April 5, 2009
It’s been a challenging week. I ministered on Sunday at Covenant Center Nelson Mandela A/G. On Monday evening I taught Bible class at BCCM (Bible Christian Crusaders Mission) for Rev Okoro. On Tuesday I was asked to come back to Covenant Center and teach the Bible class there. God is always faithful and I am so grateful for the opportunities.
The rest of the week was spent coping with daily life. Once again the heat was beyond its norm. Even the Nigerians are tired of coping with the unending severity of the heat. When the Nigerians sit in your presence dripping with sweat and say that they are hot---you know that it’s hot. Once again we are without electric. We were becoming a bit accustomed to the NEPA that we were receiving consistently for a few days. It doesn’t take long to get spoiled with having a fan and a/c in the evening for sleep. For now however, we are again without power.
There is much that makes life difficult here. Since so many people depend upon public transport, it makes them not to be dependable. They can have the intentions of coming at a particular time but by the time they can get onto a bus –random times and schedules at best – or wave down a scooter, time keeps passing by. Then there is the issue of traffic. You can be held up in traffic for quite some time b/c of the ever present breakdowns on the road. Scooters are able to weave in and out of traffic but if you are on a ‘bus’ (loosely translated as a van filled with standing room only, people on each others laps and some hanging out the sliding door) if you are in one of these your time is not your own. You will simply arrive whenever the vehicle eventually makes its destination. And so, Nigerians are accustomed to not being mindful of the time. Just yesterday Jon and I had an interesting conversation with a young pastor. While in Bible College it was said that for a pastor to wear a watch would be to be insensitive to his people’s needs….that being mindful of the time would indicate to them that they were not of value as they shared their problems and concerns. Interesting thought. We tried to express the mindset that we as westerners live with: that to make others wait on you is wasting their time and not being considerate of those waiting. The Nigerian response is: Yes, but your time has not yet come until I arrive. In other words, until the time of the Nigerian’s arrival, the time you use is your own and they are not using your time, but just their own. Hhmmmm. In the meantime, we are learning not to be as time conscious and to always be ready…..but yet busy while waiting…therefore avoiding the frustration of time being lost.
Cultures such as this do not revolve around the clock but around the event. The event begins upon your arrival – regardless of the time. Many times I am brought into services where people have been for hours and hours. When I discover that they have been waiting for me to arrive I struggle inside with feelings of irresponsibility and guilt for making others wait for my untimeliness. (is there such a word?) As I am struggling, they are rejoicing because only now has the evening or event begun…..she’s here. Until one lives in another culture, you don’t realize how we are molded from our earliest days by the environment in which we live. In the US we live according to the media time…..the news programs, our favorite radio broadcasts or television shows, etc. We live according to shopping hours and business hours. These things do not exist here. Shopping hours are whenever there is someone who will open the door or mind the gate so you can enter. Media programs and broadcasts are not an issue as they are only watched if there is electric. And then, only if the state government has not overran the station with its own version of what is of value. It brings the minds of the people into a different way of thinking. What gets done – gets done. What does not – does not. Either way, each day I wake and live in a place called Nigeria. Most have no idea of what life may be in another place other than this country. The majority of people have never left their place of origin or birth much less their country. So in their minds – this is normal. There are times they look at our frustration after waiting most of the day for someone to arrive and wonder just what is our problem. …after all, they have arrived now (four hours after their scheduled arrival) and all is well. They greet you with their big beautiful smiles…they bend their knee in respect and laugh nervously, they may even embrace you (if and only if you embrace them first) Let’s enjoy one another and sit in one anothers presence. And so what if it’s four hours later than you had planned on leaving…so what if it’s now in the heat of the day to be taken to the market…so what if the bank is now closed…we will do it another day.
So if it seems my writing is a bit random in regard to when I am writing…. it’s okay – at least I am writing. I am planning on writing. I have every intention of writing. When I actually get to the point of writing, I will relax and enjoy it. Once I am there, the writing will begin. Until then…..well, let’s just say I am biding my time.
