Merry Christmas From Anawim

Dear NATIVITY:NIGERIA and Friends of Anawim Home,

With so much love and gratitude, we the Missionary Sisters for the Poorest of the Poor and the entire Anawim Family wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.  You have brought tremendous joy to our hearts over the last year, and shared in our sorrows.  We strongly believe that the good Lord will continue to strengthen our love for each other in 2013.

From all the children and the entire Anawim family, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Love,
Sister Oresoa, the Missionary Sisters, & the Anawim Family

The True Meaning of Christmas

Members of the NATIVITY:NIGERIA mission team joined together in prayer tonight. The team gathered to pray for peace in Nigeria, and ask for God blessing over our partners there. He has faithfully guided our partnership with Faith Alive and Anawim, and especially protected and shepherded our partners during this difficult time of political and religious turmoil. As a church community, we are so grateful for God's continued provision through this partnership.

NATIVITY:NIGERIA Gathering In Prayer

In remembering our partners during this Christmas season, our team prayed through a passage of scripture which is particularly relevant to our partnerships in Nigeria.
And there were, in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manager.' And suddenly there was with the angle, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.' - Luke 2:8-14

As Linus reminds Charlie Brown after reading this scripture passage in the 1965 classic holiday movie, "This, Charlie Brown, is the true meaning of Christmas." The passage serves as a reminder that we live in a world not governed by our wealth, possessions, or lavish gifts under the tree, but instead, defined by and globally united through the Savior's unwavering love for each of us. 

We pray in anticipation of a miracle this Christmas season, and in praise and gratitude for continued peace in Nigeria. May God shepherd our brothers and sisters at Faith Alive Hospital and Anawim Home, and bless their communities this Christmas.

Anawim Quadruplets

Yesterday, members of the NATIVITY:NIGERIA team had the opportunity to Skype with Sister Oresoa and several Anawim community members. We are pleased to introduce you to the newest members of Anawim Home, the Anawim Quadruplets. On the same day, two were born at Anawim and two were found on the street in Kaduna. We continue to pray for our partners at Anawim Home and Faith Alive Hospital. Sister Oresoa and the entire Anawim Home community wish Nativity a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Sister Oresoa and other Missionary Sisters of Anawim, with babies Emmanual, Emmanuella, Cathrine, & Anna

Prayer Night

NATIVITY:NIGERIA will be hosting a brief prayer gathering next Wednesday, December 19th, from 6:00pm - 6:30pm in the Nativity Sanctuary. Please join us as we pray for peace in Jos and Abuja, and celebrate all that God has done through our ongoing partnership with Faith Alive Hospital and Anawim Home. All are welcome!

Fast With Us: December

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, the first Thursday of each month will mark a day of water-only fasting for the Nativity:Nigeria community. (Water only means you still eat whatever you would like, but refrain from drinking any beverages other than water for the day.) The exciting news is that our partners at the communities of Faith Alive Hospital and Anawim Home will be fasting during these Thursdays too.

Please join us this Thursday in a water-only fast, as we prayerfully seek peace for our partners in Nigeria.

To read more about our prior fasting efforts, check out other blog posts here.

Greetings from Anawim

Today we received pictures and a warm greeting from our partners at Anawim Home. Sister Oresoa and the residents of Anawim send their love to the entire NATIVITY:NIGERIA community. We continue to keep our partners in prayer, seeking God's peaceful protection and blessing during this difficult time.

The Children of Anawim Home's Infant Jesus Hostel

Children of Anawim Home - baking pastries

Children of Anawim Home - feed fish at the Anawim fish pond

Mary & Martha - the two newest members of the Anawim community

Fast With Us

As you may remember, members of the Nativity:Nigeria family participated in a water-only fast in support of our Nigerian partners this past August, leading up to an exciting event: "Shagali: Partners in Prayer". And now, this prayerful and enthusiastic expression of solidarity will continue on...

The first Thursday of each month, the Church of Nativity community will participate in a water-only fast. (Water only means you still eat whatever you would, but must refrain from drinking any beverages other than water for the day.) The exciting news is that our partners at the communities of Faith Alive Hospital and Anawim Home will also be fasting during these Thursdays.  We continue to pray for our partners throughout the region during this difficult time of conflict and turmoil.

To read more about our prior fasting efforts, check out other blog posts here.
A reminder of this on-going fast will be posted here to the blog each month, and on our Facebook page.

Our Online Community

Want to connect with other Nativity missionaries, hear more about ongoing local and international mission projects, or share pictures and stories from past projects - be sure to check out Nativity Mission's facebook page to join the conversation, and be part of our online community.

Reflection from Shagali

Although a month has passed since our exciting "Shagali" event, our thoughts and prayers are still with our strategic partners in Nigeria. We continue to prayerfully lift up our Nigerian brothers and sisters as they resiliently persevere through the trying times their country now faces. In this memory, today's reflection comes from Gin Gin Diokno, a member of both the 2010 Faith Alive mission team and the 2012 Anawim Home mission team. She shares some insights on her experiences in Jos, where our parish has invested in several local communities, providing boreholes and wells there to offer fresh clean water to hundreds of Nigerian people.

"I've fallen in love with a special place called Jos, and a farm called Hwol Yarje. People in this farming community do not have access to clean potable water. Yes, that is still the grim reality even in the outskirts of the city of Jos. Children did not have access to schools. Dr. Chris [founder of Faith Alive Hospital] and Naomi, later joined by Amos, the architect, told us about the history of how the temporary school structure came about. We entered the three classrooms adorned with simple posters of alphabets, letters, and drawings hanging on the aluminum walls. We walked a few paces further, and there it was: an empty lot full of promises.

In front of us was a football field of grassy, untended land, surrounded by a low hollow brick fence, waiting to be dug and built upon. This is where 200 plus kids can comfortably site on their desks, learning not just about science, math, reading, social studies, English, but also their Christian faith.  This is where girls and boys will gather to sing to their visitors at the top of their lungs in unison: You are welcome to Faith Alive Community School. You are welcome to Faith Alive Community School. You are welcome to Faith Alive Community School. You are welcome."

Dr. Chris Isichei, Gin Gin Diokno, & Father Michael White (Pastor, Church of the Nativity)

Shagali: Partners in Prayer event, August 2012

To Our Partners [Video]

To our Nativity:Nigeria Partners... from Church of the Nativity on Vimeo.

Here is a video of encouragement and support that we are sending our Nativity:Nigeria partners. As a result of our "Shagali" event and water fast this August, Church of the Nativity and past Nigeria missionaries send their love and prayers to all those at Anawim Home and Faith Alive Hospital.

"Take heart, I have overcome the world" - John 16.33