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09.07.2009 :: Just a little exam to go....

We finished our day of revision today, the students have to sit there exam tomorrow. They have worked hard and been a real encouragement.

Thanks for the message Joan and everyone else.

Adrian will be joining us back in Kaduna tomorrow at lunch time, God willing. Then we will spend tomorrow and Saturday marking the exam scripts.

Your prayers have been appreciated throughout.

Posted by Colin. at 18:09

09.07.2009 :: ps

thanks for all your messages... they have been a real encouragement to me, especially as i have been teaching on my own in Gusau

Posted by Adrian at 10:15

09.07.2009 :: Exam today in Gusau

well the teaching in Gusau is now complete for this trip... the students have a final morning of private revision and then the exam is at 4pm today... i am pretty exhausted so am having a bit of a rest this morning.... back to kaduna tomorrow to rendezvous with colin and rich and then heading home to blighty

Posted by Adrian at 10:14

08.07.2009 :: Finished!

Finally got round to making a blog entry in the last few days of the trip. My excuse is that I've been too busy preparing lessons for the next day ;-)

Anyway, today I finished teaching the Mark course which was a big relief. Ended on a big high with the account of the women going to the tomb and finding it empty. And with the challenge for us as to whether we will go out and tell others, or whether we will keep quiet like the women. (As I have been telling my guys, resurrection time in Mark's gospel is proclamation time)!

Tomorrow is revision day, trying to remind then of all we have learnt, and brush up their essay writing skills. It would be good to pray that we can make good use of the time, especially that what they learnt would be useful for the long term. We continue to enjoyed excellent food at the bishop's house; my wife was hoping that a visit to Nigeria might help me lose weight - sadly that doesn't appear to be the case!

Posted by Rich at 17:55

07.07.2009 :: Penultimate teaching day in Gusau

Much to give thanks for as we are coming to the end of the module... The repetition of the six stages to rightly understanding the Bible has actually been a blessing to the students... we have an A3 diagram on the wall of the classroom explaining the process and the students have been gathering around it during the break and after class explaining it to one another... there is a real sense in which we are all getting it... the eminence of the exam is also working to be a blessing as talk of it is motivating the students to study and to be sure that they've understand the detail

It has also been a joy to get to know the students more and more and there have been a number of pastoral insights that have come up in the last few days as we have studied together (e.g. struggles with sin, perfectionism, prosperity gospel, ... normally i go back to the bishops house to eat but tomorrow i am going to go into town with two of the students (musa and simon) to eat with them... they are not from Gusau as they have traveled from their churches and so they are always having to go into town to eat... please pray that our fellowship together will be a real blessing and that i might be an encouragement to them...

another encouragement is that people keep turning up to the class... we now have 19 people on the books... some who have turned up late are going to have to work pretty hard to catch so please pray for God's help with that.

also, i brought five bible dictionaries with me to sell at a bargain price to the students (2000 niara = 8 UK pounds) - they went like hot cakes on monday and they have asked for us to bring more next time (3 students in particular where very disappointed not to get one)

finally on a personal note, i am learning a new depth to God's faithfulness and my dependence on him... the water here is very temperamental... when i go to turn on the tap i never know whether water will come out or not... for example this morning, when i got up i turned on the tap and nothing... i really wanted a shower and so i prayed that the shower would work and i turned it on (not expecting any water because of what happened with the tap)... initially there was nothing and i was about to turn it off with a feeling of 'told you so' but then out it came and i had a great shower... its new to me how such little things like water can bring such joy and be a cause to thank God

ps for stephen... i will send you my number on thursday when im back at the internet cafe as i dont have it with me

Posted by Adrian at 13:50

04.07.2009 :: It's Saturday in Gusau

I am so thankful to the Lord for his help in these last few days... the classes are going well and a number of new students have joined in... we are now fifteen in all... obinna (now chaplain to the Bishop and an old friend of ours from Kaduna) has been coming to the classes as well and he was helpful to say that i should ask more questions and direct them at the students to keep them on their toes... i have tried that and it has really helped the students to engage and concentrate in the heat... a number of really fruitful discussion has emerged... in particular (1) from our studies on Genesis 15, there was increasing clarity that the blessings of Abraham that we enjoy through faith in Jesus Christ is not the promise of offspring (i.e. God promises us children) but the promise of credited righteousness. (2) like in the uk, the students here speak of ministries that can be self-centered and competitive... our studies in 2 Samuel 7 are helping us to see that Jesus is the king who is building his church... it his ministry not ours please pray for the lasting fruit of these discussions and the Lord will continue to open eyes wider to see the fullness of Jesus Christ...

