Welcomed by a Singing Fridge

After what seemed like an endless rhythm of land, change planes fly for 8 hours, land, change planes, fly for 8 hours I finally arrived and set foot on Nigerian soil Sunday night. I stood in line to be processed by immigration for an hour, and then found myself greeted by a sweltering evening in Abuja, the capitol city of Nigeria.

I had the opportunity to see pieces of Abuja this night as we drove from the airport, but I’ll admit I felt rather comatose and incapable of processing much. Forty minutes after we left the airport we arrived at a mission hostel that would house us for the one night we would spend in Abuja. I was pleasantly surprised by the hostel, which afforded me a bed, toilet, and tub for a bucket bath (A bucket bath is a bath wherein you fill the bucket with water and proceed to bathe by this bucket)…yet, what really made me smile was the fridge. Yes, my room had a tiny fridge, and as I proceeded to open said fridge to cool my bottle of water I was greeted with a weak breath of cool air (cool compared to the heat of the room), and behold, my fridge sang as I opened the door. Indeed it belted out a music-box tune (Green Sleeves, I believe was the song) with a ferocity that belied its attempt to actually cool the interior of the fridge. I had to chuckle as I thought, “Welcome to Africa, Katherine.”

Wish I Had Frequent Flyer Miles

I am currently in Chicago, and much like Minnesota, it is cold. Go figure.
Yet, I am here in the Windy City briefly. On Wednesday, the 18th I flew into Chicago for the express purpose of meeting one of my ministry partners, providing us with the opportunity to get to know each other. On Saturday, the 21st the two of us will fly from Chicago to Frankfort, Germany, and then from Germany to Abuja, Nigeria, (Yes, folks. Get out your globes-that’s on the other side of the world and 8 time-zones away). God willing, I will be on African soil come Monday morning…And then another two days of travel…I shudder to think on it, therefore I’ll tell you about this journey AFTER the fact. I will be in Nigeria for 6 weeks in order to observe and participate in this HIV/AIDS prevention and family care ministry.

My hope is to be able to update this blog at least once a week, if not twice while I am there. Of course these updates are entirely dependent upon internet access and available electricity. We shall have to see.

Well, friends, with luck my next post will be from Gembu, Nigeria. Till then, fare thee well!

Knee-Deep Snow and 8 Below

I spent the past week and a half investigating life in sub-zero temperatures…I do believe I now know what it feels like to live in a freezer. I and my ubber-thin Arizona blood had great fun at a retreat in Farmington, Minnesota courtesy of Converge Worldwide. In between bouts of counseling (Despite my great concerns they still think I’m fairly sane), and training, I had fun traipsing around in snow up to my knees. I have never beheld so much snow in my life! I even got to walk around in snow-shoes; you know those funny looking shoes that resemble tennis rackets strapped to your feet…? And I only fell three times! If it were not for my hapless and seasoned Minnesota guides, Tim and Amy, I might very well still be stuck in that last hole. Good thing they only laughed for a few minutes before dragging me out.

After the retreat I had the opportunity to spend five days pursuing meetings with churches in the Twin Cities area. I was fairly discouraged at first, I’ll admit, as only one church responded. However, another church who’s Pastor and missions committee I have been blessed to get to know well invited me to spend the weekend with them. As always, what ensued was God’s provision, (You’d think I would just come to expect it). It was this church who found a family for me to stay with, as well as invited me to several events where I had a splendid time getting to know members of the congregation. I watched the Super Bowl at the Pastor’s house. (I was so sure the Cardinals were going to make it!) In the end I had such fun, and I was wonderfully blessed by this giving church family who just poured out a generosity of time and kindness. I thank God for them and their Servant’s heart!
Now I am back in sunny AZ and I am preparing for another trip….
Stay tuned, my friends!