cry very often in public, but many times this gift is so overwhelming that their tears just pour out.

The women's immediate response is to praise God for their new machines. It's a time of pure jubilation.

I love how friends rejoice with those who receive.

I don't have any pictures here of the complete machine with the stand, but the women received both parts of

the machine that day.

We have one woman who does not have the use of her legs due to having polio as a child. Consequently, she can't use a treadle sewing machine. She comes to our program from time to time. I'm always reminded of the Bible story of the persistent widow whenever I see her. She kept telling us that she wanted us to help her buy firewood so she could be selling it at her house. In January, we paid for a load of firewood which she is selling from her compound. Ideally, by the time she finishes selling the wood, she will have capital to invest in another load of wood as well as some income to feed herself and her child.

She was so happy that day when some of our staff members visited her in her home and took the money to her. We will be following up with her to see how her business venture is going.

Open to Suggestions

We have been designing a new receipt for the Women of Hope shop. We just made some formatting changes so it will be easier to work with.

The other day, while proofing it once again, I realized that I would like to put a Bible verse on the receipt. So Sarah and I started looking for verses that would be appropriate. We checked out Proverbs 31, Isaiah 61, references to women, widows, orphans, the fatherless, etc, but we still didn't come up with just the right verse for our receipts.

This morning as I was heading out the door, I asked Bayo if he had a suggestion. He said, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Eph 2:10).

Later at our staff meeting I asked the staff if they had any suggestions. Esther said, "There's a verse in Romans that I really like. I think it's Romans 13, about verse 8 or so."

So I opened up the Bible and read, "Let no debt remain outstanding..." and we all burst into laughter! How very appropriate. Now that would be a good verse for our invoice which is what we use while we're waiting for the customer to pay!

We later found the verse Esther had been thinking of: Romans 13:11-12. "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light."

We still have a day or two until we send it to the printer. Any suggestions from out there?

Glimpses of Love

Valentine's Day is celebrated here in Nigeria, but it's probably pretty low-key compared to the U.S. Personally, we didn't have any plans beyond sending heart-shaped cookies to school with the kids.

The day unfolded in a pleasant way, so I'll share some glimpses here.

In the morning, a man dropped off a Valentine's Day present for Mashiah Foundation: 48 rolls of toilet paper and 12 bars of soap.  Angela accepted the gift from the anonymous man. We gave a roll of toilet paper to each woman who came for Bible study that day. The remaining rolls went downstairs to Bezer Home for their use. I shared the bars of soap with the students in the school. There weren't enough for everyone so I asked siblings to share with each other. This might seem like an unusual gift, but it's really very practical and very much appreciated.

When I stopped by the Kindergarten, I saw a picture that their teacher had drawn on the new whiteboard. The children are all standing in the same order as the picture.

I told all the children in the school (about 20 right now) that I had a love letter for them. Their eyes lit up. I pulled my little red Bible out of my purse and read some passages from I John. I think they really got it. Then I gave them the heart-shaped cookies that my kids had made and the bars of soap.

When I saw Linda, one of the Bezer Home residents in the morning, she was wearing nicer clothes than she usually does--but she still had on her usual flip-flops. So I said, "Linda, I know you have some nice shoes. Will you go and put them on?" She went downstairs. Later when I saw her, she had completely changed her outfit. Some of the ladies helped her put on a bit of make-up. I just had to 'snap' her photo. I also promised to print some of the photos for her. We're trying to help Linda grow in her self-confidence.

 Esther, a Women of Hope staff member, with Linda.

And Julie, another Women of Hope staff member with Linda.

And we always have a great time of worship on Mondays...

Then when I picked up my kids from school, a friend said, "I have a little token for the ministry in my car." Well, that wasn't quite true--unless you call lots of yams and a 50 kilo bag of rice 'little'!

We all got a kick out of this brand. I just had to take a picture of Lucky with the Lucky Thai rice!

It was just a good day with lots of love shown in personal, practical ways.

In the Kitchen

 Last week I invited the older boys at Bezer Home to come over to our house to learn how to make donuts. They were so pleased at the invitation, as it's usually the girls who get to do these special things.  They caught on extremely quickly and had a great time in the process.

As well as learning how to make donuts, they also learned how to calculate the cost of ingredients so they could figure a price per donut. They made 75 donuts and shared them all.

I love those tight-lipped smiles--they're trying so hard not to break into an all-out grin!

Keziah Sunday, 2001-2011

We recently lost one of our little girls who has been part of the ministry for about 6 years.

When her mother Larai was brought to Mashiah Foundation, she was terribly sick with kaposi sarcoma. With proper treatment and care, Larai fully recovered. One by one, she began to bring her four children to Bezer Home. The first one she brought was her last-born, Keziah, fondly known as Mama. Larai resided in Bezer Home for three and a half years before she was able to rent her own place near Bezer Home. Larai is currently working as a staff member with the Women of Hope.

Keziah has had some kidney or liver issues ever since she was treated for TB a number of years ago. But basically she has been a healthy, vibrant girl. When the family returned from visiting the village at Christmastime, Keziah was sick. She was receiving treatment at the Mashiah clinic.

