Time Warp

x = 04152009

x – 60 = 217

x – 15 = 84

How do you like math? “Not so much,” most folks I know would say. I, on the other hand, really like math. I never got much past trigonometry, unfortunately, but what I did study I enjoyed.

I was thinking recently about how the short number of days we have remaining catapults us ever closer to Enugu at a frighteningly rapid pace. Sixty days ago it seemed quite a bit further away and the days seemed, on average, longer. Now, the days seem very much shorter, and panic starts to set in as the realization hits us that it will not be possible to get everything done that we would like to get done. I remain hopeful that we will get everything done that needs getting done. But time will tell.

What are we going to be doing?

Teaching, preaching, cooking, cleaning, taking care of our little boy!

We got a taste of ministry in Africa in September, 2007 when we spent an extended weekend in Accra, Ghana. Stephanie taught a Sunday school class, I taught a couple classes at the Bible school, and preached a Sunday service.

Stephanie had a blast teaching Sunday school. She loves teaching kids, every second, every moment. Her passion is to achieve that “I had ‘em” moment” where she has conveyed the precious Word of God to the kids, and the kids “get it.” In Nigeria we imagine Stephanie will continue to teach Sunday school, some, and she is presently slated to teach a course in Christian education at the Bible school, a.k.a. the Ministerial Training Centre.

I really enjoyed teaching. In a conversation with a friend recently I was reminded that I started out my college days with a plan to get a music education degree. I didn’t think then that I wanted to be a teacher. I guess over the last twenty years or so I have changed my tune. Sure, it’s hot in the classroom, but there really isn’t anything else quite like it. I am scheduled to teach two courses during the quarter, one on the Gospels and one from selected Epistles.

Preaching. That’s another story. I am a novice. I have not preached all that much, and, while I am fortunately not all that nervous doing public speaking, I do get nervous occasionally when it comes to the responsibility of communicating the Word of God. Especially when it’s being translated. And I have had even less experience with that! I do not know how much preaching I will be doing in Nigeria, but I imagine it will be at least half of the sixteen or so Sundays we are there, give or take a few!

Visas and Passports

We have our entry visas! Finally!! I was getting worried.

I sent in our visa applications to the Nigerian Consulate last month with only the slightest trepidation. I mean, sending your passports away for an undetermined amount of time is always a little nerve wracking, but I thought we had plenty of time. More than eight weeks, I think, I had allowed. And after sending them UPS 2nd Day and enclosing a prepaid self-addressed UPS 2nd Day return envelope, and with the Consulate’s web claim of a three day turn around, I was expecting to have them back within a matter of just a few days. That was not the case.

Nervous, I called them after three or four days after I thought we should have received the visas. No answer. I tried again. No answer. I left a message. No reply. A week passes. Getting more nervous. So I contact Bro. McLean (the veteran missionary who has been in Nigeria ten+ years) and he says chill out. Okay. Another week passes. Starting to get a little frantic here. I call the Consulate again and again. Finally I get a hold of someone. He transfers me to someone else. Voicemail again. Ack. I send them an email. I call Bro. McLean again. He assures me that there is really nothing to worry about. There is plenty of time. Just, don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Okay. I feel better. I can handle this. No more worrying. I mean, we still have five weeks to go.

Yesterday I received a confirmation email / bill from UPS. Ah yes! Shipment sent on Thursday. Should be arriving on Monday. Arrive it did. And guess what else? Instead of receiving three passports, me, Stephanie, Timothy… there were five passports in the package. Whew. Glad it wasn’t our passports that were sent to someone else by mistake.

When?

We leave for Nigeria on April 15th, 2009 and are scheduled to return just under four months later. Yes, all three of us are going, me, Stephanie, Timothy. Yes, my mom is going to miss us terribly!

I have spent many a moment of late pondering the little things we take for granted in this country and wondering which of those things I am going to miss the most.

Ice Cream! I love ice cream. I was in the supermarket recently and was flabbergasted by the number of available choices. Five different brands all offering three, or more often four different shades of vanilla: Vanilla bean, natural vanilla, french vanilla, new york vanilla, lowfat vanilla, old-fashioned vanilla. That’s just looking at the vanilla. Will ice cream be available in Enugu? Most likely not. Even if it were to be found in a local grocery, it may not be safe to consume with the frequency of power outages throughout the country.

Highways. Many Tuesdays I travel well over a hundred miles. Forty-plus miles round trip to church, maybe ninety to Hudson and back. These trips across town don’t take much longer than a mile per minute given our luxurious road system. It’ll be different there.

Hot showers. Oh. I can see already this is going to be a problem. It is quite unknown what we will encounter for our plumbing situation. Suffice it to say I will miss my hot showers immeasurably.

There are, quite literally, dozens of these kinds of thoughts I have had in recent months. I share a smattering of them just to get it out there and in the open. I will certainly not catalogue the entire laundry list of differences and adjustments, but it’s a pretty good bet that a majority of the adjustments will be significant.