Can time speed up? I've got lots of theories about the nature of time which I won't bore you with here but one thing seems certain; time is not a definite quantity. Every schoolchild knows how time slows down during a maths lesson (sorry Fraser) but for me at the moment it's decidedly speeding up. Less than a week to go before we have to move out of our house for our tenants to move in and we're not only surrounded by boxes but also by a selection of huge suitcases. Thank you very much to everyone who responded to my appeal for cases - you've been a big help and if health and safety allowed obstacle races at school sports days then my children would win. I am now fairly hopeful that everything will fit into our allocation of cases and weight limits, even most of James' books, but what's frustrating at the moment is my desire to get everything packed up and ready now. Unfortunately my family is rather inconsiderate and actually still want to use a few of their things but thankfully my stock of patience has grown considerably during this mission process so I shall just glide serenely on (like a swan, paddling furiously underneath the water).
This time next week the worst of the sorting out and packing will be over and we'll be staying in our friends' beautiful house on the Black Isle. That's going to be my holiday as once we're there there won't be much for me to arrange. I'm really hoping for good weather for our last two weeks in Scotland. That could well make it harder to leave but it's a risk I'm willing to take.
Thinking of accommodation, we would really appreciate it if people would pray about where we should live in Nigeria. We had thought we'd just get a house on the TCNN compound and drive James and Ruth in and out of school (not a journey I was looking forward to) but recently there's been the possibility of a place in Jos itself, just a few minutes away from Hillcrest School. That would make life a lot easier regarding the school run and getting in to afterschool activities but there are advantages to living out of the city at the college. It's not a decision we can make so we ask for wisdom and discernment for those who will make it.
You know things are getting real when you have to send off yet more hideous photos for a visa application. Our package of passports and certificates has arrived safely at the Mission Africa office in Belfast ready to be taken to the Nigerian Embassy in Dublin. We're praying that all the relevant information, signed by the appropriate people, will soon arrive from Nigeria and all will go smoothly in the granting of our visa. Actually, it's Fraser's visa, James, Ruth and I are just attachments. Despite howls from feminists, I'm quite happy with that arrangement. It means he has to do the specific job on his visa whilst I have more freedom which suits me fine.
We are moving ahead rapidly with our thoughts on the future but we still have to be here now. There are churches that we're going to speak at in the next couple of weeks and it's still a privilege to be able to invite them to be a part of the exciting things God is doing. We haven't yet reached the support target which will give us the green light for going overseas but from the evidence of the many and diverse people who have already started supporting us financially we trust that we will get there soon.
Saturday, 2 June 2012
Saturday, 26 May 2012
Not quite Nigeria
It was a lovely break amidst the busy-ness of packing up the house and visiting other churches to speak about what we're doing. Last Monday Fraser and I were down in Glasgow (after an emergency stop in Pitlochry to buy summer clothes, heat takes us by surprise!) on Tuesday it was Edinburgh. There's so much to do; we're really grateful for days like these.
Thursday, 17 May 2012
More Boxes
We didn't think we had that many possessions but that was before we had to think about packing them up and moving. At the moment life seems to consist of a lot of wondering where to find more cardboard boxes to put things in and then what to do with them afterwards. The charity shops are doing well out of us. Sometimes it's very tempting to fling open the doors of the house and say to all and sundry, "Come in, take what you want but take it away." I am so grateful that the family who are going to rent our house (which is still on the market) are happy to take it furnished. At least I don't have to worry about what to do with the furniture.
I've been travelling around a lot recently. Last week I had a good visit down with my parents who've kindly agreed to store a lot of our stuff. You wouldn't believe how much will fit in a Fiat Panda if you really try. An added bonus was that there was only room for the driver - I got a trip away by myself! The only trouble was that Fraser was feeling very satisfied that he'd got all the boxes into the car and then he went upstairs... We're hiring a van to take more things down to England in June.
Our moving plans are becoming a little clearer. On June 8th we move out of our house as our tenants need to move in. Thankfully some friends who live nearby are going on holiday for the next two weeks and have very kindly said we can stay in their house. I really didn't fancy spending our last weeks in Scotland in a tent. It may be nearly summer but it's still freezing up here with fresh snow on Ben Wyvis so we're extremely grateful to them. Fraser finishes work on June 22nd, Ruth will also leave school then and we'll have a leaving-Dingwall commissioning service that evening. Sid Garland from Mission Africa hopes to join us for that. If anyone's nearby they'd be very welcome to come too. On Monday 25th June we've hired a van and will travel in convoy down to England to stay with my parents until we're given the go ahead to leave for Nigeria. When that is exactly depends on when we reach our support target of £20000 a year. We're moving ahead in faith as you can see from all the arrangements already made. We're about halfway there and are sure that all will be provided at the appropriate time but if you want to get involved please let me know. It's rather scary to realise that it's less than a month before we have to be out of the house and then only about five weeks before we're out of Scotland.
