Nigeria is very different from the other parts of Africa I have experienced. Nigerians are an aggressive, driven people. You see their aggression in their driving as they cram vehicles into every available space on the roadway and then proceed to honk their horns at everyone who is, or who might even think about being, in their way. It also shows up in their corporate manners when they literally push and shove their way to the front of the line to get their picture taken with the white missionaries, or to get their boarding pass first. Some were still jockeying for position when this photo was taken. Their driven nature explains why every spare yard of roadside seems to be taken up with small shops and why everyone is willing to help you. For, it seems, many Nigerians are driven by the desire for money. I hadn’t even left the airport before I saw several “payoffs” and was actually asked by a group or parking lot security officers for a “contribution” for simply being there. We were often stopped on the road by police who were hoping for some contribution to their retirement fund. One particularly bold policeman stuck his head through the window and asked me, “What did you bring for us policemen?” When I responded, “I bring you the grace of God!” he shook his head woefully at my thick-headedness and waved us on. Obviously, I had not yet caught on to the system.
And yet, there is another side to Nigeria as well. God’s people there are hungry for truth, and they sat for hours absorbing the teaching on Christian Counseling and Biblical Worldview. One lady took off work for an entire week so she could cook our meals for us, and we were never allowed to carry our luggage anywhere – someone always ran up to carry it for us, as a sign of respect. We could always count on being greeted by bows and “You are welcome!” whenever we met a brother or sister in the Lord, and they were genuinely delighted that someone would travel so far at such great sacrifice (so they termed it) to minister to them. What a wonderful open door we have been given to teach God’s people in this country!
I arrived in Lagos on Monday evening, after bidding farewell to Chuck and John on Sunday evening. Sam Oppong and I spent some time on Monday making preliminary plans for my next trip to Ghana in August. Also, that morning, I was privileged to meet Rev. Godfried Bamfo, the Director of Evangelism for the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. I introduced him to EPI and we talked of how we may be able to help teach the ministers in the PCG. This is an excellent contact and has the potential to greatly broaden EPI’s ministry in the country. I landed in Lagos about 8:30 pm and waited at the airport – not knowing who was to pick me up – for almost 45 minutes. Finally, as I wandered about, a security guard came up and said, “Doctor Dan?” He had been tasked by my contact with watching for a white guy who looked lost. So, I met Danny and we left immediately for Sagamu. It was a harrowing drive in the dark with traffic weaving everywhere and huge lorries (trucks) emerging from the darkness, surrounded by clouds of diesel smoke and without any tail lights. Each time one appeared, we would swerve around it and press on at breakneck speed. It seemed much longer than the hour and ½ it actually took. I was thankful to make it to the hotel in Sagamu where we stayed the night, Danny and I sleeping in the same bed.
The next day, after some car repairs, shopping for “official” Nigerian shirts, and a further 3 hour drive, we arrived in Akure where the conference was taking place. The conference had started on Monday and I had missed that day and most of Tuesday. So, I arrived in time to introduce myself and then we returned to the hotel. On Wednesday, we completed the material on Biblical Counseling and Don Mountan presented some material on Biblical Marriage as well. The responses were interesting: many of the leaders (there were 139 officially registered) found the Biblical teaching eye-opening. However, a few reacted negatively to the marriage presentation, claiming that such ideas as “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church” would not work in Nigeria. One even went so far as to state that this view was simply an American perspective, not applicable to a Nigerian context. So, we had to go back and reinforce the authority of the Bible for ALL areas of life and for ALL times and cultures. In the end, the negative reactions were quite profitable because they highlighted for the leaders the serious cultural syncretism that characterizes Christianity in Nigeria. As a result, on Thursday, I spent a number of hours presenting material on a Biblical Worldview – much the same material as we had been teaching in Ghana. I put special stress on the idea of syncretism and spoke of its dangers – something that was very clear from the day before. God blessed the instruction and all of it was used to mature and comfort God’s people there in Akure. We have been invited to return as soon as possible for more leadership training.
Our contact, Dr. Gideon Umukoro, has started an organization called Servant Leadership Institute and our instruction was included under the banner of SLI. Gideon has a passion for training leaders, both for the church and for the nation. He clearly sees that a nation stands or falls on the basis of godly leadership. So, we not only spoke of spiritual issues, we also talked of making contacts for him with those who (like the Chalmers Institute at Covenant) are committed to economic development in the emerging world. Such things as economic initiatives and micro-finance are an integral part of helping our brethren in Africa become financially self-sufficient. These kinds of networking with U.S. organizations will help to make Christians the economic leaders in these developing nations.
We finished up on Thursday and rested on Friday, seeking out an internet café at the Catholic cathedral. However, we were only able to connect (slowly) for 35 minutes before the power went out. On Saturday, we traveled back to Lagos, arriving about 5:00 pm – just in time for a local traffic jam! We settled into the Stopover Hotel for the evening and ate supper there. The prices in Lagos are astounding! Our dinner was nearly $20/person and the room (all three of us in the same one) was $140/night. Yet, this was one of the more reasonable hotels near the airport. Sunday morning, we all went to the airport and John waited for his flight while Don and I flew on to Liberia for our final week in West Africa. More on that in my next update.
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