Heavenhigh

Here and There

Today is elections and there is a travel restriction so we are spending a quiet day at home. Last week we had cows break into the school garden at night. That is a big deal since greens are hard to come by in the dry season and the students put a lot of work into their plots. Proper nutrition and the lack thereof combined with measles and chickenpox is a big problem this time of the year. Our first responder students and Gremar have been very busy with many of the local people and children. What appears to be simple is a matter of life and death for these sick children. The solution to the cow problem is a proper fence so we spent a couple of afternoons repairing it.

Most of this plot is destroyed, something needed to be done.

This old fence could not keep out determined hungry cattle.

We salvaged the wire from the old fence and increased the garden size by one third.

The secret for a strong fence is the corners and a wench to pull the wire tight.

Strong corners and a straight line makes a good fence and good neighbors, in this case cow herders.

God is good all the time!

The students have a week break this coming week, but we still are holding the pastor’s and evangelist’s course this week. It will be a nice change to have a couple of days free to do whatever, maybe even sleep in a little. Thank you for praying for us and for the students, pray that the election will go well.

Breakfast and devotions on the veranda.

Breakfast together is the best time of the day and the coolest.

At no time are these domesticated guinea fowl fun to have around, they are noisy and persistent. If they roost in a tree near our bedroom there is no sleep that night; it’s a constant racket. Now days I guard the trees at dusk to prevent them from roosting there.

Every Thursday we have the Pastors, Evangelists and their wives for Timothy Leadership Training. Stewardship in the morning and Biblical Preaching in the afternoon. This morning the class is divided into four groups working on different problems related to tithing in the church.

Last week was the end of term exam week.

Hezron, one of the teachers, explaining the exam in his class.

Hezron’s wife Christi explaining her exam to the students wives.

Elections are still going on, next for Governor of the state. That will the last one at this time. We thank God that it has been quiet here at Warari and at Acre. It has not been as peaceful in the larger towns and cities, continue to pray for Nigeria, for the people of Niger State, and for the church here.

During this break we are going to try to shore up the foundation of Matt and Laura’s house as well as sloping the ground around the house to direct the water away from the house.

We are going to give the back wall and foundation some bigger feet.

Everyone is working hard at this hottest time of the year.

Everything is done by hand. I had the easy part, I built the forms.

The finished product. We hope this stops the cracking in the walls of the back end of the house.

The next day we had our first rain of the season; our building project done on time but not under budget.

More wind than rain but it really cooled things off.

Cooler but the wind really picked up the dust and that little bit of rain did not settle very much of it.

That night we had fires all around as people burned their fields to prepare for planting.

We enjoyed the view from the front veranda. It is hard to put our experiences into words, God is working in this difficult and rugged place, life is hard but it can be good as well. People have enough food and enough money for the most part but there is also illness, especially among the children. A lot of measles this year and with complications it often is a matter of life and death if treatment is not sought in time; sadly, that is often the case. There is much spiritual poverty all around us but God is at work. This week a family who moved close to Acre Bible School asked Gremar and I to come and pray for his family and his new house. Gremar had the opportunity to treat the new neighbor’s kids and Sunday he joined the students for worship. Jesus is building his church and it is a privilege to be a part of it. Praise Him!

The Women’s Sunday at the Warari Bible School (Acre)

The Bible School also hosted a Women’s Sunday and there was a lot of participation from some of the churches that have members attending the school. K.Y.K (The Christian Youth Groups) participated as well. It was a great opportunity to encourage and support the Women’s Fellowship Group at the school

The opening hymn of the service.

The youth groups from Idaci and Maretu also participated.

The drummers were busy!

The Women’s group teaching fidelity in song.

There also was a special collection for the Women’s Fellowship.

Fellowship and refreshments following the service.

One Day at Acre (Wurari Bible School)

Time is flying, and as you know it always does when you are enjoying what you are doing. We want to take you around with us for a day at Acre. God is at work and it is a privilege to be a part of it; a blessing that we wish to share with you. Please continue to pray for the school, for the teachers, and the students and their families. Pray also for the church, she is young and developing, reaching out to those around her and we praise God that people are responding faster than we have evangelists to lead them. We thank God for the pastors and evangelists sent from Taraba State by the Christian Reformed Church in Nigeria. That is a great help but a temporary solution, we need local indigenous pastors and evangelists. That is what Acre is all about, training local leaders. Supporting the Church in Niger State, along with the CRCN is now the one and only grass root work that CRWM is involved with in Nigeria. There is the potential of a church comprised of 500,000 people. God is good and by his grace and by the power of his Spirit the church is being established on the Rock that is Christ Jesus. Praise be to God!

