Thanks to all of you who have prayed and given and labored to make this possible. It has been amazing to see the Lord bring everything together. For a relatively short-notice trip, it has been smooth and easy.

Thank you for helping financially as well, everything is paid for, and I have more than enough to spare. Also, thanks to whomever put a $50 bill in my right pocket last night at church, I have no idea who did it, but I appreciate it!

Lord willing, I will let you know when I arrive in Lagos tomorrow about this time.

By the way, keep checking the photo viewer above for new pictures.

what a day may bring forth.

I realize that since I am writing this in blog format, I could describe in great and painful detail all of today’s events. Fortunately for you, I’m tired and concise tonight, and the bed looks inviting.

Basically, there was bad weather in Newark, NJ, which caused all manner of havoc and discontent with travelers. I spent all day today (well, yesterday now) trying to get on a flight that actually had some hope of taking off in the near future, that didn’t happen until about 8 PM though. When I arrived in Newark I waited in a line for about one hour to clear up a minor detail (where my luggage is.)

I’m not sure if the Newark airport is outfitted with air conditioning, but it wasn’t switched on last night, they had large fans running at each gate!

However, we know that our Lord has a way for all of our lives, and His ways are not our ways, so I’m thankful for the people that I was able to speak with that I otherwise would have never seen. Mrs. Schweitzer, if you ever read this, thank you so much for spending that hour working to get my flights straightened out.

If all goes as planned, I will leave for London this evening and arrive in Lagos exactly one day late. They did add an extra day to the end of my trip, so I will return on Wednesday the 20th instead of the 19th.

Because of the delayed flights, I had the morning and early afternoon to spend in New York City, and was it neat!

I won’t put these pictures into the rotation above, so just click on one of them (in fact, any pictures I post here) and it will open up a special viewer.

The first view of New York

I just started walking around, and looked up a little and noticed the sign.

That was when I looked up more

On Broadway.

From the top of the Rockefeller building.

The other side of the building. Sorry I didn’t get a panoramic shot there.

I was trying to get a shot of the Statue Of Liberty, This was the first time I ever saw it! Later on, driving to the airport, I was much closer.

I also must tell you this: I ate the best stromboli this morning that I have ever eaten in my entire life! I didn’t get a picture of it because I was too preoccupied eating it!

Of course the Lord also let me speak to the shuttle driver, I was his only passenger on the way back, and was able to tell him what I’m doing and why He was a very kind, gracious Egyptian man.

At the moment I’m in the Newark airport, it sure looks different when you’re not ready to fall over from exhaustion and when your flight is on time lol. Lord willing, I’ll leave at 6:30 for London, then on to Lagos from there tomorrow.

Pray for me please!

I took this on the way in to the airport this afternoon.

Everything went reasonably well with my flight to London last night, right now it’s about 3 AM to me… time for the energy pills! My flight to Lagos leaves in a few hours. For those of you wondering (my mom) it’s British Airways Flight 75.

Sorry I can’t post any pics, I’m using a public computer because my laptop’s dead and they have weird power outlets here (They also have a severe shortage of seating areas, as far as I can tell, unless I’m missing a major section of this terminal.)

The Lord has graciously allowed me to make it to Lagos, Nigeria, West Africa!

The flight from London to Lagos was very enjoyable, I sat next to a 26 year old Nigerian young man who attends college in Syracuse, is saved, but not living for the Lord. His parents both asked me to stay in touch with him when he comes back to the States to encourage him in the Lord. Please pray for Chris.

Chris took these pictures for me, sorry they’re blurry, I don’t think he was used to my camera yet. (He was also walking very quickly to get through the stuffy airport lol.)

The preferential treatment was a little surprising, the Nigerian passengers waved me right to the front of the customs line, and were very kind and helpful… as helpful as they could be considering I can barely understand a word they say!

On the left is Bro. Richard Raiyemo, the gentleman from the church who came to meet me, on the right is a Muslim customs agent who spent a lot of time making sure that my ride was coming and that I was cared for. He accepted a tract, I’ll be praying for him.

Speaking of Muslims:

This was in the airport parking lot! A group of maybe five or ten were under this pavilion bowing down and praying. Not surprising, but somewhat shocking, just because it was the first time to see it.

Bro. Richard and I stayed at a Baptist guest house in Lagos, it was a very pleasant building.

Breakfast

So, that wraps up the first day in Nigeria, there’s much more, and I’ll tell the stories when I return. Lord willing, this evening I will be able to write more in depth.

This morning we left the hotel in Lagos early to try to reach Ilorin in time for church. We traveled in a taxi that was like a 1980 Toyota Corolla station wagon, oh, and did I mention, it was with five other people and their luggage?  

And now a note to all prospective Nigerian drivers: If you are in two lanes of solid traffic and have been for some time…

… just go around it.

… and then go around the one up there too! (In case you’re keeping track, that’s two lanes removed from the road.)

The Lord was gracious though and allowed the fight that broke out between a passenger and a man on the road (and then also the driver) to end peacefully, and we arrived safely. The church had a special Mother’s Day service which lasted about 2 or 3 hours, so we got there for the tail end of it.

The service was a very beautiful one, and the people are so very gracious.

Lord willing, I will be speaking twice each evening, first on the subject of music, then about my favorite topic to preach on: Jesus Christ. Please, pray for me!

