Miles In Missions

“Come on kids, its time to go visit the M@sque.” I yelled. “Mommy, tell me again why I can’t tell them about Jesus when we visit?” Cason asked. I never thought I would be explaining to my 10 year old son why you cannot walk into a M@sque and start telling everyone about Jesus. It was precious conversation that I will never forget and a huge educational opportunity.

We have finished 2 weeks of our cross cultural training at CIT (Center for Intercultural Training) in Union Mills, North Carolina. We have two more weeks to go and it has been an eye opening experience already. They have helped us identify cultural, spiritual, and emotional issues that might arise while in the field. They are also giving us the tools to equip us once we encounter these hard issues. They want us to get uncomfortable in our American ways so we can truly understand how hard it is going to be in Africa. One of the uncomfortable assignments was to visit the primary Religious worship service for our country we are heading to. According to a 2011 report, about 50.8% of Nigeria’s population are Christians, 47.8% are M*slims and 1.4% adhere to other religions. So we decided to head to a M@sque along with 4 other families.

Nigerian M*slim Women

Upon arriving at the M@sque we were greeted by the parking director. “What are you doing here?” he asked. Telling him we just wanted to visit, he sent us in to find a congregation of men standing at the entrance. To say we were the center of attention would be an understatement. The looks and stares we received were just a little uncomfortable. Upon realizing there was a separate entrance for women, our group separated. We found the women’s entrance and immediately realized that our long skirts and long sleeve shirts were not the only requirements. Every women had on a head covering. The stares again were overwhelming and I was very uncomfortable. One of the missionaries I was with made her way to a table were one women was sitting and sat down. I followed her and we began to strike up a conversation with the Mu$lim women. She was from Nigeria….too funny!

I am excited about what God has in store for us in Egbe Nigeria and we would love for you to partner with us. We still need financial partners, 3/$100 partners, 7/$50 partners 9/$25 partners and 3/$10 partners. We also have 189 prayer partners and are wanting 400 prior to departure August 15th. To sign up to be a monthly financial partner click here. To become one of our prayer partners click here.