Sunday the 15th...
A week has flown by again. We had an opportunity to go to a place called Cercapan which is a sanctuary for orphaned and abandoned monkeys. Their purpose is to educate people to stop the hunting of monkeys. It was interesting to see the different kinds of monkeys in the refuge there. It was also nice to see Eli see something new and different. He took a lot of nice photos. He's getting good with a camera. On Saturday we went to the open air market. Eli needed something to wear for church (native wears) and a few other things. We met out friend Chikezie at his shop and he took us to the places that we needed to go to. Someone like us cannot go to the market unattended and fare very well. You need an local to guide you (and protect you) as you go. We were grateful for his help. Eli ended up with a nice white outfit, a notebook and best of all a case of Ramon noodles. They are called ‘en doe me' here but they are the same thing. We eat them dry and save the spices for rice, etc. We celebrated a week of safety by going out to a place called Mr Biggs.......Eli was hungry and needed some A/C so after the market we stopped by for some rice and chicken. The rest of the day was spend trying to keep cool. The generator has not been able to carry the load and so electric has been scarce. One challenge is the lack of electric for the fridge. We purchase juice or fruit or soy milk and put them in a small fridge and without power our food goes bad. It's very frustrating and a waste of money. Since we can only go to the market when we have a driver, we get what we need when we have the chance and put things n the fridge. Keeping things in the fridge keeps them from critters and bugs as well as the oppressive heat which takes its toll on most all the food. Fresh foods are generally good for 24+ hours without the fridge. Right now we are buying the fuel for the gen and trying to see what it costs on an average to have electric. Our electrical needs are for the fridge, the a/c and for charging phones, etc. We go without lights most all the time using flashlights. We use the a/c at night for a few hours so we can sleep better. So far it's been costing us $20 every other day for fuel...you begin to weigh your options......throwing out your food and needing to purchase more, or paying for fuel for electric. There is currently another house guest staying in the upstairs which adds to the gen load...they are trying to keep a fridge and a/c as well. Things are getting a bit strained. We are praying for wisdom and grace. We planned on attending Bible Christian Crusaders Mission today. I met its pastor Rev Joseph Okoro last year. He flows with the Holy Spirit and moves strongly in the prophetic. We line up well together with our methods and foundations and so we enjoy the opportunity to be together when we can. We arranged to worship with them for the second service of the day at 11. We woke with an early call. The Ogbujis wanted to take Jon to the airport to send our visas to Lagos in order work on our visa issue. Eli and I stayed behind to get ready for church. Jon returned sometime later after finding out that none of the airlines will transport passports through courier service. We will need to try another way to get them to Lagos. We went on to Rev Okoro's church. It was a pleasure to see him again and as before, God had us both ‘on the same page' even having read the same scriptures and battling the same issues in the church. After a brief conversation before the service, he smiled and said....by the way, you're preaching; God was at it again. The message on my heart was the use of ‘culture' to hide behind behavioral patterns and disobedience in the church members. Ouch. No one talks or touches culture.....it's the sacred cow. God was amazing. Truth spoken in love opened the doors to repentance. At the end of the message based on ‘the traditions of man make the word of God of no effect' I led them in prayers of repentance and deliverance to become true worshipers in spirit and in TRUTH....not in cultural excuses. I know that God will have the message delivered again and again and so I am in prayer and much study during the weekdays. The warfare began immediately after service. Our vehicle promptly stopped running without explanation leaving us in the afternoon sun for a period. My ears began ringing and aching as never before. One of the scriptures I repeatedly used was ‘he who has ears let him hear.' Once Jon repaired the vehicle....nothing was ever found to be wrong.....hhhmmmm, as we were driving someone pulled directly in front of us. Interestingly, the thoughts had just gone through my mind and I was just telling Jon that we needed to step up the prayers due to the message given....at that exact moment a motorcycle pulled in front of us. Chief driver locked up the brakes and we slid to the side of the road. Only God spared the impact. For those of you reading, please continue to hold us up in prayer as the prophetic messages and work being released is shaking the kingdom of darkness and prayers are appreciated. The boldness that comes with the anointing is amazing. I stood and commanded to the gates of darkness....spoke to the strongholds of death and darkness, etc with authority and it's as though you can hear them shaking; it's a serious work that we take very seriously and fearfully under the hand of God. We stayed in the remainder of the day - trying to stay cool. We have not had power for nearly a week. At first I murmur - then I complain - then I pout and eventually I adjust. Not a pretty sight, I'm afraid. The heat is a major stronghold against me. I need the grace and my body needs to learn how to function at 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity. No power has meant no recharging and limited use of phones and laptops. The transformer in our area has been damaged which means during the ‘window' that power is released, we do not receive any.
