ABA, NIGERIA Tuesday, November 25
By Marti Schneider, On location

With yesterday's run through the water, Isaac did not want to go out on
another. He told me the car had a little problem and he would need to
get it fixed. We had not finished our trip with Dr. Frank yesterday, so
he looked for another driver and vehicle. The drivers and vehicles are
assigned: We have Isaac and the Toyota. Bob Folkenberg has a navy blue
four-wheeled vehicle. The Adventist Media Production team has a
13-passenger van. Sister Daniel and brother Luka Daniel have another,
and so on. My camera crew does not have an assigned vehicle, so our
driver finally learned that he must bring them to our hotel in the
morning and return them to theirs at the end of the day.

Well, Dr. Frank went looking, and the next thing I knew we were ready
to go in a white van. Dr. Frank's car would not have held our whole
team. Today our plan was to go to visit the destitutes that Dr. Frank
cares for and return in time to visit the hospital for a tour and
interview the doctor and the head nurse (matron) by 11:00 a.m. So, stop
#1 was for Asse at his hotel; stop #2 was
for fuel; stop #3 was for water; and stop #4 was at the prison for an
armed guard in full uniform including gun, which he carried everywhere.
By the time we had completed all of these stops, it was not long until
we should be at the hospital. We decided to make the hospital visit and
then go to the destitutes.

We had a complete tour of the hospital and the motherless babies home.
There was quite an entourage -- Dr. Frank, Sister Daniel and me, the
cameraman, the guard, the doctor and the matron. The guard took his job
very seriously, guarding us like a mother hen herding her brood, and we
were just about that "scattery." A group of six nurses was singing
with the mothers during the well-baby clinic on the veranda. There were
probably thirty or more mothers with babies. They let me give one
little fellow his immunization dose by mouth. He was not too
appreciative of my efforts. I will paste the feature that we prepared
at the end.

Dr. Vincent is a young, single Nigerian fellow who reminded me so much
of Don, Jr. He is between our kids' ages. He is the chief of staff
of the hospital. He seemed really pleased to show us around.
Ninety-nine per cent of the staff are Seventh-day Adventists. The other
one percent are Christians. There was a joyful spirit around the
place.

Even though it was right at noon when we left the hospital, we decided
to go out to visit some of the destitutes that Dr. Frank cares for. We
drove and drove . . . finally arriving at a rather prosperous appearing
village. We went through a gate into a compound where several related
families live in adjoining houses. Set aside somewhat was a tin
one-room shanty, perhaps 8' x 8' with a door, one window, a narrow bed
without sheets and a mat on the dirt floor. On the mat was an
85-year-old woman trying to wrap her cloth around her, fanning herself
with another smaller cloth. The temperature was nearly unbearable. The
woman was close to blind, so I knelt down beside her and held her hand
for a few minutes. She could not understand English. The pastor prayed
for her in Ibo. I learned after we left that she had been dedicated to
the village idol at her birth, she had never been married, and because
she has no children or husband, there is no one to care for her. The
relatives would really prefer that she die, it looks like. Dr. Frank
slipped a few bills into her hand, although I don't know how she will
buy anything. He said she used to keep her house and yard very clean
and swept, but she is no longer able.

We walked out of the compound and down the road to a cluster of
buildings. It must have been the village center. Behind the little
store was another house that looks like it was prosperous at one time.
The pastor asked us to wait outside. When he returned he said that the
smell was overwhelming and he doubted that we should enter. Instead, an
old lady came onto the porch and greeted us with a beautiful, albeit
"snaggled," smile. After a bit her old husband who is nearly
blind was brought out and he sat in a chair by the door. He too was
smiling. Quite a number of children and adults gathered around as we
gave the old people attention and prayed with them. Their story, I
learned, is that their children were killed during the civil war. They
took care of and educated a number of other children, but no one cares
for the old couple now except Dr. Frank and his team. The couple love
each other and she tries to take care of her husband, explained Dr.
Frank. He said there are 38 destitutes in that one village. He has a
total of 500 destitutes all around the area. The pastor told me quietly
that Dr. Frank spends probably N26,000 (naira) every three weeks feeding
the destitutes. The exchange rate is approximately $1 = N140.

