Thanks be to God

A few people have asked me if I’ve experienced much culture shock since my arrival here in Nigeria. As I’m pretty laid back and seem to take things in stride, my answer to them has been “No.” Yesterday, however, I experienced culture shock—though not in the way you might expect. On our way back from a short traveling excursion (which I will detail later), we stopped at a big mall called Shoprite.  Walking into a mall that was enormous, clean, stocked, lacked odor, was absent of people staring and shouting “Oyibo!” was incredible. It was very nice and very western. The choice of foods to buy in the big grocery store was literally overwhelming to me. The really weird thing was that it seemed to be normal for everyone else walking the aisles.  Of course, three months ago, if I had walked through such a place, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought.  I just couldn’t figure out, given how I was feeling, how these shoppers could consider this mall “normal” AND the radically different world just outside “normal.” I’m still baffled. 

I’m afraid it’s been far too long since I’ve written a blog post and several goings-on of the past couple weeks may have escaped me. But I’ll give it a shot.

The last two weeks have been a huge gift from God.  The previous week, I had struggled quite a bit with the seemingly increasing monotony of life here and lack of meaningful interactions with people.  After discerning these struggles, I began praying every morning that God would grant me a real love for my students and co-workers, a joy in my teaching, and a passion for the mission that God has for me here.  God has been so gracious in granting these desires of my heart.  He has granted me so much joy that I can remain genuinely enthusiastic with my students throughout the day, that I can actually enjoy the moments that caused frustration before, that I feel so much more settled and at peace with the work that God has placed before me.  Praise the Lord.

Last week, I had several conversations with people about the different special needs of a few students in the preschool. There’s a child diagnosed with mild autism, a child with speech difficulties diagnosed as blockage in the ear canal, and a child with undiagnosed disabilities which to me resemble some sort of moderate autism.  Now, obviously these kids don’t have access to special services or accommodations, but the teachers definitely want to see them succeed.  Because of my minimal background knowledge, I was asked to observe the latter child to see what I thought could be done. Such observations and conversations really made me wish I was much more knowledgeable and capable of meeting these needs. They have again stirred my felt need to get further education in some area of disability service.  

I was given another unbelievable gift last week – a visit to a LEGIT coffee shop. Now in order to understand my excitement here, you have to realize that I’ve been primarily subject to Nescafe instant coffee with Peak powdered milk these past months—a drink which has fallen off the backside of the spectrum which contains a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. You also need to understand that this little coffee shop had real, creamy and delicious cheesecake with blueberry topping—a delicacy that I dared not dream of before in Nigeria. I nearly started crying as I sat back in comfort with a Cappuccino in my hand a delightful dessert before me. “Praise His name, Hallelujah, ha ha ha.” 

This weekend has been a five day holiday due to midterm break here at ACA, thus affording us the opportunity to escape the compound for a couple days. Several of us jumped on the opportunity real quick. Katie, Gretchen and I, accompanied by Leah and Hadassah, as well as three lovely Nigerian ladies – Ethel, Blessing, and Goodness—made our way to Lagos (3-4 hrs. away) to spend a couple days at the beach. We stayed at a small resort called Hermitage. 

Though the hotel wasn’t the nicest thing ever, the private beach was SPECTACULAR. I’d never experienced such awesome waves—though the alarming number of jellyfish was a bit perplexing. We so enjoyed viewing the power of God manifested in the night sky filled with more stars than you could count, the raging ocean filled with bright sparks from the jellyfish, the beautiful crescent moon, and the dim lights from the nearby city reflecting into the water.  Sitting on the beach Friday night with a guitar, singing praises to the Creator of this beauty was an awesome and refreshing experience.  In the morning, we rose at six in the morning to view the sun rising over the water and the fisherman beginning to maneuver the waves in their small boats. We attempted to get a ride out into the ocean on one such boat but failed on account of the outrageous price that the Fisherman wanted to charge we seemingly rich and dumb Americans. Not this time buddy.  Anyhow, the beach trip was a wonderful and needed break from work and compound life.

Typical view while driving down the expressway.

The common roadside vendors, walking between, and causing congestion.

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And now onto that which is exciting me most at this very moment. I just came back from a brief planning meeting that has gotten my head reeling with excitement and anticipation. About a month ago, I mentioned to a couple people the idea of having a Luke 14 kind of dinner party here in the compound (following Jesus’ command to invite the poor, the crippled, the blind when you have a feast).  Eventually I talked to most folks in the compound about it and found that most were enthused about the prospect. So, we gathered today to seriously plan it out. It’s going to be awesome. We’re going to invite 60 or so folks nearby that an acquaintance of Karen’s ministers to every two weeks. The group is composed of children that are suffering from chronic pain and life threatening ailments (AIDS, tumors, etc.) along with their mothers.  These folks are very needy, in a lot of pain, and most are Muslim.  So, we’re gonna invite them in to our compound on November 20^th, feed them a delicious Nigerian feast, entertain them with music, games, horse rides, blow-up games, and crafts, and then send them away knowing that Jesus loves them.  I’m pumped out of my mind. How awesome to be able to serve Christ in such a real way—He who claims “Whatever you have done for the least of these, brothers of mine, you have done it unto me.”  If you would join me in prayer as we begin preparations for this “Celebration Feast,” I would so much appreciate it. I’ll definitely keep you updated as the event draws near.

