AFRICAN MEMORIES

The year was 1967, I was 17 yo, just married to my childhood sweetheart. We had planned to marry the next year after my 18th BD...but when we learned of the Missionary Group leaving for Africa...we decided to go ahead & marry, spending our 'honeymoon' there.

My husband Tino, was 2 yrs my senior, we had known each other most of our lives. His family attended the same Church as my family, Tino and I went to school together. We had started dating when I was 16 & he was 18. We had talked about marriage and the future, always knowing that God would be the focus of our lives together.

Both of us were born again Christians, having a firm relationship with our Lord.

There was a group of 10 of us arriving in Nigeria, we were so tired. The plane trip was much longer than I had imagined it would be, then there were soldiers with guns at the airport. We had to go through customs, which took awhile, it took forever it seemed to get our luggage!

There was someone from the Church Ministry to meet us, thank God, but it took us another 3 hrs or so to get to the tiny remote village we were headed to.

When arriving, I first saw tiny houses with thatched roofs, old, only 1 or 2 rms per house. Many people in a family living in each dwelling. Most dressed in their native dress but some wore clothing much like ours that they had bought in town.

Chickens ran around the village, goats were kept in a large pen, there were also several oxen or maybe they were cows...not sure...but do know the women milked them every day.

It was about what I expected, yet not.  It was very remote with no comforts of home!

They cooked outside over a communal pit, there was a roof over it to keep the rain out. The bathrm facilities was also a communal area set aside for that purpose, a short distance to the rear of the village. 

Laundry was done by beating clothes on rocks at a river some distance away...were the women walked to twice weekly to wash clothes & bring back water for bathing, cooking, etc. Older children would accompany the women, and bathe themselves there & then help to carry the clothes & water back to the village.

If YouTube is down when you visit, please come back another time to see all the videos & hear the music. TY!

PLEASE CONT TO READ ALL 10 ENTRIES!

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Very few people spoke English, and those that did...had a hard time understanding us, their English was broken with heavy dialect, so we could only grasp a word here & there.

There was no house for us, but the Church Ministry had provided us with 2 huge tents, which we set up. There were cots inside for us to sleep on. The 2 married couples & an older lady took one tent while the 5 single men shared the other. It was also arranged that the 2 married couples would each get 2 hrs alone in the tent two nights a week for "marital relations". LOL

Kerosene lamps and flash lights were the lights we used at night, plus torches & the light from the big fire out front where we cooked, etc.

The village welcomed us by presenting us with 2 live chickens and a huge basket of fruit, the best I had ever tasted, so sweet & juicy. They were proud to offer it & we were grateful for such a lovely gift. We prepared the chickens & had them for dinner that first night along with the fruit and some greens a little girl & brought us. These people were farmers and lived off the land.

It had been a looong day, it took us so long to actually get here, then we worked the remainder of the day getting our living arrangements set up. We were so tired.

But it was beautiful, Tino and I sit hand & hand outside the tent on an old log...total darkness, blackness everywhere. The moon & stars were so close we could reach up and touch them. God was good! Praise God! We were in love, we were in the place God wanted us to be. We were happy.

We slept soundly that night...the day had taken a toll upon us. Little did we know, that most of the days here we would be tired beyond belief, after back breaking work & then spritual work that followed.

The next morning we awoke and started planning our next 6 mos. The plan was to build a small Church which would also serve as a school. To find a Pastor and a Teacher for these people. To figure out a way for them to have water by running pipes from the river to an above ground water tank in the village, which we would also build. It would be made to catch water during the rainy season & hopefully hold enugh to see them throughout the year. The pipes would only be used as a backup in case they should run out.

Plus, our main goal was to spread the word of Jesus. So we planned services 3 times per week...& we each took turns preaching while a man from the village that was the "best" with English, translated for us.

Almost every night we had songs & dances.

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We started working, first on building a water storage tank, next would be to run the pipes.

We had all the materials, they had been delivered before we arrived.

Then we'd build a small one room Church/School House. Until then we'd hold our Services in the middle of the village under a opensided 'room' with a roof. (it was the same area used for cooking)

The work was hard, from sun up till sun down, six days a week. It was hot & sweaty work, clothing would be wet with perspiration, our muscles cramped, but we kept going. Two members of our group passed out from over exhaustion, but after a rest & rehydrating themselves they were ready to go again.

Much of the work was hampered because of the rain downpours. On days when it drizzled, we'd work...but some days it was too heavy for us to be able to do what we needed to.

Those days we spent in prayer, or visiting with the families & talking with them about God.

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The work was long & hard, but rewarding. The villagers worked right along beside us, we were fast becoming friends.