On the way home we passed through a small town . . . Asa (Ah-sah). In
the middle was a school compound with a wall around it surrounding a
large open playing field . . . really large. Someone knew that was
Teresa Shelton's meeting site, so we drove in. There was a 12 x 12
wooden platform with three steps leading up and two pieces of carpet
laid across. A pulpit was lying on its side under the platform. And
two canopies with not very many benches were some distance away. Beside
the platform was a wooden frame with white material on it for a
projection screen. It was very primitive. Ron and Teresa preach at
separate sites. One of the speakers was not able to come at the last
minute, so Bob, knowing that he would have to call on someone who
already had their funds raised and their paperwork completed, called
Teresa. He had prayed over the list of people scheduled to go and it
seemed to him that God was pointing to Teresa. She has a really tough
site, but her courage seems good. I'll talk more about the outlying
evangelistic teams tomorrow. As we walked on the site, I was walking
with the guard. I asked him if he is a Christian. He said, Yes. And I
said I was glad he knows Jesus. I saw him with Dr. Frank at the stadium
tonight, and he exclaimed, "Mommy!" His face seemed glad with
recognition.

We got home late . . . 3 p.m., but Dr. Frank had called the cooks and
asked them to wait with our food. By the time I ate and worked with the
camera guys, I was just working on my feature when the reception desk
called to say that Queen Eruba was there wanting to see me. She is the
daughter of the old pastor I presented on Monday evening. Her name is
Queen . . . and she has a stately bearing . . . she's about forty years
old I would guess . . . a young forty and very pretty. She had given me
a dress when we were visiting the family, so I had made an appointment
for her to come show me how to wear it. But I was so sticky from being
out all day, I didn't feel like trying on clothes. We got to talking
and she made a request to teach me a chorus in Ibo. So I got out paper
and pencil and began to write the words phonetically as she sang them.
Then I wrote above them my shorthand music, notes and note duration.
One problem, she didn't follow the same notes each time she sang it. It
was close, but the same notes could go up a notch or down a notch. I
was despairing of getting the song when she made the suggestion that we
sing it with the King's Heralds. Oh-h-h-kay! How we work out of this, I
thought. I really got in earnest about figuring out the music. I
caught Jim Ayars and approached the subject. He is a linguist and good
at picking up the music. So I asked him to listen to her song and look
at my notes. He turned to me and said, "She's tone deaf!" But he
worked on it. And with much repetition we picked out what we thought
was the tune. Later he looked for people who knew the song. His driver
knew it somewhat. Without making promises, I tried to get it down. I
invited her back the next evening to work some more on the song.

When we got into the car this evening, Don said to Isaac, shall I talk
to you now or after the meeting. Isaac exclaimed, "You don't have to
talk to me. I'm going to be baptized on Sabbath!" Don got so excited,
he shouted, "Stop the car!" and he shook Isaac's hand and pounded
him on the shoulder.

After Don's message he made the call. As usual I moved to the aisle
and began to pray for the people coming forward and those needing to
make a decision. All of a sudden Isaac came past me to indicate his
decision for baptism. I grabbed his arm and walked with him. After he
filled out his card, I said, "Let's move to the front so Don can see
you." Don continued the call for a while more. Then while the local
evangelist continued in Ibo, Don came to the side where the people were
gathered to shake hands with them. He saw me standing there and came
toward me. Then he saw Isaac. In tears, Don grabbed Isaac and hugged
him . . . and shook his hand some more! It was truly exciting. Isaac
was all smiles. We had a joyful ride home tonight!

How can we bear more joy? We told Isaac that the angels were having a
party in heaven.

You can party with us!

