Refugees

I often hear about people being displaced by Boko Haram's violent activities in the north of Nigeria.  For the past week Yakubu has been helping in our garden to earn money whilst he's staying at TCNN.  He should be at school in Adamawa State but was driven out by the terrorists and is staying here with relatives.  Some people have opened their homes and are packed full of friends and relations who've had to flee.  Becky who helps me in the house has her sister living with her at the moment.  Their father refuses to leave his home in Adamawa despite it being close to towns Boko Haram have taken; their mother is staying with their father.
It's bad enough to hear about such things but it was yesterday that it really hit home.  The grade 10 boys discipleship group was painting the walls of a classroom at a refugee centre in an unused secondary school five minutes from our house.  I went to collect James, was impressed that the boys had got far more paint on the walls than on themselves but was more struck by the number of families crammed into the school courtyard and classrooms.  Some were washing clothes (though the well is on its way to drying up after which water will have to be bought and delivered), some were cooking, some just sitting.  There are 19 different languages spoken amongst the refugees, most of whom come from Adamawa State and people of all ages from the not yet born to the elderly.  Two boys were pointed out to me.  They had been at college.  The first time Boko Haram attacked they fled into the bush.  The second time they did the same.  The third time they had to go to Cameroon and from there find their way out and to the relative safety of Plateau State. 
This centre was opened at the beginning of November with four families.  Yesterday there were nearly five hundred people living there.  These people have nothing.  They won't be able to return to their homes for years so one of the long term hopes is to get them settled into communities where they will at least be able to grow some of their own food and perhaps the children will be able to get some schooling.  It does not bode at all well for the future of Nigeria that there'll be a whole generation of young people whose education has been disrupted or non-existent and whose lives have been so torn apart by violence.

Your sins will find you out

InReach at Ecwa Gospel 2 church on Thursday afternoons is always fun, especially as the church building is being constructed around us (health and safety would have to lie down in a darkened room). A couple of weeks ago it was Ecwa's women's week with lots of extra activities and services arranged.  Last week one of the stories found its way to InReach.

A special guest preacher had been invited to take one of the final services and he brought his "baba" (father or respected father-figure) with him.  The preacher preached, giving it his all and finished with an altar call.  The choir were singing hallelujah as the old man (who followed traditional practices) proceeded down the church towards the front.  He was handed the microphone and began to speak.

I would be interested in learning more about this Jesus if you (pointing at the preacher) would return the bananas you stole from me years ago.

There was silence.

How can anyone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus expect others to believe and trust what they say if they don't show the difference he makes in their lives?  That's one of the things we talk about in InReach - how we can live and love like Jesus and never feel worried at the mention of bananas.

Happiness

We have a new addition to the family - Ruth's kitten.  Any tips on feeding when there's no supermarket stocking easy catfood would be appreciated.

I could never produce sunflowers like these in Scotland.