Speaker for 1st March 2016
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Talk by the Revd. Robert Simpson on his 'Recent experiences in Nigeria'
The Coleraine Probus welcomed Revd. Robert Simpson to their recent meeting, for a talk about his recent experiences in Nigeria. Robert made the trip through his connection with SOMA (Sharing Of Ministries Abroad), and was the fifth he had taken to Africa, but possible the most 'different' of his shared experiences.
The destination for Robert was the Aba Diocese in the Southern Nigerian state of Abia (part of the area previously know as 'Biafra'), where he and is four fellow travellers were to be guests of the Bishop of Aba and staying in a hotel kindly paid for by the State Governor. The journey from Coleraine to Aba/Abia took an exhausting 30+ hours, and the party were greeted by members of the church, plus an armed police escort! - who stayed with them throughout their entire visit - it being deemed to dangerous due to 'Westerners' being kidnapped and targets for robbery and/or shooting. There was a traditional welcome from the Bishop and Robert was given a Kola nut to eat (top tip - eat it or you risk insulting the host, but don't ever try to eat two!). The hotel the group were to stay in was quite 'up market' by local standards, although the rooms didn't have mosquito nets for bite free sleeping - fortunately Robert had brought his own along for the trip.
The Sharing element of the visit started the first full day of the trip, with a service at a packed St. Michael's Cathedral, and the group soon realised that the Bishop and all church members were very 'Old School'. Robert said it was like 'going back to the 1950s' with a very strict dress code (especially for women) and for the length of services. In fact, the Sunday evening was designated a 'praise evening' which was very loud and went on until 4.30 Monday morning!
Most of the time for the trip, Robert and the group spent in visiting various church run projects - there as no sightseeing, shopping or family visits, due to the high risk that the Police escort insisted on. The warmth of welcome the SOMA group received everywhere they did visit certainly made up for the variety that many people would have liked on such a trip. Robert said that in Africa 'time is elastic', meaning that a 'morning visit' to a school could easily stretch well into the afternoon, and no one minded.
A particularly memorable visit was to the dioceses hospital. The medical staff there were very proud of the equipment they were lucky to have. One of the SOMA team had been retired from her hospital job for a few years, but said that with a bit a 'revision' she felt she could work quite happily there, feeling 'at home' with instruments and machines she had used 15 or more years ago.
The visit to Aba came to an end all to quickly for Robert and the group, they had felt very welcome and had enjoyed meeting such friendly and enthusiastic people. At their special farewell service, the Bishop presented the five SOMA visitors with a traditional Nigerian suit to ware - lovely big yellow, red and green bold patens! (really sorry we haven't a real photo of these, but to give you some idea what Robert MAY be wearing some Sunday soon… - WebEd).
In saying farewell, Robert couldn't help but wonder if the step back into the 1950s wasn't such a bad thing? Where had the joy, respect and politeness that was so evident in Nigeria, gone from much of today's congregations?
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Some facts:
Population of Nigeria, around 170 million. Life expectancy 52 years. Land mass, about 1 million km2.
Population of Northern Ireland, around 1.7 million. Life expectancy 79 years. Land mass, about 14,000 km2
The main language in Nigeria is English, but the country is divided by 12 different tribal regions, each with their own language. Added to this, the country is broadly divided by religion. To the North, the main belief is Moslem, while in the Southern states it is Christian (somehow, this doesn't seen so far away from home does it!? - WebEd).
Some Internet links to find out more background to Robert's visit:
(Just 'Click' the captions below. These will open in a new window)
For more information about SOMA
For news of Church events and the Bishop of Aba / Abia
Two views of the Biafran War:
1) A Military view
2) What 'Wikipedia' lists
