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Category: Africa Stories

#alt=The Trouble with Food, debbiejoneswarren.com
The Trouble with Food

The Trouble with Food

Comments 20 comments

The bright morning sun streamed through the classroom windows at the boarding school for missionaries’ children in central Nigeria. Twenty of us second-graders stared intently at the teacher while she explained the arithmetic problem on the blackboard. My tummy rumbled loudly. The stout, gray-haired woman turned, holding her piece of white chalk in midair. “Whose stomach was that?” The kids around me giggled and pointed my way. “Debbie, didn’t you eat your breakfast?” “Well, yes. But I didn’t eat much.”…

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#alt=Hello from the Warren Family, debbiejoneswarren.com
Hello from the Warren Family

Hello from the Warren Family

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We hope you and your loved ones had a good year in 2021 and were able to renew many of your “normal” activities. Though we’ve adapted to the changes brought on by Covid, most of us continue to have challenges of one sort or another. Please let me know how I can be praying for you. While reading my stories and devotions, have you ever wondered who I am and what I do? Well, a big part of my life…

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#alt=Lost in the Crowd, debbiejoneswarren.com
Lost in the Crowd

Lost in the Crowd

Comments 10 comments

A heartfelt “Welcome” to my many new subscribers! During the past month, the 500th person signed up for my blog. I sincerely appreciate each and every one of you. Your companionship on this journey encourages me to keep writing. In November, my short story, “Lost in the Crowd,” was published in the Inspire Community anthology. As a thank you to Diane S., my 500th subscriber, I’m sending a free copy of this collection of inspiring stories by fifteen authors. For…

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#alt=Change Table Day, debbiejoneswarren.com
Change Table Day

Change Table Day

Comments 27 comments

The noon siren wailed, telling us it was lunchtime at Kent Academy, the boarding school for missionary’s children in central Nigeria. “I’ve been waiting for hours to eat,” I said to the other first-grade girl next to me as I closed my desk drawer. “I’m starving.” She crinkled her eyebrows. “Are we having something good for lunch?” I shrugged. “The food here tastes weird to me, and I really miss my mom and dad. No matter how hungry I get,…

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#alt=I'm a Hidden Immigrant, debbiejoneswarren.com
Surprise! I’m a Hidden Immigrant

Surprise! I’m a Hidden Immigrant

Comments 13 comments

Here’s the link to a podcast in which I’m interviewed by a writer friend, Mabel Ninan https://player.lightcast.com/0AjM5kjN Below is the story behind this interview! In April 1963, my husband and his family immigrated to California from Scotland when he was five years old. In the first few months of kindergarten, kids often pushed or punched him just to get him to speak. Then they laughed at his funny accent. By Christmas, the shy, little boy had taught himself to speak…

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#alt=Where Can I Find Satisfaction, debbiejoneswarren.com
Where Can I Find Satisfaction?

Where Can I Find Satisfaction?

Comments 18 comments

While living in a boarding school for ten years as a child and youth, I developed many necessary coping mechanisms. They got me through hours of loneliness, confusion, and grief. With the threat of a bad report card being sent home to my parents at the end of each term, I was motivated to measure up in my classes. At Kent Academy, I also got a Dorm Report Card covering my attitudes and actions throughout the day. Each week I…

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#alt=A Salty Tale, debbiejoneswarren.com
A Salty Tale

A Salty Tale

Comments 16 comments

“Soup again?” My stomach sank to my toes. We had soup every Saturday at Kent Academy (K.A.), the boarding school for missionary children in Nigeria. Just a thin broth with a few pieces of chicken, soft slithery onion bits, rice, and parsley. But not much flavor. “I love this soup with chicken and rice.” My tablemate swallowed a big spoonful. “Not me. I wish there were noodles. The green flecks taste yucky.” I stirred them around. “My mom puts that…

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#alt=I Know How it Will End Part 2, debbiejoneswarren.com
I Know How it Will End, Part Two

I Know How it Will End, Part Two

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Dear Friends, I realized the last devotion I published on my blog had no reference to my childhood in Nigeria. So, I rewrote it. Mainly I wanted to post something—anything—on this day, August 12, 2021, my 62nd birthday! Let me know what you think of the additions. Warmly, Debbie At a yard sale this summer, I bought a Bible for young children for fifty cents. What a bargain! When I flipped through the heavy cardboard pages depicting thirteen short stories…

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#alt=I Know How it Will End, debbiejoneswarren.com
I Know How It Will End

I Know How It Will End

Comments 16 comments

Hello, Friends, I’d like to give a warm welcome to my new subscribers. It’s great to have you on the journey with me! I hope you enjoy the stories about my life in Nigeria. Please feel free to respond to my posts directly on the website. Or, you can email me privately and let me know how you’re doing. This month, it’s taking a little longer to write my next childhood story. In the meantime I’ve written a short devotion…

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#alt=Graduation Gift, debbiejoneswarren.com
Graduation Gift

Graduation Gift

Comments 12 comments

In my last semester as a Business Major at Fresno State, I dreamed of having my parents fly home for graduation. But they weren’t due from Nigeria for a furlough for another year. The gals in my Bible study group said they’d pray, but could God really help? Did He even care?