Then yet another Jos crisis erupted, forcing residents to remain home-bound for basically a week. Larai had been afraid to even go out to seek help for Keziah--and we didn't know that Keziah was still sick. On the morning of Friday, Jan 14, they arrived at our home. We touched Keziah and prayed for her, and sent her on her way to one of the major hospitals in town. Death never even crossed my mind. But that afternoon we got the call that she didn't make it. I believe Keziah was a secondary casualty of the recent crisis. No, she wasn't caught up in a riot, but because of the tenuous nature of the town, her mother felt she could not seek help.

Everyone was devastated. The mother especially. This little girl has been her reason for living.

Starting on Saturday morning, visitor after visitor came to console Larai. In Nigeria, this basically means sitting with the bereaved for hours and hours, many times saying nothing, simply being there. Larai's female relations stayed with her continually from Saturday morning until Tuesday, the day after the burial. I learned a lot about how the grieving process is played out since we were basically serving as her family.

Generally, when children die in Nigeria, they are buried very quickly. It's a painful affair, and the male relatives generally take care of the burial the next day. No service is usually held.

But we had a service for Keziah on Monday, Jan 17, at Bezer Home. It looked like there were about 150 people in attendance.After the service, we all trekked out to a community burial ground just behind the Mashiah Foundation land.

I was observing the committal service from a distance while standing on a four-foot stone fence. As the coffin was lowered into the ground, Larai started to wail and cry out for her daughter: "Mama, have you gone? Is it true?" Then she cried, "Mommy!" For a second I thought she might be calling me because that is what the women call me, but I also thought she might be calling one of her relatives. She called again and I didn't move. Then she called, "Mary Bet!" Bayo found me and helped me jump down from the wall so I could console her along with her female relatives. She kept glancing toward the grave with a crazed look on her face. The wailing continued until she was exhausted. By then, most of the people had started to trek back to Bezer Home. The men filled in the grave and then searched for big stones to put on top of the fresh grave.

The 20 minute trek back to Bezer Home was a welcome time of diversion and thought. Once we were back, I simply sat with Larai as did many others. That was the thing to do. You don't just jump up and start doing something. As we were sitting together, Larai scanned the crowd, and whispered to me, "Mama has people."  I know the incredible support gave her strength.

After the initial outpouring of grief, most people become quite stoic in the days that follow. We are currently working with Larai's remaining three children as well as the Bezer Home children, and especially Larai, to help them work through their grief. And of course, we are grieving too.

Boxing Day

Growing up, I always saw Boxing Day printed on the calendar on Dec. 26, but I had no idea what it was. (My knowledge of history is so weak I probably thought it had something to do with the Boxer Rebellion.) Since I have lived in a former British colony for many years now, I have come to understand that Boxing Day originated as a British holiday, a day when people gave boxes or gifts to one another.

In Nigeria, Boxing Day is a public holiday and has come to be known as one of the biggest visiting days of the year. Typically we don't exchange gifts on Boxing Day, but we do go out visiting one another.

My mom, being so logical, once asked me, "How do you know if you should go out to visit others or if you should stay at home and wait for visitors?" Hmmm. Good question.

After the Christmas Eve bombings in our city which claimed more than 30 lives, we stayed home all of Christmas Day. However, we did venture out to church today on Boxing Day. The day seemed almost normal except that traffic was a little less than usual, but church was full. So, on arriving home, I got out the frozen samosas and spring rolls to thaw. I figured I would just fry them up when visitors arrived. I planned this menu about three weeks ago because I knew we would definitely have visitors--and something must be served. Most people I know would serve rice, but I wanted to be a little different this year. Besides, many times when people have already visited other homes before coming, the last thing they want to see is another plate of rice!

Today was a quiet day at home, the day after Christmas. We read; we watched movies; we napped. But something wasn't right: no visitors arrived for Boxing Day.

Clinic Progress

We have been building a medical clinic for a number of years now. Recently we were able to begin work once again. Here's a look at some of the current progress: 

This is one of the electricians. First he has to chisel the cement wall where the wires will come down into every room.

The masons are doing a lot of different jobs throughout the clinic. They just put in this internal door which will section off one wing.

 Here the masons are plastering the outside of the building. They are also doing plastering in the inside.

This lorry brought a load of ceiling panels. (That's Bezer Home in the distance.)

Here the ceiling panels are being installed.

More to come later!

Christmas Eve

I have missed this blog! I love writing and reflecting and sharing. Unfortunately our internet goes off when the power goes off, which is the norm around here. So I'll write while I have power to do so. We happen to be having our "Christmas Electricity" right now so I'm taking advantage of it.

Last week I realized that we have made it through the last few months of the 2010 without an incident in our city. Well, tonight, immediately following the Christmas Eve service, we heard that a few bombs had gone off in various locations around the city. We have not had bomb incidents before. Generally we just have rioting. We really don't have details yet, but a number of people were killed in the explosions.

It was disappointing to cancel our Christmas Eve dinner plans, but we needed to be home. I was able to whip up a decent Christmas Eve dinner for our family and our two guests. I won't mention what the kitchen looks like at this point.

I'm anticipating that we will be homebound for a few days at least. Christmas in Nigeria is associated with lots of visiting, but that may go by the wayside this year.