Missionary newsletter-May

Dear Family and Friends,

The huge rock formations that are everywhere on this Nigeria Mountain Plateau and huge rocks balancing on smaller rocks but not ever falling or smashing each other reminds me of the Bible passage in Isaiah 26 verse 4, "Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock."

This will be my last news letter from Nigeria Africa as we are leaving from Abuja on May 29.  It is hard to leave, there is so much that can still be done.  I know I need to come back to the States and am looking forward to that.   Yesterday the Ladies at Mashiah had their weekly Bible study and invited me to come.  The Bible leader read read the passage from James 3 verse 17.  Then she said that KA KA (that's me) 

had used that God given wisdom to teach the ladies the quilting skills.  They danced and sang for me.  Each of the students I had taught was asked to stand and then they all came to my chair, knelt down and personally thanked me.  I told them when I got to heaven I would be able to dance like they do.  I also told them how I came to Africa after Everett died to tell them about the hope that only God can give but I received so much from them in the joy in the Lord that they showed me.  Even though they had lost so much more than I had they could still express that love in Christ.They call me "Grandma" but mostly "Ka Ka".  I thought Ka Ka was the Hausa word for Grandma but just yesterday I was told it meant "old woman".  That burst my balloon but it really is a term of endearment here .  In Spanish "ka ka" means "poop" so watch your language!!. 
The other day when I stopped at Hillcrest Officea Nigerian office man asked me when I was leaving.  He said,"When you get to the airport in Abuja they give you a test to see if you know Hausa.  If you don't pass we keep you here."  I said, "I know : sanu, lafia, ka ka, Allah and amen, is that enough?"  He saidI don't know, I don't give the test.!"  One odf the words I was surprised about is Allah, that is used by both Muslims for their god and Christians for their God.

"May God, the source of hope fill you with joyand peacethrough your faith in Him.  Then you will overflow with hope by the power of  the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

In His Love and Mine, Lois Watt
 

--
Lois Watt.

Missionary letter

Dear Family and Friends,

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you. !Thess. 5:16

We certainly were very thankful to God for the safe journey to and from the LCN Convention 2007in Uyo, Nigeria across  the road from the seminary at Obot Idom.  The church where the convention was held was built with funds from LWML in US.  It was estimated that 14000 people attended.  Can you imagine 14000 people and one bathroom?  Nigerians have no problem with that.  There were many huts set up  in the area around the church with poles with sacks, sheets or bags used as tarps on 3 sides.  Inside the hut were a table and benches.  The food was cooked over  open fires, rice and red stew, boiled  or pounded yam and egusi soup (made with ground seeds and greens with maybe a little meat).There were flats on the ground with boiled eggs and minerals (pop) to drink.  All of this was for sale.  . At the service  as the time came for the offering  people danced up the aisles to put their offerings in the bowls on the tables.  Nigerian money is all paper, no coins, beginning 5 Niara or about 3 cents.  At the convention  the missionaries and pastors sat on chairs on  each side of the altar.  The front row of pastors danced up to present their offerings and I saw one of them wearing a cross that Everett made.  I was really surprised.  So when we went up to give our offering I  looked at the cross and asked him where he got it.  He said that it was a gift given him by a former pres. of the seminary.

The trip was very long.  It took us 2 days each way.  The roads were mostly paved but the potholes are atrocious.  You have to drive around them and dodge the traffic.  There was a pothole as big as the car.  We drove into it very carefully so we could take a picture.  The depth of the hole was up to the hood on the car.  The lories are something else.  They pile them twice as tall as the lory itself and people are sitting or lying on top , sometimes sleeping.  They are braver than I.We drove some at night against all warnings not to but, Ivan was leading us in his van.  There were many check stops.  they would lay logs across the road like an obstacle course and then they would have a board on a rope with nails in the board that they would pull out so you couldn't go.It was very hard to see because Africa is so very very dark at night especially on the road.  The police officers only had flashlights. It was a very nerve wracking trip. 
-- All along the way are people walking on the side of the road all times of the day and night.  They are very hard to see unless they wear white. I would estimate that it would be like seeing 200 people walking on the side of the road from my house to Grand Island.  It was very dangerous and a couple of times  I couldn't believe we made it.  The angels had to have been assigned special guard duty.

