November 25, 2008
Sunday evening after church in Port Harcourt I arrived in Efa village at the Bible institute and missionary house. It never takes very long for people to hear you are here and they come with good intentions to welcome you at all times of the day, which is great but it makes it hard to get work done.
Pastor Bassey, located just across the street here, showed up and helped me sweep out the place, he also came back twice once with a load of bananas and again with a load of oranges all freshly picked. I also have a few pineapples growing in the yard here but they will not be ripe for a week or two, I might get a chance to pick them before I leave.
I learned a new Greek word yesterday, kausoon, the lexicon said “heat” and then in parenthesis added “scorching.” I guess scorching is usually more applicable to the intense desert sun from which you can’t find shade type of heat, but the first days here were certainly hot enough that it didn’t make much difference. Since then it seems to have cooled down a little, although the main problem is that there is no breeze seemingly ever. Even as I look up at the top of the trees they are absolutely still not even the smallest bit of movement. And of course without electricity there is no way to turn on a fan.
Speaking of electricity, despite the heat, the vegetation, the ruralness, the huts, the food, the climate, the language, etc despite all of it, my first night here was still just like being home. When I arrived it didn’t take long for a group of about 8 or 9 people to gather around all trying to fix the generator. None of us including me had any idea what the problem was but that didn’t stop any of us from insisting on redoing exactly what the one before had. Plug in, plug out, switch on, switch off, pull, tug, switch on, switch off, search, stare, switch on switch off. Then the next person following the same steps would suddenly come to realize that it didn’t work any better for them the it had for the first person. Just like home. In any case I appreciate their help.
Pastor Edwyn, one of the teachers here in Nigeria a the Bible Institute, was recently robbed by armed men who took all his books. If anyone has some extra they wouldn’t mind sending over they would of great value to him. Below is the list of what he lost.
Chirstian Dogmatics (I assume this is Mueller but Edwyn didn’t say)
Pastoral Theology
Epistle to the Hebrews
The Preachers Manual
N.T. Isagogics
O.T. Isagogics
The Life of St. Paul
Abiding Words vol 1 + 2 (these belonged to Pastor Godwyn)
Concordia Self Study Commentary (belonged to the Bible Institute)
The Lutheran Agenda (Pastor Essien’s copy)
Harmony of St. Paul’s Life
The Book of Concord
These along with many of his personal affects were stolen while Pastor Edwyn was away on the 28th of September.
We have a Pastoral Meeting here on Friday, at which point I am very much looking forward to seeing all the pastors again. Pray for us that the Lord will bless that conference and we might proceed forward in confident faith in Him.
In Christ,
Matthew Ude