Well today is Saturday... I am enjoying hanging out with the Garba family... John has travelled to Kaduna and Bulus (his 11 year old son) is my guide and translator for the day... he is here with me in the internet cafe and i have already been asked twice whether he is my son! Bulus says "hi it's bulus how are you doing?" i was shown how to do laundry the nigerian way this morning (i actually did it!) and i think that my clothes will dry very quickly in the heat people here are so kind and welcoming... had a lovely chat with timothy (a venerable at the Anglican church of CHrist - where I am at)... and heard stories of how the Lord is at work here, particulary amoung muslims as they say in gusua, "se y angima" (see you later)

Posted by Adrian at 12:00

03.07.2009 :: First week done

We are now about half way through the course so we took some time today to think through what we had learnt.

The students are working hard and are a great encouragement.

The food here is lovely, I think I am eating more than I usually do, plus there is lots of meat which is a shock to the system :)

The Bishop runs a fish and chicken farm that I might pop over and visit tomorrow.

Posted by Colin at 18:11

02.07.2009 :: Kaduna

Tomorrow we finsh our first week. Your prayers for the students will be appreciated as we start to think about embedding the things they have learnt both for their future ministry and for the exam tomorrow week.

We have seen lots of lovely little birds, some of them are bright red. The lizards are yellow and black and seem to be everywhere. We had a rooster come into the teaching hall a couple of days and made his presence heard!

Posted by Colin at 17:56

02.07.2009 :: News from Gusau

well its now thursday and all is going well up north in Gusau... there are 12 students in all on this visit (8 for the morning session 9-1pm and 4 for the evening session 4-6pm)... we are doing a new course called 'promise to fulfilment' that looks at how Jesus fulfils all of God's promises to his people

Please give thanks (1) for his help with the journey here (2) for Bishop John and his family have given me a really warm welcome into the family... they have given me a lovely room and john and I share breakfast together every morning (3) that the 'promise to fulfilment' course really scratches where the students itch... please pray that the Lord will open eyes wider to see the riches of Jesus Christ

Please Pray (1) please pray that i will communicate well with the students and vice versa... in particular that I would chose my words carefully (number and vocabulary) and understand the questions and comments that the students ask/make... im finding it a bit difficult at the moment (2) even though its the rainy season, its really hot here... please pray that the Lord will give us energy to study and concentrate... also the 'promise fulfilment' course is quite samey - basically six worked examples on how Biblical Theology is the key to correctly understanding and applying the Bible... please pray that the Lord will help me to teach creatively so that we stay alert and interested

IHMS, adrian:-)

Posted by Adrian at 14:08

01.07.2009 :: Early days

The first few days with the Nigerians have been going well. They are very welcoming and great to work with.

We were looking today at how God's Promises to Abraham find their fulfilment in Christ and the New Creation.

The Nigerians are aware of the dangers of the prosperity gospel in their country and are working hard to understand how to guard against its influence.

They have been a joy to teach and an example of humilty before God's word.

You prayers are appreciated.

Posted by Colin at 18:01

29.06.2009 :: [update on behalf of the team]

Just a quick note to let you know that I got a txt from the guys, to say that they've arrived, and that the first day has gone well.

They had a bit of a delay at the airport yesterday, so they arrived a bit late at Kaduna on Sunday.

Please continue to pray for Colin, Rich & Adrian, and for all the Nigerian guys, that everybody gets lots out of the coming 2 weeks.

Posted by Rick Creighton at 22:56

26.06.2009 :: 24 hours to go!

Well.... its friday night and the plane leaves tomorrow! On the trip is Colin Creighton, Rich Fisher and me (Adrian Watts)... much looking forward to getting there and seeing the evangelists again... colin and i have been working hard most of this week on the training material for one of the courses - for this trip Colin and I are teaching a course on biblical theology and seeing how the promises in the OT are fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Rich is teaching the NT1 course on Mark's Gospel)... our prayer is that the Lord Jesus Christ will help us to know and love him better as well as learning how to correctly handle his word.... more news to follow as it breaks...

Posted by Adrian at 21:28