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29.01.2009 :: Last day in Gusau

Internet painfully slow today so only v short message.

Final classes went well yesterday. Made them a bit shorter to leave some extra revision time.

Last day today in Gusau. Exams this afternoon, then lots of marking ... then off to visit college early tomorrow.

Posted by Rick. at 10:40

28.01.2009 :: Last day of teaching in Gusau

Today is the last day I'll be teaching in Gusau. Yesterday and today I've been experimenting with changing round the times of the classes to be mostly in the afternoon. There are a number of practical advantages to this, but the main disadvantage is that it's hotter in the afternoon, so it's a bit harder for everyone to concentrate. Still, yesterday went OK.

Tomorrow is exam day, and then I'll be travelling to visit another college over the weekend. I'll be heading back to Abuja on Monday, for the flight first thing on Tuesday.

I should be able to get to the internet cafe again tomorrow - I'm not sure what internet availability will be like over the weekend.

Posted by Rick at 09:21

26.01.2009 :: back in kaduna

hey im back in kaduna now for the second week teaching with tom... im shattered after a full days teaching but it has been a productive day... the evangelists in my class had a write an essay on reasons to be thankful to God from Ephesians 1-3.... it was a joy to mark! this was a particularly straightforward question and so please pray that the Lord will equip them to answer more complicated ones... it is a real issue... tom is well (typing away on the computer next to me) and we have just heard that james is back in the uk after a delayed flight... i am now going to attempt to print off a couple of exam papers... laters... adrian:-)

Posted by Adrian at 17:18

26.01.2009 :: Back in Gusau

Arrived back safely in Gusau Sat pm. We stopped in Zaria on the way - had an interesting chat with an Australian couple who are lecturers at a local theological college there.

We arrived in good time for church yesterday. The service was 9:30 am till a little after 1pm. The local bishop (John Garba) spoke, and spoke well.

Time is flying past. Most of today's lecturing is done (though still a couple of hours later this afternoon), and the Wednesday will be my last full day of teaching. In Gusau we'll be doing the exam on Thursday (and then I'll be doing the marking on Thursday evening, and Friday, and ... !)

I'm also making some arrangements to pop in and visit someone at another theological college over the weekend, en route back to the airport (well, en the scenic route back, at least).

Posted by Rick at 14:13

24.01.2009 :: Day Off!

We're having a relaxing day in Kaduna. So far this morning we've popped to the Bureau de Change and had a look round some of the market stalls.

I'm heading back up to Gusau this afternoon, but I'm planning to stop off for an hour or so at one of the local theological colleges (in Zaria) to say Hi to a few people there.

Posted by Rick at 10:49

23.01.2009 :: Back in Kaduna

I'm back in Kaduna for the night, and returning to Gusau tomorrow (Adrian will be staying on in Kaduna for the 2nd week).

Had a good day of class this morning - we were looking at the doctrine of the trinity - an important subject anywhere, but especially here were there is quite a significant Jehovah's Witness presence, and a very big Muslim presence.

It was good to be reminded that Jesus' person and his work go together. If Jesus is not God then he won't be great enough to win salvation for the world. That's why both JWs and Islam ends up saying salvation is by working hard enough/being good enough.

But Jesus is God, and so he has won salvation for all who trust in him!

Posted by Rick at 18:37

22.01.2009 :: hey

opps... i think i typed in my blog into the wrong space... dont' tell rick! but here it is in the right place...

Hi fellow bloggers... its adrian here... sorry if the typing is not very goot but this keyboard is pretty old.... rick has just been picked up by obinna to go and teach the pm class at the compound... obinna is such an encouragment to us as he has done the moore college corse in kaduna in previous years and has now graduated for zaria college and is stationed in Gusau... The Lord is continuing to grow him and it was lovely to hear of the opportunities he has had to witness to Muslims... he opened his home to us the other day and we shared meal with his wife and son...anyway, ive just finished some marking of the students work that rick will return to them... after a bit of interneting ill walk back to the bishops and mark todays essay question "What evidence is there in the Bible that God is sovereign?"... the students are making steady progress with their work but essays are demanding for them... they seem to be responding well to the feeback that we have been able to give them and so we press on... the bishop and his family continue to treat us so well.. please pray for me though for rick is giving off vibes that he might ask them to serve up something particulary traditional in the food department... dave huss has opened the flood gates on a previous visit to kaduna by eating goats head (eyes and brain and everything)... i think i will have to fake a dodgy stomach... over and out

Posted by Adrian at 15:20

21.01.2009 :: Wednesday

Didn't get to the internet cafe yesterday. Actually, I did get there, but it was bunged full of people, so there was no chance of getting a computer...

Interesting day today. 3 news guys turned up, one each from 3 neighbouring dioceses in Nigeria's Middle Belt. They had heard about the Moore College program, and are interested in it - and interested in seeing whether something could be done in their own diocese.

An issue that came today was the pro's and con's of TeleEvangelists (and TeleHealers and TelePreachers). There are lots of these on TV in Nigeria. One of the problems is: you only get shown what the camera wants you to see. You don't get to see the real long term fruit of their work, so you can't easily tell the wolves from the shepherds. Useful to discuss.

Posted by Rick at 14:18

19.01.2009 :: Gusau

We arrived safely in Gusau yesterday. On the way we were able to stop off briefly at a local Bible college in Zaria, to say a quick hello to some of the staff there that I know.

By the time we got to Gusau we had missed the first hour or so of the church service, but there was still a good hour and a half to go, so we didn't miss out.

Classes started today. Things in Gusau tend to get off to a slow start - but most of the students got to class in the end! Now that everyone is in town, things should run a little more smoothly tomorrow.

Everyone is again eager to learn more of the Bible, and they are all working hard. It's shaping up to be an enjoyable and productive couple of weeks.

Posted by Rick. at 18:06

17.01.2009 :: Arrived!

We've made it here safely. The journey over was mostly uneventful. There was a little hiccup at Heathrow - the computer system hadn't handled our bookings properly (apparently it was having a bad day), and the plane was quite full. But they solved this by upgrading us from Economy to Economy+

I managed to get about 3 or 4 hours sleep on the plane, so I don't feel too bad. Looking forward to a longer night tonight though.

Tomorrow Adrian and I will be heading on to Gusau, while Tom and James stay on in Kaduna. Lectures start on Monday.

I got to do a bit of preliminary admin today (photocopying, Bureau de Change, etc). On the way I got to see a glimpse of a local government welfare centre. The government has built this place to provide care for those who are blind, or disabled, or who have leprosy. Unfortunately the main building had burnt down recently (due to a cooking accident). The government has provided some tents as temporary accommodation, and the local churches were helping out by providing cooked meals.

I didn't get to see much of the centre (we were just dropping the food off) - but it was great to see the local community pulling together to help out at a very difficult time for those in the centre.

Posted by Rick at 14:33

16.01.2009 :: Final packing

At the final packing stage now. The last fiddly bits to sort out always take longer than you think...

Our flights are at 10:15pm this evening.

Posted by Rick. at 11:01

08.01.2009 :: Testing, Testing, 1, 2

Just a quick note to check that the Blog is up and running

Must remember to start my anti-malarials at the weekend...

Posted by Rick C at 21:58