Thursday, August 13, 2009
Coming Home
Well, tomorrow is the day. We will board a plane tomorrow afternoon and head back to Cincinnati. I have mixed emotions as we attempted a bit of closure this afternoon. I have great anticipation of coming home and diving back into coaching and ministry, and at the same time I have a well of sadness about leaving what has been home for the past 5 weeks. I have a lot to process as I think about all that I've experienced while being here. God has shown up in some big ways. I have been able to participate in some great ministry as well as have some very intimate time with God. I cannot begin to tell you all that God has shown me during this time right now, but I will continue to process and share what I can. One thing that I am confident of is that God is calling me to stay put in Cincinnati. I know some of you were probably wondering if this trip would surface a calling to full time missions in Africa. I'm not going to say that at some point in my life that is not going to happen, but for now, I believe with my whole heart that He has called me to Horizon and the students in Indian Hill, Mariemont, Madeira and Anderson. I am excited about this. It's not that I didn't have an amazing time while being here in Africa. I am excited about continuing our relationship here and I'm hoping to at some point bring our college students and maybe some adults from Horizon here to experience a glimpse of what I have. (Sorry Phil, I know you said not to get excited about that, but I really am.) I think the perspective that I've gained about poverty, God's heart for the lost, and our role in all of it is so valuable. I've also gained some huge perspective about who I am in Christ and my role in this crazy world. I want to invite you all to pray for me and with me as I transition back to the US. Also please pray for our flights tomorrow. We have a 9 hour flight from Abuja, Nigeria to Frankfurt. Then we have another 9 hour flight back to Chicago. I will arrive in to Cincinnati Saturday evening. Thanks for all of your prayer while I've been here, it's been the most amazing experience of my life.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
What's In A Name??
I don't think often about my name. In fact, it's not all that often that people even call my by my first name. I'm not sure when this started happening, but for the most part, people are pretty content calling me "Rudge" and don't use Amy. I don't mind, it identifies me right?
After yesterday I have been thinking a lot about my name. Amy means "Beloved". I love that! I am assuming that my parents knew that when they named me, but maybe not. A lot of the time in our culture, we are named because our parents thought it sounded cool or they knew someone by that name and they liked it. I've heard it said that the best way to pick a name for your kid is to yell it off the back porch to make sure it sounds good when you are trying to get your kid to come home for dinner. But a name means a lot, and I love mine. For me it is prophecy. I know I am the beloved of God and it makes me smile when I think about what I am named.
Yesterday, we did a food ourtreach in one of the villages. We walked from house to house (hut to hut) and gave out rice, beans and oil. We also asked the people if we could pray for them. We had a translator with us named Daniel because this village spoke mostly Recuba, which is a village language here. As we asked people for prayer requests I would also ask them for their name so that we could pray for them by name. What I found was that a lot of the meanings for the names that we heard were not uplifting. One little boy's name meant "death". He was an adorable 4 year old who has his entire life ahead of him and he will carry that name with him. Another man's name meant "wayward." Apparently before he was born his mother lost 3 children at birth and so she named him wayward assuming that she would lose him as well. He was now over 50 years old and still carries that name.
As I was walking and talking with Daniel, he said that in his education his University did a research project looking at as many African languages as possible and they could not find a word for "future." He said that from what he knows, the word does not exist in Africa. That blows my mind. There is a concept for the future...like tomorrow or the next week, but it does not carry the meaning that our language gives to the concept of a future. I think about the students that I do ministry with in Cincinnati and they are told from the time they are very young that there is a future out there waiting for them. For the most part they are encouraged to go out and make the most of themselves, encouraged to do great things. Just listen to a commencement speech, whether 5th grade, 8th grade or high school, and you will understand what I am talking about. In this village, though, there is such a lack of hope. There are very few who look toward the future with any kind of expectation of great things. This is a huge thing that needs to change here. There needs to be a word that depicts moving from despair to hope. There needs to be encouragement that there is more than being born, being hungry, having children, getting sick and dying. Then maybe the names they give their children will be more like "beloved" or "hope." Then maybe the world will look a little brighter for the children of Africa.
After yesterday I have been thinking a lot about my name. Amy means "Beloved". I love that! I am assuming that my parents knew that when they named me, but maybe not. A lot of the time in our culture, we are named because our parents thought it sounded cool or they knew someone by that name and they liked it. I've heard it said that the best way to pick a name for your kid is to yell it off the back porch to make sure it sounds good when you are trying to get your kid to come home for dinner. But a name means a lot, and I love mine. For me it is prophecy. I know I am the beloved of God and it makes me smile when I think about what I am named.