Last night we spoke at the joint Drumnadrochit Free Church and Church of Scotland prayer meeting. The week before we were at Rosskeen C of S. Before that I spoke at the Church of England in Haxey and on Sunday we're heading to Culloden Baptist Church. At all of our meetings so far we've had a very positive response with many people enthused and wanting to get involved in God's work in Nigeria. It's wonderful that so many Christians from so many different church backgrounds are getting behind us.
I've been travelling around a lot recently. Last week I had a good visit down with my parents who've kindly agreed to store a lot of our stuff. You wouldn't believe how much will fit in a Fiat Panda if you really try. An added bonus was that there was only room for the driver - I got a trip away by myself! The only trouble was that Fraser was feeling very satisfied that he'd got all the boxes into the car and then he went upstairs... We're hiring a van to take more things down to England in June.
Our moving plans are becoming a little clearer. On June 8th we move out of our house as our tenants need to move in. Thankfully some friends who live nearby are going on holiday for the next two weeks and have very kindly said we can stay in their house. I really didn't fancy spending our last weeks in Scotland in a tent. It may be nearly summer but it's still freezing up here with fresh snow on Ben Wyvis so we're extremely grateful to them. Fraser finishes work on June 22nd, Ruth will also leave school then and we'll have a leaving-Dingwall commissioning service that evening. Sid Garland from Mission Africa hopes to join us for that. If anyone's nearby they'd be very welcome to come too. On Monday 25th June we've hired a van and will travel in convoy down to England to stay with my parents until we're given the go ahead to leave for Nigeria. When that is exactly depends on when we reach our support target of £20000 a year. We're moving ahead in faith as you can see from all the arrangements already made. We're about halfway there and are sure that all will be provided at the appropriate time but if you want to get involved please let me know. It's rather scary to realise that it's less than a month before we have to be out of the house and then only about five weeks before we're out of Scotland.
Last night we spoke at the joint Drumnadrochit Free Church and Church of Scotland prayer meeting. The week before we were at Rosskeen C of S. Before that I spoke at the Church of England in Haxey and on Sunday we're heading to Culloden Baptist Church. At all of our meetings so far we've had a very positive response with many people enthused and wanting to get involved in God's work in Nigeria. It's wonderful that so many Christians from so many different church backgrounds are getting behind us.
Monday, 30 April 2012
Burning boats
It's done now. Fraser has handed in his notice to Highland Theological College so we have to go to Nigeria! He's been working there for nearly 10 years and it always seemed the perfect job for a Christian librarian with IT tendencies until God used it to start the uprooting process. One of the ways Fraser realised that God was saying it's time to move on was when this previously great job became exceptionally stressful and no longer satisfying. As these feelings were described almost exactly by a visiting speaker to the college when she was explaining how God told her it was time to leave her job in education and go into full time Christian work they helped Fraser to realise that the Lord really was shaking him up.
On the topic of recognising God's pointers, last Sunday we were at Kiltarlity Free Church to speak after the morning service. It's a warm, welcoming church with a preacher brave enough to admit that at 12:31am on Sunday morning he had just torn up his sermon draft and was sending up a "what am I going to preach on now Lord?" prayer. The message he did give was very applicable to our situation and fitted powerfully with the theme of being obedient to God and trusting him in whatever situation he's put you in or is leading you into. My eyes were also opened by my reaction to a conversation I had with Shona, a visitor from Stornoway. When we tell people we're going to Nigeria their first reaction is often "You must be mad" but to me there's no problem. When Shona told me about people she knows who took their young family to work in Afghanistan my immediate thought was, rather them than me, although they love it there as that's where God wants them to be. I think it shows that knowing you're following what the Lord wants of you really enables you to see things with different eyes. A banal thought possibly but it struck me as helpful in deciding whether you're on the right track.
I meant to take some photos of the trays of cakes at the coffee morning but was too busy getting them ready and serving the lovely people who came to support us (don't say too busy eating cakes too as confidence is shaken if the cook doesn't the sample the goods). A big thank you to everyone who came and gave so generously. We're still getting donations from people who couldn't make it on Saturday morning although that makes me wonder what it says about my cooking. Support the mission but avoid the cakes? Possibly very wise and certainly less fattening! We're heading towards £500 and we're very grateful.
