They're on their way!

The Nativity Nigeria Delegation for 2008 departed from Nativity this morning at 9:25am! They are flying to Germany first , followed by a flight straight to Abuja, Nigeria!

There is excitement, some nerves and a lot of boxes of vitamins and medicine heading with them! 

Please pray for them, and continue to check this blog for updates straight from Africa throughout the next two weeks!

Fact or Fiction...

Over the past few weeks we have received a multitude questions, comments, and queries. We are going to try to clear up some common myths and misconceptions as well as provide some more information to our readers about what exactly we will be doing.

Fiction: We won't be able to actually post on the blog while we are in Nigeria because they don't have internet over there.
Fact: While internet and electricity (you need one for the other) are both extremely scarce and unreliable, there is some to be had. Internet is more readily available in Jos, therefore more of the posts will likely be from that location.

Fiction: I can't comment on the blog posts.
Fact: Simply click on the comment part under each post to comment on a specific item. We can see the comments for each post and this is actually the best way to get in touch with us. It is much easier to check one page of blog comments than eleven email addresses. The blog will be our primary method of communication. We wholeheartedly encourage comments, questions, and insights.

Fiction: We need to watch out for elephants and lions roaming the streets who might stomp on your car.
Fact: Contrary to some belief, we are not entering a real life set of the Lion King. While there are certainly different animals running wild and landscape which is foreign, we wont need to carry any peanuts to get the elephants out of the road.

Fiction: We are going to the desert.
Fact: While we are geographically just south of the Sahara and we actually fly over it on the way there, there is a fair amount of vegetation and wildlife. However, do not misinterpret this to say that it is not hot. It is hot. It usually rains during the afternoon so there is a brief cooling period, but it is still hot.

Fiction: We won't be able to eat the food or drink the water.
Fact: This should be answered in two parts. First, we are able to eat the food as it is prepared very well, but it is indeed different in look, smell, and taste. The combination of different types of food with fatigue and the heat may cause some stomach ailments but they usually pass quickly. It is also important to note that the vast majority of the meals are hot (in temperature). Even when you wake up in the morning and it is over 90 degrees, oatmeal or something else hot is usually for breakfast. This is due to the need to boil the water as well as the lack of refrigeration due to the scarcity of electricity. Secondly, we cannot drink the water out of the taps as the people who live there do not even drink it. However, we have the proper supplies shipped in and clean, bottled water is readily available for drinking.

Fiction: We won't be able to shower while we are there.
Fact: Water is quite scarce (it must either be pumped from a well which requires electricity to operate or be collected in large bins). Running water is even more scarce. It is commonplace to find a barrel of about 50 gallons of water next to a shower. This water is used in a bucket to substitute for the lack of running water required to shower and flush a toilet. However, we also try to use these sparingly as a way to conserve water.

Fiction: We will be in danger.
Fact: We are only traveling to stable communities with people who have already been there before. We have our own driver who is a native Nigerian and we do not ever drive at night. All of the proper precautions are taken to ensure the group's complete safety.

Fiction: Paul does not like ice cream.
Fact: Paul is allergic to dairy so it doesn't really matter whether or not he likes ice cream.

Fiction: There is not anything on the blog about the people who are going.
Fact: If you click on "Older Posts" at the bottom of the page you will be directed to our previous blog posts. As you go backwards through our posts you will see that there is a picture and small comment from each participant.

Fiction: Only young people can go on a trip like this.
Fact: We have a broad age range of people going with us to Nigeria this time. We think that having a diverse group will bring forth different perspectives and insights.

Fiction: We will be working with blood.
Fact: We actually will not be working with blood or any other bodily fluids that may contain HIV / AIDS. When in the hospital we will mostly be doing counseling, medicine and food distribution, and home based care. When at the orphanage, we will be working with street boys, helping prostitutes, distributing food and clothing to lepers, and organizing AIDS testing in extremely rural villages. We will not be in any situations which will compromise our health or safety. Additionally, precautions have also been taken to ensure that proper medical care is available if necessary.

Fiction: This is cool but I can't do anything to help.
Fact: Well, that was kind of a lie, this is cool. But, you can do things to help. Keep reading our blog and checking out our updates. Please keep us in your prayers as we venture to another part of the world. When we get back we will have tons of things going on where you can get involved and learn about what we did while we were there.