Yesterday, we did a food ourtreach in one of the villages. We walked from house to house (hut to hut) and gave out rice, beans and oil. We also asked the people if we could pray for them. We had a translator with us named Daniel because this village spoke mostly Recuba, which is a village language here. As we asked people for prayer requests I would also ask them for their name so that we could pray for them by name. What I found was that a lot of the meanings for the names that we heard were not uplifting. One little boy's name meant "death". He was an adorable 4 year old who has his entire life ahead of him and he will carry that name with him. Another man's name meant "wayward." Apparently before he was born his mother lost 3 children at birth and so she named him wayward assuming that she would lose him as well. He was now over 50 years old and still carries that name.
As I was walking and talking with Daniel, he said that in his education his University did a research project looking at as many African languages as possible and they could not find a word for "future." He said that from what he knows, the word does not exist in Africa. That blows my mind. There is a concept for the future...like tomorrow or the next week, but it does not carry the meaning that our language gives to the concept of a future. I think about the students that I do ministry with in Cincinnati and they are told from the time they are very young that there is a future out there waiting for them. For the most part they are encouraged to go out and make the most of themselves, encouraged to do great things. Just listen to a commencement speech, whether 5th grade, 8th grade or high school, and you will understand what I am talking about. In this village, though, there is such a lack of hope. There are very few who look toward the future with any kind of expectation of great things. This is a huge thing that needs to change here. There needs to be a word that depicts moving from despair to hope. There needs to be encouragement that there is more than being born, being hungry, having children, getting sick and dying. Then maybe the names they give their children will be more like "beloved" or "hope." Then maybe the world will look a little brighter for the children of Africa.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
At The Table
While I've been here I've been reading a book about looking at the life of Jesus from a Jewish perspective. One of the things that the authors have hit on is the idea of hospitality in the Middle East (which is also true in Africa, by the way). In these cultures, being invited to dinner was a big deal. It signified friendship and intimacy and ultimately it was one person inviting another to live deeply together. As soon as the guest would step onto the person's property, that other person would take full responsibility for the guest's life. They would fight for you. Being invited to the table was being invited to live in the shelter of someone else.
This summer we have been talking a lot about God's shelter. In Psalm 91 God tells us that we are invited to live in His shelter. "Those who dwell in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Ps 91:1-2) But there is something else that I'm learning. In Psalm 23:5 David says, "You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." Essentially God is telling us that when we come to His table, and we are all invited, He is our protection. He will fight for us.
On Friday night we had the CLAPAI kids over to our house for a celebration dinner. It was the last week of school for them before break and we wanted to honor them for a year of academic achievement. (Just as an aside, we cooked a goat...which I did not taste because we cooked the ENTIRE goat and it grossed me out). We made them certificates and the director called them up one by one and commended them for all they had accomplished this year. But as each one came up she shared a little bit about what they had been going through this year. Here is a snippet. Bincham has HIV. Godya met her father for the first time this year (she is 9) and he is a Muslim, and she doesn't want to be a Muslim. Lucky and Endurance are left alone for days at a time and have to fend for themselves. All of them have been impacted in one way or another by HIV. And as they came up one by one, Kyenpiya was talking about how we must pray for them and fight for them as they are up against insurmountable odds. I immediately thought about the table and how she and Emmanuel has invited each one of these kids to be guests at their table. They are fighting for these kids. They have given up everything in their lives to care for these kids. Why? Because God first loved them and invited them to the table.
God has invited each one of us to His table. He will fight for us. And He invited us to fight for others. So the question I have been asking is who are you fighting for? Who are you inviting to your table (both physically and spiritually)? Who are you caring for and building into? God is fighting for them already, but will we join Him?
This summer we have been talking a lot about God's shelter. In Psalm 91 God tells us that we are invited to live in His shelter. "Those who dwell in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. (Ps 91:1-2) But there is something else that I'm learning. In Psalm 23:5 David says, "You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." Essentially God is telling us that when we come to His table, and we are all invited, He is our protection. He will fight for us.
