So, I have been meaning to write this post for some time now, but every time I sat down to do it, something just didn't seem right. I think now is as good of a time as any to finally write it.
While I was in Nigeria God made it very clear to me that I was to go back on a year long STINT. I will tell that story later, but I just wanted everyone to know that I am going back in September! Today though, I wanted to share my first journal entry I wrote back in the States.
(written on August 1, 2011)
It seems surreal to be back in Haslett sitting up in the tree overlooking the pond. The melody of the birds here is harmonized by crickets chirping rather than cows mooing or young Fulani shepherds singing. When I look up I expect to see a herd of cows grazing the land. Surprisingly my backyard resembles the Nigerian bush during rainy season (minus the magnificent rocks!)...
Here are some of my thoughts from today:
TIA. It is a phrase used int he movie Blood Diamond meaning "This is Africa." It was commonly used during the trip when power went out, when we saw something ridiculous happening while driving, or when something went wrong. For some reason the phrase and how it was used always rubbed me the wrong way. It was like something was painfully churning on the inside whenever I heard it. It leaves very little room for hope. It was always used with a somewhat negative or "strange" connotation. It seems to carry the meaning that Africa is a land where nothing goes right.
Then I think of us using it. Yes, we were in Africa. We lived an African reality – but an African reality as a bature (white person, a foreigner). Other Africans don't have kids flock to them when they enter a village. They don't get their picture taken with a pro soccer team while mobs of people try and squeeze in with them. They don't get invited to a dinner at the governor's house after only being in the country 5 weeks. And they don't get to stroll through security while everyone else gets asked for their passport. It somewhat frustrates me that yes, I got to experience the reality of Africa, but I only got to experience it as a person with white skin from America.
Yet I am still so appreciative of the Nigerian reality I got to experience and live in. I now have friends who live in mud-block homes with a mattress on the floor that is filled at night with an entire family. I know children whose parents keep them home from school to farm. I know children who walk an hour just to go to school. I know women who work their tails off farming and selling things at the market so they can scrape up enough money to send their children to school. I know by name and voice children whose parents have died of AIDS. I know an orphan who has no idea where her brother and sister are.
I also know women who sing praises to God while chopping vegetables to cook Jollof rice over the fire. I know young men who give up their days to collect firewood and farm for widows, hang up mosquito nets for members of their community who don't have any, and coach futbol for young kids while teaching them about Jesus. I know people who dance down the aisle to African drums while tithing. I know widows who love to laugh and dance praising the Lord. I know women hungry for the Word of the Lord. I know families that have welcomed orphans into their homes when they barely have enough living space for themselves. I know teenagers who desire to be the first ones in their families to ever finish secondary school and go on to the university. TIA, the way I know it, is a place where yes, things may not always go as planned, and yes, there is not an abundance of material things, but it is a place where there is a dependence on God and a place full of hope. A place full of potential to look a lot more like the kingdom of God. That is my prayer for the phrase TIA. That one day it won't be used when the power goes out or you see a guy slip a policeman 50 Naira as he rolls through the checkpoint. Instead, you see a youth collecting firewood for a widow and your reaction is "Of course, TIA." You hear of a community putting their funds together to send all the children to school – "Of course, TIA." You see people living in peace, freedom, and the love of Christ – "Of course, TIA."
