Give Me The Heart of a Servant

One impression I have of life in Nigeria is that it takes a lot of work and a tremendous amount of effort just to do life here. It seems to take all day to prepare a simple meal of soup. You must go to the market, collect the firewood, prepare the various ingredients, which could include chopping, peeling, pounding, boiling, and steaming – before the soup is ready to eat. Yes – life is hard. However, remarkably, people in Nigeria do not complain. When things are difficult they seem to simply roll with the punches and look for a better opportunity to arrive.

I described some of our work from our arrival through Monday in my last blog so I will try and bring you up to date. Getting an internet connection is not easy so I have not even tried to write for a few days.

On Tuesday we stayed at Susana Homes and I taught the secondary students two sessions on worship and music. They sing exceptionally well and always do so with great enthusiasm. It was a special joy to teach them several new songs and to hear them sing those new songs with such devotion.

On Wednesday we loaded up our team and headed to Port Harcourt to spend the afternoon with the church at Ameka. This church of about sixty hosted an area-wide gathering and invited me to share my sessions on music and worship. After our sessions, these wonderful people fed us a fabulous traditional meal.

Port Harcourt Training Session

Ken, Victoria, Kendra and Peace

We loaded back on the van and fought the traffic and dodged pedestrians and navigated our way back home. (I have decided that the streets in Nigeria adhere to the principle – no lines, no waiting. Every driver seems to make his own lane and seems to have perfected the technique of “edging” into whatever spot he thinks will get him through the jam faster. Horns blow constantly, The mirrors of vehicles brush daringly close to one another. And, pedestrians seem to dart in and out among the cars and buses and trucks and three-wheeled taxis – amazingly never getting run over.

Nigerian Christian Bible College

Thursday presented me with a tremendous blessing. I had always wanted to visit Nigerian Christian Bible College (NCBC) since my older sister, Joan, and her husband, Bob Dixon, and their family had moved there in 1965 to serve as missionaries. I was just 13 or 14 when they went and I was fascinated by the aerogram letters my older sister would write home describing in great detail what life was like in Nigeria. After having to flee Nigeria when civil war broke out in 1966, The Dixons moved to Cameroon to complete their mission term. Then, after raising their children, Bob and Joan, moved back to NCBC in the 1990’s and lived and worked there for ten years before coming home. My sister was the first person I ever knew personally who willingly sacrificed the comforts of home and family and country to share the love of Christ with people of a very different culture. She always inspired me and I just wanted to walk in the footsteps of that inspiration. So, early on Thursday, our group set out on the school bus for NCBC. What might have been a 45 minute drive on good roads was a three-hour trip down into and back up out of pot holes – some that had to be six feet deep. Our tour guides for the trip were two former students of Bob and Joan – M.C. and Friday.

Our NCBC Tour Guides - M.C. and Friday

We arrived at NCBC as the students were having chapel and we were invited to join them where I was asked to share a lesson.

Chapel at NCBC

Samuel Dan

Then, after group pictures we took a tour of the campus and I even got to see the house where Bob and Joan lived. I also saw the brushy area where, while cutting weeds one day, they came upon a highly poisonous,10 ft long, Black Mamba snake. And – more than that I met people who loved them – people like Samuel Dan, who put his arm around me and said, “Bob is my father.”

The Dixon's Front Door

Staff and Students at NCBC

We left NCBC and drove to Nigerian Christian Hospital – NCH - where more of my heroes, Dr. Henry and Grace Farrar, had lived and worked. As a teen I heard stories of Nigerian Christian Hospital and even dreamed of being a medical missionary because of those stories. It was such a blessing to walk the porches and meet the staff – some of who have worked there for as much as 25 years – and to see the outstanding work still being done there today. We met a little baby girl born just the day before and I shook the hand and grieved with a mother who had just lost her baby.

Entrance to Nigerian Christian Hospital

NCH

Our Canadian Nurse - Wanda Spiers

Beautiful Baby Girl - Just One Day Old

After seeing the hospital we trudged down a sandy road behind the hospital - about a quarter-mile - to see a school of excellence begun by Annette Whitaker. It was wonderful to see children so smart and dedicated and polite, and to meet the staff of the school. Brother Friday’s daughter, Cherry, is a student at the school, so of course, we got to meet her.

With Cherry and Friday Adima

 On our way home we had another unique experience – stopping for a meal at Crunchie’s Chicken – where no matter what we ordered we all got the very spicy “peppered chicken.”

Crunchies Reminds One of KFC

Today has begun a two-day conference for women at Susana Homes. This annual conference draws women from all over Nigeria. And, the ladies on our team have done an outstanding job. Wanda, Sondra, Sarah and Kendra have been all dressed up in their beautiful Nigerian outfits and have all been enjoying the sessions.

Ready for the Lectureship - Thanks to Praise - Our Head-Wrap Expert

Kendra taught a class of young women and, according to some of the attendees I have spoken with, did an outstanding job. Wanda (our nurse) had to step in an fill the time slot planned for a doctor to speak when she had an emergency and could not get here today. She did a great job with her session and had numerous questions and has been in the clinic treating sick or hurt women and children all day.  I have also heard of the outstanding job Sarah Oats did talking to about 50 elders and preacher’s wives about servant-hood. She even did a Q and A session afterward that was quite lively. Even now as I sit in my Susana Homes quarters trying to get a decent internet connection, I can hear Kendra Smith teaching the song “Give Me the Heart of a Servant” – the theme of this Lectureship - to about 200 women in a late-night session. I wish I could let you listen in!

We only have four more sleeps at Susana Homes. 

Thanks for sharing our journey in prayer and interest!

We love these people! We have never felt so honored and blessed!

Because of the cross,

Uncle Ken, For the Right Steps Mission Team