The Petra Zone

I had started a thread several months ago asking for prayer for the homecoming of our adopted son from Nigeria. The process has taken forever.

We had contacted our US Rep last week, and just found out today that we have an interview at the US embassy in Lagos, Nigeria on April 20th.

I don't yet have hardly any details about when I'll be leaving, returning, etc.

This should be the final thing! He is coming home!

Thanks to those who did pray, and thanks to those who will continue to pray

CONGRATS! I know this will be a special time in your lives. God has blessed you.

THAT�S SO EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RECEIVE A BIG CONGRATULATIONS HUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

You gotta keep us posted so we can keep praying ok?

I will keep you guys posted as I can. I was in Nigeria from April 22 to May 22 in 2004. Malachi, our adopted son, was only 4 months old then. So that tells you how long we've been going through this process.

They have tons of internet cafes over there. That's where I mainly communicated with my wife when I was there through email and instant messenger. Making phone calls from there is like trying to call Jupiter. You're just not going to get through most of the time.

However, three days before I left last time, while at an internet cafe, I and about 30 or so Nigerians were robbed at gunpoint. One guy had a pistol. I did not see the other two guys, but my Nigerian buddy said they had "machine guns". They got about $17 in Nigerian currency and my wedding ring. They told us to get on the floor and to bring all of our money, jewelry, cell phones (hand sets as they call them), and anything else of value out and lay it beside us. They told us if they had to search us they'd kill us.

At first I wasn't scared, I just prayed in the spirit. Then I thought, what if someone else does something to hack one of these guys off, then I got scared.

This type of thing happens all the time in Nigeria; half the time they kill you first and then take your things. We were really blessed that nobody was killed or hurt. Fun times let me tell you.

Let me add a belated congrats, JS.
I have often thought of your little guy over there in what is probably a very unhappy situation. The thought of living with such violent circumstances all around is scary, and makes one wonder what are we complaining about?
I'm so glad that things have finally worked out for your family to be together.

Thank you Charl.

When I went to Nigeria 2 years ago, I thought I was literally going to melt. It was that hot and humid. No matter what I did, I sweated like a pig (where does that phrase come from? Do pigs actually sweat profusely?). If I played with the children in the orphanage, I sweated. If I was riding in a car, I sweated. If I was reading a book, I sweated. If I was sitting there doing nothing, I sweated. If I took a shower, I sweated.

I never new though what the actual temperature or humidity levels were. My wife and I will be leaving two weeks from today, so I checked the weather there on yahoo's weather. Currently it is 91 degrees F, humidity is at 71% (and not raining), so it feels like it is 109.

At night it cools down to about 80 or high 70s, which helps. When the electricity is on, a ceiling fan helps me be comfortable enough to sleep. But if the electricity is not working (which about half the time it is not), it's like trying to sleep in a sauna.

Let's just say I've already started praying for cooler weather. And there is a verse in Isaiah that says the Lord is our shade in the heat.

Congratuations a little late, I'm glad it's working out. You'll have to post some pics when you get a chance.

On Monday, my wife and I will be driving from Brownwood to Houston. We'll be catching a plane on Tuesday at 5:00 to fly to London, England.

We'll have a long layover there as the lady we're traveling with has a brother in London, and she has a doctor's appointment there as well.

That night at 11 we'll get back on a plane and head to Lagos, Nigeria where we'll land at about 4:30.

Just a couple of hours later we have an appointment at the American Embassy to finish the processing of our son's visa. This should take a few days, and then they must verify in the Nigerian Courts that the adoption decree is legal.

We've given ourselves 10 days for this to happen with the option of changing our plane tickets if we need to.

We know that God has set this up, and that we have the favor of God and the favor of man in this, and we'll be home with our son in a couple of weeks. Thanks for praying everyone!

Our son's name is Malachi Esosa Sturdivant.

We have no idea what his original name was as he was abandoned by his mother.

Mary, who owns the orphanage, named him Esosa Uyiosa. Esosa means "Gift From God" and Uyiosa means "To God Be the Glory". Uyiosa is also the name of the orphanage.

We kept Esosa as his middle name, and decided to name him Malachi. Malachi has a few different meanings, but two are: messenger and missionary.

I have been a missionary to Mexico, Estonia, Bangladesh, and to Nigeria, and will have more journeys in the future.

WOW, cool name, very original.
AWWWWWWW YOU GOTTA KEEP US POSTED!!!!!!

Great to hear! I know a couple people who have adopted (many times) and have a friend going thru the process right now. Anyways it's amazing the amount of work it takes for everything to fall into place.

Have a safe trip.

This should be my last post for a few weeks. I won't have or need opportunities to go email, etc., like last time I was in Nigeria, since my wife will be with me. Thanks for praying everyone. Right now, we're scheduled to return to Houson on May 2. We're praying that it doesn't take longer, and we won't have to stay in Nigeria for an extended amount of time.

Well, it was another adventerous two weeks in Nigeria. We arrived safely in Houston last night with our adopted son, Malachi Esosa (Esosa means Gift From God), and drove back to Brownwood, getting in about 11 pm. I'll post more and try to figure out how to post some pics also when I have some more time. God is so good.

THAT�S SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!


AWWWWW I�M SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I JUST CAN�T EXPRESS IT WITH ENOUGH WORDS , OH RECEIVE A VERY BIG AND WARM HUG FROM YOUR MEXICAN SIS. PRAISE GOD!!!