Dealing with Tragedy

This morning every member of our group had the opportunity to attend a different church. I went with Rose, a 60 year old who will graduate from Palmer with her M.Div. in May, to Chapel of Salvation of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS). By the way, Nigerians are all about the acronyms. This is a training facility for the best and highest of Nigerias public, military, and government leaders. They must be nominated in order to attend this 9 month training. While they are there, they have the opportunity to attend this church. The worship service was great, we sang many familiar hymns in English, however the music sounded more like a Bob Marley concert than a church. It has so much rythmn, it was lots of fun. Gabriel Makon was the speaker and spoke on the applicational aspects of the Holy Spirit. It was such a challenge to think about how the Holy Spirit worked through people like Nehimiah, Daniel, David, Paul, and others, and the same Holy Spirit is wanting to work through me. I have a whole new perspective on what it means to quench the Holy Spirit.

After church we had the opportunity to meet with the Chaplain and a guest evangelist for tea. I again got to experience hospitality and relationships. We were a little late getting back for lunch. So we met the group at Elysar, an oriental restaraunt. We shared a meal of sweet and sour chicken, curry pork, and pepper chicken family style.

Tonight we are dealing with a recent tragedy here in Jos. While we were at lunch there was a conflict in the northern part of Jos. Evidently during a conflict a few years ago, a Muslims house was burnt down. He hired some Christians to rebuild the house, but refused to pay them. When the Christians went to ask for payment, the gentlemen refused to pay them and sent some guys to beat them up. Because of this, tension is high and the police and military are out in the streets and the town has a curfew from 6pm to 6am. We are very safe and feel like we are in good hands, so there is no need to worry about us. Everyone on the team is staying healthy. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day. I know for many of us in the USA, we don't have to deal with tragedies and conflict like these every day, but here it is a common way of life. The clashes between Christians and Muslims leave peace as a constant matter of hope and prayer. I ask that everyone that reads this to be praying for peace for Nigeria. Goodnight.