Be Praying for Nate and Jacob!

[Administrator]

Nate Watkins and Jacob Coggins are going to Ethiopia for several months to do missions work and develop Ethiopian soccer connections. This is a great way to reach tons of people that would otherwise never listen to what they have to say. Nate and some of the other Eagles have gone over there in the past, and it's been a wonderful experience for them.

Nate and Jacob are leaving November 12th and they will be gone (I think) until sometime in April. I know they could use some prayers! Please be praying that God will use them to reach people with the Gospel and that they will have a happy and healthy trip (and maybe some good soccer games too)! Thanks! ;D

[ButlerBob]

Has there been updates on how they are doing?

[GoEagles7]

Yeah, Nate has sent 3 emails to a group list he set up before the trip, but I don't think he would mind my sharing them with you. I just tried to post them, but to put all of them in one post made it too long, so I'll have to post them separately.

The first one came on Nov. 15:

Tenestaline(hello)!!

Well we made it safely to Addis last nite after 31 hours of travel!! whew! jacob and i had a great time together, especially when he dropped Brian Davidson's care package into the toilet at Chicago's airport! sorry Don!
we fished out the book and kind note inside! hahahh! jacob wanted to bring the whole thing, but i layed my foot down on that idea! hahah!

yep, its hot here and dusty and we are both pretty tired today, but the joy of being with all the missionary families out here outweighs those feelings by a ton. we have been having such a great time catching up with the davidsons and johnstons and they are all doing well and send their regards.

jacob and i moved into the guesthouse last nite and mom, we are definitely living the high life over here compared to the dollar house! hahah! we haven't seen one roach yet!

here are some prayer requests:
~joanna davidson is doing very well now, praise God!
~we are meeting tomorrow to discuss where jacob and i can best serve while in addis and in the upcoming months, so please pray for wisdom.
~we will be spending much time with danny, leti, risto, aki, and other street youth in addis, so please pray for our time of discipleship with them!

i got to run, but i love all you guys and really covet your prayers. i am truly understanding the power of prayer and please continue to lift us and all the missionaries over here up in prayer. pray that we will not wilt in the tough environment and tough conditions. just driving and walking the streets we see so much need and it tears us apart.

well, i hope you all are doing well and enjoying the gift of life that God has given us!

nate the ferenge(white person)

[GoEagles7]

The second one came on Nov. 27:

denah nachu(how are you all?)?

well things here are going great! and thank you to all who give me updates from the homefront, i really enjoy hearing about what is goign on!

things have really been falling into place concerning our work over here:
1. it looks as though we(jaime and i) will be flying out this sunday for a town called jigjiga(look on the map, east of addis by about 15 hour drive). we will be there for probably 2 weeks supporting a family that is working out there. they are an awesome family that has many different opportunities for service out there in the mainly somali people group. we will be helpping them continue their sports programs. they have many young people as well as young adults that are involved in their programs. it should be great and many hyenas and camels!! please pray for that trip.

2. well the decision has been made concerning which soccer team we will become involved with. instead of st. george, we are going to be with a team that berhanu and brian have some very good relationships with. the team's name is Birhan Selam and they just got promoted to the premier division, the top division in ethiopia. they are coached by the former coffee soccer team(one of the top in ethiopia) coach. i have met this man a few times and so it will be good to be with him again. the wonderful thing about this situation is that berhanu is very close with both the head coach and assistant coach. as well, he actually led the sports doctor of the team to the Lord a few years ago! so this is a great fit. praise God for His direction.
jake will be staying in addis and begin training with the team next week while i am away in jigjiga. this is due to the fact that i am not ready yet to play, and there is much need in jigjiga right now. pray for jake as he begins to build friendships with the team and coaches! and that he will score tons of goals! hahah! he will be joining us in jigjiga for the last week of our trip there probably.
oh, by the way...when berhanu and brian met with the coach, they told him that jake is a forward, and that i am a forward as well! wahoo! so, just call me the ethiopian ronaldo! hahah!
3. concerning my recovery: i have been running the past 6 days and have been struggling a bit. my groin is still somewhat painful, but it seems as though it is getting much stronger. also, my lungs are burning due to being 8,000 ft. altitude! whew! please continue to join with me in prayer for a speedy and full recovery from surgery.