Click to enlarge. We are adding pictures every couple of days.

²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.²³ They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

The day begins early, 6:30 AM, with the students watering their dry season gardens.

They put it on heavy, it is hot during the day.

Plenty of hard to come by greens for their mia (soup for dipping pounded yams or corn).

An unlimited amount of water if you are willing to pump that is.

All you need is water and it grows.

Adding another plot for more greens.

It is now 8:00 AM and it is 80 degrees and 80% humidity.

Amazingly the flowers and the bugs do fine in this heat.

The student’s quarters, 25 students live in six multi family units.

Classes start at 8:00 AM for the men and their wives.

The women spouses have their own class room and courses, one is Healthy Living.

Some of the Evangelists and wives that come on Thursdays for Stewardship and Preaching courses.

There is also a Primary School for the student’s children at Acre from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM, some local children are now attending and we hope more of the local compounds will send their children.

The Primary School has class one and two and every year a class will be added.

Next year the Primary School will out grow the class room they use, more class rooms will have to be built.

Student led chapel everyday at 10:25 AM, today Gal. 5:16-26. He did I nice job telling us what God is doing in the text; guiding his people, and what God says about Himself, some of His attributes v.22 and what He expects from us. The student gave us a good balance between v. 19-21 and v, 22-23. The Biblical Preaching course is bearing fruit. Praise the Lord!

The students have classes from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM everyday except Fridays to 1:00PM.

Time for the breakfast break.

There is always time to enjoy the flowers.

The men and women students have the following classes; English, Sermon Delivery, Agric, Biblical Preaching, Stewardship, Islam, Systematic Theology, Nigerian Church History, Ethics, and Carpentry.

Carpentry in the afternoon; I use this space on Thursday mornings for the continuing education classes.

The women spouses have the following classes; Old Test., New Test., Reading, Woman’s Fellowship,Sermon Prep., Arithmetic, Christian Living, Ethics, Healthy Living, Christian Family, Knitting and Sewing.

One of the student’s wives operating the knitting machine.

Some of our daily visitors and why we have fences.

¹ The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
² for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters Ps. 24:1-2.

One of the medical trainees examining a child. There is a lot of measles around right now.

Gremar teaching the school’s first response medical team.

Washing the harmattan dust off the solar panels.

²² The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;²³ the LORD has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.²⁴ The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. Ps. 118: 22-24.

For us, everyday is the day of Salvation and a day to rejoice in God’s Strength as we serve Him. We praise Him for everyday!

A Time Away

We had a great Spiritual conference; we needed to relax a little. We relaxed but we did not rest much because everyone was kept very busy with competition. Four teams, volley ball, soccer. relay race, tug of war, puzzles, Pictionary, plumbers golf, table tennis, tennis, Sudoku. Crossword puzzles, bird watching, and taking pictures including a team dance video. Everything was rated and our team came in a close second. O, you thought this was a spiritual conference? It was and a good one! Jul Medenblik the president elect of Calvin Seminary was our speaker this year. The sessions were titled: “Torn Between Two Worlds.” Those who work and live in Africa, particularly missionaries, are indeed torn between two very different worlds but so are we as Christians; caught between a broken world and the Kingdom of God in our hearts. We had five sessions about the seven deadly sins of which we covered four; introduction, pride, envy, greed, and gluttony. Introduction: “Torn between Two Worlds” sin tears a hole in the fabric of God’s world but God plants the Gospel into the tear, Luke 8:1-15. The Beatitudes were brought in as a foil to deadly sins (opposites). Session two: “Pride and the poor in Spirit” as the opposite of pride (Matt.5:3). Are we full of self or full of Jesus? Am I full of me or full of others? Session three: “Envy and the Mourner” Are you morning for yourself or do you morn with others (Matt. 5:5). Envy leads to discord in our lives; unhappiness, conflicts, resentfulness, and robs us of the ability to rejoice with others. Session four: “Greed and the Mercy giver” .The answer to greed is generosity; “Blessed are the merciful…” (Matt. 5:7). Christians are called to be a conduit of generosity for God’s blessings of wealth, His blessings of our talents, and of our time; our time in history and our personal time. Session five: “Gluttony and the ‘Right’ Hunger”. Gluttony is addiction that can be countered only by hungering and thirsting for righteousness (Matt.5:6). Seeking to do what is right not so much for us but for others. My Dad used to say: “when it is going good for others it is going good for me!” On Sunday we had a worship service together including communion. It was good to be together and to encourage each other. Praise God!