A week has flown by again. We had an opportunity to go to a place called Cercapan which is a sanctuary for orphaned and abandoned monkeys. Their purpose is to educate people to stop the hunting of monkeys. It was interesting to see the different kinds of monkeys in the refuge there. It was also nice to see Eli see something new and different. He took a lot of nice photos. He's getting good with a camera. On Saturday we went to the open air market. Eli needed something to wear for church (native wears) and a few other things. We met out friend Chikezie at his shop and he took us to the places that we needed to go to. Someone like us cannot go to the market unattended and fare very well. You need an local to guide you (and protect you) as you go. We were grateful for his help. Eli ended up with a nice white outfit, a notebook and best of all a case of Ramon noodles. They are called ‘en doe me' here but they are the same thing. We eat them dry and save the spices for rice, etc. We celebrated a week of safety by going out to a place called Mr Biggs.......Eli was hungry and needed some A/C so after the market we stopped by for some rice and chicken. The rest of the day was spend trying to keep cool. The generator has not been able to carry the load and so electric has been scarce. One challenge is the lack of electric for the fridge. We purchase juice or fruit or soy milk and put them in a small fridge and without power our food goes bad. It's very frustrating and a waste of money. Since we can only go to the market when we have a driver, we get what we need when we have the chance and put things n the fridge. Keeping things in the fridge keeps them from critters and bugs as well as the oppressive heat which takes its toll on most all the food. Fresh foods are generally good for 24+ hours without the fridge. Right now we are buying the fuel for the gen and trying to see what it costs on an average to have electric. Our electrical needs are for the fridge, the a/c and for charging phones, etc. We go without lights most all the time using flashlights. We use the a/c at night for a few hours so we can sleep better. So far it's been costing us $20 every other day for fuel...you begin to weigh your options......throwing out your food and needing to purchase more, or paying for fuel for electric. There is currently another house guest staying in the upstairs which adds to the gen load...they are trying to keep a fridge and a/c as well. Things are getting a bit strained. We are praying for wisdom and grace. We planned on attending Bible Christian Crusaders Mission today. I met its pastor Rev Joseph Okoro last year. He flows with the Holy Spirit and moves strongly in the prophetic. We line up well together with our methods and foundations and so we enjoy the opportunity to be together when we can. We arranged to worship with them for the second service of the day at 11. We woke with an early call. The Ogbujis wanted to take Jon to the airport to send our visas to Lagos in order work on our visa issue. Eli and I stayed behind to get ready for church. Jon returned sometime later after finding out that none of the airlines will transport passports through courier service. We will need to try another way to get them to Lagos. We went on to Rev Okoro's church. It was a pleasure to see him again and as before, God had us both ‘on the same page' even having read the same scriptures and battling the same issues in the church. After a brief conversation before the service, he smiled and said....by the way, you're preaching; God was at it again. The message on my heart was the use of ‘culture' to hide behind behavioral patterns and disobedience in the church members. Ouch. No one talks or touches culture.....it's the sacred cow. God was amazing. Truth spoken in love opened the doors to repentance. At the end of the message based on ‘the traditions of man make the word of God of no effect' I led them in prayers of repentance and deliverance to become true worshipers in spirit and in TRUTH....not in cultural excuses. I know that God will have the message delivered again and again and so I am in prayer and much study during the weekdays. The warfare began immediately after service. Our vehicle promptly stopped running without explanation leaving us in the afternoon sun for a period. My ears began ringing and aching as never before. One of the scriptures I repeatedly used was ‘he who has ears let him hear.' Once Jon repaired the vehicle....nothing was ever found to be wrong.....hhhmmmm, as we were driving someone pulled directly in front of us. Interestingly, the thoughts had just gone through my mind and I was just telling Jon that we needed to step up the prayers due to the message given....at that exact moment a motorcycle pulled in front of us. Chief driver locked up the brakes and we slid to the side of the road. Only God spared the impact. For those of you reading, please continue to hold us up in prayer as the prophetic messages and work being released is shaking the kingdom of darkness and prayers are appreciated. The boldness that comes with the anointing is amazing. I stood and commanded to the gates of darkness....spoke to the strongholds of death and darkness, etc with authority and it's as though you can hear them shaking; it's a serious work that we take very seriously and fearfully under the hand of God. We stayed in the remainder of the day - trying to stay cool. We have not had power for nearly a week. At first I murmur - then I complain - then I pout and eventually I adjust. Not a pretty sight, I'm afraid. The heat is a major stronghold against me. I need the grace and my body needs to learn how to function at 90 degrees with 90 percent humidity. No power has meant no recharging and limited use of phones and laptops. The transformer in our area has been damaged which means during the ‘window' that power is released, we do not receive any.