A letter from the Tubbses
Mission Coordinators in Nigeria
c/o PO Box 626
Jos, Plateau State
Nigeria

FROM ONE SIDE OF EYN TO THE OTHER

Our new job as Mission Coordinators for Church of the Brethren in Nigeria takes us from one side of EYN to the other. Our first assignment was to travel to Kano with Elke Hiller, a German missionary with YMCA. Our mission was to pick up Dr. Martin Hirt, a German pharmacist, who would lead a Natural Medicine workshop in Garkida.

We went to Kano a day early so we could make an official visit as mission coordinators to the Kano church and to worship with them. This Sunday they were observing Full Love Feast. So we had the opportunity to introduce Elke to the Brethren Love Feast. She was watching very curiously, taking everything in. I (Janet) leaned over to her and told her I was going out with the next row of women to participate in the foot washing. I asked her if she would like to come. She said yes and stood up immediately. I thought maybe she would watch from outside since you couldn't see much of what saw going on through the window from the inside where we were sitting, but she sat right down on the bench and had her feet washed and then got up and put the apron on and washed the ladies' feet that washed hers. It was a real blessing for me. On the way back to the ECWA Guest House she commented on what a nice experience it was for her. There was also an awards ceremony that morning during the worship service, and Pastor Matthew Abdullahi asked John to help pass out awards to church members. What a great day's work in the life of a mission coordinator!

Janet was a participant in the Natural Medicine for the Tropics Workshop. The purpose of the workshop was to teach the people how to make medicine from locally growing plants. It was a great workshop and will be of great benefit to many people. 80% of the workshop was practical. We scouted the area in small groups and identified as many plants as we could that were on a colored chart given us. We had to bring in a sample to be examined by Dr. Hurt for clear identification. It was amazing what we found growing right under our feet and noses. We learned to treat stomach worms with the papaya plant. We made a tea out of lemon grass to reduce a fever. We used the leaves of the Cassia Occidentlis bush to make a drink for constipation. We made a nice baby oil out of lemon grass and lemon and orange tree leaves boiled and strained and added to ground nut oil. All the mothers loved that one! We also found some plants that you stay completely clear of. Big pharmacies do make medicine out of them, but they are too dangerous to use by us local yokels.

Another great thing about lemon grass is that mosquitoes HATE it. So I have planted lemon grass all around the two-flat house on the hill at Boulder Hill and all around the big house at the bottom of the hill that we now live in. I have had some people already come by to inquire about cutting some as soon as it gets a good stand. You are not supposed to cut it for one year.

During February I (John) was asked to be the main speaker at the EYN Pastors Annual Conference. I thought I was going to preach 10 times (advice from more than a few people and I was never sent a program), but when I got there I found out that I was preaching during the evening worship services only. Needless to say I was ready and then some. I preached in English and it was interpreted into Hausa. Hausa being the trade language of Nigeria and is understood by most Nigerians who live in the Northern part of Nigeria. It was a great honor to preach at the Pastor's Annual Conference, but it was a lot of hard work. It is harder to preach when your sermon is being interpreted into another language. I'm not sure why, but I know that I was exhausted every evening after preaching. Because of the rioting in Kaduna and the loss of one of our pastors there along with his church, most of the pastors attending the conference were tense about the situation and it was decided to shorten the conference by two days allowing the pastors to return to their homes. The pastors were afraid that the problem would spread to other parts of Nigeria, and they felt they needed to be home with their families.

The first of January Y2K the lower house on Boulder Hill was turned back for fraternal worker use by EYN. The Church of the Brethren Hostel was on Boulder Hill and our house was originally for COB Hillcrest teachers. We had to do a lot of repairing of the house before we moved in. We painted, did some electrical work, plumbing and carpenter work. It took us a month of work before we could move in. All part of our new role as mission coordinators–taking care of mission property.

A sad part of our job is seeing cherished friends leave. We took Mimi Copp to the airport in Abuja to catch her plane home. Mimi was an excellent co-worker and we miss her greatly.

We have welcomed two new families on the field since the last of January. We have orientation in place for all coming our way now. The Crumleys came the last of January and are filling a COB teaching position at Hillcrest. John Crumley attended the Pastor's Conference with us at KBC in February. Then he got word that his father died March 29 and he flew home for one month. We were here to be support for his family in his absence, part of our new job.

We drove to Kano to pick up the Roller family on May 25 and to our surprise they were not on the plane. There was no electricity in the KLM office at Kano so their computer was down all day. The next morning we found out the Rollers had plane trouble and were delayed in the States and missed their Amsterdam connection. There are only two weekly KLM flights from Amsterdam to Kano so we traveled the four plus hours home and went back again on Sunday to pick them up. After orientation with us we took them to Garkida to serve with the EYN Rural Health Program as a medical consultant. While we were there we were asked by the leaders at EYN headquarters to go the Damboa to look at the results of religious riots there. On the way to Damboa from Mubi we decided to try to save time by going through Chibok. Let me tell you we didn't come back the same way. Instead we went the long way through Maiduguri. The road was really a rough bush road. It was quicker than going by way of Maiduguri, but it still took a long time because of the condition of the road. We also realized that if we had been caught in a heavy rain we might still be there.

The damage to the EYN church at Damboa, Borno State was greater than that in Kaduna. In Kaduna, half of the church's roof was destroyed. The pastorium (parsonage) was not touched. In Damboa the roof was completely destroyed and one wall was knocked down to ground level. The pastorium was burned and only the walls remained. The dollar damage was greater in Kaduna than in Damboa because of the size of the church.

We are thankful to the Emergency Disaster Fund for grants totalling $26,500 to rebuild these two churches and to assist families who also lost homes and property in these riots. We also thank so many who have been praying for the Nigerian church during this difficult time. The support of the US church has been important and meaningful to EYN during this crisis. Please continue to keep the church and its leaders in your prayers.

Let us say again that our work now takes us from one end of EYN to the other. We wish you were here serving with us. There is always a need for workers in Nigeria. So come on over and give us a hand.

Cikin Christ,

John and Janet Tubbs
Mission Coordinators in Nigeria