Day 59: I Heard Rumors That You Are Planning A Coup. Do You Want To Overthrow My Government?

After a terribly long and tiring week I was blessed to be able to sleep in knowing that we made no set plans for this Saturday. I was up for a good part of the early morning hours thinking, but got most things resolved enough to fall back asleep for a while before breakfast. Baba made us special chips and fried eggs, which tasted especially good. Biana set off after eating to get some work done at the Clinic while Adrie and I headed upstairs for some good conversation. We both needed to decompress.

 

            For lunch I used up the last of my corn tortillas for a not-so-Mexican version of quesadillas along with a bowl of corn flakes. We went down to the Clinic shortly thereafter for some more important e-mailing and phone calls all the way up until dinner time. Dr. Chris showed up for a bit and, after telling us he had heard rumors of us wanting to overthrow the government, went on to remind us that he wanted to find us husbands here and that instead of voting for Obama or McCain we should vote him for US president. I told him that had I gotten an absentee ballot his name would have appeared on the fill-in line: a vote well deserved. A supper of leftover stew and strange indie film about Brazilian cooking seemed a good way to officially end the week and bring in November.

 

 

            It has been a strange week for many reasons, but the most important is that Adrie and I have been waiting for a reply from God regarding if we need to leave Nigeria earlier than planned. Many things have come up both here and at home and we have felt quite uneasy about weighing our options. On the one hand I want so badly to stay the whole time to enjoy the company here and continue work at Faith Alive. But most of the reasons behind wanting to stay are very selfish: putting off some important decisions back home, fleeing the busyness of work and my social life, and mostly feeling like I should stay so people won’t think I am weak for needing to come home early. God has proven to me through the Word, good friends both here and around the world, and through my spirit that Adrie and I need to leave. So on November 21 we will fly out of Abuja, about three weeks before our projected date. I have a complete peace about leaving because I know that my priorities right now lie in Fresno, California. Ministry occurs at Faith Alive, but I have to remember that before God called me to travel and experience other people’s lives he called me to remember my own. My first ministry lies with my family, my friends, and central California. I’m glad it took me a trip halfway around the world to finally realize that.

 

            “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” - Proverbs 19:21

 

            This truly is a great adventure. And I wouldn’t allow my life to look any other way.