Our Move from YWAM - Port Harcourt to Aba, Nigeria
Hello Everybody,
We’ve been in our new apartment now for 1 month. Every day, it feels more like home. When we first moved in, it felt almost the same as when we first moved to the guest house in Port Harcourt. It was lonely. But little by little, we are feeling more adjusted and fixing up our apartment to make it more comfortable.
Living in Aba has its advantages and disadvantages. We are happy to have all of our suitcases. We can more conveniently shop for food and supplies. Schooling the children has been easier. Our efficiency of getting things done has dramatically improved.
Progress with the Bible School has been good. Currently, our biggest challenge is simply creating awareness within the community and convincing other ministries that we are here to partner and not compete. Eric has his hands full with meeting other Pastors and speaking at their Churches and miscellaneous events and has had a positive impact in this area. Eric is also working on creative ways to mobilize the students to reach out to the community.
The biggest challenge with family life is adjusting to the electricity shortages. In one month, we’ve had 3 long spurts with absolutely no electricity, 3 days, 5 days, and 7 days. Our neighbors have told us that we can sometimes have 30 consecutive days without electricity. On the positive side, we might be able to switch over to a different transformer. One of our neighbors has power almost everyday for at least several hours and we are exploring the possibility of switching to their transformer. Also, we will be getting a generator with enough power to supply our basics needs.
Thanks for all of your emails. We appreciate your prayers and support.
The Black Family
Missionary Life in Aba, Nigeria - November 13, 2007
Hello Friends,
We are continuing to adapt to our new home in Aba. Sometimes it seems overwhelming when we see all the needs around us, both physical and spiritual. We strongly believe that our relationships with the people here will make the biggest difference. There are always people who want to talk to us, but we have found several people that we have come to know more closely. Please pray for divine appointments as we try to disciple and help the people around us.
The Bible School is going well. We are still trying to increase the student body in order to help the school become more financially independent. But we are very excited about the students we currently have. They are all diligent, eager to learn, and motivated to be used by the Lord to make a difference in this World.
Our apartment is gradually becoming more comfortable. Recently we purchased bed frames for our mattresses. Our couch and chairs will be delivered tomorrow. The biggest improvement by far is our new generator. After going on an 11-day stretch with no electricity, we decided that the generator was most urgent. As we traveled back to Port Harcourt one day to visit our YWAM friends, Elijah asked if we were going back to our house with curtains and lights.
The children are all doing well. They are still fairly reserved around the other children here, but are slowly warming up. In Port Harcourt, they had other missionary children to play with, but here in Aba it is 100% cross-cultural. Cindy was reassured last week when we traveled to Owerri to visit a Doctor from Texas who comes to Nigeria several times per year. This Doctor lived here for several years and is familiar with the health risks in this environment. While getting good medical advice, we also enjoyed the opportunity to network with another missionary organization.
That is the majority of the news for now. You can see some pictures of our apartment below. Thank you all for your friendship and support.
God Bless,
Eric
P.S. The people in Aba have given Caleb a new name. They are calling him Chinedu Black. Those who know Samuel and Helen Ani can ask them what Chinedu means. The rest of you will have to wait until our next newsletter to find out what it means.
* go to "Pictures and Videos" to see more photos of our life in Aba.