God bless, I love you all, and I look forward to speaking to you on Wednesday night!

After spending the night in the Jacob’s home (they are the missionaries that will be at our church on Wednesday) I got up around 7:00 this morning and started preparing for tonight’s messages. Pastor John (the pastor of Bible Baptist here) came to get me around 10 so I could get some more American cash exchanged and look for an inexpensive cell phone to make communication easier over the next week. We went into Ilorin after that to the Bible college that he attends.

This building seemed to be a dormitory. I shall not complain even if I get put in Heritage or Founder’s Halls at West Coast! (Those are the older, not-as-nice dorms.)

The president, or as they say, provost of the college,  Bro. Isaac.

We drove further and quickly became locked in traffic. It’s hard for me to get good pictures that accurately describe what I see, but this is what it was for about a mile:

I shall tell the stories when I get home, but suffice to say, it has been interesting!

Of course the highlight of the day however was the evening church services. They started at 4 PM African time (otherwise known as Baptist time) which means the pastor came to pick me up at 4:15 and we started at 5. Talk about the old-time religion transcending all cultures, it sure does!

After some special music I began teaching the Language of Music lessons to the youth group, with The God of Music this evening. It seemed like it was well received, so praise the Lord for that!

I was able then in the  second hour to preach to the entire church about our faithful God! What a blessing!

I have no idea what I was saying there, but I sure do look like I was enjoying it.

(By the way, please click on any of the pictures to see larger versions. Let me know if there are any problems. I’m not putting them in the photo viewer because it takes more time than I have.)

After the service, Pastor John introduced me to an evangelist who had attended, they went to Bible college together. I got them to get into a picture with me.

Pastor John Otitoju, pastor of Bible Baptist, Ilorin, is on the right.

These girls (except the one in blue) are college girls that live in the Jacob’s house, they’ve been a wonderful bunch, along with one of their grandmothers, to be around.

So… tomorrow.  Lord willing, We’ll get some things that I need (sunscreen) and something that I want (a Nigerian outfit) and then I will visit the University of Ilorin with the young women. Pastor John and I will also hopefully be visiting some homes tomorrow afternoon.

It is quite frustrating to not be able to understand the dialect enough to actually hold a conversation with anyone who’s not making an effort to help me understand them. The best I can do is hand tracts to people that I meet. They do speak English, but it’s almost unrecognizable. When you hear Dr. Jacobs speak, just imagine about 10 times the accent, and that’s what the people here who have no American or British influence have. I realized that I speak very very fast, and have learned to speak slowly enough for the church people to understand me.

All in all, I’m having the time of my life! Tomorrow morning (I’m writing this Monday evening) I will put together the video that will be shown on Wednesday evening.

Please keep praying and giving to missions!

(Please look over Sunday’s post again as well, I added some things.)

Basically, I have been speaking twice each evening at the Bible Baptist Church of Ilorin, and in the day, I have been just going around the city to see what things are like here.

A couple days ago, we went into the city so I could get measured for a native outfit… it is being custom-made, hopefully will be ready by Sunday. I’ll get a picture of myself in it, and maybe I’ll wear at least the shirt to one of our services.

In the city of Ilorin, and really, everywhere, the most noticeable thing is the poverty. I know that we’ve all heard missionaries talk about how we take so much for granted, but I understand it now. The people here are fortunate if they have a home and three meals every day. The divide between the rich and poor is large, there is no middle class. Even the people who think they are rich though only drive Toyotas and Nissans, I’ve only seen one new Mercedes and one Acura the entire time I’ve been here. Speaking of things I haven’t seen much of, since I’ve been in Ilorin, I haven’t seen one white person. I stick out like a light bulb. At a business the other day, Pastor John went to pay the man, and the man said, No, let him pay me with American money! (If he only had known that the smallest American bill I have in my wallet right now is a 50, I might have been in trouble lol.)

Pastor John, the college girls and I went to look for pizza tonight, but alas, the two places that sell it were out, and here, the customer is not always right, and customer service is not their top priority, so they didn’t make any. We had to settle for meat pies (somewhat similar to our pot pies), vanilla cake and Coke. The last place we went to said that they would have pizza tomorrow, so one of the ladies will get it for us for lunch. It’s a few thousand Naira, but it’s so awesome to be a blessing to these people who never get to have special things like this.

As I said before, I’m not able to carry on conversations with the Nigerians if they’re not trying to help me understand them (and vice versa.) So as much as I wish I could actually do some evangelism, it’s just not possible. That being said, the Lord is blessing the meetings at the church. This evening (Thursday) three teenage young men surrendered their lives to do whatever the Lord wants them to do. Please continue to pray for them, as there are some unsaved teens who attend. Also, this Sunday afternoon, I will speak for about two hours to the youth of another area church. I’m not really sure what the name of that church is yet.

It’s hard to believe it’s Thursday already, wow, has the time gone quickly! Note to self, make the next missions trip longer.

I love all of you, and God willing, I’ll see you next week!

Move your mouse over the pictures to see the description, or click on the pictures and use the photo viewer.

As indicated above, the only exotic animal I’ve seen is that lizard that hangs around the house. No lions or giraffes

I will post the audio from next Sunday evening’s service, where I’m scheduled to speak about what I did, so you’ll hear a bunch of stories then.

If you want to read some before then, just go over to www.michaelkestler.com as I’ll be writing there about some things.