David's second letter from Niger
It was church ok - but not as we know it! The sanctuary measured about
40 feet by 20 feet. The superstructure consisted of a series of tubular
steel poles on top of which was a pergola type construction covered with zana
mats.
The side walls are made of dried millet stalks interwoven and lashed
together between wooden poles. The whole building is surrounded by a thorn
fence that has only one entrance. At that entrance hangs a badly beaten
bucket on a pole - the church bell. The sanctuary decor is basic.
The floor is the sand and dirt that was there before the structure was erected
and the seating plan is simple - loads of grass mats around the place and you
sit on whichever one is handiest.
If the building was rare looking, it was nothing compared to the congregation. Twenty five Fulani men are gathered for the Cold Season Bible School at Tassa Abrahim, 150 km North of Maradi. These exotic looking people are semi-nomadic and this is one of their settlements from which they will set out with their herds when the time is right to seek pasture for their flocks. Their distinguished features are accentuated by their turbans though it is clear that in terms of material wealth they are not rich people. They sit on the mats and listen as one of their number who has been trained in Bible School in Benin teaches about our responsiblity to share the gospel with others. The children play outside, as do the goats, the sheep, the dogs, the chickens and goodness knows what other wild life. Hence the thorn fence - if it wasn't there we'd be invaded.
As the teaching continues the faint smell of charcoal taints the air. Soon it's the smell of strong incredibly sweet tea that takes over and the guests are served this amazing liquid in small glasses. If they drink this stuff all day how do they ever sleep? The caffeine and sugar hype certainly keeps the congregation alert which probably explains how we've managed to sit here for several hours in the dust and heat and still be wide awake. For as long as the service lasts the tea is brewed. It seems to be the task of members of the Youth Fellowship to keep the tea on the go. Our tea maker today is a young man with the most handsome delicate features and superb hair do. His various plaits are gathered at the side of his head and distinctly resemble the floppy ears of the sheep outside. Whatever they are these can't be good little Baptist kids with hair like this!
Also filling the air is the sound of spitting - yes, spitting. Adenoid rattling is something of an art form around here, the gloopy product of which is expelled with considerable force on the nearest patch of sand and then discreetly covered with a flick of some more sand on top. Just watch where you walk in your bare feet.
The visit to Tassa Abrahim has been one of the truly amazing and humbling experiences of this trip. The people who work here with the Falanis are amazing. Their commitment, their love and their involvement with this community is something very special. But the people themselves are wonderful. These are first generation Christians. In the 1980s during a time of famine two of the leading men of the village went South for food. They met some missionaries who shared the gospel with them and shortly afterwards they were converted. They have been the evangelists in this area and today probably 70% of the adult population of this settlement profess faith in Christ. Sitting in the 'sanctuary' with the Harmattan wind bringing clouds of dust through the gaps in the walls till our clothes and hair are thick with the stuff, sharing the tea and listening to the questions asked and aswered after the session gives a renewed sense of what the essentials are when it comes to being Church.
As you meet for worship this morning please pray for your Falani brothers and sisters at Tassa Abrahim. Ask the Lord to fill them with his spirit that they may grow and develop into a strong community of faith that will be used to lead many others to Christ in this remote and desolate part of God's wonderful earth.
To next letter.
To letters from Niger.