The rooster crows loudly and I wake up. The couple next door have been singing praise to our Jesus for what feels like most of the night – but has actually only been for about an hour. The good news is that they sound good – and I like the music. I stretch and look out my window at the field outside to see the line of people waiting to draw the water from the community well. They bring handcarts to the well and fill 10 – 15 one gallon containers to meet their family’s needs for this day. The field is alive with animals running around. I see a mama goat and her two babies. The babies rear up on their hind legs and butt heads together just for the fun of it - typical of siblings – isn’t it? A chicken chases her brood of six across the dirt road, slapping the slow ones with her wings as they hurry to beat the motorbikes already beginning to fill the air with the whine of their sewing machine engines and their never-ending beeping. Even more chickens gather on the metal bars and put their heads together to visit, argue and gossip about whatever chickens find interesting. There is already a crowd of children forming at the ping-pong table about to begin today’s tournament. In just a little bit their laughter and arguments will also fill the surroundings. The sky is hazy with smoke and pollution – another day begins in Jos, Nigeria.
Only today is not just another day. It is Sonday - today is the day that we will visit Pastor Ben’s church. Pastor Ben works for Faith Alive and has been a good friend and inspiration to all of us. Just last night he and his beautiful wife Doris came over to dinner and what fun it was! Give Pastor Ben any sort of an audience and the man is preachin’ the Word! Last night he gave us new names, he named us after the fruits of the Spirit – I am Peace. This is now the third name I have been given in Nigeria.
We take the bus up a small curvy road full of bumps and potholes, get out and walk a path that winds between houses, up over rocks, down the other side and finally we reach the church. We go in and Pastor Ben brings us up to the side of the platform and seats us in front of the church. There are four churches meeting together today for a quarterly gathering. The worship is incredible as first we all sing together and then each church’s women’s group sings. One of the pastors leads us in directed prayer, what an experience as a multitude of voices lift their individual prayers and yet still we pray as one. We are an hour into service and no sign of the preacher preaching. Each church’s choir sings worship songs and then Pastor Ben calls for the offering. A box is placed in front of the church as people file row by row to pass in front of it and drop in their gift. Only this is not an experience like any other. The people do not walk up to the front – they dance, they sing, they rejoice in their ability to give to God. As I watch I am reminded of the widow and her two pennies that she gave with great joy. We are the last to give, and we also dance our way back to the platform – although not as gracefully as the others. Then the most outstanding thing! Spontaneously first one and then another and then another worshipper begins to come to the front and in just a few moments the aisles and the front of the church are filled with people dancing, singing and worshiping with the most tremendous joy. It is incredible! It is impossible for us to just stand on the platform and watch. Ivy, then Norm, Evan, Eve and I join the celebration. If there is any experience in Nigeria that I wish that I could bring home and show you – this is it. I have never in my life seen such transcending joy on a worshippers face. And I am left to wonder – why is there such joy in the land of poverty over what little they have to give, while there doesn’t seem to be such joy in giving in the land of abundance? What are we missing?
Finally the preacher takes the podium. He assures us that because the service is running so long (we are into it for two hours now) he is just going to do a review of his sermon. Thank goodness we got the Readers Digest condensed version because he went for another hour! I could hardly understand anything that he said – but it was obvious from the faces in the congregation that they were listening to everything he said. Services take a break (they are going to meet all day) but we have to hurry up and leave – we have support group in just an hour & a half. As we make our way back to the bus all of us agree that today has been a day like no other. How can we take this and let it change our lives? How can we use what we have seen to change the status quo at Fresno First so that we can experience joy?