“What does that light mean?” Gideon asked. We were 2 hours away from Akure and making good time when the warning light came on. “The steering is very hard!” And in short order, the ancient Mercedes began to overheat. Both Don Mountan and I quickly advised him to pull over since we’d obviously lost a belt of some sort. Checking under the bonnet (the hood to us Americans), our suspicion was confirmed. The tightening pulley had broken and the belt had fallen off. We appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. “Lord,” I prayed, “send us someone who knows how to fix this!” I had no sooner spoken than 2 men ran up to check on us. It turned out that they were mechanics and their roadside “repair shop” was less than 100 meters down the road from where we had pulled off! Using only a couple of hand tools and a dilapidated welder, they pulled the radiator and the broken pulley, welded the broken piece back together, reinstalled everything and put the belt back on. All of this in less than 90 minutes and for a total cost of 4,000 Niara (@$50). God is good.
It seems that ministry in Nigeria is full of “excitement” like this: nothing seems to work quite right. The electricity randomly shuts down throughout the day; old cars break down regularly; traffic is unpredictable. For Nigerians, such things are normal – they have learned to live with a high degree of chaos. We Americans, on the other hand, are used to being in control of our time, our possessions, our lives. This illusion of control (and it IS an illusion!) creates our zone of comfort. But much of that illusion is stripped away in a place like Nigeria, forcing us to face the question of what is truly important. Are we willing to give up a measure of comfort for the sake of ministry?
I flew into Lagos last Saturday evening, breezed through customs and then came to a screeching halt as I waited and hour and a half for my bags to appear. I had a few anxious moments during that time since I was carrying all the books and copies for the two Bible courses being taught at the opening of the Antioch Graduate College of Theology. Thank the Lord, all three suitcases made it through! Don Mountan flew in from Uganda while I was staring at the luggage carousel, and Gideon found us without any problem. So far, so good. But our usual (less-expensive) hotel was closed, so we paid $100/room at another hotel. Even that was cheap, for Lagos!
Arriving in Akure the following evening (after the adventure with the car repair), Don and I settled in and prepared to begin our classes on Monday. As you would expect with any new venture, there were a million details to handle and almost as many questions to answer. Feeling our way along, we were confronted with the significant differences between American and Nigerian educational expectations and requirements, as well as the amount of time required to earn a degree from AGCT. Along the way, we tried to set out a vision of AGCT as the preparatory school for the leaders of an African Reformation. The students caught that vision and, even with the rigor of the academic requirements, most signed up to enter the degree program. At the end of the day, we had over 30 students and some 15 additional people who wanted to audit the classes.
The teaching went very well. Don divided his class into study groups and each group taught a portion of the material on the Doctrine of Christ. And in my class on Biblical Interpretation and Preaching, they learned the rules for properly handling the Scripture. Although I lectured through the material, the examples I gave provoked huge amounts of discussion – and often laughter – as they realized they have been misinterpreting certain passages. I’m so excited about this class, because it has the potential to change the ministries of these preachers and teachers and, through their more accurate teaching of the Word, to significantly impact the lives of those who hear them.
We finished up our teaching on Friday afternoon, and Don and I held a very exciting meeting that evening at dinner. A dozen Nigerian businesspeople from Akure met with us to hear Don present the new ELI business-as-ministry program, ELI Infusion. They were thrilled with the program and wanted to know how soon it could begin. This program has a huge potential to support and equip leaders while leading to the transformation of their culture.
Saturday morning, we left Akure on the drive to Lagos. Once again, the car broke down – several times! By God’s grace, we were able to call a mechanic from Akure to fix it the first time. When it happened again, Gideon called him and he told Gideon how to repair the problem. From that point on, we rattled (literally – the tires were out of balance) our way into Lagos. Between the breakdowns and the heavy traffic backups, it made for a long day. But we arrived safely and I’m ready to move on to Ghana next week.
Thanks for your prayers!
Dan.
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