Letter from the Field

Letter from the Field

(Faith & Victory : Nov. 1965)


Nigeria, Africa-Oct. 6-Dear Ones: Little did we think when we were in Pacoima, Calif. last Oct. 5, for Sister Opal Wilson's funeral, that a year from that date we would be here. But we are here by the grace of God; and by your prayers and God's mercy, we are keeping well. How we praise the Lord for what he is doing for us daily!

It seems that now, as it is almost time to go home, we are learning how we can be of help to them. All of this time we have gone from one Mission to another for "welcoming ceremonies," mostly one every day, and sometimes twice a day. At most of these Cecil has been able to bring a message since Nse has learned that he wanted to. Otherwise, they had their service in their own way; read a long sheet welcoming us, and outlining their needs to us, and they are many, and then bringing their tray of fruits and other gifts and a rooster. Cecil has been able to have several talks with their teachers and elders, and they seemed eager to accept his teaching and answers to their questions.

They seem to have great faith in the Lord. A young girl was brought to the Mission soon after we arrived. She stayed out there for a week or more, first unconscious, then blind and partly paralyzed. She is now well. Two nights ago they brought an unconscious woman in a basket. The drum beating was real loud that night. Today the woman and her little baby were over here at the house. Bro. Brownson Udeme, one of the preachers, told me of a woman who was in the congregation tonight. Last year she was in the swamp about two miles from here. She came face to face with a tiger. She said, "I command you in the name of Jesus to leave." The tiger ran off. Today Bro. Etuk's oldest child, an eleven-year-old boy, came here sick. He was unconscious in the afternoon out at the mission, and while they were praying for him, he sat up. One of their requests is a place where their sick can be cared for. We see that when they get desperately sick they are brought here for prayer. There are no accommodations out there, for their care, only the bare benches, yet they are able to go home. I don't know who feeds them, unless the Etuks divide with them. I have sent food out several times, and I almost always make a big pot of cocoa and oatmeal in the mornings; and later on in the day make extra of what we cook and take to the Etuks. They nearly always have several sitting out in the back yards where they cook in pots over the fires.

The fame of this Mission has gone out 'round about, how the Lord is blessing in healing the sick. They are very faithful in praying for the sick. At 4 o'clock this morning we heard them praying and again at 8:30 o'clock. When we first came to the village (Upkom) elders came with a long letter welcoming us; telling how they had given the land here for a mission, and how this mission had been a help to their community, and promising more land if they needed it.

Another request is for a maternity home, all staffed and equipped. One letter said many of their mothers and babies died in childbirth. And you would not wonder why when you see their poverty. In fact, I wonder how so many survive. They do not know much, if anything, about sanitation, yet their children at the missions look healthy and fine. At most of the missions the request is for a new building. These buildings are made of bamboo canes stuck in the ground with palm fronds tied to them. Then mud is plastered on each side. The floors are made of sand wet down with water until quite hard, and charcoal covering the sand. The roofs are thatched, made of palm fronds stitched together and laid over squares of crossed and tiered bamboo canes like our largest fishing poles. The beam across the front of our porch and the posts at the sides are large bamboo canes perhaps three inches in diameter. These thatched roofs last about two years and have to be replaced. They are replacing the roof on the mission here this morning. The walls of many of the missions are cracked. One small mission asked for windows and doors.

One young preacher asked for a bicycle. His home is 13 miles from his mission. Cecil is talking of granting his request himself as soon as he can. (A bicycle here costs about $60.) Now, this morning there is another young man who needs a bicycle.

Nse Umanah, the Field Secretary, needs a house. He and his little wife live in a small room in Bro. Etuk's home. The driver, Patience, and his wife live in another room. Bro. Etuk's brother and a number of children are there; a sister also and a number of orphan children he has taken in, more than 17 people in all. It is no wonder Bro. Etuk left home and came here when he became ill. Nse tells me the house we are in now costs around $75 or $80. He would like to have one with a corrugated zinc roof which would not have to be replaced, and that would cost around $180. This little house has a set-in front porch in the middle of the house and a door opening into a probably 12' x 12' room. Off the front porch on either side is a small room about 10' x 10', and a door opening into a smaller back room on our side of the house. On the other side a small room opens out of the large one. Nese’s idea is to have a part of his home for the missionaries when they come. I told him the rooms should be lived in, but saved for the missionaries. We were so grateful to move into little clean rooms, although the walls are made of mud and the floors were dirt. We are blest to have linoleum squares that cover a part of the rooms, and some matting over that, but at that we take much dirt to bed with us. If missionaries do come it would be good to have their own place with a concrete floor and a good roof.

Good bye for now, and may God bless each and one is our prayer.

-Cecil and May Carver

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