On Friday night we had the CLAPAI kids over to our house for a celebration dinner. It was the last week of school for them before break and we wanted to honor them for a year of academic achievement. (Just as an aside, we cooked a goat...which I did not taste because we cooked the ENTIRE goat and it grossed me out). We made them certificates and the director called them up one by one and commended them for all they had accomplished this year. But as each one came up she shared a little bit about what they had been going through this year. Here is a snippet. Bincham has HIV. Godya met her father for the first time this year (she is 9) and he is a Muslim, and she doesn't want to be a Muslim. Lucky and Endurance are left alone for days at a time and have to fend for themselves. All of them have been impacted in one way or another by HIV. And as they came up one by one, Kyenpiya was talking about how we must pray for them and fight for them as they are up against insurmountable odds. I immediately thought about the table and how she and Emmanuel has invited each one of these kids to be guests at their table. They are fighting for these kids. They have given up everything in their lives to care for these kids. Why? Because God first loved them and invited them to the table.
God has invited each one of us to His table. He will fight for us. And He invited us to fight for others. So the question I have been asking is who are you fighting for? Who are you inviting to your table (both physically and spiritually)? Who are you caring for and building into? God is fighting for them already, but will we join Him?
Monday, August 3, 2009
Fireworks and Follies in Nigeria
I know that this story will be funny at some point (hopefully sooner rather than later), but I thought I'd share our blunder with you and let you decide for yourselves.
Last night we had our last "party" for the interns and staff here in Nigeria. We still have almost two weeks to go, but one of our interns is going home today, the Ramos family (a staff family who have been here all summer) is leaving tomorrow, and a group from Northstar Vineyard in Cincinnati is coming on Wednesday and we will all leave together on the 14th. So, it seemed like good timing to have a superhero themed party last night.
Well, the blunder came early into the evening when we decided it would be fun to light off some fireworks. One of the staff members had seen them lit off a week before somewhere close by, and she had purchased them here in Nigeria. They were the kind that shoot up into the air and then explode with a loud pop. Now, in the United States this would never be an issue, but read my post from a few days ago asking for prayer for Nigeria and you might understand where I'm headed with this. It was just a week ago that there were riots 3 hours north of here and over 400 people were killed. Last November in Jos there were riots between Muslims and Christians and a load of people were killed then as well. Our neighborhood is primarily Christian, and is on pretty high alert most of the time. Enter a bunch of Americans lighting off fireworks. It was only a few moments after we lit them off that there was a knock at the gate with a concerned...no irate...neighbor. We found out that one family didn't even bother to look outside or up in the sky, they immediately shut their lights off and layed down on the floor in case there was gunfire. And still today, after apology texts and letters from the acting director here, there have been a few phone calls from nervous neighbors.
What I've learned from this is that in Nigeria you can never be too careful with how you think about and look after those around you. An example of this is that we always wear long skirts whenever we are headed out around town or to the children's homes. It is culturally sensitive for us to do this as most women are very modest here. In the same vein, we were totally insensitive to the neighbors by not even thinking about what fireworks might mean for their fear and anxiety. I am learning...and hoping to bring this lesson back with me about being more sensitive to those around me and really thinking about how my actions might affect them.
Last night we had our last "party" for the interns and staff here in Nigeria. We still have almost two weeks to go, but one of our interns is going home today, the Ramos family (a staff family who have been here all summer) is leaving tomorrow, and a group from Northstar Vineyard in Cincinnati is coming on Wednesday and we will all leave together on the 14th. So, it seemed like good timing to have a superhero themed party last night.
Well, the blunder came early into the evening when we decided it would be fun to light off some fireworks. One of the staff members had seen them lit off a week before somewhere close by, and she had purchased them here in Nigeria. They were the kind that shoot up into the air and then explode with a loud pop. Now, in the United States this would never be an issue, but read my post from a few days ago asking for prayer for Nigeria and you might understand where I'm headed with this. It was just a week ago that there were riots 3 hours north of here and over 400 people were killed. Last November in Jos there were riots between Muslims and Christians and a load of people were killed then as well. Our neighborhood is primarily Christian, and is on pretty high alert most of the time. Enter a bunch of Americans lighting off fireworks. It was only a few moments after we lit them off that there was a knock at the gate with a concerned...no irate...neighbor. We found out that one family didn't even bother to look outside or up in the sky, they immediately shut their lights off and layed down on the floor in case there was gunfire. And still today, after apology texts and letters from the acting director here, there have been a few phone calls from nervous neighbors.
