Pancakes with Nutella gave us the energy to start another week at the Clinc. Pastor Ben opened the day with devotions about God’s bride, every person, being torn between the World and God. He decided to give a visual illustration and asked a man in the front to stand up and represent people. Ben became the World and Uncle Thomas got to represent God (of course! This man is so full of love) and the bride had to stand in-between. Ben spoke about the things that we desire and where we normally turn to get those desires fulfilled: Love, a sense of Purpose, Wisdom, Joy. In the end the bride must realize that their God is the one who is the source of all these things. It was a very good message and, while we were all processing what we had just heard, Thomas made it all make sense by taking the man’s hand in his and proclaiming loudly “He is my wife!” Thank God for starting off a Monday laughing hysterically.
I had the joy of spending another morning with my friends in the pharmacy counting pills, organizing, emptying boxes, and giving encouragement to Peju after yelling to an unhappy customer. There is something very fun about working this job; back home I would never be allowed to step foot inside a pharmacy until I at least knew what B6 was used for (...Isaiah told me, but I forgot).
Adrie and I arrived at lunch just in time for a huge downpour to appear outside. The rain has become more sporadic as we move from the Jos rainy season into the time of Sahara winds. Jon wasn’t so fortunate and walked through the door completely soaked and muddy. We enjoyed our food for a little longer than usual but realized the rain was not letting up. As a Nigerian you learn that anything must wait until the rain lets up a bit so Adrie and I headed upstairs to read until we could make it back without wading across the river/street. Once the water turned from cascades to a mere sprinkle we headed back to Faith Alive. Forty-five minutes later than normal days but no one batted an eyelash. It made me think of my job and that if we are five minutes late the whole team must come earlier. I’m glad that rule doesn’t exist here!
The rest of the work day was a little off and we headed back home early since a thunderstorm was moving in. Back at the flat we enjoyed our nightly meal and table discussion and Biana headed off to bed early. Adrie started up a conversation with Kristen in the kitchen and Jon and I lounged in the living room bouncing ideas off each other. Jon and I have realized that we share many things in common (including a distaste of musicals and admiration of Shane Claiborne) so we started talking about, well, God. What is the American Church missing? What makes the Nigerian Church so focused on sin? Why do we always want to know what’s next in God’s plan for us? What does peace really look like? How am I being an example of Christ? It was wonderful. A couple of hours later we were trying our best to keep our eyes open so we agreed to call it a night.
“You know what,” Jon said at one point in our conversation, “I want to live like every day is a new part of a great adventure.” Amen brother.
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