Robinson Ministry Update – 31st May 2020

Good morning all!

I (Ali) am so grateful that we have a beautiful compound to be locked down on. The flame tree and the frangipani are blooming and the mangos are ripening. In addition we are only locked down in the compound for 3 days a week now (Mon-Wed) and free to leave the compound for essentials the other four days. The number of confirmed cases in our state have increased a fair bit over the last couple of weeks and there have now been deaths, so we are still being cautious and careful when out and about.

Dan finished school a week ago and has been enjoying a more relaxed pace of life. He and the other kids on the compound have been working on fixing up the tree house and have grand plans for how it is going to develop (roofs, dining tables and cushions etc) .

As I (Ali) am sure many of you can relate to, we are facing significant changes to our plans for the summer. Our original plans had us arriving in the UK earlier this week for a two and a half month furlough. Instead we are settling in for the summer here in Nigeria and thinking about how we can use the time well.

The last couple of months have been hard for Tim. The uncertainty over what his role is going to be in the coming few years has been unsettling. He has also been finding working from home more of a challenge than he had expected, especially the energy required to deeply engage in so many audio-only conversations every day. As a result he feels like he is on the edge, or maybe dipping in and out of depression. We had a couple of national holiday days earlier this week and that provided him with an opportunity to rest and reset which has helped greatly but please pray for him and for the rest of us as we try to support him as best we can.

I (Ali) have been having a lot of headaches again over the last week and they are leaving me exhausted and unable to function properly some days. I would love to know what is causing them but in the meantime I am so thankful for our houseguest, Helen, who has been a great help with household jobs, enabling me to rest when I need to and for Tim and Dan who have done some extra cooking on the days when I have been totally wiped out.

If you can take the time to pray for us we would really appreciate it!

Praise

Dan has finished school for the year.
A chance to rest and reset during the national holidays

Prayer

That Tim (and the rest of us!) will know God’s peace and joy as he walks through this hard time
That I (Ali) will trust God through my headaches and that he might take them away.

God bless,
Tim, Ali and Dan Robinson.