It’s been a challenging week. I ministered on Sunday at Covenant Center Nelson Mandela A/G. On Monday evening I taught Bible class at BCCM (Bible Christian Crusaders Mission) for Rev Okoro. On Tuesday I was asked to come back to Covenant Center and teach the Bible class there. God is always faithful and I am so grateful for the opportunities.
The rest of the week was spent coping with daily life. Once again the heat was beyond its norm. Even the Nigerians are tired of coping with the unending severity of the heat. When the Nigerians sit in your presence dripping with sweat and say that they are hot---you know that it’s hot. Once again we are without electric. We were becoming a bit accustomed to the NEPA that we were receiving consistently for a few days. It doesn’t take long to get spoiled with having a fan and a/c in the evening for sleep. For now however, we are again without power.
There is much that makes life difficult here. Since so many people depend upon public transport, it makes them not to be dependable. They can have the intentions of coming at a particular time but by the time they can get onto a bus –random times and schedules at best – or wave down a scooter, time keeps passing by. Then there is the issue of traffic. You can be held up in traffic for quite some time b/c of the ever present breakdowns on the road. Scooters are able to weave in and out of traffic but if you are on a ‘bus’ (loosely translated as a van filled with standing room only, people on each others laps and some hanging out the sliding door) if you are in one of these your time is not your own. You will simply arrive whenever the vehicle eventually makes its destination. And so, Nigerians are accustomed to not being mindful of the time. Just yesterday Jon and I had an interesting conversation with a young pastor. While in Bible College it was said that for a pastor to wear a watch would be to be insensitive to his people’s needs….that being mindful of the time would indicate to them that they were not of value as they shared their problems and concerns. Interesting thought. We tried to express the mindset that we as westerners live with: that to make others wait on you is wasting their time and not being considerate of those waiting. The Nigerian response is: Yes, but your time has not yet come until I arrive. In other words, until the time of the Nigerian’s arrival, the time you use is your own and they are not using your time, but just their own. Hhmmmm. In the meantime, we are learning not to be as time conscious and to always be ready…..but yet busy while waiting…therefore avoiding the frustration of time being lost.
Cultures such as this do not revolve around the clock but around the event. The event begins upon your arrival – regardless of the time. Many times I am brought into services where people have been for hours and hours. When I discover that they have been waiting for me to arrive I struggle inside with feelings of irresponsibility and guilt for making others wait for my untimeliness. (is there such a word?) As I am struggling, they are rejoicing because only now has the evening or event begun…..she’s here. Until one lives in another culture, you don’t realize how we are molded from our earliest days by the environment in which we live. In the US we live according to the media time…..the news programs, our favorite radio broadcasts or television shows, etc. We live according to shopping hours and business hours. These things do not exist here. Shopping hours are whenever there is someone who will open the door or mind the gate so you can enter. Media programs and broadcasts are not an issue as they are only watched if there is electric. And then, only if the state government has not overran the station with its own version of what is of value. It brings the minds of the people into a different way of thinking. What gets done – gets done. What does not – does not. Either way, each day I wake and live in a place called Nigeria. Most have no idea of what life may be in another place other than this country. The majority of people have never left their place of origin or birth much less their country. So in their minds – this is normal. There are times they look at our frustration after waiting most of the day for someone to arrive and wonder just what is our problem. …after all, they have arrived now (four hours after their scheduled arrival) and all is well. They greet you with their big beautiful smiles…they bend their knee in respect and laugh nervously, they may even embrace you (if and only if you embrace them first) Let’s enjoy one another and sit in one anothers presence. And so what if it’s four hours later than you had planned on leaving…so what if it’s now in the heat of the day to be taken to the market…so what if the bank is now closed…we will do it another day.
So if it seems my writing is a bit random in regard to when I am writing…. it’s okay – at least I am writing. I am planning on writing. I have every intention of writing. When I actually get to the point of writing, I will relax and enjoy it. Once I am there, the writing will begin. Until then…..well, let’s just say I am biding my time.
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