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Get Ready, Nigeria
ORU students take on Africa
By Laura B. Raphael
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Take Guy Peterson, for example. You could say that the pre-med senior has been getting ready for his trip as missions team leader in Nigeria this month since he stepped off the plane from his last summer mission, in Mexico.
"The first thing the missions director asked me when I got off the plane was whether I'd be the team leader for this Nigeria trip," Peterson said. "Of course I said yes! So I started thinking about it way back then."
Peterson is currently in Benin City, Nigeria (about 75 miles south of the country's capital), leading ten other ORU students in a medical-based mission at the Faith MediPlex hospital, which is run by ORU alumni Mark (79;83-Med) and Doreen Babo (81;86-MBA). Students will give basic medical care to patients and help build a clinic outpost of the hospital, guide several youth groups through the "True Love Waits" abstinence-based sex education program, and lead worship at area churches.
To prepare for the month-long mission, Peterson and his team called on resources both physical and spiritual.
First, Peterson and his assistant team leader began praying together every Friday morning, beginning in January, about the trip. They prayed for success and to bring comfort and healing to the people they met in Nigeria, but also for the students themselves. "I want to see everyone on my team challenged, to grow and to stretch what they think they can do," Peterson said.
Next, the entire team went through basic medical training, including learning how to give shots, take vital signs, and give elementary wound care. All team members but one (an education major who felt called to Nigeria) are pre-med majors, so this training will help them in their future careers as well as on this trip.
Finally, the students prepared for Nigeria through a group retreat at a nearby camp where they completed a rigorous ropes course, in-depth team-building exercises, and prayer and reflection. "When we get there, I want us to be a team, not just a group of individuals," Peterson said several weeks before the mission.
And what will all of this preparation bring? Great things for everyone involved, Peterson hopes. "I'm really excited about working more with people, with more of an opportunity to pray for people. Because of the day-to-day nature of the hospital, I expect we'll be able to build relationships with people in a way I wasn't able to do on other missions," he said.
Whatever happens, "I expect God to show up throughout my time in Nigeria. I have a spirit of expectation. God's in control. I don't know what He has planned, but I know it'll be good!"
Visit this Web site in the coming weeks to find out more about Guy's trip to Nigeria.