On the topic of recognising God's pointers, last Sunday we were at Kiltarlity Free Church to speak after the morning service. It's a warm, welcoming church with a preacher brave enough to admit that at 12:31am on Sunday morning he had just torn up his sermon draft and was sending up a "what am I going to preach on now Lord?" prayer. The message he did give was very applicable to our situation and fitted powerfully with the theme of being obedient to God and trusting him in whatever situation he's put you in or is leading you into. My eyes were also opened by my reaction to a conversation I had with Shona, a visitor from Stornoway. When we tell people we're going to Nigeria their first reaction is often "You must be mad" but to me there's no problem. When Shona told me about people she knows who took their young family to work in Afghanistan my immediate thought was, rather them than me, although they love it there as that's where God wants them to be. I think it shows that knowing you're following what the Lord wants of you really enables you to see things with different eyes. A banal thought possibly but it struck me as helpful in deciding whether you're on the right track.
I meant to take some photos of the trays of cakes at the coffee morning but was too busy getting them ready and serving the lovely people who came to support us (don't say too busy eating cakes too as confidence is shaken if the cook doesn't the sample the goods). A big thank you to everyone who came and gave so generously. We're still getting donations from people who couldn't make it on Saturday morning although that makes me wonder what it says about my cooking. Support the mission but avoid the cakes? Possibly very wise and certainly less fattening! We're heading towards £500 and we're very grateful.
Monday, 23 April 2012
Once upon a time....
Once upon a time, a very long time ago when we were newly married, Fraser and I lived in the beautiful west coast village of Lochcarron. Actually, we didn't even live in the village itself but in one of three traditional white cottages about three miles away. The scenery is stunning but living there had its challenges, not least the water supply in the cottage which, coming from a stream, would often freeze up in the winter and dry up in the summer. Previous inhabitants of the cottage even found a frog in the toilet one day although the most exciting thing we experienced was the decaying mouse behind the electrical socket (detected by the smell) and the burst pipe that kept us up all night emptying pans of water.
We don't often get back to Lochcarron although it's only an hour's drive away but every time we do I want to stay longer. The air is so much fresher, the pace of life seems less rushed and the walks are gorgeous. We had an excuse to travel west on Friday as old friends at the Free Church had invited us to talk about God's plans for us in Nigeria. It was lovely to get such a warm welcome and expressions of interest in what we're doing. One of the great side effects of being called overseas is the opportunity to renew old friendships and to meet new members of the Christian family. I know I use this word a lot but it really is a privilege to be in contact with so many different Christian traditions from Anglicans to the Free Church and the many gradations between. We are keen to be sent out by a rainbow of God's people whether you sit, kneel or stand up to pray, sing Psalms sitting down acapella or modern songs swaying to electric guitars and drumkits: believing in Jesus makes us all part of the same family.
Driving over to Lochcarron brought back a lot of memories, not least of having to cycle from the cottage into the village (we were even poorer then and kept the car for emergencies and shopping trips to Inverness!(some would say they amount to the same thing)). Fraser's convinced that the wind was always against him going into work and still against him when he cycled home again. As he was actually blown off his bike into the ditch one night I think I might believe him.
We managed to avoid the deer sedately crossing the road on the way back to Dingwall and I hope we avoided the frog hopping across too but in a strange way it felt as if life was speeding up again as we drove east. If we had managed to sell our house I would have been tempted to suggest buying somewhere on the west coast to retreat to. As it is there's no interest in any of the houses for sale in Dingwall at the moment so we're thinking we'll have to rent ours out when we go away. If anyone out there fancies buying a characterful three-bedroomed house in Dingwall with views over the Black Isle and River Conon and deer that come off the hill into the garden please get in touch!
Finally, here's a quick advert. We're holding a coffee morning and card sale on Saturday, 28th May in Castle Street Church hall, Dingwall (10:30-12:30) to raise funds. There may be some people reading this close enough to come and support us. We'd be very glad to see you, feed you, sell you cards and enthuse about Mission Africa. Do come along if you can otherwise there'll be far too many cakes and biscuits left over. I won't even be able to take them to be finished off at our church the next day as we've been invited to speak at Kiltarlity church about what we're doing so we really need lots of people to come on Saturday.
