The first couple hours here we just sat, talked, drank instant coffee, and got to know one another. This was my first time ever having instant coffee. I was told that it is the only coffee I will get in Nigeria. I am not a fan. I'm pretty sure I will just go without coffee. Unless, of course, desperate times call for desperate measures. But I'm not even a huge coffee drinker here in the states. Wednesday evening was very chill. After 7:30 we had the night to ourselves - something I am not used to since growing up in a big family. It was weird and a little lonely. I read a few chapters in the book Multiply.
Thursday morning I was up at 6:30. I like getting up early and starting my day with Jesus. At 8:30 we had chapel with the SIM staff and then prayed for different countries around the world. Throughout the day we had 6 information sessions on Missions and Evangelism, Overview of SIM, Spiritual Warfare, Health, Finance, and Travel.
A lot of what our speaker talked about in Missions and Evangelism I had heard before either from Perspectives, Tapawingo, or somewhere else. It was a good reminder though. A good reminder that the reason missions exists is because worship doesn't. Our goal in missions is to worship God and bring others to worship God. By doing this we bring glory to His name. Missions is seen throughout the entire Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, God has commanded us to tell others about His name. Some key verses are Genesis 12:2-3, Psalm 67, Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:8, and Revelation 5:9-10. God has blessed us and we are called to be a blessing to others.
Almost always when I tell people I am going to Nigeria through a mission's organization called SIM, they ask me about it. The overview of SIM session helped me to be able to give a 30 second summarization about SIM. For all of you who may be still confused, here goes the 30 second summary. SIM is global, multicultural, and forward-thinking. They are serving in over 65 countries on 6 continents and have 1,600 missionaries from over 50 countries. SIM is focused on cultivating multicultural mission movements by responding to need, proclaiming the gospel, and equipping the church. Their passion is to see the body of Christ in all places, among all peoples (Rev. 7:9).
The spiritual warfare session was interesting and alarming. Spiritual Warfare is no light matter. It is serious. It is heavy. And it is dark. But it will never go away until Christ comes back. Satan's desire for the glory of God is never going to go away. He will do whatever it takes to deprive God of all the glory. Satan likes to convince us that we can have pleasure, security, and significance through managing and controlling life around us. We must fight the fight.
During the health session it was mainly reminder information that I have heard before. Since I will be cooking my own meals I am going to have to be especially careful.
During the day I was able to talk to a man who lived in Nigeria for 13 years and hear some cool stories from him. I asked him for some advice and the big thing he told me was to go with a learner's attitude. Please pray that my eyes would be open to different and open to learning and becoming part of a new culture. The Nigerian culture is vastly different form the one I am used to. They are very community focused, not individualistic. There is not much concept of time. In America time is measured by minutes. We either spend or invest our time. In Africa time is measured by the movement of the sun. They live. Activities start when they are ready and end when they are finished.
For dinner on Thursday night we went out to an Ethiopian restaurant in Charlotte. It was called Red Sea. I enjoyed the type of eating, not so sure I enjoyed the food. Everyone got their own "bread". It looked, felt, and kind of tasted like a sponge. Supposedly it was made out of the same stuff sourdough bread is made out of. With this bread you tear off a piece and grab some other type of food that is on a big plate. There were 13 of us and 3 plates. I enjoyed eating off of the same plate and eating with our hands. I didn't really like the spongey bread.
On Friday we had 4 information sessions. They were on Islam, Intro to Member Care and Child Safety, Vantage Points, and Personal Security. One of the main religions in Nigeria is Islam so it was helpful to find out some more about what Muslims believe. Surprisingly, most Muslims live in Indonesia and Italy. I was shocked to find that out. One big difference between Islam and Christianity is that Muslims believe that God is our master and we are the slave. I'm sure there is still a lot about Islam that I don't know, but as I travel to the foreign country of Nigeria I am praying that I would go in as a learner, a servant, and a storyteller. The culture of Nigeria is vastly different from what I am used to and I pray that I would be able to learn from the Nigerians.
During Intro to Member Care and Child Safety, our teacher stressed the fact that we need to make sure we are taking care of ourselves. We are part of the body of Christ and if we aren't able to function, the entire body isn't able to function. She also said that our aim should be growth in Christlikeness. We need to be living out the practices of Christ and developing relationships for growth. Another big point she stressed was to reflect on our experiences and learning. God is going to teach me so much during my time in Africa and if I don't take the time to stop and reflect, I might miss it.
During the Vantage Points session our teacher talked a little about culture shock, some inevitable feelings that come from that, and different coping strategies. Because of the cultural differences I am going to experience, some inevitable feelings are general disorientation, tension, confusion, frustration, etc. He mention two different coping strategies. With these feelings we could either learn to relax in God, observe, inquire, and listen, or we could become critical, withdraw, and rationalize. The first coping strategy can result in understanding and cultural integration while the second strategy could result in misunderstanding, alienation, and isolation. Pray that I would deal with my feeling by relaxing in God as hard as that might be.
One quote that really stuck with me from orientation was "Our goal isn't to have a long life, it's to have a full life". Please also pray 2 Timothy 2:22-26 for me.
