Picture of the Week (2)

Nigeria is currently coming to the end of the Harmattan season which means an end of the Sahara dust and rain is on its way. In Jos everything seems to be dry, dusty and brown. Lush green plants are a thing of the past because rain is no where to be found and water supplies are drying up or else, dried up. Even one of our care centers is without water to bath the boys at night. Everyone seems to be longing for rain and I just so happen to be one of them.

The picture above was taken in Cross River State which is south of Jos and borders the country of Cameroon. This past weekend I spent 5 days up in the mountains and even did a little hiking. The weather on the mountain is cold and it rains there often. Above is a picture of an older man who was out returning from his farm and making his way back home. In the picture you can see some green hillsides and potential rain on the horizon. While the rest of Nigeria is begging for rain this particular state is enjoying cool weather and wet ground. For 5 days I felt like I was back in Papua New Guinea enjoying cool weather and delicious bananas. I was very happy to see this side of Nigeria. I hope this gives you a better look into this wonderful country.

Note: the picture is not "foggy", rather, it was taken in a cloud.

Picture of the Week

Here is my photo of the week. In this picture is a little girl named Sandra. She was dressing up for a picture that I was preparing to take of all of the girls because one of them was celebrating a birthday. However, the girl celebrating the birthday was not one of our girls; rather, she is one of the staff girls. In Nigeria most people don’t know there actual date of birth, especially children who lived on the streets. Sandra was so happy to be dressed up for a picture that she began to twirl around the courtyard and I just so happened to catch a nice picture as I was snapping away. People wonder how I managed to take the picture from so high up, I just laugh and say “I’m 6 foot 4 inches”.

I hope this pictures makes you smile like Sandra was the other day.

My Favorite Pictures Thus Far

These last 8 months have been quite eventful. There have been times of laughter and times of tears, times of frustration and times of relaxation. There have been times when I wanted to quit and come home to the USA, eat pizza with my friends and drink coffee with my family. Times when I just wanted to sit down with my grandmother and hear her share her wisdom on the subject at hand. These last 8 months have been wonderful in a lot of ways and also frustrating in other ways but at the end of the day I thank the Lord for bringing me through 1/3 of my stay here in Nigeria. I enjoy Nigeria very much and have considered it my home now for these last 8 months. I’m grateful for your encouragement, your support and your prayers.

The pictures below are my favorite pictures from my time thus far. Out of over 6,000 pictures I have picked 16 because it was too hard to pick 10 or 8. I decided to pick two for each of the 8 months that I’ve been in Nigeria.

I also want to thank my friend Michael for buying me a new camera after my former one was stolen when I was robbed in December. In other words, I don't need a new camera anymore. Thanks for those who inquired.

Here are my top 16 pictures thus far. Do you have a favorite?

BITTERSWEET

I love it, yet I absolutely hate it. I look forward to it, yet I dread it. I enjoy it, yet it brings me great sorrow. What am I talking about? What is so bittersweet?

A new child is a new face, a new face is a new story, a new story is a new hope...

Welcome to Gidan Bege, the house of HOPE...


These last few months I’ve learned a lot of stories. I’ve been doing a lot of work in the area of sponsorship, which, by the way, every child in this post is in need of a sponsor. As I write the stories of each child and how they came to Gidan Bege I find it difficult to even type the words that they say. It’s bittersweet when I interview them because I am excited for the child that he/she has a new hope in the Lord but at the same time I hate it because someone was so cruel to this little innocent child.

Here is a typical interview:

What is your father’s name? “Ishaku” (Isaac)
Where is he now? “He is late” (dead)
I’m sorry, how about your mother, what is her name? “Her name is Alheri” (Grace)
Where is she? “She is late”

No father, no mother equals: O-R-P-H-A-N.

I’ll ask them “How did you find Gidan Bege, did you run to the streets?” yes, I ran to the streets after my community tried to kill me.

Why did they try to kill you? “After my father died they said that I killed my father and so they wanted to kill me”.

Where did you stay when you were on the streets? “I slept in a mango tree”.

Here are some of the replies that I have documented:
-“they tied my hands and feet together and hung me from a tree and they beat me but a pastor came and rescued me and took me to Gidan Bege”
-“they hung me from the ceiling and on the ground they cooked some pepe (small chili peppers) so that the smoke went into my eyes”.
-“they beat me very bad”
-“they said I killed my father and mother”
-“they wanted to kill me”

The list keeps on growing. Every new face is a new story and each new face is a new hope. Gidan Bege means “house of hope” in the Hausa language. It is here at Gidan Bege that the children are getting an opportunity that the never had. They are given hope despite the darkness of the past. They come beat up, battered and bruised but they receive healing, comfort and hope inside the ministry. They are given food and clothing and they are taught the scriptures. They want to become doctors, pastors and evangelists. It is bittersweet when I see a new child come into the ministry. When I learn about their story and the way they came here it breaks my heart but then I’m refreshed by the fact that those things are in the past. One boy, Clement, told me about his childhood growing up in a big city with a father who was in the military and a mother who sold produce in the market. He said “we were always having jin dadi” look familiar? “jin dadi” is enjoyment. Growing up was always joyful for Clement until both parents died and he was taken to Gidan Bege as an orphan. He said he loves Gidan bege and It made me think, which does he prefer, life with his parents or life at Gidan Bege? I asked him, “Clement, where would you rather be, at home with your parents or at Gidan Bege?”

