BAZZAS BLOG

Check out www.dreamprojectnigeria.blog.com 

Ill try to keep it up to date while Im away in Nigeria with all the latest on our trip to Jos, in Nigeria.

It’s kind of just crept up on me although I have know about it for ages. It’s been a busy few weeks and suddenly it’s nearly time for us to fly to Nigeria!!

I found this description of Jos on the net so while I don’t know exactly what’s the truth about Jos, this is someone else’s description.

Jos, city in the middle belt of Nigeria and capital of Plateau State. Located near the center of the Jos Plateau, Jos is about 1250 m (about 4100 ft) above sea level on the Delimi River. With average monthly temperatures ranging between 21° and 25° C (69° and 77° F), Jos is considerably cooler than other cities in Nigeria and serves as a cool highland resort in a setting of scenic beauty. Jos is the center of tin and columbite mining and smelting in Nigeria. Other industries include steel rolling, burlap spinning and weaving, food and beer production, chemical manufacture, furniture manufacture, and printing. Jos is located at the terminus of a spur (first built in 1915) of the railway from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri and at a highway junction linking the city to Bauchi and Zaria. An airport also serves the city. The University of Jos was founded here in 1975. The UNESCO School for Museum Technicians is also here. The city is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop. Points of interest include an open-air museum of traditional architecture and the Jos Museum, which displays artifacts of the Nok culture. In the early 1900s Jos was built by the British at the site of the preexisting village of Geash. Tin mining began in the area in about 1907, and developed rapidly following the completion of a railroad to Jos in 1914. Jos also grew as a resort town, attracting tourists to its cool climate. The city has attracted migrants from Nigeria’s many ethnic groups. Population (1995 estimate) 201,200.

So, this Sunday morning at 10.50am, we take to the skies, headed for Abuja in Nigeria before transferring to Jos by road.

I have been very fortunate to travel a fair bit around the world over the last few years and God has been amazing in sorting out fantastic situations for us to find ourselves in where we have seen real people, living real lives in very tough conditions. It really is life-changing stuff.

So, please God, let this be a good trip as we plan for the Dream Project - Easter 2007. Protect us and look after us. Provide for our needs and keep our families safe till we return. AMEN

Speak to you soon

Stuart

It’s a weird thing when someone close to you dies. You realise suddenly there were probably loads of things you could have and should have said to them but you can no longer do it to them face to face.

My dad, Barry Holmes, passed away on 30th January. Thats his picture at the top of this Blog. It was taken when he was 19 and doing his national service in the Army.

His death was a shock!!! His main problem was that he had a phobia of doctors and hospitals. Things in his past, even back to childhood, had left him with fears and insecurities about medical establishments. This meant he didn’t get checked over when he should have.

My dad was a shy man and didn’t really enjoy going into situations where there were lots of people he didn’t really know. I only realise this was the case in recollecting memories with my family. He would often choose to stay at home and let my mom come to events, parties etc.

He was an ‘old fashioned’ guy and you could say he was stuck somewhere about 1948. He would never go out unless he was ’smart’. A shirt and tie were his ‘uniform’ and he was always smart. He hated not being able to shave for any reason and always had his hair cut regularly into a short back and sides. He didn’t have a lot of hair form the age of about 21 and emplyed the good ole Bobby Charlton sweep over. We managed to convince him that upon his retirement, he should have it removed and he did!!

I miss him already and have found myself telling him things I didn’t say to him when he was alive. I hope that by Gods mercy, he is now in heaven and that one day I will see him again. He never made a confession of faith in God but he did believe in Him without a doubt. I am hopeful that God may have given him an opportunity to call on Him at the last moments of his life.

My dad was a shy man; a gentle man; a proud man;  a faithful husband and father; a well loved Grand-father; a pessimistic Birmingham City supporter!!…; a good neighbour; an old fashioned man and very much , a  well loved man.

We have been able to talk a lot about my dads life over these past few weeks since his death and it has been so therapuetic to do this. I have learned things about him from my mom and his brother, my uncle Ted, that I didn’t know. Things that have made me smile and cry, sometimes at the same time!

No one could have had a better dad in my eyes. I love him still and thank God that he allowed me to be his son.

I know. I know!! I don’t blog often enough but I really do want to.

I am now going to try to regularly keep it up to date……hopefully!!

I am off to Nigeria this coming Sunday and will try to keep this Blog up to date for that trip. I am reliably informed that there is at least  one internet cafe that will be within reach while we are there.

The trip is all about setting up the Dream Project-Nigeria 2007. This is an amazing project that is based on a dream that God gave to my good friend Brian Pullinger during one of his regular trips to Jos in Nigeria. Very soon there will be a website www.dreamprojectnigeria.org so keep checking back to see it develop.

Anyway, I’m off for now but please visit the blog from Sunday to see how we are getting on…..if you want to.

See you soon

Stuart