Kris' Reflections

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Well, we had a first in Nigeria – room service! No kidding. Each guest left their order with the reception desk the evening before, and breakfasts began arriving the following morning. We departed promptly at 9:00 a.m. for Nyanya Congregation where the Women’s Fellowship Group greeted us with song and dance.

From Nyanya, we drove a short distance to the Government Secondary School in Abuja where we spent time with Principal Hassana Nuhu followed by a visit to many of the classrooms, where the students all stood as we entered and enthusiastically answered our questions. The highlight of this visit was probably the five young women who were dressed in native costume and performed a unique tribal dance for the group accompanied by drums and instruments played by other students.

We returned to Nyana where Carolyn from Light of Christ, their partner congregation, presented Pr. Jediton and Chairman Jamieson with a beautiful worship banner that had been sewn by Light of Christ, along with other gifts. In return, LCCN Nyanya presented Carolyn with a beautiful crystal plaque with both congregations’ names. The women then presented each of us with a necklace and earring set. While we ate a noon meal of chicken and rice, many of our group to learned to play their instruments while we sang a song for them, and they for us. It was a touching and delightful good-bye with our friends as we then departed for a short visit to Bishop Benjamin’s home to meet his wife, Jessica, who is also an LCCN pastor. She, too, had prepared a lovely meal, so we ate again.

Two of our group members had tummy upset and were in need of rest. Unfortunately, we had another hour’s drive to the domestic airport, where we were greeted by Bishop Ben’s younger brother, Bernard, who is employed there. He graciously processed our airline tickets and got our boarding passes as well as checked our luggage. One of our group members who was ill was escorted through security early in order to rest in the lounge. We were hoping to depart for Yola soon thereafter; however, due to a delayed Arik Airline flight from Lagos, our flight did not take off until 1.5 hours later, landing in Yola in the dark. As we boarded the plane in Abuja, we walked outdoors and the men and women were asked to be in separate lines before climbing the stairs to the plane. We soon found out the reason: all people needed to be patted down. No worries, but I will say that I’ve never been patted down on my breasts before…another first. We were treated to a pound cake-type muffin on the plane with juice, coffee or tea.

We arrived at ADIP hotel where Mr. Bulama had our room keys waiting for us. We stopped to purchase some bottled water along the way, and Anari’s van was slightly hit by a driver. More adventures.

Everyone was very tired, so we decided to treat everyone to a morning sleep-in before departing to Numan at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday More to come…