He looked at me and said: “I would rather be with my mother and father”.

I knew his answer even before I asked it but I had to hear it for myself. These children each have a story, each have a hope, each an opportunity to erase the hurts of the past and look to the joys of tomorrow.

Each one on this post is in need of a sponsor. If that is something that you would like to do than please email me at joseph.shriver@sim.org

"To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed that the man of the earth may oppress no more" Psalm 10:18

My Mary, My Merry

Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel…

Joseph and Mary.

In this case, Uncle Joseph and Mary.

The more words I write, the less likely you are to read. Pictures say a thousand words right?

Mary is the daughter of one of the staff in our care centers. She is about 2 yrs. Old and has an adorable voice. She can’t really speak much English and I can’t speak much Hausa but, somehow, we find a way to communicate. She loves when I come to Gyero because it usually entails “sweets” coming her way or maybe a balloon or an orange. Sometimes I make a bowl of rice and red stew and guess who is there to help me eat it. If I am shaving, guess who is there? If I am reading, guess who is always there? If I leave, she will cry. When I come, she is always happy to see me. Other times I just want to trek to the top of a mountain with all of the kids but guess who seems to find her way onto my back. Mary and I are inseparable as she is always at my side.

The feeling of being appreciated (though it may be for sweets) some how makes life in Nigeria a lot easier and interesting. I appreciate lil’ Mary and she appreciates me.

Meet Mary…

Honeymoon's over

The killing, the crisis, the military, the unrest in Jos, the destruction of my church, the 7PM-6AM curfew, the armed robbery, the threat of being killed, the police and military checkpoints, evacuation, sicknesses, the holidays away from home and the daily pressures of trying to minister cross culturally have brought me to a point in which the honeymoon is over.

Nigeria is a wonderful place and full of kind and loving people. It seems like everyone wants to spend time with the white man and talk about the day’s events. The Nigerians are dear to my heart, these children, even more so. This has been my home for the last 7 months and will remain that way until June 2010 if the Lord permits. I’ve come to love this place and appreciate everything about it. Sure, there are things that are difficult; being away from family and familiar things while adjusting to life in Africa has been hard. There is the constant threat of disease, sickness, malaria and motor vehicle accidents. There are demands of the ministry, demands at home for a bachelor to survive and demands in the local church. There is the constant pressure of being equivalent to a celebrity simply because my skin is white and the constant pressure to make everyone happy. There are times when you want to just “go hide thyself” (as God told Elijah--- 1 Kings 17:3) and escape all of the demands and anxiety that comes with being a missionary. There are times when you want to be back home, sitting by a fire with a box of pretzels and a cold crème soda with no one to bother you and nothing to do but meditate upon the Lord. There are those days in which I look up and see an airplane and think “those are my people” and other times when I watch the sun set and think what my mother is doing right now, my professor from Bible college and of course, my siblings. Sometimes I think “right now my dad is brewing a pot of coffee and probably outside loading ladders onto his van”. There are those times and then there are these…

…no matter how difficult things get, the problems are always alleviated when I see our kids in the ministry. There is something about them, something about children that fascinates me. Maybe it is there carefree spirit or there simple faith. Maybe it is there innocence and the thought of how they got here. I’m not sure exactly what it is but, whatever it is, they make my time here worthwhile. I love to spend time with the kids, we trek, we swim, we play and we read together. I always have one of these little ones come to greet me in my room in one of the care centers. They are always at my door, always at my side, always reaching for my hand. The pressures, anxieties and demands all seem to float off into space and I find myself to be perfectly content. Sure, they are not my own, but they may as well be. There is still that longing in my heart to have my own children and to not have to say goodbye to them. There are times when I read through the scriptures and find this character that no one ever mentions and I immediately write his or her name in the back of my Bible. Why? Because I just may name my son or daughter that one day. The kids here are wonderful and I wish you all could meet these precious little children.

The honeymoon is over in one sense but a new and exciting season always seems to replace the previous one. This is Nigeria, a land of adventure and my home for at least two years.

I could use you prayers, I could use them a lot.