We don't often get back to Lochcarron although it's only an hour's drive away but every time we do I want to stay longer. The air is so much fresher, the pace of life seems less rushed and the walks are gorgeous. We had an excuse to travel west on Friday as old friends at the Free Church had invited us to talk about God's plans for us in Nigeria. It was lovely to get such a warm welcome and expressions of interest in what we're doing. One of the great side effects of being called overseas is the opportunity to renew old friendships and to meet new members of the Christian family. I know I use this word a lot but it really is a privilege to be in contact with so many different Christian traditions from Anglicans to the Free Church and the many gradations between. We are keen to be sent out by a rainbow of God's people whether you sit, kneel or stand up to pray, sing Psalms sitting down acapella or modern songs swaying to electric guitars and drumkits: believing in Jesus makes us all part of the same family.
Driving over to Lochcarron brought back a lot of memories, not least of having to cycle from the cottage into the village (we were even poorer then and kept the car for emergencies and shopping trips to Inverness!(some would say they amount to the same thing)). Fraser's convinced that the wind was always against him going into work and still against him when he cycled home again. As he was actually blown off his bike into the ditch one night I think I might believe him.
We managed to avoid the deer sedately crossing the road on the way back to Dingwall and I hope we avoided the frog hopping across too but in a strange way it felt as if life was speeding up again as we drove east. If we had managed to sell our house I would have been tempted to suggest buying somewhere on the west coast to retreat to. As it is there's no interest in any of the houses for sale in Dingwall at the moment so we're thinking we'll have to rent ours out when we go away. If anyone out there fancies buying a characterful three-bedroomed house in Dingwall with views over the Black Isle and River Conon and deer that come off the hill into the garden please get in touch!
Finally, here's a quick advert. We're holding a coffee morning and card sale on Saturday, 28th May in Castle Street Church hall, Dingwall (10:30-12:30) to raise funds. There may be some people reading this close enough to come and support us. We'd be very glad to see you, feed you, sell you cards and enthuse about Mission Africa. Do come along if you can otherwise there'll be far too many cakes and biscuits left over. I won't even be able to take them to be finished off at our church the next day as we've been invited to speak at Kiltarlity church about what we're doing so we really need lots of people to come on Saturday.
Friday, 13 April 2012
I would walk (drive) 500 (1500) miles....
As usual time has done its loopy thing and though the children and I only got back from our trip last night after 11 days away it seems almost as if it never happened. Although I now feel rather spaced out after driving for 8 hours yesterday (well done James and Ruth for spending most of the Easter holidays in the car without complaining), we had a good time meeting friends and relatives, renewing relationships and letting more people know more about our plans for Nigeria.
We're hoping to go out at the end of June but we still need to raise a lot of support. We're often asked by the people in Jos, "When will you be here?" Before we leave the country we have to have raised or been pledged about £20,000 per annum. It's a lot of money but our God is great and we trust he will supply all our needs. However, he has chosen to work through humans so if you do feel that the Lord might be prompting you to support the work he's doing through us, please fill in the form on our support leaflet and send it to the Mission Africa office in Belfast or get in touch (dawn.jackson@missionafrica.org.uk) for more details of how to get involved financially and/or prayerfully. If you don't you may have to put up with us for longer than planned and these posts won't get really interesting until we go overseas! You know it makes sense!
I hope you all had a glorious Easter. We happened to be in Aylesbury staying with my aunt and uncle over the Easter weekend. The service in their church (Southcourt Baptist) was alive and we truly felt close to God throughout. It was wonderful to worship the risen Lord in great music. I especially agreed with the preacher that after 40 days of Lent there should be champagne breakfasts at churches, presents, parties and celebrations for 50 days afterwards as our Lord has risen, instead of the measly one day on Easter Sunday. With the miracle of God becoming man at Christmas, his dying for us and rising again at Easter is the most significant event in history.
Just before the Easter day service we were given an interesting article from the April 2012 edition of Christianity Today. In it the author discusses the choices facing the Nigerian Church, how to react to the violence instigated by such Islamic groups as Boko Haram. Should Christians turn the other cheek or fight back? He argues that the role of Christians is to be "just peacemakers". To do this the Church needs a sound theological basis; theological education and good Christian teaching is terribly important and that reinforces our feeling that God wants us out in Nigeria to help strengthen the Church there. If you can, please help us to get there.
Finally, here's a fact I learned over the weekend. We met a friend and her family at Tiggywinkle's Animal Hospital. As well as cooing over an adorable hedgehog and watching in amazement as the attack tortoise, Mad Max, sped towards our shoes only to be thwarted by the wire fence, I learned that ducks cannot count. This may be obvious to some of you but it rather tickled me, especially as the fact was illustrated by a photo of a mother duck followed by about two dozen ducklings of varying ages. The inability to count can be something of a disadvantage if the duck swims out in the morning with 6 ducklings and returns with only 2 as she's still convinced that all her brood have come home. However it's great if orphan ducklings need a mother - just attach them to an existing family. Perhaps this fact intrigues me so much as it's quite flabbergasting to imagine that one day you might have 2 children but the next find yourself reponsible for half a dozen without noticing the difference.