Work at Mashiah is going fine.  I wish I could understand what they say when they tell stories and laugh so much but it is in Hausa and not English.  They asked me if I wanted to learn Hausa and I told them I was too old.  They laughed at that.  So much for this letter.  May God be with you all and bless you all.  Love, Lois
Lois Watt.

--
Lois Watt.

January Newsletter

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope everyone had a Blessed Christmas and I pray you will all have a Blessed 2007.

 

A dearest Jesus, Holy Child

Make Thee a bed soft undefiled,

Within my heart that it may be

A quite chamber kept for Thee.

 

Christmas here was very different but interesting.  We had some wonderful Christmas music programs with the true Christmas message.  Nigerians love to sing! We had a faculty Christmas party,an  LCMS Missionaries progressive dinner on the LCN (Luth. Ch. of Nigeria)

Compound, an LCMS Ladies Bible Study Special Candle light devotions with party, a Mashiah Christmas party with gift excange,(I gave a basket of eggs and a bag of Spritz cookies),  a Mashiah Staff party.  We had " 9 Lessons and Carols"," Messiah Cantata".  Jennifer's family was involved with a lot of the music  We went to LCN on Sun. and to Christmas Eve. at HillCrest.  We then went to the Rasch with the Erbers ( LCMS pastor) for Christmas Dinner.  Jennifer had made a tasty ham by soaking a chunk of pork in a brine for about a week, Teri made a roasted chicken that she had put in a brine overnight. It was a feast when all the food was put together.

We went to LCN on Sun. but did not go to New Years Eve.  That service was from 9pm to 12pm. Ivan and Jennifer Rasch came here for snacks and fellowship.  Our neighbors also stopped by.

 

At the Mashiah Christmas Party 12 tredle sewing machines were given to 12 ladies to take to their home so they could also sew from home.  These ladies did not know who would get the machines.   The  machines were brought out and the ladies who got them were so happy they danced and sang  and cried.
The machines were purchased with gift money from the US and also from Nigeria.  Michael Rasch had saved up some of his tutoring money for this so 2 machines were given by Michael.  He had sent it with me when I went to Nigeria.

For the 70 Nigerian workers at Hillcrest (guards, ground keepers etc.) they slaugtered 2 beef on the compound and divided that up and then took a gift offering from Hillcrest people to purchase 100 -ten pound bags of rice for their Christmas Dinners.--
 

Deborah and her friend made a Christmas tree.  It really turned out nicely.  They made it out of sheets of tyoing paper.  They made a tube, colored it brown, about 4 feet tall and then made circles, colored green and cut to resemble pine trees along the edge and put 7 circles over the tube with a foil star at the top.

 

Nathaniel  bought some rabbits and rabbit hutches from a teacher, who is leaving,to use for meat instead of chicken.  The chicken is good but very expensive.  The pork is pretty good but it isn't cut up very well, the beef is tough, I  have a hard time chewing it.   Nathaniel already has a new litter of 7 baby rabbits.  Zachariah and Deborah each have a white rabbit for a pet that will not be used for food.  They are in a separate cage and in the house sometimes.  You are supposed to able to litter box train them.  We haven't succeeded as yet.

 

 I have 3 weeks off of work, we worked so hard before Christmas and I added a day each week to my work schedule I was glad to have some time off.

 

We go to the LCN  National Convention in Obot Idom  next Thurs.  We will atay for about 4 days.

 

It is so dry here but really a bit cool.  Nathaniel started the fireplace the last 3 evenings so we were cozy warm.Most people don't have heat.  It is jacket weather here in Jos on the mountain plateau but the Nigerians bring out their stocking caps, heavy coats and mittens.

.To quote Timmy Rasch when the clock showed midnight he said, "2007, I just can't believe it's 2007!"

May God be with you all and bless you.  Love Lois Watt

--
Lois Watt.