Good night,

Marti

PS: Here's the Hospital Feature.

Jesus went about the villages, teaching, preaching, and healing. He
cared for the physical needs of the people. Why do you think He did
that? It is because He loved them.

1 <sign> Yesterday I visited the Adventist Hospital and Home for
Motherless Babies. I met Christian doctors and nurses who love people
. . . not just by saying, I love you. They love by their deeds. Have
you heard the common saying, "Actions speak louder than words?" Let
me tell you how the Adventist Hospital shows its love!

2 <hospital yard> First, they provide a clean environment . . . the
floors, the beautiful grounds . . . everything is well cared for . . .
no paper littering the grounds. The staff show their love by their
kindness to each other.

3 <matron> The matron, Mrs. Maria Alozie (A loz i eh) exclaimed, "We
have cooperation. We are a team." And I could see that it is so.
The doctors, the nurses and their aids, the pharmacy and the laboratory,
the registrars and the business office, the security and the grounds
keepers, the laundry personnel, the food service, and the cleaning staff
. . . I could see joy in their faces. I could tell they care for each
other and for the patients.

4 <doctor> Dr. Vincent Ginikanwa is serving as the hospital's chief
of staff. He and Mrs. Alozie took time to show us the various
departments at the hospital. I learned that every morning begins with
worship for the staff and patients who are able to move about. They
have Bible study and prayer together. I asked many questions like,
"How big is your hospital?" "Where do your patients come
from?" "What kind of services do you offer?"

One way to measure a hospital is by the number of beds. I learned that
the Adventist Hospital has 70 beds. While it is not the largest
hospital, it is not a little hospital either. Patients are referred
from far away as well as locally. Some come because the hospital is run
by Christian principles. Some come because of the humanitarian aspects
of the service, they treat patients at
reduced rates, or because they appreciate the specific services
offered. Dr. Vincent told me that the Adventist hospital sees more
patients than even the teaching hospitals. And it provides a place for
nursing students to get their clinical training. re

5 <well-babygroup> As we were sitting in the matron's office, I heard
singing. "That is the nurses singing with the mothers at the
well-baby clinic," the matron told me, so we had to go to see and
hear. We saw pretty, happy babies . . .

6 <mother/baby> which makes for happy mothers. Sister Daniel and I
each gave a little one his immunization dose. The little fellow was not
so happy about that.

7 <operating room> We visited each department, met the staff, greeted
the patients. We saw the operating room, the general wards, and the
maternity ward.

Across the yard we found the home for motherless babies.

8 <baby in crib> These babies have fathers who come to see them and
with whom they can go to live later. The staff likes to place the
babies back in their own homes, with father or other relatives, when
they are still young enough that they can adapt to their families but
old enough that they do not require as much care as a newborn baby.
There are 15 babies living in the home currently -- they are usually
ages 1 day to 2 years.

<play room> The babies looked so well cared for. They were clean and
dressed in nice clothing One little fellow is 3 ½ years old. Because he
was crippled, he did not learn to walk until he was three . . . but he
looked happy. What a blessing he has . . . to be cared for by Christian
nurses
who have helped him learn to walk . . . and if he learns to know and
walk with Jesus, that will be the best of all.

I would like to recognize Dr. Vincent . . . that he was received into
Adventist fellowship through his baptism this past Sabbath. Thank you
for your ministry at the hospital.

10 <group> Thank you to the staff of the Adventist Hospital and
Motherless Babies Home. . .and Aba, for caring for the health of our
people . . . and even our youngest citizens.

Thank you, Nigeria! Thank you, Africa . . . for hosting such loving,
caring facilities! Thank you, God . . . even though we are not perfect,
and we fall down in our spiritual walk sometimes . . . thank you for
loving and caring for each of us!


Monday, December 1, in the afternoon - -
Greetings . . . we just landed in the Atlanta airport, have made it
through customs, and are going to get our luggage. We'll send the rest
of the messages soon.

Marti and Don