Sharpening through the dull moments...

Life always has it’s dull moments, even in Nigeria.  Thankfully, the dull moments here so far have been balanced well by extraordinary ones.  The daily routine is becoming, well, quite routine. I’m grateful that my routine has a variety of activities and tasks incorporated here in the school. Going from teaching the color Green, to teaching about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, to Cicero’s Canons of Rhetoric is really nice. Time after school can be a drag if I let it be. I fight the feeling of being “trapped” inside the compound, as nice as it is. With the right tools (exercise, prayer, reading, music), it is definitely a winnable battle.

Rainy season continues here, and brings with it many adventures. Last Wednesday, Gretchen, Leah and I (along with little Hadassah), headed out to the South African compound for Bible Study—which, by the way, continues to be a huge blessing and highlight of my week.  Though the skies were clear when we left home, a storm quickly came upon us, and by the time we neared our destination, it was a raging monsoon. With incredibly low visibility, avoiding the ever-present and often enormous pot-holes was nigh impossible. At one point, we fell into a hole so big we thought we had lost our bumper. A three second hop outside (in which I immediately got soaked)proved otherwise, thank God. When we were what should have been 10 minutes away from the compound, we were informed that we could proceed no further because there was a bad accident ahead that would not be moved until the morning (that’s Nigeria for you). It’s now quite dark, still raining cats and dogs, we’ve just ventured 40 minutes in a treacherous storm, we’re a mile from our final destination, and most importantly, we’re three strong determined young women. The obvious solution then was to park the car and take off on foot. So, after wrapping our bibles and freshly made Apple Crisp in plastic bags, we took off.  We neared the accident and saw that a small car had been smashed between two semi-trucks—a mess which would definitely not be dealt with in short order. We were very grateful to find that one of our calls to the SA compound had brought forth a car and driver to pick us up on the other side of the accident. And so, we arrived about an hour late, soaked to the bone, to enjoy a lovely evening. The trip back was almost as eventful as the trip there. After trudging through the rain back to our vehicle, we found the visibility to be just as bad and the water on the road to be up to two feet in places.  We arrived safely back home with no problems, but it had certainly been a night to remember.

Another alarming driving experience occurred on Friday evening on the way back from eating Lebanese we ran into some normal looking traffic. As we neared the heart of the congestion, we saw a man lying in the middle of the road, most likely dead. From the looks of it, he had been riding an Okada (commercial motorcycle) and had been hit. No one was moving the body, potentially because the norm is to wait for the incompetent police to come assess the situation without anything being altered. It was a really disturbing sight though.

Other uniquely Nigerian experiences of the past two weeks include eating Goat’s head (gag me with a spoon please). Every week, the school butchers a goat to prepare a lovely spiced meat called “Suya.” Such a butchering allows some lucky few to enjoy the delicacy of the goat’s head. Basically they take the whole head – eyes, ears, teeth, brain, skin, etc.—chop it all up a bit and cook it with some spices and then serve it. I’m not sure what all my bite contained, but I definitely felt some rough skin, maybe some brain… thought it could’ve been some tongue….hmmm…. Meanwhile, a couple Nigerians were chomping down on everything, periodically removing the teeth or jaw bone from their mouth. Mmmmmm, appetizing, eh?

We ate more Nigerian food this past Friday at a baby naming ceremony for one of the teacher’s daughters. The baby was born about a week ago and the time had arrived to give her a name—which is not simple process here in Nigeria. We arrived at the ceremony to find QUITE the celebration – like a mini-wedding. The naming process involved all of the extended family picking out a name for the child. The parents would then choose one of the given names to actually call the little girl. The names chosen by the extended family were as follows:  Oluwafayotimisola, Oluwafeyisemilaanau, Ileriayooluwa, Mojadesolaoluwa, Arauluwanimi, Motunriyanuoluwa, Oluwateleayomi, Oluwatomikepe, Temidayoninuoluwa, Sarah (Princess), Michelle (who is like the Lord?). Now, which one of those would YOU pick to call your daughter? I’m not sure, but I think they settled on Princess. Good choice Mr. and Mrs. Afolabi.

Teaching has been going quite well. The preschoolers continue to be super cute and draining. Bible Class is rocking my socks off. Not only do I have an awesome time explaining God’s Word to these kids and answering awesome questions, I’m also being challenged to think through how God’s love is manifested in these Old Testament stories. How, for instance, is his love manifested in his banishment of Adam and Eve from the Eden and the Tree of Life? The Jesus Storybook Bible clarified the answer for me: “You see, God knew that if they ate the fruit, they would think they didn’t need him. And they would try to make themselves happy without him. But God knew there was no such thing as happiness without him, and life without him wouldn’t be life at all.”