Again, we completely encourage questions via the comment section so please feel free to post anything else that keeps you up at night or that you might just be a little bit curious about as we prepare to leave in a few days.

Mountains of Medicine & Bundles of Bears

Last night the team sorted and packed hundreds of pounds of vitamins, medicines, toys, and supplies. We filled boxes and boxes with containers of things for both the hospital and the orphanage. The outpouring of support from the parish has been tremendous and we continue to receive donations from around the country.

One of the unique things that our group will be taking over are small, green, stuffed bears made by the children of the parish. Hundreds of these small teddy bears were made by the children at Nativity's annual Summer Spectacular in June. These bears have small messages in their pockets from the children of Nativity and they will be distributed to the children of the orphanage and the surrounding rural areas of Nigeria. The group also did this last year and the bears were a huge hit with the children. These bears serve as a great link between the children of Nativity and the children we are serving in Abuja & Jos. This time next week we will be touching down in Aubja...

A Week to Go...

Well, with a week remaining the reality of our departure rings pretty true. The last few days have been filled with dinners, speakers, hellos, goodbyes, frantic phone calls, and calming moments of solidarity. There are the normal last minute road bumps which always seem to arise, but nothing that we have not been able to overcome. We have gotten awesome donations of medicine, toys, and money which we will be able to take to the people of Nigeria. There seems to be a mix of nervousness and excitement in the air as our next week arrives. For the leaders who have been before, it will be a reunion of sorts with the people and emotions which they came to know so deeply and distinctly last summer. For others, it will be their first time their senses have experienced anything like this: the tastes of new and very different meals, the sight of small huts and crowded open air markets, those smells of humid air mixed with gasoline, that indescribable feeling deep in the heart.

Thank You

I want to thank all of my family and friends for their support of this trip.


I will never forget the phone call I received informing me I was one of the twelve going. I was so excited I actually jumped up and down. A friend suggested this sounded like the TV show "The Price is Right". And it was. But this was a call for "winning" something so much bigger than any material goods.


As time for departure gets closer, I am even more excited. Of course I am also nervous. The thought of being away from my husband and my two young children (10 & 11) is very difficult. The final moment of departure, when I hug my children and see their sweet faces, I know I will be fighting back tears. And once I am on the plane I will have a good cry.


But I feel what I will bring back for them is so much! I feel called to go on this trip. I am not afraid.This is something that I want to do from my heart. Please pray for me that the love and mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ will shine through me and for the Holy Spirit to lead me while I am in Nigeria.


I feel I have been moving towards this trip all my life. I did give a vow to God when He guided me to Russia to adopt my two beautiful and wonderful children that I would give back to Him in a spiritual way. I feel that this trip is part of following through on that vow. I know, like in Russia, I will get back so much more than I can give. Of course we adopted the children in Russia, but we also fell in love with the people, especially our host family. In Russia we got to experience and learn what little importance material things have. The people there were very poor, but they gave us everything they had.


Friends at church and at my pool are yelling out to me "when are you leaving?" and "God bless you". People are coming up and talking to me and asking me many questions. I have been blessed before I even leave on the trip.


To my family - please do not worry about me. I am in God's hands.


I could not do this or so many other things I do without the love and support of my husband. And I know most of you know this He is another blessing from God.


God is so cool!


I will sign off for now. We will be posting from Nigeria.


Teresa Pompa

A Glimpse into August

This afternoon brought a welcome surprise reminder of our soon departure to the land of early mornings, plantain lunches, and tumultuous driving conditions. At about 2PM today we received a brief phone call from an energetic Sr. Oresoa, the nun in charge of the Sisters of the Poorest of the Poor at the Anawim Home in Abuja. After determining that the phone call must be important if it came from a phone number with 13 digits (country code + phone number), we spoke briefly. Any of you who have had the pleasure of spending time with Sister know that she is strictly business. In her usual lighthearted manner, she told us exactly what she needed to and in less than two minutes was off the phone. Just like that airport transportation, housing, and food had been decided for the group for two weeks. However, in just those two minutes we were given a glimpse into the world into which some of us would be returning and others venturing into for the first time. In the background was a fury of talking, instruments, and children. It was clear that Sister had stolen away this brief moment to give us a call just to make sure everything was set for our arrival. After the end of the call I figured out that it was actually about 8PM in Abuja which meant the Sisters still had a few more hours of work with the children before putting them to bed. They will then get a few hours of sleep before waking at 4AM to begin again. In less than two weeks we will be joining them and could not be looking forward to it more.