Click to enlarge.

: Nearly everyone at the conference.

: Jeremiah and Marietta from World Partners (Water Wins)

The kids always have a good time.

: Yours Truly and still smiling.


We also spent 4 days in Jos which was anything but relaxing because we had much to do and it took more time than we realized. On Monday we took the time to visit John and his wife at Kabwir Seminary, he is studying there because they still have a Hausa speaking track. Last year we took care of their new baby, see: “The Importance of Willingness” in the April 2010 archives of heavenhigh.org. The trip is off the Plateau and took all day.

: One huge tree at kabwer Bible College.

John, Grace and three of their six children, Habila is doing fine (middle).

: The tree in perspective, shade is a big deal.

It was hard to leave again.

The next three days were spent on shopping; drugs for the medical work, books for some students, Hausa Bibles, and of course looking for groceries that we cannot buy in Warari, like cheese, butter, pork chops and hot dogs. Missionaries in Jos are very hospitable and we had more invitations for lunch and supper than we had days to be there. Thank you Jos people! The trouble in Jos is quieted down, no more 6 PM to 6 AM curfew or restrictions but we still are careful, there are areas in the city where it is not wise to go. A little like Grand Rapids, or Los Angeles. We took a newly completed road home, much shorter and little traffic, saved us about an hour; nine instead of ten. We are chilling this weekend, we need to rest up for a busy week ahead.


Patience is an absolute necessity, relax, don’t be in a hurry.

Jos is a busy and wonderful place.

Everyone is trying to make a Naira or two.

The garden store.


Jos is on a plateau, 4800 ft, much cooler here and most things are available.
I was looking for an apple sapling, they have them but I was not willing to pay the price, next time.

Women’s Fellowship Sunday

This Sunday was the Sunday the Women’s Fellowship was in charge of all of the CRCN church services in this area. They were the worship leaders and they were the preachers. At the same time they raised money for the organization to help with travel and deaconal needs. We traveled to Idaci with some of the Bible School women dropping some off along the way at small preaching centers. Gremar was asked to preach (exhort) which she accepted with some trepidation but she did a great job. It was an all day affair staring at 9:00 AM and arrived home around 4:00 PM, only to get over to Mahula at 6:30 for supper with the Water Wins people who are staying there for a couple of weeks. It was a great day, no flat tires this time but when we got to Adaci both spares were flat. Guess what? Back to the tire guys at the market today; I hope they hold air this time.

There is a bit of a desent and climb getting through the river

I was amazed to find about a foot of water in the river after four months of no rain.

The ladies waiting to start the service.

A short sermon summary: Gremar talked about the 7 “I am’s” in John describing who Jesus is, of which; “I am the light of the world whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life”. (John 8:12) is one of the seven and was the theme for the day. She moved on quickly to describe Jesus’ light as found in John 1:1-5. Jesus, the creator of all things came to us as one of us to be the light of men and that light is life; life ever lasting. But not everyone walks in the light; only those who follow me Jesus tells us. To what extent do you follow Jesus? Do you know him well enough to follow him? Do know his character to the point that you are like him in your daily walk displaying the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-23) Jesus as the light of the world does not end with us following him and being like him but that we as individual Christians and collectively the Church are now the light of the world. (Matthew 5:14-16) Our walk with Christ is our witness since we are the body of Christ and his light to all those we meet every day. Is your lamp trimmed? If you are shining brightly today what about tomorrow? What about your daily dealings? What about teaching your children? What about Christian education for them? By God’s grace and the Spirit’s power may we shine brightly for Jesus and for his Church here in Niger State and beyond.

Idaci also has one of the CRCN Christian Schools. 200 Primary students and 39 Jr. Secondary School students. They are working on accreditation to add a Sr Secondary School as well.

Three classrooms blocks. — Three Classroom blocks.

: Nine full time staff, housing provided.

GOD IS GOOD! PRAISE HIS NAME!

