hoo boy...

Time is really winding down now! I've currently got 21 days left in Nigeria before I make the 2-day trek back to Canada! Speaking of 2-day treks, I'm on one tomorrow with Niger State as my end point. I'll be travelling up with Jeremiah, who works with Water Wins, an organization that drills bore holes farther North where clean water is quite scarce and the terrain is too rocky for wells. I hope to be able to witness some of the work they're doing there and share it with you all! I've been to this area once last year for a few days. I was able to visit some of the villages and I really enjoyed it. This trip will be to about Friday or Saturday, long enough to enjoy, but short enough that it doesn't take up too much of my last few days.

I'm not sure what exaclty God has in store for me during these last few weeks, but I know He'll give me the strength I need to go through them. I'll miss Africa dearly, I've grown into Christ a lot while I've been here, and it will always hold a place in my heart. I actually find it harder to picture myself in Canada in this point than I do in Africa...

On the other hand, I'm very excited to be going home. As much as I recommend long-distance relationships (and I actually do. Just not necessarily 10 months...) I'm pretty pumped to see Julia again. And family and friends too, I guess...

It's been a great time. I recommend everyone get out of their comfort zone and culture to experience a different way of living. Trust me, living with intermittent electricity, unfamiliar faces, unknown languages, undrinkable tap water, a military-enforced curfew and all the other fun stuff here can change a person for the good! I don't think I'd recognize the Trevor from 2 years ago! The funny thing is, as different as things are here, I still haven't been able to get away from Dutch Bingo...

That's about it for now, I'm sure I'll come back at the end of the week with plenty of stories and lots of photos! For now, here's a couple shots of an abandoned building some of us explored and a more colour-filled photo. The building was initially started 25 or so years ago with the intent on being a Sheraton, but I've been told that due to money problems, it's remained crumbling since then. I wish I had an entire day to spare (and my tripod!) to spend taking photos in this place!

This is it from the top corner.

And this is looking down one of the many shafts...

And this is a deck of Dutch Blitz...

Just over a month left.

Time is winding down. Slowly at times, quicker at others. But either way, I only have just over a month left in Nigeria.

A month seems like a long time. Until you start to plan it out. All the Sundays are already taken care of. Then there's a 5 day trip to Niger state I'm hoping to do. As well as travelling early to Abuja with friends. All the goodbyes I've got to schedule, as well as other events... this all adds up and a month quickly fills up and whizzes by.

I'm looking forward to going home. For the people: my family, my friends, my church, Julia... For the food. For the electricity. For stuff working like it's supposed to. For the ease of things. For the less hectic roads.

But I'm really going to miss this home. For the people. Nigerians, coworkers, friends... There has been such a community here. For example, this week I've yet to eat dinner in my own house. And don't have plans to until Saturday, when other people will be bringing food. I love this community. A lot of it is the mission community. Everyone loves to take care of each other. If someone is visiting from out of town for a few weeks, he/she will be fed and housed every day. We regularly meet to have discussions, for potlucks, holidays... One of the few things you can rely on in Nigeria is the people.

I hope to be able to mirror that when I get home. To be a part of a community. Not just a member IN it, but a part of. That if I was missing, people would notice. This isn't just a hubris thing, but that I'll be using my God-given gifts and talents to others' benefits. That other people would be gaining from what God's given me. That I recognise that God has not only given me what He has so that I could benefit, but that everyone around me could as well.

As for when I return, that's also filling up pretty quick. I fly from Abuja on the 21st, landing in Toronto in the afternoon on the 22nd. That leaves me one whole day before Christmas Eve to get over jetlag. Then on the 26th, Julia and I will be boarding a bus to St Louis to go to Urbana, returning sometime on the 1st. Overall, it's going to be pretty busy! Hopefully I get over the jetlag quickly and can work out to visit as many people as I can. Don't get offended if I can't see you within the first couple weeks of my return!

Anyway, if you're intrested, there are more Facebook photos. These are from when I went to Lafia and Kano. Enjoy!

Some photos

Hey all, I've posted a couple Facebook albums. One from Yankari (back when Julia was here) and one of an aqueduct hike I've done a few times over the 'seasons'. It's neat to see the differences after the rains... Links are on the right!

If I can't remember what I've written on here...

I figure you probably don't remember either. So if your memory is better than mine and I repeat things, I apologize.

A bunch of us recently went to Farin Ruwa (White Water) waterfall again. The weather was a lot better this time around (even though it DID rain - quite odd, considering rainy season is over) and we were able to stay more than five minutes at the falls. We went in the hopes that we could find somewhere to set up camp and spend the night. We packed our stuff, left before 8 in the morning, picked up wood on the way there and drove the 3 hours. The paved roads are bad enough, it's the dirt ones that take forever to drive on. Even if it is a LOT of fun to drive on! I managed to convince Matt to let me drive the dirt road on the way back. Whatta guy! It's a lot of fun to drive a 4x4 on roads deeply scarred from rainy season. Plus driving through a few streams as well.

The last time we went, we took a bus, which wasn't as 'agile' over the rough roads and led to us walking an hour to the falls. This time, thanks to a couple 4x4s, we were able to drive right up to the 'entrance' of the falls (a small hut put up back in the days that Nigeria had real tourists). We walked the last few minutes along a path whose sides were littered with old benches (again, from back in the touristy days).

It was a lot of fun exploring around the falls and the rapids. Dustin, Matt and Steve all went for swims, but I didn't feel like risking parasites and having to take meds in a few months just in case. So I followed the water down a bit along the rocks and got some cool views of the falls.

After exploring around the falls for a while, we went back up to the cars for some lunch. That's when we noticed the ominous dark clouds approaching. After a while the wind picked up so we quickly decided that heading back now was a better option than camping in a potential rainstorm. We packed up then headed back as the rain started to come down.

Apart from this, not a whole lot else has been going on. I'm learning more about the computer I've been working with with the aim to teach most of the Beacon of Hope staff to be able to take over and continue when I leave. I'm still hoping to go to Urbana with Julia in December, but still have to figure out HOW to get there. And how to afford it, heh. For those that don't know, Urbana is a huge mission conference held ever three years since the forties. This and the last one was held in St. Louis. Last year had 22,000 attendees (told ya it was big!) and this year I'm sure will be similar. The conference itself will be awesome (goes from the 27th to an hour after the New Year bell tolls) but it'll also be sweet to meet up with some friends of mine that will be there too. If we go, we'll be able to check out what's going on in missions around the rest of the world and hopefully open some new doors and learn a lot! You may be aware that I return on the 22nd. Which doesn't leave a whole lotta room to even get over jet lag or see family and friends before I'm off for 5 days to the States. And throw Christmas in there and it gets even tighter... But it'd still be worth it.

Last week we went to a different water fall, called Kurra Falls (not sure what Kurra means) and it was cool too. It didn't have much of a straight drop, but was still very impressive! Keep an eye here for some Facebook photos (eventually). To tide you until then, here's a dragonfly...

Also, here's another photo from Farin Ruwa. So close to the bottom there's a constant mist, which tends to coat everything. For example, even a camera lens...

 Well, that's it for now...