bush and that this part of central Nigeria has been neglected by the
Nigerian government for a long time. The roads were dirt and wash boarded
but Clement said that back in the 70's they were tarmac. Power poles lined
the road in some places but the power line was missing. As we entered
Clement's "village" we were surprised to find that it was actually a small
town. The houses were well spaced with good sized "yards", the road was in
good shape fresh chip seal and gutters on both sides. Clement took us to
the house where he grew up, although no one from his family still lives
there the current family had no problem with Clement brining a bunch of
"Oyibo", white people, through the parlor then through the bedroom to the
back yard to show us where his father had been buried. I was starting to
wonder where in this "city" does on throw up a tent.
After we left Clement's childhood digs we continued through town then turned
down a road into the bush. OK this was a little more like what I'd
expected. Then we pulled up to the gate of a guest house: NOT what I
expected. It turns out that Clement snuck out here on Tuesday to set
something's up for our trip. Always full of surprises that one. After we
moved into our "deluxe" accommodations, which I am pretty sure had been the
accommodations of one of the guest house employees until we arrived I could
be wrong but I do know that he kept his pillow and an arm load of clothes
there, we went out to tour the town. First off we met Clement's "step" Mom,
this means his Dad's second wife. She had re-married the pastor for the
ECWA (Evangelical Church of West Africa) and was living in the same compound
that our guest house was in. Next we picked up a man by the name of Victor
who was the headmaster of the local secondary school. Victor was to be our
tour guide and he did not want us to miss a thing. We went to the Market, a
block factory, the Chief's Palace, who had traveled and was not home but we
met his wife and made an appointment to meet the Chief the next morning
(tune in for part 3). Then we went around and were introduced at 4 or 5
different churches. It was becoming more and more apparent that white
people don't come around this part of Nigeria very often. At the final
church, St. Paul's Anglican Church, the Pastor found out that we were
showing the Jesus Film at the Primary School in the center of town, as
Clement had arranged but asked if we would show it at his church instead.
This sounded OK except he already had a program planned for that evening but
he assured us that his program would be "sharp sharp" and that we could
start our film after 8:00. Since our plan was to show it in a field
starting at 7:00 an hour delay to show it at the biggest church in town was
fine with us. To be honest our "plan" was to show it at a village in the
bush to about 20 or 30 of Clement's family. To be completely honest my plan
was to come through here on 2 wheels stopping for a cold Coke and continuing
on the trail. My original plan would have had me home before 8:00 chillin'
and maybe watching a movie with my family but I guess God plans are not
always the same as my plans.
We returned to the guest house to rest a little and get ready for the night.
It was about this time when I started wondering what we would do for
dinner? I didn't see an Olive Garden as we pulled in perhaps I missed it so
maybe we will have to settle for a fried yam or a Galla (a mystery meat
concoction wrapped in pastry with a shelf life that rivals a Twinkie.)
This is when I noticed that Clement, Blessing, Godwin and Mustafa were all
MIA. Looking at the small loaf of bread we had picked up at the market and
some pure water I was thinking perhaps an Easter fast was in order. Then
Clement and Co. arrived carrying a huge vat of Jollof Rice with fish. Very
delicious. Travelling to the church, about a 5 minute drive I realized that
there was no power in the town. Apparently they have a big 250KW generator
but no fuel. We got to the church around 7:00 for the program. It was in
English translated to Basse-Nge but both speakers were amped up and the echo
factor was severe and I at times could not tell which one was speaking
English. This "sharp sharp" service include time for scripture reading,
prayer, preaching, prayer, foot washing for each of the 300 people performed
by the two Pastors, followed up by prayer then more prayer for anointing
oil. At around 9:05 I was given the green light to set up the projector and
PA. This church building was big but the Media Art Ministry was seriously
underfunded. After a short discussion with the Bassa equivalent to Chris
Lund, WFMC's extremely talented Director of Media and Programming, it was
apparent I was on my own. So with the help of my crack AV tech Jack we set
up our generator out the window ran an extension cord then placed a wireless
microphone in front of our little PA system that ran through the church
sound board. By 9:15 we were up and running. The Pastor translated the
whole movie through his own mic and a think had he turned it down a little
he would have got a better sound quality. That being said I don't speak
Bassa-Nge and perhaps it is better understood with heavy reverb and a slight
echo.
The turnout was great over 300 people watching the Jesus Film during Easter
week in a country that is struggling after the recent election violence that
is taking place in other parts of the country and churches cancelling Easter
retreats and programs for fear of reprisal attacks. At about 10:00 the
Pastor asked if we could turn it off because it was getting late, REALLY,
and many people had to walk far in the dark to get home. REALLY? As I was
going along with the Pastor but thinking to myself "this is the Jesus story
during Easter week how do you just tell part of the story" Jack was at work
talking to the Pastor. Not sure what he said but the next thing I know the
Pastor is asking the congregation if they want to end the movie or continue.
They voted to continue, but slowly trickled out, and we ended up with around
80+ people sticking it out until the movie ended after 11:00. After we
packed up and got back to the guest house Blessing, who had disappeared
again during the church program served up another heaping vat of rice with
stew, tomato sauce with magi and oil, and yummy meat. Bridget and I are
still debating if it was chicken or beef. It was dark and we were hungry.
After a quick bucket bath complete with cockroaches it was off to bed on the
guest house employee's bed. At least Clement had bought a brand new sheet
and pillow cases for us to put down. Not sure when he did that.
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