Sunday

This week we went to Ava’adi about 10 miles down the road and then about 10 miles off road. Evangelist Samson and Hannatu are stationed there. They participate in the continuing education course that Gremar and I are holding at Acre (the Bible School). We went there to help them raise money for the roof of the church building the first such building at this location. The “Launching” as it is called, was held under an humongous tree that gave us all the shade we needed. When I went back to the car for a bottle of water I saw that the spare I had put on a few days ago was very low. I did have a spare so that was no problem except that the next day while at the market the back tire went flat and I had to do it all over again, you saw the video. Anyway it was a good day at Ava’adi except that we had to leave early since we wanted to go to Rigau to buy diesel fuel so that the students could have lights that night. The problem stared with the generator knocking after it ran for about an hour on Friday night, that was the same night we were going to run it until 2:30 AM because the students wanted to have a into the night prayer meeting. We prayed by the full moon and flash light. I could not determine problem it did not seem to be coming from the engine. We ran it again the next night in order to determine the problem, this time it was obviously coming from the engine and it seemed to be pre-ignition. We took a good look at the fuel and it appeared to have been mixed with petrol or something. Clean fuel solved problem, praise the Lord! I was not looking forward to tearing the generator apart. No more black market fuel even if it saves us a two hour drive.

Click to enlarge.

Mariyamu and Rahila at the unfinished church building.

This little guy was doing his own thing.

Drummers at Ava’adi.

Dancers and drummers at the Ava’adi Launching.

One week of teaching at the Warari Bible School

It has been a busy week but a very good week. The students are working hard to improve their reading and comprehension. I am amazed at the work that is required from the students. They have classes every day from 8:00 t0 2:30 except for Friday to 1:05. They have families and the women go to school until 1:00. Most of them have part time jobs like hauling water or whatever they can find, some have a little business on the side like selling petrol, buying and selling pork, or buying and selling grain. And four, two men, and two women, are the first responders that Gremar trained last year and is continuing to train this year for the school Dispensary. There also is work hour at the school three days a week. Most of the men gathered wood the last couple of days after school for the staff. They get time off for the farming season so that they can feed their families. Four years of this means a high commitment on the part of the students and when they are done they qualify for working as evangelists. If they want to be pastors that means another two years in an English speaking Bible School and four years at Veenstra Seminary.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Gremar’s Healthy Living class.

Case teaching his classes.

Teaching the first responders at the school and now also four other ladies from four different communities takes a good day a week. We hope Gremar will be called less and less as everyone learns diagnoses and treatment.

Keeping things organized at the school dispensary.

The pastors/evangelists and their wives’ continuing education program using TLT material had great attendance (17 men and 11 wives) this week. Stewardship in the morning and Biblical Preaching after lunch on Thursdays. We are glad to be able to do two courses this time because we do one lesson a week and the principles are applied during the next seven days and reported on in the next session. One of the Students (Luka) put the Pastoral Care course into practice in his village last year and with the help of the Holy Spirit 17 more people are attending the church. Praise the Lord!

This week we worked in groups.

Elizabatu, the principal's wife joined the afternoon class.

Market Day

Last week we went to Rigau to shop and to visit the immigration office. We did not see him but we did some shopping. When we got home we also found out that I got a flat tire. We are using Matt and Laura’s vehicle and Matt is prepared because we have two spares and a brand new tube in the pickup. That meant that I could wait till market day to get the tube changed. I never cease to be amazed at Nigerian ingenuity.

We bought exercise books and he also sells cell phones and charges cell phone batteries.

That was last week so on Monday I had my tire repaired, and Gremar bought rice, dried fish, tomatoes and peppers for the meal at the course we do with pastors, evangelists and their wives.

After he puts in the new tube he has the equipment to air up the tire.

The whole procedure is done by hand, this guy knew what to do. It was a good thing I had a new tube the flat tire already had five patches on it.

If you want you can also buy petrol (Gas) right there.

Meanwhile Gremar was buying supplies, she would like to take you along sometime.

It must be a lot of work to grow vegetables in the dry season

The rice is locally grown but shelled and ready to cook

Once dried they last a month unrefrigerated.

The Way of Holiness

14/02/11 Chapel Warari Bible School.

