EYN Secondary School
c/o P. O. Box 626
Jos, Plateau State
Nigeria

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Nigeria! I have now been here four months and I'm enjoying my new home and new friends. The school has been in session for seven weeks, and we are now preparing for the last few weeks of the semester before we break for the holidays. I'm teaching English and physical education and thoroughly enjoying it. I'm proud to say that we have just completed making our own basketball court. The students worked hard clearing the court of all grass and weeds, which I think gives them an extra appreciation for their sports facilities and adds a sense of ownership.

This past September 23, the school celebrated its Second Anniversary with a special program, drama and quiz. As we enjoy this new school, the building continues. As of now, we have all three grade levels in the Junior Secondary School (Junior High School). And the school hopes to add a new class each year until they have the complete Junior Secondary School and the Senior Secondary School, which is six classes. All of the male students have recently moved into the new hostel at the school, which the workcamp helped to build, and they are enjoying it immensely!

At this point, I would like to share with you a couple of my experiences. It was 2:00 a.m. on a hot, muggy Sunday morning in Yola, Adamawa State. For the previous two hours my feet had hung out the window of the car and my body curled up in the back seat as I tried to sleep. Fighting the heat and mosquitoes, I only managed to sleep 15 to 20 minutes at a time. In and out of sleep, I faintly heard the sounds of singing coming from the EYN Church that had started on Friday and was still continuing into the wee hours of Sunday morning. All of a sudden, the heavenly singing jolted me out of my disturbed sleep. I realized that I could be inside enjoying the night, rather than suffering in the hot car.

As I stepped inside the church, I joined the people dancing and singing with their hands raised up towards the heavens. Maybe I was delirious from the lack of sleep, but at that moment I felt the presence of God. I was awed at the enthusiasm and energy the people emanated out through the night air. It was such a testament to their faith when these EYN choirs from all across Adamawa and Borno States came to Yola for the National Choir Day. They sang throughout Friday, Friday night, Saturday, Saturday night, and Sunday morning. Even as we traveled home, our car passed truck loads of EYN choirs still boisterously singing. I reached home Sunday morning exhausted but energized.

One of the many beauties of Nigeria is the scenery, and I would like to share with you an entry from my journal of a day I was particularly struck by this beauty. "This morning I woke up to an amazing peach-colored sunrise that poured in through my bedroom window. Later, as I walked down the lane from Kulp Bible College to Headquarters, I was taken back by the magnificent sunset and the crisp, clear colors of the earth. The sky was a rich royal blue intertwined with the golden setting sun illuminating an angel's glow from behind the clouds. The groundnuts and maize were a dark green color set off by the startling neon green color of the rice. As night fell on KBC, millions of stars adorned the sky all the way from the horizon to the point directly above the eye. The day had been illuminated by the bright sun and so, too, the night was illuminated by the bright moon. The shadows cast off the trees and the sounds of the children still singing and dancing gave the night a soft, harmless appearance.

Life is not always filled with beautiful singing and sunrises, but they are simple things that give it richness. I hope you, too, are rewarded with such blessing. Thank you for you prayers and interest in our lives here in Nigeria.

Love and Peace,

Mimi Copp