Day 4: Praise The Lord...Alleluia!

My first Nigerian church experience was an interesting one. We walked a few blocks (if you can call them blocks) to the United Baptist Church where Biana attends. It is a nicer remodeled building that is full of colorful headwraps, noisy babies, and a family of believers that knows how to praise the Lord. The structure of the service was similar to many I had attended back in the States and Biana told me that most Nigerian churches follow the same pattern. They opened with prayer and went straight into singing and dancing, which popped up at some other points during the service, with Hausa praise tunes, traditional Baptist hymns, and some more popular American church service songs. There were multiple times of prayer where the person at the pulpit would lift up to God any and every situation that came to mind. We had to walk forward to deliver our offering at the front of the chapel and visitors were asked to stand and introduce themselves so the congregation could acknowledge them. I was lucky enough to be one of those visitors. The pastor spoke for a good hour-and-a-half about the accounts of Moses leading the people in the wilderness and the importance of moving forward to wherever it is God calls you to go. It resonated well with the three Americans there who are trying their best to live out that reality. What made the service the most interesting though was that before the final prayer and blessing a large thunderhead broke above the city of Jos.

 

            For those who don’t know, Nigerians hate the rain. When it rains in Jos the entire city stops...and for good reason. The heavens opened up and I experienced the most torrential downpour in my short twenty years. It rained so heavy and so fast that the streets became rivers and began washing trash, food, and whatever unlucky items were left outside to an undetermined destination. Because we had walked to church, like almost everyone else in the building, there was nothing else for us to do but sit and wait with the rest of the congregation. Dr. Chris and his family were in the balcony so I got to meet his three young children and talk to his wife Mercy about what life is like back home. They all asked about Brother Norm so I let them have an update on my uncle. After a half-hour or so the rain had let up a little and the flood was starting to disappear so Dr. Chris drove us home. I still think it would have been fun to fight against the current in our skirts and sandals.

 

            Later in the afternoon I was able to go to Support Group at the Clinic, a time where brothers and sisters who have been diagnosed with HIV enjoy communal worship and encourage each other. Again I was asked to come forward, introduce myself, and say a few words. Luckily I do pretty well in front of a large audience of strangers and was glad so many introduced themselves to me later. Biana had to catch up on e-mails and Adrie was sleeping so I enjoyed another first: being the one that everyone is staring at in a room. (And I thought I stuck out in Fresno...) More singing and dancing followed by a short devotional from a guy my age struggling with HIV. There aren’t too many things more sobering in life than hearing a fellow 20-year-old talk about the importance of God as his Father since both of his parents had died from the disease he is carrying. The next few minutes were supposed to be spent going over a little financial information which turned into an hour-long dispute in Hausa and broken English about farming and hiring and fertilizer. Needless to say I was completely lost but found it very interesting to see how these mild-mannered people can turn into shouting lunatics when it comes to any sort of debate.

 

            Another wonderful dinner cooked by Baba and late-night discussion with John and Kristin reminded me how neat living here really is. Tonight’s topic revolved around cleaning habits and personal hygiene. It looks like the next few weeks will be Kristin and Adrie on team “No Need To Fold Your Clothes If You’ll Wear Them Again Soon” against John and Caitlin’s “Please Make Sure To Throw Away Your Nasty Rotting Garbage.” I am so glad they are here!