What I've learned from this is that in Nigeria you can never be too careful with how you think about and look after those around you. An example of this is that we always wear long skirts whenever we are headed out around town or to the children's homes. It is culturally sensitive for us to do this as most women are very modest here. In the same vein, we were totally insensitive to the neighbors by not even thinking about what fireworks might mean for their fear and anxiety. I am learning...and hoping to bring this lesson back with me about being more sensitive to those around me and really thinking about how my actions might affect them.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
A few pics
CLAPAI kids at a bee safari at the zoo.
This is a very typical scene in the village...mostly kids taking care of each other.
Daniel and Cynthia. They are both CLAPAI kids. Daniel is super smart and a great athlete. Cynthia is hilarious and has a great smile!!
This is Fumi. She lives at Our Ladies of Apostles (OLA) orphanage. She reads at about a 1st grade level or below, but the other day I was doing math with her and by the end of our time, she was adding double digits. It was amazing. She is a smart kid, but just hasn't had the opportunity!Friday, July 31, 2009
Prayer for Nigeria
Hello my friends! I'm sorry that I have been out of touch for a few days. Electricity and internet are two things that are a huge blessing here when we have them. Last week our internet randomly stopped working and the service provider said we were getting an "upgrade". What that really means in Nigeria is that they might send someone out to try to fix it in a weeks time. Such is life in a third world country. So, I'm learning that little things that I take for granted every day in the US are answers to prayer and huge blessings here.
Anyway, the real reason for my post is to ask you to pray for Nigeria. There is a long list of things to pray for, but today I have a specific request. A few days ago, about 3 hours North East of where we are in Jos, there was a Muslim sect uprising against the police force. Apparently the police arrested someone and put them in jail and this particular sect became furious and attacked police. As of yesterday over 400 people had died in the uprising. Now, I don't tell you this to scare you that I am here. We have been told that there is nothing to worry about here in Jos. We have seen no signs of tension here, and if we do we will travel south to Abuja to be out of harms way. So, please don't stress. What I want you to do is to pray.
Jos is the northernmost city that is at least 50/50 Christian/Muslim. It is the base for many missionary organizations, some who are very faithful in ministering to the Muslim community. The missionaries over the past 40 years have done a fantastic job in Jos when it comes to Muslim/Christian relations and for the most part the two live peacefully together. When you go north of Jos, it is primarily Muslim. I blogged a week ago about a Muslim who converted to Christianity. It is very dangerous for someone to do this. And yet, God is appearing to these people and showing them the truth. My prayer is that God would soften the hearts of this particular Muslim sect that is causing all the trouble and show them the truth of His love and grace. Anger and bitterness comes from a heart not surrendered to God. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22) I cannot imagine not having these qualities in my heart, and so my heart breaks for those who are fighting God so hard that they experience the exact opposite in theirs. I can only imagine the lonliness, fear, anxiety and hate that these men and women feel on a daily basis.
Please pray with me, not only for peace in Nigeria at this time, but also for the men and women here who do not know Jesus Christ. I have seen first hand that poverty will be the death of so many, but without the hope of God, they are already dead. Please pray that they would live...and live lives that matter, lives of purpose and love.
Anyway, the real reason for my post is to ask you to pray for Nigeria. There is a long list of things to pray for, but today I have a specific request. A few days ago, about 3 hours North East of where we are in Jos, there was a Muslim sect uprising against the police force. Apparently the police arrested someone and put them in jail and this particular sect became furious and attacked police. As of yesterday over 400 people had died in the uprising. Now, I don't tell you this to scare you that I am here. We have been told that there is nothing to worry about here in Jos. We have seen no signs of tension here, and if we do we will travel south to Abuja to be out of harms way. So, please don't stress. What I want you to do is to pray.
Jos is the northernmost city that is at least 50/50 Christian/Muslim. It is the base for many missionary organizations, some who are very faithful in ministering to the Muslim community. The missionaries over the past 40 years have done a fantastic job in Jos when it comes to Muslim/Christian relations and for the most part the two live peacefully together. When you go north of Jos, it is primarily Muslim. I blogged a week ago about a Muslim who converted to Christianity. It is very dangerous for someone to do this. And yet, God is appearing to these people and showing them the truth. My prayer is that God would soften the hearts of this particular Muslim sect that is causing all the trouble and show them the truth of His love and grace. Anger and bitterness comes from a heart not surrendered to God. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22) I cannot imagine not having these qualities in my heart, and so my heart breaks for those who are fighting God so hard that they experience the exact opposite in theirs. I can only imagine the lonliness, fear, anxiety and hate that these men and women feel on a daily basis.
