The group of people you see are the elders and their wives of our home church in Jos. They gave us a send-forth to Abuja. They were very encouraging as we told them we were going to the land of the giants and needed their prayers. The youth fellowship of the church remembered that statement and gave us a painting that said “Farewell to the Land of the Giants”. It had a ship sailing away in the horizon. The Nigerian culture is very good at making sure they say goodbyes properly. They made us feel appreciated for the years we were members of the church and the different ways we served there.
In the other pictures you get a glimpse of our new home in Abuja, Nigeria. The first house is the house we are living in, and it has two bedrooms in which people stay if needed. There is another house that is on the compound. It has four rooms that people stay in while in Abuja.
The past three weeks were busy ones. The work getting ready to move on July 14th was a lot but the Lord provided strength and besides what we sent earlier we managed to get everything in the vehicles on the 14th and made it to Abuja without any difficulty. The two weeks since arriving here have been very busy. I think Judy did about five loads of washing everyday to get everything clean, after sitting for 6 months through our dusty season. We first thought it would take us until August 1st to get set up but we actually ready this past Thursday, July 26th. We are thankful to the Lord for strength to get the many things done by then.
I have also been busy contacting people in Abuja. The ECWA Abuja Zone has a committee that is planning the Pastors/leaders Discipleship Conference, October 8-12, 2007. I got to meet with the chairman and some other members of the committee to let them know that I am now in Abuja and would be willing to help them with whatever I can. The committee is planning to meet August 2nd and they invited me to join them. They are expecting over a thousand people to be in attendance. A lot of plans still need to be made.
I also got to meet a pastor that has a real passion for making disciples. I actually knew him from before. He attended the first Equipping The Saints Conference I held in Jos in 1993. He has been applying the principles he learned since then. God has enabled him to see several generations of disciples raised up at the churches he has been at over the years. I was really encouraged by my meeting with him. We will be getting together regularly in the future.
