Vitamins and Luggage

Thanks to a church in Maryland, Faith Alive now has over 300 lbs. of vitamins and pain relievers to give to their patients. Each summer, Church of the Nativity sends two teams to Nigeria—one to a children’s home in Abuja and the other to the Faith Alive Hospital. The Abuja team had to travel alone this year because Dr. Chris has asked no visitors to come until after the 2011 presidential elections. But that didn’t stop the grounded team from collecting, packing, and sending boxes of vitamins with the Abuja team to give to Dr. Chris.

Last summer, I travelled to Jos with the Nativity:Nigeria teams. I watched as their Faith Alive team, most experiencing Nigeria for the first time, went from worrying about their lost luggage to realizing that it wasn’t a big deal in the scope of things. As each day unfolded, their self-centered thoughts turned outward as they met people whose worries were much bigger—food, clean water, education, health, etc.. When their suitcases finally arrived days later, they said something like, “We didn’t even need this stuff. What we brought in our carry-ons was enough.”

Sincere thanks to Nativity:Nigeria for their generous donation. Maybe next year we'll be on the same flight again.