Please pray with me, not only for peace in Nigeria at this time, but also for the men and women here who do not know Jesus Christ. I have seen first hand that poverty will be the death of so many, but without the hope of God, they are already dead. Please pray that they would live...and live lives that matter, lives of purpose and love.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Clean Water
So, I said I would elaborate on the bore hole...so here goes. The group from the Vineyard Church in Cincinnati that has been here with us all week is connected to both Back2Back and our partner ministry Self Sustaining Enterprises (SSE). SSE has many different aspects to it, like helping create businesses, jobs, etc...but one of the parts is drilling bore holes so that the people of Nigeria have clean water. On Thursday we were able to witness one of these drillings. It is a process to get to the depth that they need for clean water, and while we were there we never actually got that far, but we did get down to the final meters. As of today, the village has clean water.
A lot of the disease in Africa comes from the fact that there is not always clean water to drink. There are tons of parasites and other diseases that people get because they have to drink from an unclean well. Their food is washed in it. They cook with it. And the result is exactly what you can imagine. So, clean water is a necessity if the people here are ever going to be healthy. For the past few days we've been doing a medical outreach and we saw first hand the result of poor sanitation and the consumption of unclean water. It is overwhelming.
But...there is hope. The hope is that with this bore hole, (and it is the 50th charity bore hole that SSE has facilitated!!) this village will have the water that leads to life. Not only that, but recognizing it as God's provision for them, they are able to share about the living water that God brings us through Jesus Christ. So it is not only for their physical needs, but it also translates to their spiritual needs.
While we were there that day supporting the drilling process, hundreds of people from the village came out to celebrate with us. There were children running everywhere, having the time of their lives. One of my friends, Mark, was walking toward the bus when one of the men we work with stopped him. This man told Mark that these children will remember this day for the rest of their lives. Then he said that he wished that he would have had a day like this growing up. It broke my heart. These kids...these amazing kids...will remember the day that the church group from Cincinnati came to spend the day with them. They will remember the games, the singing, the laughing...for the rest of their lives.
I was also able to visit a neighboring village that got a bore hole last fall. We got to taste the water and talk to the people about how it's changed their lives. People just kept saying over and over again how great it is to be able to be healthy...and that their kids are growing up strong. I am excited for this new village...that they too will have the opportunity to be healthy. What an awesome experience!! And I think about how Jesus offers us all living water...what an amazing visual for me now of what that looks like in our lives. What an amazing God we have to want us to be healthy (physically, spiritually and emotionally). I want to drink more of this water. I want to experience more of the abundant life that God has offered. It is truly amaing!
A lot of the disease in Africa comes from the fact that there is not always clean water to drink. There are tons of parasites and other diseases that people get because they have to drink from an unclean well. Their food is washed in it. They cook with it. And the result is exactly what you can imagine. So, clean water is a necessity if the people here are ever going to be healthy. For the past few days we've been doing a medical outreach and we saw first hand the result of poor sanitation and the consumption of unclean water. It is overwhelming.
But...there is hope. The hope is that with this bore hole, (and it is the 50th charity bore hole that SSE has facilitated!!) this village will have the water that leads to life. Not only that, but recognizing it as God's provision for them, they are able to share about the living water that God brings us through Jesus Christ. So it is not only for their physical needs, but it also translates to their spiritual needs.
While we were there that day supporting the drilling process, hundreds of people from the village came out to celebrate with us. There were children running everywhere, having the time of their lives. One of my friends, Mark, was walking toward the bus when one of the men we work with stopped him. This man told Mark that these children will remember this day for the rest of their lives. Then he said that he wished that he would have had a day like this growing up. It broke my heart. These kids...these amazing kids...will remember the day that the church group from Cincinnati came to spend the day with them. They will remember the games, the singing, the laughing...for the rest of their lives.
I was also able to visit a neighboring village that got a bore hole last fall. We got to taste the water and talk to the people about how it's changed their lives. People just kept saying over and over again how great it is to be able to be healthy...and that their kids are growing up strong. I am excited for this new village...that they too will have the opportunity to be healthy. What an awesome experience!! And I think about how Jesus offers us all living water...what an amazing visual for me now of what that looks like in our lives. What an amazing God we have to want us to be healthy (physically, spiritually and emotionally). I want to drink more of this water. I want to experience more of the abundant life that God has offered. It is truly amaing!
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