I. The Gospel of Mark is a fast moving account of Jesus’ life probably written for Roman Gentiles. Mark 1: 1-12

A. Of the gospels Mark was written first and most of Mark is found in Mathew and in Luke. Most people think Matthew and Luke copied Mark but revised it to meet their situation. Matthew wrote to the Jews and Luke to Gentiles. Both Mathew and Luke added their own material.

Punishment Isa. 39

The initial prophecy “I will send my messenger to prepare the way” that Mark quotes was written by Isaiah to give comfort to those who would be exiled. Isaiah prophecies the punishment in chapter 39; was Hezekiah too proud of his treasures that he showed it all to the visiting Babylonians? Perhaps he did not give God the glory. More than likely there were many reasons over the years and Hezekiah’s indiscretion was the last straw. Judah was to be exiled.

B. Isa. 40: 1-5

But in the next chapter Isaiah is directed to comfort God’s people by prophesying their release from hard service and that their sin is paid for. Salvation is the tie on point where the passages are connected to Mark’s gospel and connected to God’s provision for his people and for all the people of the world.

II. Prepare the way for the Lord

A. The way back to God

“A voice calling in the wilderness; prepare the way for the Lord, fill in the valleys and level the high places, the rough ground smooth”. This Isaiah passage is a direct reference to John the Baptist and all the authors of the gospels make that connection. But Isaiah also has a more graphic connecting point; coming to Jesus and back to God. Isaiah chapter 35

B. The Highway Isa. 35

1. Not only is the way open for Jesus to come to us, (his incarnation) all the obstacles that prevents us from coming to God are removed as well. Isa. 35 describes the highway: it is called the “way of holiness, only the redeemed walk on it, they enter Zion with singing and everlasting joy, gladness and joy will overtake them and sorrow will flee away.”

The whole chapter is a wonderful description of restoration and redemption.

We are on it and nothing; not Satan and not our confessed sins, will remove us.

2. That highway is here today, many people don’t know how to get onto the highway. Where is the “on ramp”? Isaiah’s prophecy applies to us the church and the people of the church. We are to remove the obstacle of self righteousness, the barrier of condemnation, the deep gully of lack of compassion and the mountain of tradition or whatever it is that keeps people from seeing the “on ramp” to the way of the redeemed. What is it here in this place, here at Acre, that keeps people from seeing the road of righteousness? What is it that keeps people from finding the way? Maybe nothings stands in the way, maybe there are no obstacles. We are on the way of holiness and the only way we can help others find the way is to walk with them, we are to make the path smooth and straight and easy to find. Amen? Isaiah’s prophecy is a two way street, Jesus’ coming to us and all of us coming to Jesus, and Mark begins with Jesus’ baptism.

III. Jesus is Baptized

A. John objects. Matt. 3:13-15

1. Jesus tells John, go ahead and baptize me “in order to fulfill all righteousness”. Baptism is about Jesus. Baptism is not about us.

2. Baptism symbolizes our participation in Jesus’ death and resurrection; the washing away of our sins, baptism therefore is about God.

3. Listen to what God says at Jesus’ baptism; “you are my Son, whom I love; with whom I am well pleased”. When anyone of us is baptized God says to us and he announces to the whole world: this is my son, this is my daughter, I love you, I am pleased with you.

4. God loves you no matter what, baptism or not ,but baptism gives God the opportunity to announce his love for you to the whole world.

CONCLUSION:Jesus’ baptism is the beginning of his public ministry.

In much the same way at our baptism or our profession of faith, if baptized as a child ,we also begin a new phase of service for God; we have a new sense of calling and a new sense of power in the Spirit. Let us thank God for His blessings, and for opening up for us the highway of holiness. Praise be to God!

Sunday and Monday

Sundays are always busy, there is worship at the school and the teachers are also assigned to preach from time to time. One of the teachers Christi, teaches the students’ children for Sunday School. Often there is reason to worship in one of the area churches for preaching requests and or special services. This week we worshiped with the students and due to the teaching load I do not think we will as much opportunity to visit other areas. Besides worship services, Sunday is also a day to greet friends and neighbors, and we had about 8 greeters from different area come to visit. A good time to catch up. We praise God!

Monday is also a busy day, I have two classes and Gremar teaches healthy living to the women students. Monday is also market day in Warari and we can only get there in the afternoon at the hottest time of the day. I wish you could experience the market with us. This time I was able to take some pictures but only with permission from the persons being taken.