We're hoping to go out at the end of June but we still need to raise a lot of support. We're often asked by the people in Jos, "When will you be here?" Before we leave the country we have to have raised or been pledged about £20,000 per annum. It's a lot of money but our God is great and we trust he will supply all our needs. However, he has chosen to work through humans so if you do feel that the Lord might be prompting you to support the work he's doing through us, please fill in the form on our support leaflet and send it to the Mission Africa office in Belfast or get in touch (dawn.jackson@missionafrica.org.uk) for more details of how to get involved financially and/or prayerfully. If you don't you may have to put up with us for longer than planned and these posts won't get really interesting until we go overseas! You know it makes sense!
I hope you all had a glorious Easter. We happened to be in Aylesbury staying with my aunt and uncle over the Easter weekend. The service in their church (Southcourt Baptist) was alive and we truly felt close to God throughout. It was wonderful to worship the risen Lord in great music. I especially agreed with the preacher that after 40 days of Lent there should be champagne breakfasts at churches, presents, parties and celebrations for 50 days afterwards as our Lord has risen, instead of the measly one day on Easter Sunday. With the miracle of God becoming man at Christmas, his dying for us and rising again at Easter is the most significant event in history.
Just before the Easter day service we were given an interesting article from the April 2012 edition of Christianity Today. In it the author discusses the choices facing the Nigerian Church, how to react to the violence instigated by such Islamic groups as Boko Haram. Should Christians turn the other cheek or fight back? He argues that the role of Christians is to be "just peacemakers". To do this the Church needs a sound theological basis; theological education and good Christian teaching is terribly important and that reinforces our feeling that God wants us out in Nigeria to help strengthen the Church there. If you can, please help us to get there.
Monday, 2 April 2012
One by one
Today we are feeling rather sad as yesterday we gave our lovely cat away. It may seem a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things but we'd had her for about 8 years, she had a lovely friendly nature and we miss her already. Knowing that she's gone to a lady in church who's been counting down the days until the cat arrived and who will spoil her rotten makes it a little easier but giving Ari (Ariosto) away starts to bring home a little of the cost of leaving life in the UK. Just as it took me several days to stop looking out for the hens in the backgarden, I'm "seeing" Ari out there or catching a glimpse of her sitting on a chair before realising it's just a black bag.
It's a good job that today we're setting out on a tour of the UK. We call in at Ayr for lunch before spending the night near Carlisle. Tomorrow it's on to a village near Manchester for a couple of nights before reaching Aylesbury. That's the bottom of our U-shaped journey. The upward leg takes us to near Cambridge with a detour to Outer London, up to near Doncaster then finally all the way back home. Fraser's skipping half of this. He, dedicated worker that he is, has to return to HTC so has the joy of taking the bus from London to Inverness, a journey that starts at 6am at Aylesbury station and reaches Inverness at 9:50pm. I think my 7 1/2 hour drive from Doncaster with two children is preferable.
The aim of this grand tour is to catch up with relatives and some of my university friends. Unfortunately it looks as if I won't be able to wrangle an actual trip to Oxford into our schedule but seeing friends I haven't seen for years will be even better. Please remember us in all our travelling and with all the people we're hoping to meet.
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| Ari - always ready to help Fraser with his jigsaws |
It's a good job that today we're setting out on a tour of the UK. We call in at Ayr for lunch before spending the night near Carlisle. Tomorrow it's on to a village near Manchester for a couple of nights before reaching Aylesbury. That's the bottom of our U-shaped journey. The upward leg takes us to near Cambridge with a detour to Outer London, up to near Doncaster then finally all the way back home. Fraser's skipping half of this. He, dedicated worker that he is, has to return to HTC so has the joy of taking the bus from London to Inverness, a journey that starts at 6am at Aylesbury station and reaches Inverness at 9:50pm. I think my 7 1/2 hour drive from Doncaster with two children is preferable.
The aim of this grand tour is to catch up with relatives and some of my university friends. Unfortunately it looks as if I won't be able to wrangle an actual trip to Oxford into our schedule but seeing friends I haven't seen for years will be even better. Please remember us in all our travelling and with all the people we're hoping to meet.
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