The Worship services were so fulfilling! Can still remember all the glorious shouts, dancing, & chants given to praise our Lord!

During the services, we had a few people that were healed, one that had a mangled leg from an accident years earlier & had limited use of that leg, he used a stick to get around. He regained full use of that leg, threw the stick to the ground & danced all over the Worship area to prove it!

Another was a toddler that was born deaf, during a service began to hear...she was verbally asked to do certain things (with her back to us) & did them, asked to repeat certain sounds & did! PRAISE GOD!!!

Many people accepted Christ as their Savior, we even had entire families come forward and fall on their knees with us, arms outstretched towards Heaven, wanting Jesus to come into their lives & live in their hearts & souls. It was awesome!!!

An elderly man whose entire family, (wife, 6 daughters, & 3 sons) all found God...came to us one evening. He had made each of us a Prayer Box. The boxes were blessed by their Chief, then we all prayed over them, they were to be Prayer Boxes in which we would write requests for prayers & place in the box...then pray over the box filled with the names of those that were in need. I still have mine today and use it constantly, with love & pride!

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During our stay an elder in the village died, it was one of the most beautiful funerals I have ever seen.

Everyone was decked out in their finest traditional dress, jewelry, & head wraps. The singing & music was magnificient...they had a huge feast & many chants & tributes were paid to the man, it lasted for two days. More like a wake, I guess you could call it. But what a wake!!!

He was laid to rest quietly the third morning with the entire village mourning him as he left.

The next week a lovely young woman I had become fast friends with, was getting married.

The ceremony was unlike any I had ever witnessed, so many bright & vibrant colors.

The whole village was there, happy for the new couple to begin their life as one.

It was a 'traditional' wedding, performed at night in the open...a big fire raged in the backdrop.

Tears streamed down my face as I saw her happiness & recalled my own wedding just a few short months before.

She was radiant in her colorful dress & head wrap. So beautiful, her face beamed through the 'makeup' I had helped apply only hrs before.

Depending on which area you were in, the funerals/weddings were done differently, some villages had somber affairs & dressed accordingly.

I had learned that the paints & dyes they use for their facial paints, tattoos, clothing, etc...are extracted from plants, flowers, & berries.

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The temperature averaged around 90, seemed to rain most of our time there, was told it was their rainy season.

The land was a contrast to itself, in places barren with a red sand/clay, other places rich green trees & brush. Some areas flat, others had mountains.

Nigeria is a country twice the size of California, and many of the people live in extreme poverty there. Different languages are spoken by different tribes, so it's not all one language & one united group of people.

The capitol there now is Abuja, this is where we traveled monthly to do our 'shopping'.

There were many outdoor markets, that had food, jewelry, clothes, pottery, all kinds of wares. It was fun & exciting!

The buildings of the city were out dated according to our standards. No sky scrapers there LOL, none had over 3 floors, all looked old & in need of paint.

The people were all friendly & curious of us, they would wave at us and smile as we walked by. The children would come up talking to us, but we couldn't understand them.

We saw many different kinds of animals, bugs, spiders, & snakes on our stay. But not close up...they stayed to a distance. Except the bugs, spiders, & snakes, LOL we saw plenty of them close up...too close up.

One of our group was bitten by a snake, 3 were bitten by spiders, but were told they were not poisonous, Thank God.

There were lots of flying insects too, we used a cream that we applied all over to try and keep them away as much as possible. Also had nets that were hung over our cots, we would pull them around us at night to try & keep most of the creepy things out!

It was a lot different than you see in the movies, in most aspects, yet quite similar in others.

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I begin being sick every morning, guess what...I was pregnant!!! :) We were sooo happy. The whole village cheered. They gave us a big party. Lots of singing, dancing, & food (of course)! We had such a lovely time...we were up most of the night celebrating & praising God!

We slept in the next morning for a couple of hrs later than when we normally got up.

Then it was back to work as usual. Still lots to be done.

Another of the local girls was getting married, & wanted it to be in the Church, that made us happy & proud!

Not a typical Church Wedding, that's for sure, but spirtual & with deep meaning to all of us there. We had tears of joy that filled our eyes. It was a beautiful ceremony, performed by the Chief & by one of our Missionaries. They stood side by side...the old ways & the new! 

A tribal traditional celebration followed, it was magnificient. The dancing, drums, songs in their native tongue. Of course the dress was in awesome bright prints!

A beautiful memory among many beautiful ones.

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Tino had became ill, he had Malaria they said. He was very weak, & had chills, sweats, & fevers. Altho the Dr in town had given him some shots & pills, he did not seem to get any better.