Help Keep African HIV/AIDS Relief Funding

Contact Senators and encourage them to complete work to reauthorize and vote on S. 2731, Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act. This bill, originally signed into law by President Bush in 2004, created the PEPFAR program which provides, among other things, drugs to treat HIV/AIDS patients in Africa. Faith Alive Hospital receives many, if not all, of its drugs to treat HIV and AIDS from this program.

The risk of suspending funding, however brief, could disrupt HIV treatment, undermine the credibility of health care institutions providing HIV services, and endanger lives. Because of PEPFAR, we'll be empowering people across the developing world to treat 3 million patients with life - saving drugs, prevent 12 million cases of HIV, take on malaria and TB, care for 5 million AIDS orphans, and expand training for 140,000 new health care workers.

The legislation would replace and expand the current $15 billion act that President Bush championed in a State of the Union address and Congress passed in 2003. That act expires at the end of September.

Bishop Wenski, Bishop of Orlando and Chairman of the USCCB's Committee on International Justice and Peace, reiterated the Church's support for the PEPFAR program in a recent opinion editorial, stating: "Not only has PEPFAR saved lives, the world has seen in PEPFAR a true act of American compassion and leadership."

You can help by going the following link to contact your Senator to show your support for funding of the PEPFAR program and the work that it is doing in the poorest parts of the world. Simply copy and past the address into your browser.

https://secure2.convio.net/crs/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=400

UPDATE: We commend the Senate for the overwhelming, bipartisan passage of the S. 2731, Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act, which reauthorizes the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The 80-16 vote committed the United States to spending up to $48 billion over the next five years for the most ambitious foreign public health program ever launched by the United States. The bill passed by the House in April approved $50 billion, including $5 billion for malaria, $4 billion for tuberculosis and $41 billion for AIDS. Of the AIDS money, a proportion — $2 billion next year — would go to the international Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., saying he wanted to prevent money from being diverted to irrelevant development programs, secured language that more than half the money would go to treating AIDS victims. The White House wholeheartedly supports the bill.

Sent to Serve

Good afternoon one and all. We look forward to keeping all of you updated with the great happenings of our travels, preparations, turmoils, successes, highs, and lows. You have all been of a great support to us so far and we offer you a thousand thanks.

As our departure draws closer, it becomes readily apparent that we are leaving our homes for somewhere unfamiliar. However, that mix of anxiety, excitement, and desire are what carries a group such as this to do great things. This delegation will push itself over next month and half to learn, explore, experience, and most importantly: serve.

Dr. Chris Isichei Interview

Below you will find a six part interview with Dr. Chris Isichei, the founder of Faith Alive Hospital. He talks about the works of the hospital as well as how he felt called to originally start this ministry. It paints an awesome picture of the work done at Faith Alive and the man who started it.

Above is an interview with Dr. Chris Isichei, Founder of Faith Alive Hospital in Jos, Nigeria. Dr. Chris vividly describes his vision for the hospital and its outreach programs as well as the current HIV/AIDS crisis in Nigeria. The interview took place when Dr. Chris visited Nativity in March of 2008 and aired on various radio broadcasts.

You Can Help

As we have done in the past, the delegation will transporting medical supplies and medicine for both the Faith Alive Hospital and the Sisters of the Poorest of the Poor to Nigeria. The items in the greatest need are basic over the counter medications and vitamins. Specifically we are looking for multivitamins, Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, and ibuprofen. Also, please avoid any medicine that expires before January of 2009. We are requesting both adult and child doses. We ask that all items remain factory sealed as any items which appear to have been tampered with may inhibit our ability to transport them into the country.

We will be collecting them until July 20th and they may be either given to a delegation member or brought to Church of the Nativity in Timonium. Thanks for all of your support!