Day 116 (Sunday 29th May)
Today was the day Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as president and there were rumours of trouble going around. On our way to church there were police and military everywhere, on every junction roundabout and in between. There was no trouble at all in Jos which was a huge blessing, although there was some violence in other places in the north.
I went to Jets with the girls which now includes Lyndsay E from Ogugu. The service went on for AGES, it was two and a half hours long. There was a really long baby dedication, and then what we thought was a dead ninety year old lady. They played a video of her life, and there was a big table at the front with a sheet over it. We all looked at each other thinking it was a coffin, but when they pulled the sheet off it was a table with a card and cake. The old lady was sat in the front row. They spent ages going through the whole thanksgiving thing, I was thinking they could probably wait a short while and tie the thanksgiving in with her next significant church service.
In churches here you have offering envelopes which are printed nicely and then re-used each week. The girls were really bored, and decided to write on their one and use it to discreetly pass me Smarties.
I spent the afternoon and evening updating my blog and chilling out. I made a Nigerian dish called red stew for myself for dinner now that I’m all alone again. I noticed Will forgot to sign out of Facebook so I updated his status on his behalf. If he bothers to read this he’ll know it’s me that keeps changing things on his Facebook, if he doesn’t then he’ll carry on wondering!
Day 117 (Monday 30th May)
For the next three days it’s the Mission Africa retreat where everyone in Nigeria comes together for a few days. Paul Bailey the chief executive flew over bringing his pastor Norman and Friend James who’s church support our Muslim Fulani outreach. It was held in the exotic location of the Baptist hostel in Jos, but at least the food was American and good. The three days were on Nehemiah, and in day one we had five sermons which was quite intense for our little brains.
I was really exhausted by the end of the day which finished around seven, and I got an early night.
Day 118 (Tuesday 31st May)
My Birthday!!!
I was woken up by a text from Bethan saying happy birthday. I opened the cards I brought with me from Gaz and Joy which were funny, and a reminder of home. Nothing from home has arrived, which is a shame because I know a few people have sent me things.
I got a really funny card from the girls which they had made for me!
The girls decided to liven up my birthday by giving me a series of challenges for the day. Paul I know you read this so maybe some of my strange actions will make more sense now! One of the first ones was to tell Paul that I love him, and then to get the word erotic in to a conversation with him. I then had to kiss someone who wasn’t a short-termer or child. Ricky had a lucky escape when I bottled it, and I moved on to our Nigerian driver Luka. I was sat next to him, and noticed he had just shaved his head. I stroked it and said “Luka your head is lovely and smooth, let me kiss it”, and then kissed him on the head. Everyone in my group laughed quite a lot, and Luka seemed to think my actions were quite normal. The next one was to make a sound and action we had for aardvark from the game animal kingdom at an inappropriate moment. Paul benefitted from this one again, when I asked him if he had ever played and demonstrated the kind of sounds and actions you make. When it came to theological Q&As my question was “what’s for dinner”. I also climbed on top of the wardrobe in the meeting room we were in and sat on it as if it was a completely normal thing to do. I got a phone call from my friend Catherine at home which was lovely.
I was given a big cake at dinner time which was really lovely, and in the evening I went to Barcardi with the girls. Mum, Dad and sister Niki called while I was there to say happy birthday which was really nice. We are celebrating my birthday more on Saturday which I’m looking forward to.
Thank you everyone who sent messages on Facebook and email, I had SO many I really appreciate not being forgotten!
Day 119 (Wednesday 1st June)
The last day of the retreat was only until lunchtime. It was sad saying goodbye to Paul, I really appreciated him being there.
I took the girls to Oasis bookshop and then we went shopping for food. They had fake Pringles reduced from about £3 to 40p because they go out of date in a month. I calculated I can eat at least seven tubes in that time, so I bought seven. The flavours include baked potato and pizza which are both a little odd. I think they’re the American version, because the tubes the same but they are called Magic Time Yummy Tummy and come from Florida.
Day 120-121 (Thursday 2nd – Friday 3rd June)
I’ve lumped these two days together because I don’t really have anything to write for them. I decided to take a couple of days off after the retreat to reflect and hang out with God. I have used the time to catch up on things including sleep!
I can officially announce that I'm returning to the UK on Wednesday 3rd August. This is earlier that initially planned and is for a number of reasons. The schools finish at the end of July, so I will have nothing to do in August. It will give me more time to prepare ready to start Moorlands and my placement working for KCC. There are two weddings of close friends in August I'm hoping to be invited to as well! (Not that I'm hinting Dan & Jenny, Lizzie and Johnny)
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