Dear Friends and Family: While we have only been back to Nigeria for a couple of months, we are thankful to God for many things. We're thankful for our safe arrival, our subsequent safe journeys to and from Abuja and Mubi, and for the normally peaceful pace of life in Northern Nigeria. God has been good to us—and we so aware of that every day! We will talk about that more in this letter.
The Church of the Brethren in Nigeria (EYN– Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria) continues to grow and, as one might expect, wrestles with the demands placed on it by this rapid growth. As Interim Mission Coordinators for the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, we look forward to opportunities to be in consultation and partnership with EYN in addressing some of these challenges over this year. We have agreed to serve in this capacity until next June, while Global Mission Partnerships continues to search for permanent replacements for John and Janet Tubbs, who have now returned to the United States. In addition to ourselves, the team here now includes: Patty Crumley teaching music at Hillcrest School in Jos; John Crumley teaching Bible at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN) in Bukuru; Callie Surber at the Secondary School; Nancy Steedle in the Women’s Development Center, both at EYN Headquarters near Mubi; Gerald and Eleanor Roller in health ministries at Garkida; and by February, Lyall and Vivian Sherred return to teach at Kulp Bible College in Mubi. We returned to the United States last November after completing a statistical survey of the EYN church. On returning to Nigeria, we are again struck by some of the major differences between our societies. Let us mention a few. *Hunger is all around us. Example (1) EYN single students at TCNN are given a "feeding allowance" from EYN of N300 per month. That's about $2.50 US. There is no farmland around TCNN, so they also can't grow their own food. Subsistence level feeding requires about 1700 per month, or about $12US. So…many of these seminary students truly suffer, just to get their education. But, like the church in America, the EYN simply doesn't have the budget to do more. Example (2) When we go to our favorite "grocery store," called "Front Line,” we are always met by young Muslim boys with empty bowls. They have been sent to Jos by their families to go to Muslim Koranic school. They are not fed at this school, but are given a bowl and told to go out and beg for their food. We are told that part of this begging money will be taken by the school, and part of the money can be used for their food. The bottom line: many, many of these people go to bed hungry! As we eat our typical three meals a day, we can't help but feel a bit guilty about all that we enjoy, but we also know we can't solve all the hunger problems we see around us. "Give us this day our daily bread…" takes on new significance. *Death is never far away. Example (1) Our Nigerian neighbor just returned from her town of Jalingo, where she went to spend some time with her family. She is a federal government worker posted in Jos, but her husband lives and works in Jalingo, which is about a day's travel away to the Southeast. Her children attend boarding school in various locations around Nigeria. She was gone 10 days. During that time she attended four burials. Her brother-in-law died, plus three other, more distant family members. One man had just been elected to a very important post. She said she cried a bucket of tears. Average life expectancy in Nigeria now is only 47 years, as compared to 62 before the impact of HIV/AIDS struck sub-Saharan Africa. We hear about the deaths of relatives/friends probably twice per week. Since our arrival here in Nigeria, one of our compound workers has lost both a brother and a sister. Example (2) A brand new baby here on our compound died several weeks ago. We are not sure of the cause, but he was congested, and the doctor suggested that it might be carbon monoxide poisoning. We found out after the baby died that the father was bringing fire coals into the house at night to keep the family warm. We did not even think of this because it is usually in the 60's or 70's at night. They are from a very hot area, so they think Jos is cold. Janet held the baby in her arms about two hours before it died, and didn't suspect that anything was seriously wrong. The baby boy did not have a fever, although he was breathing in shallow breaths. Life is precious here, but the forces against it are many, and difficult to overcome. “Deliver us from evil…", too, has more meaning. *Medical facilities are few, and the quality of care is inconsistent. Example (1) The sister-in-law of one of our Nigerian friends had been having seizures. They became so frequent she that she couldn't carry on a normal life. She was supposed to get married at Christmas this year, but the family is assuming that the marriage will not take place because of her illness. The doctors at the University Hospital in Jos said she didn't have epilepsy, but prescribed a drug to stop the seizures. The seizures got worse. The doctors here finally advised her to go to Maiduguri to see a specialist there. He told her to cut her medication in half and her seizures stopped. The specialist told her she could have died if she had continued with the medication at the dosage level earlier prescribed. The cause of her seizures (i.e., to begin with) is still not known. Example (2) Janet was recently experiencing very uncomfortable pain in her upper abdomen. We had traveled to EYN Headquarters for a number of meetings, and were about 300 miles from Jos. It got painful enough that we decided to return to Jos, where we knew she could get treatment. We could have gone to Maiduguri, which is about half the distance, but we wouldn't have had a place to stay, or our travel documents/money, if we needed them in an emergency. So, we returned to Jos on Friday by 4 p.m., after a nine hour trip. Janet went to Evangel Hospital here in Jos, where most of the local missionaries seek help. The doctor wanted to run an EKG and couldn't get in contact with either of the doctors who could run the test. At one point, Janet was told she would need to come back on the following Wednesday, which is the day when EKG's are normally scheduled. The doctor really wanted the test right then because she was afraid Janet may be having a heart problem. The doctor finally told her to come back in Saturday morning, when someone would be in. When Janet returned on Saturday morning, the person could not be located. Finally, an expatriate missionary doctor supervising the resident doctors learned of the situation, came in himself, and ran the EKG, (even though he thought it was not needed, after reviewing Janet's symptoms). He is now following up on her treatment, but doesn't want Janet to travel for the time being. As we write, Janet is feeling much better.
Perhaps you wonder why we are telling you all of these stories. The answer is that we wanted to share something of what life is like for your staff in Nigeria, and that living here can highlight how very blessed we are! Christ is surely at work throughout his world, but one wonders at how we could be so blessed where most of us live! As we see how our Nigerian friends deal with the harsh realities of life in Africa, and we see how they come together to celebrate on Sunday mornings, we have to marvel at how God is working in each one of them! One of our Nigerian friends who is studying the history of church growth in Africa observed recently that the African church is like a very big lake - a mile wide, but only inches deep! Her point was that the church in the USA shouldn't be so concerned about how wide our lake is (it keeps shrinking) because she believes that our lake is very deep. We would ask of you - Is it really deep? Have we forgotten what our ancestors endured as they tempered the strength of their convictions — and their belief in the redeeming and sustaining power of Christ—during the great migrations to America in search of religious freedom? Surely, our forebearers' lake was deep! We suspect that the Christian Church in Nigeria may be far deeper than they give themselves credit for! Attending a worship service in Nigeria, while frequently much longer than we Westerners prefer (it can last several hours), is often an uplifting experience. Personal Thanksgivings for just being there can be easily seen and felt. There are surely many Christians here in Nigeria who hunger for a fuller understanding of the word of God, but who haven't had the opportunity to study and think through what it means to be a Christian. Many don't have access to Christian books - and many can't read them if they do. Hence, some would say their lake isn't very deep. They experience Christianity more on a Sunday by Sunday basis where it is a worshipful experience, but also daily as an integral part of the social fabric of their lives. Many of their life activities center around church meetings and church groups during the week. A typical EYN member may be at church several days each week. All of which leads us to ask — How deep is our lake? Yours In Christ,
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