He was unable to function as much as he wanted...but still insisted on attending each Service to praise the Lord. Was mostly confined to his cot, the Dr said he should go to a hospital. He refused saying, we only had a few more weeks here and he was staying.

The children brought him flowers and he would try & smile, make little jokes, & sing songs with them. It was sad to see him so weak, but I was proud to see him so determined to serve the Lord.

We had managed to find a teacher, and also a Pastor for the Church. A very nice man that was one of the few Christians we met when we first came here. He loved God dearly and was learning the Scriptures well...he would make a good Spiritual leader for his people. And the Chief approved him, which was important.

Our trip had been successful, we had accomplised all we had set out to do. Another group would be coming in another year to assist further & continue to spread the word of God.

Now it was time to go home, to get medical attention for Tino, who was not looking good. He had lost weight & could walk only with help.

We said our farewells, knowing that God was here with these friendly, generous, and loving people...and tho we had to leave, He would stay!

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We retuned home, and Tino was admitted to the hospital. He was in a bad way.

Everything that could be done was being done, but things didn't look good.

I lived at the hospital, sleeping on a cot next to his bed some nights, others in the waiting room.

I ate out of a vending machine mostly, sometimes from the cafeteria. A few times a nice nurse would sneak me a tray from the cart, someone who had been dismissed or who had passed away but a tray had mistakenly been sent.

Tino was concerned for me, his greatest wish was that I be healthy & have a healthy baby, that we have a happy life. He knew that he'd not recover, he told me he could hear Angels calling to him, that it was near his time to join them in Heaven.

Of course the hospital staff said the fever was causing him to hallucinate, but I knew better. When he spoke of Angels beckoning to him, his eyes were filled with such a peace & calm. Hallucinating? No, he knew exactly what was going on around him & to him. He was a man of God, and was granted the ability to hear them calling days before he actually went to be with them, to give him time to tell his family & me the things he wanted to say to us.

We had been home almost 3 weeks when he went to be with God.

I was alone with his baby inside me, I do so wish he could have lived to see his son born. But it was not to be. My faith gave me the strength I needed to continue on.

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Many years later, in 1988, I was asked to accompany a young Missionary/Medical group, 4 men & 2 women, to a different village but near the same region. I was only too happy to go.

We would have a 3 rm house for us to stay in...our goal would be to help the village Pastor teach the Word of God, and to help spread the word about the prevention of Aids. 

The area itself had changed a lot since my visit 21 yrs earlier, time marches on. Progress had been made in many areas, but still far behind what we were used to.

This village already had a Church, a God loving Pastor, and there were several Christian families living there, anxious for us to visit.

Aids was here, had taken many lives,  left many children orphaned, & many more living with Aids. Our group helped to set up an Orphanage by adding several more rooms onto a house where the couple and grandparents living there had agreed to act as surrogate parents for these children.

The children would break your heart, they tugged at my heart strings that's for sure. I had the oppurtunity to cuddle them, play with them, & help care for them. I wanted to bring them all back home with me!!!

Some of the older children would gather round wanting me to tell them stories of America and the children there, I did. {{{}}} Almost every afternoon, they would come running to find me...begging for a story.

Smaller children & I would draw pictures in the red sand, using broken tree branches...and laugh at each others drawings.

Funny, the things that stick in your mind all these years later.

The men helped to update aother house to be used as a Medical Center, we arranged for a Nurse from the town to come out once a week to see to their needs, once we were gone. She was to be trained in caring for those with Aids.

We had spread the word about how to prevent Aids, taught them the best we could re using condoms, on the 'casualties' of casual sex, on how bodily fluids was the ways to catch & spread this dreadful disease. We instructed in detail on caring for someone who had Aids & was bleeding...what to do and how to do it.

The word of God had been shared and enjoyed by all. His spirit was here, we knew most of the families now had a fair understanding of the Bible. Continued teaching would be up to the Pastor, & the Missionaries coming later.

Our time ended and we left, but Africa will always be a small part of my soul.

I can only hope than in some small way I helped to touch at least one life during my visits, I know my life was touched & greatly enriched my meeting & getting to know these wonderful people.

May God Bless!

It was harder than I thought it would be to sit down & sort through my mind, trying to recall what I could from each trip. Plus it seemed all my memories had 'melted' together, so I have tried my best, to put the memories with the right countries. LOL

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TY to my Graphics Group for the lovely tags & siggy, & to Chris/Cab for the lady in pink tag.

Throphy given by Derasta Creations & Vivi Award by J-Lands Vivi Awards.

The videos are compliments of YouTube, & very much reflect my time in Africa.

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