Thankfulness, Intersession and Aunties

Friends and Family,

There is always so much to write about! Sometimes it's hard to know where to begin . . . The past two days have been so eventful!

Yesterday we had another new girl join us at Gyero. It is a miracle that, Godyie actually made it to the ministry. Both of her parents past away a few years ago. At that time a distant relative took her to use as house help and neglected taking care of Godyie. Just a few days ago, the relative decided she was going to move to Lagos, but didn't want to take Godyie with her, so she told Godyie to pack her bags, they were going on a trip to Jos. The woman dropped Godyie off at a street corner and told her to wait there she would be back in a few minutes. The woman never came back. Godyie began begging, and thankfully she came across a Christian woman who knew about our ministry and brought Godyie to us. Praise the Lord. Godyie is quite the 12 year old young lady. She is very spunky and can definitely hold her own.

Godyie arrived at our ministry with nothing but the clothes she was wearing, so Nicky, Mamma and I took her shopping yesterday to get some new clothes. Seeing the joy on Godyie's face, joy not only from the fact that she was getting new clothes, but joy from the fact that these 3 women actually cared about her was an amazing experience. She held my hand, smiling and jumping up and down the entire time we walked around the market in the rain. Godyie was very excited that I had a camera, and she loves to pose, so I will post a few pictures for you!

After taking Godyie to the market, it was time for "Family Groups". Every Tuesday night all of the kids at Gyero are broken into small group of 12 kids and 1-2 adults. Each family group eats dinner together, does Bible study and spends time worshiping in song. I was able to join the girl's family group last night and let me tell you, those girls can sing! The beautiful song they can make with simply their voices and a bucket, is beyond me. I couldn't for the life of me keep the rhythm with the girls, but I had fun dancing and trying to sing with them. They thought it was hysterical that "Auntie Jamie" was dancing with them!

I prepared a devotion with the girls last night, and we had fun talking about the qualities of God, the qualities we see in ourselves and talking about being children of God. We looked at two passages:

Genesis 1:27: "So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them."

John 1:12: "But to all who believed him and accepted him he gave the right to become children of God."

It was fun to watch the girls tell each other that they were children of God. I was able to get a hold of a Hausa Bible, so I wrote the verses in English and in Hausa. The girls were fascinated and had fun reading the verses first in English and then in Hausa to each other. It's difficult to know how much they understood, but it was at least fun . . . and I know God shows up in fun! :)

I spent the night in Gyero with the girls. It was a blast, a toilet that rivals the one in the D.R. for all you Team Swaction members! :) The walls of the toilet were covered in mosquitoes and flies . . . (That one is for you Amy! :)

We were awoken by the Muslim call to prayer at 5:00am, which then caused a chain reaction of the dog in the compound to start barking, the women in the COCIN (Church of Christ In Nigeria) to start singing, the compound roosters to start crowing, and the girls to wake up and begin their morning devotions and worship. By 6:30am, I was awake, dressed and greeted by each one of the girls . . . these Nigerians sure know how to use their day light!

I enjoyed spending the morning reading, working on the alphabet, coloring and just sitting with the girls. They are all so unique, beautiful and have such dark pasts. Each one is a miracle. As much as I have enjoyed getting to know the girls, the two women, Mamma Sate and Kaka (grandmother) are two of the most amazing followers of Christ I have met. They both have given up good paying jobs and lives with their families to spend almost every waking minute with these girls. They mentor, disciple, feed, clothe, bathe and love on all of these girls. Until recently, Kaka didn't have a blanket to sleep with and used a pile of her clothes as her source of warmth. Kaka spends a good portion of her day praying for each of the girls by name, and if she isn't praying on her own, you will probably find her sitting on the broken bench mending a sweater with a girl by her side as she sings praises and thanks to the Lord her God. She is a true witness of someone who understands the thanks and praise God should receive from us all.

I have taken a few pictures of the girls and of Kaka. I will post them along with (hopefully) the video I took of a Nigerian rain storm.

I am grateful for each and everyone of your prayers and your emails. I am continuing to pray for all of you and your specific prayer requests. Let me know if there is any way I can be praying for you! I love you all!! Thank you!