estate boys: i miss you guys so much! did you watch the champions league game yesterday? we did. crammed into a 15ft by 40ft metal shack with 50 ethiopians and us watching a 19 inch tv at 10;30pm kickoff! it was classic! talk about chlostraphobic(sp?). hot, smokey, smelly(that was jake!). how is mississippi?
yt: see you soon according to bd! hahah!
jeremy: how is the black beauty civic doing in the atlanta traffic?
joel: i think you should bring paintball ministries over here!
eagles office staff: i miss working with you guys! arggg! please keep graham and mark sloppy in line for me! hahah! sloppy, i'll be talking more with bd concerning march. please give me any updates.
roni and pinchy: pish, thanks so much for the card you gave me before i left. i read that often and find great encouragement by it. and oh yeah, the djibouti count is up to at least 60 now!! AND i got a djibouti t-shirt! hahaha! i think about you guys often.
kookie and family: there was a major fight over the candy you guys sent! ahhaha! missionaries fight dirty over chocolate! hhhah! thanks for all that stuff, especially the balance bars have been huge! i got to find some more over here somehow! thanks again.

well, i could write a ton more, but the cafe clock is ticking! hopefully next time i can write about a typical day in our lives in ethiopia(great idea pa and ma!)

continue loving our Lord with ALL your heart! i love you all,

nate

[GoEagles7]

The last one came just today (Dec. 2):

Tenestaline!

Well, i'm sitting here at a different internet bait(house) cafe and the computers move much quicker! wahooo! hahah!

I hope you all are doing well and that you had a great Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal last Saturday at Brian Davidson's house. Brian, Tripp, and Jimmy Cox stayed up from 2:30 am Saturday morning to grill a pig for us! It was an experience for sure to see it cut in half and pulling the meat straight off the body.

Well, I wanted to write today because I am unsure of when I will be able to email again in the next few weeks. Jaime and I are flying out on Weds. morning for Jigjiga, and it sounds like there is no internet hookups there. I will be there until the 21st of December, Jaime will be there for about 10 days, and Jacob will join me around the 15th in Jigjiga. Jake is actually driving with some guys to Jigjiga(15 hour drive) which should produce some hilarious stories!

Here are some prayer requests and updates:

1. We will be doing soccer and basketball clinics and tournaments in Jigjiga, along with helping with an English class for the Somali people. Pray that the Lord will use us during this time and that we will be an encouragement to the family out there.

2. We have been regularly visiting an orphanage for children with AIDS here in Addis. These kids are so cute! They love to kick the ball around, swing on the swings(one of my favourite things to do!), arm wrestle(yeah!), and sing songs. It is such a great time going there, but so difficult seeing many of them in the late stages of AIDS. Pray for these kids, especially that they will come to know Jesus in a personal way!

3. The past few weeks we have gotten involved in coaching a few kids teams(2 boys teams and 1 girls team) here in Addis. An awesome, Christian guy named Wagayo lives in this neighborhood with tons of kids and he is the one that started these teams. This past Saturday, we had a great practice with the kids(about 12-13 years old), and we had our first character study during practice. I was able to share about my life and the struggles that i went through as a teenager with alcohol. The kids listened so intently! The majority of the kids are not Christian, so this was a great opportunity to share with them. Wagayo then followed up my talk by reiterating to the kids that we have come here to ethiopia because we love them. Please pray for these kids and for Wagayo as he has a wonderful ministry going on with this neighborhood!

4. Please continue to join me in prayer for a full, speedy recovery from surgery. Every day I feel even better, but still a bit away from being back 100%.

Well, a few of you have asked that I send you all my address again, so here it is: (by the way, Jacob has already received 2 packages!! ideas for stuff to send: balance bars, power bars, ankle socks(jake steals mine!), pictures from you all, and a cup of hot fat...just kidding)

SIM
Attn: Nathan Watkins
P.O.Box 127
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Be sure to send by AIR MAIL, or it will take forever to get here!

Thank you to each of you who have emailed me! It really is exciting to get your emails and hear about what is going on back home! So, thank you!

May you know God even more today,

Nathan Watkins

[soccergirl91507]

Is there anyway to get Nate and Jacob's e-mail addresses?

[Administrator]

Um...I don't think I should give their email addresses out without asking them first (I don't even have Jacob's!). Sorry! I'll keep on posting Nate's updates here though!