| The first weekend in August brought
my first new activity for the month. The French-language church
of Zinder planned a spiritual retreat in an oasis town about an
hour from Zinder, on the southern edge of the Sahara. I had never
been to an oasis, so I was pretty curious. The further we drove,
the sparser the vegetation became, and then we crossed a very small
mountain range where it was obvious that little rain falls. Sure
enough, there was a decent-sized island of green with a body of
water, surrounded by palm trees and some small fields. A Christian
church had recently been started in the community, and our first
order of business was to plant some desert-friendly trees (yes,
there are species of trees that do well in a desert climate) on
the church property so that they can get established at the start
of the rainy season. The rest of the retreat was a mixture of singing
and dancing with a sermon/Bible lesson. We had brought all our food
and water and ate our lunch there before returning to Zinder before
dark. Attached is our group photo at the oasis (minus me—I
took the photo).
The following Monday, August 5, a group of church leaders, myself,
and Barbara, the other RCA missionary, left for a study tour of
Christian organizations in Jos, Nigeria, by car. We were quite
surprised to hear on the radio that morning that the Nigerien
army had rebelled in two remote desert outposts in the eastern
part of the country that weekend and that some soldiers in Niamey,
the capital, had left their barracks in support of the rebellion.
The Nigerien government announced that it had things under control,
but I personally wondered what might happen if we left the country—would
they let us back in?
(Quick note: so that you won’t get confused in the latter
half of this letter, Nigerien=country of Niger, where I live)
and Nigerian=country of Nigeria (south of Niger) and where we
visited.)
The 10-hour trip to Jos is almost straight south of Zinder and
each kilometer south meant less brown and more green in the landscape.
Jos is on a high-elevation plateau and is quite cool for that
part of Africa. For those of us from Niger, it was downright chilly,
with temperatures in the 60s and 70s (Fahrenheit). Because Jos
was a favorite location for Western missionaries, the city is
a little like Colorado Springs, Colorado—it’s the center
of a countless number of churches and ministries. We could really
see a lot of things and meet with a lot of interesting people
during our week there.
This was my fourth visit to Jos. I had visited it twice in 1991
when I was in Nigeria for some work with my graduate studies.
I had another chance to stop there in 1995. The city had changed
quite a bit. In fact, the whole country of Nigeria was different
from what I had remembered. When I was there in 1991, the country
was in the middle of an structural adjustment program ordered
by the International Monetary Fund, and everyone was in the process
of tightening their belts. In 1995, Nigeria was under the regime
of the kleptocratic dictator Sani Abacha whose family stole billions
(yes with a "b") from the Nigerian government and left
the country’s institutions to rot. People were scared and
kept to themselves. In 2002, however, Nigeria teems with activities
and optimism. Everyone was warm and friendly and busy. Jos seemed
to be in a hurry to make everything modern as soon as possible,
as if making up for lost time. The cars were newer, the roads
were being improved, construction was everywhere, and storefronts
looked like something you might see in a U.S. strip mall. It really
gave one a feeling of hope for Africa’s future.
Our visits with church and Christian development organizations
were quite instructive. The Evangelical Church of West Africa
(ECWA) was our host. Like the EERN (l'Église Évangélique
de la République du Niger), the ECWA was started by SIM
(Sudan Interior Missions). They have six million members and over
six thousand pastors, and they have an education system that includes
primary and secondary schools, theological institutions, computer
training centers, and now there are plans to start Nigeria’s
first private, Christian university. The church runs a farm, a
farm supply business, a hospital, pharmacies, a publishing company,
and a bookstore.
They have a variety of internal ministries including children’s
camps, college fellowships, men’s and women’s groups,
rural development, and AIDS awareness. We also met with other
interdenominational agencies that focus on holistic Christian
development, Christian entrepreneurship, and equipping local churches
for community development ministries. I was impressed that many
of the organizations emphasize a type of sustainable and holistic
development that I was taught in my graduate work. Many were very
proud of their ability to reduce their need for outside funding
after their initial starting grants. Others pointed to concrete
success stories where local communities were solving their own
problems and were no longer waiting for the government or some
other external force to step in. As a result, the local churches
were growing and becoming dynamic forces for change in their communities
and in the nation. It was really a wonderful model for us to see
demonstrated.
Probably the greatest weakness with the Nigerien church (where
I am serving) is its lack of ministry efforts. Almost every Nigerien
church I have been to does a wonderful job of conducting a service
that is full of praise and sound Biblical teaching. However, the
church seems a bit stuck and unable to expand its activities beyond
Sunday services, Bible study, and choir practice. They want to
be involved in more things and expand their presence in Nigerien
communities, but just haven’t been able to sustain any efforts
in this direction. By visiting Nigeria we were really able to
learn a lot and to find human and organizational resources that
are willing to help as the Nigerien church expands its efforts.
Despite the fact that Nigeria is officially an English-speaking
country and Niger is officially French-speaking, the two countries
do share a regional trade language, Hausa, that almost half of
the population in Nigeria understands and which over half of the
Nigerien population speaks. So, we are able to communicate with
each other—and that is an important first step for a variety
of possible exchanges that we would like to see take place in
the future.
We were able to return to Niger without any problem—the
military rebellion had been largely limited to the barracks and
did not expand to the country at large. Once we were back in Zinder,
on Tuesday, I learned that I had the opportunity to buy the solar
equipment of another U.S. missionary who had completed his service
in Niger and was leaving the country on Friday. Although I didn’t
have much time to decide, this offer came at a good time. My house
still isn’t finished (the funds have been slow in coming)
and getting the solar equipment now would allow us to put in a
duel electrical system of 240 v and DC (solar) wiring at the same
time, since no one knows when or if electricity will be extended
to the Bible School at Dogon Gao. I’m actually in Niamey
right now, having bought the equipment yesterday. I’ll take
it back to my unfinished home, where we can begin to install it.
I still have no true sense of when the house will be ready for
me to move in. My best guess now is at the end of September.
Here are my prayer requests for this month:
- Definitely give praise for our very successful study trip
to Jos, Nigeria. Thank God for the safe travel He gave us and
also for the wonderful ideas we received. Please pray that this
trip will be instrumental in changing how the Nigerien church
does ministry and that the result will be to God’s glory.
- Praise God for the rains that have arrived in Niger and also
pray that they will continue until September so that people
will have enough to eat.
- Please keep EERN General Secretary Hassane Dan Karami and
his wife, Hannatou, in your prayers. She had surgery this week
to remove a growth on her breast. She has lost two sisters and
a mother to breast cancer and Hassane’s first wife died
of breast cancer, so everyone is quite concerned about the situation.
- Praise God that the military rebellion did not result in a
change of government in Niger and that it was settled with a
minimum of disruption and loss to the nation. Pray for a spirit
of peace for the country.
- Pray for the remaining funds to be raised for my house and
that it can be finished quickly, so that I can really begin
in earnest with my mission responsibilities.
Thomas R. Johnson
Community Development Missionary
Reformed Church in America/Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Serving l'Église Évangélique de la République
du Niger
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