 Lunch in preschool today provided another clarifying picture on the issue. When it came time to eat, little Nifemi rushed to her bag to grab her fish and spaghetti. Knowing the disaster that would inevitably result, I grabbed the food first and kept it from her, asking her to sit down nicely. She proceeded to pitch a huge fit, apparently not believing that I would actually give her the food and prevent a huge mess while I was at it. So often I am like Nifemi, not trusting that my Provider actually knows what’s best; not trusting that anytime He keeps something appealing away from me, he is doing it for my good. It was so hard for Adam and Eve to believe that God’s withholding the appealing fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was actually for their good. How much harder it must have been—and is even still—to understand that his withholding the Tree of Life from them was also out of his love for them. Am I willing to trust in the love of such a God? Am I willing to believe that his withholding of pleasantries is actually a preventative of the mess that I would inevitably make out of my life without Him?

As you can see, these classes are becoming the catalyst for some awesome discoveries about the character of God and my relationship with Him.  Thank you for your continued prayer. If you want to prayer specifically for a student in one of my bible classes named Hussein, I’d appreciate it. He’s in 6^th grade, with a clear distaste for the Bible and anything Christian. Oh, how I would love to see God’s love soften the heart of this child and bring Him into a right relationship with the Creator.

I will end today by noting that though dull moments do exist, I’m pretty sure God is using each of them combined with the exciting ones to sharpen this piece of garbage which He for some reason loves and enjoys calling “Child.”

Ups and Downs...

     For those of you who recall my experiences at Camp Easter Seals last summer—and for many, a particularly LARGE scene might stick out in your memory—you might think that I’ve become immune to other human’s excrement.  This would be a false assumption. I was not, in fact, pleased today when that cute little Oshojeme peed all over me. And I was even less pleased yesterday when I was privy to not one, not two, but THREE diarrhea explosions in my classroom (and no, none of them were my own, but thanks for asking). If you do the calculations right, within the span of 5 minutes, 1/3 of my class was covered in…fluids. 

     While yesterday was one of the worst days so far in preschool, the day just prior to it provided the greatest moment yet in the department. Little Merlin came dressed in the most beautiful Indian dress; she looked just like a princess.  But looks can be deceiving, we found out during snack. Upon being asked to sit and eat, Merlin scowled and flipped over her chair. Being the disciplinarian that I am, I quickly grabbed her up and took her up to the Time Out Chair which sits up some stairs on a little deck in the classroom.  Merlin immediately began sobbing and crying out—in her very strong Indian accent—“Merlin be good, Merlin be good.” After a few minutes of this, I asked if she was ready to come eat her food nicely, to which she replied, “Merlin be good, Merlin eat, Merlin sit.” I walked slowly over to the stairs and motioned for her to come down.  She took a couple steps down, then spread out her arms, and in the most dramatic, princess like way imaginable, she free-fell down the equivalent of four steps where luckily my fast-like-lightening reflexes allowed me to catch her. I TRIED to give her the serious talk about her wrong actions, but was so overcome with laughter that I could barely ask for an apology.  I’m not really sure if she learned her lesson or not… 

     The preceding Friday was QUITE an interesting day as well, mostly due to the unexpected announcement that Barney (Yes, that big Purple Dinosaur) was going to make an appearance at the academy as part of his Welcoming Celebration in Ibadan. An emergency assembly was called for his supposed arrival at 12:30. Knowing that he would probably be a few minutes late, Karen asked me to lead a few songs for the 120+ 2-13 year olds.  The “few songs” turned into at least 30 min. of entertainment as we waited for the Dinosaur. To make a long story short, we ended up waiting for three hours for that purple guy, trying to keep kids under control and entertained, trying to explain to parents why their kids weren’t quite ready to go home. When he finally arrived he spent literally only two minutes with our kids, just enough time to let their video crew get some footage for their evening announcement. Biggest disaster of my life. Barney takes far too much liberty in his song when he supposes that “You love me.” ‘Tis not the case at American Christian Academy, sir. 

     On a brighter note, Bible classes have gone quite well this week.  We discussed the Garden of Eden and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I mentioned in my last post that my perspective on sin and God’s love has been shifting and, I hope, becoming clearer. It’s really interesting to see how my teaching of Genesis is being affected by God’s work in my own heart. I am so thankful everyday for this opportunity to share the knowledge of a Good God with these students.   

     Other events of the past week include a FANTASTIC choir concert at a local church. They had a lovely mix of hymns, contemporary praise music, traditional Yoraba (a large Nigerian people group) music, and the most lovely rendition of some Handel’s Messiah. Very well done.

     In my goings to and fro’ this past week I have been almost continually aware of the folks with disability on the streets, and it’s been doing a work on my heart. One scene nearly brought me to tears yesterday. On the way to Bible Study we drove through a busy part of town with slow, slow moving traffic. In the median there was a man speaking/chanting into a megaphone. Leaning over onto this man’s lap was a young lady with her shirt raised to expose her badly deformed hunchback. As he blasted over her with his megaphone, a couple of  people circulated in the traffic collecting money supposedly to help the young lady. The whole thing broke my heart. Anyway, scenes like these may or may not have triggered some thoughts regarding long term life plans.  I pray that God would use my time and experiences here to provide direction for my future that I might serve him with my utmost.

Also, I’ve been here for over a month now, which is CRAZY.