SFA Secretary Carisa Haven (left) traveled to Nigeria with a dear friend, Carol Barrett (right), in June/July! It was a highly successful trip! With Missionary Phyllis Sortor (center), we visited MANY of our schools, and God was with us in the lengthy travel! There are SO MANY stories to tell!
FIRST - THE ROADS WERE TERRIBLE!
We traveled throughout the nation for three whole weeks, rarely staying in one place for more than a day or two. We did A TON of driving. Phyllis always travels with two vehicles, an armored Lexus and a small pick up. This way, if a vehicle breaks down, we can get safely to the next stop while the other vehicle is repaired. Each vehicle has a driver and an armed security guard. For this trip, we had THREE armed guards!
Phyllis has told our board time and again how bad the roads are. She has even suggested we use planes to travel to each school! But until you see these Nigerian roads for yourself, you can't truly understand.
Imagine taking a jeep up into the mountains to do some 4x4ing, crawling slowly over rocks, through crevices and potholes. Now imagine doing that for 8-10 hours a day for 2-3 days straight! My core muscles are MUCH stronger from being on the road so much in Nigeria. Now add to the scene a mass of chaotic traffic. Picture HUGE semi trucks and dozens of kekes (little taxi vehicles) and dozens more motorcycles and cars and trucks ALL vying for the next six feet. One time we were just inches from a huge semi, and our vehicle lurched left, down into a huge hole. I thought surely we would hit the semi! We didn't.
Our drivers are SKILLED! On the way to a market, I asked our expert driver and SFA Manager Lawal, "Sooo, have you EVER accidentally knocked a motorcycle over?" He smiled, "No." I ask, "Have you ever accidentally even BUMPED a motorcycle?" Another small smile, "No." I am amazed! "But aren't you guys always getting into car wrecks and scraping each other's paint??!" Small smile, "No." Wow. "Lawal, how many accidents have you been in since you worked with SFA?" He replied, "I have driven Reverend Phyllis for 8 years, no accidents." Wow, I am truly shocked. How is this possible in SO MUCH traffic chaos and horrible road? They're just used to it, he tells me.
'Good' roads are few and far between, but even they are filled with HUGE potholes. We speed up to 60 MPH on the good parts, careening around huge potholes. Of course we are hitting many bone-jarring potholes. In the US, we would be checking our alignment if we hit one big pothole. In Nigeria, the whole road is one big pothole. AND, if the road looks better on the other side, folks would just switch over to our side and drive on the wrong side of the road! They were coming right AT US!
Driving might have been miserable, but for the great company and incredible scenery we drove past. The Lord was truly with us, keeping us safe. One day, I was watching the road too much (bad idea), and anxiety began to rise up in me (TRULY UNDERSTANDABLE). Thankfully, the Lord reminded me that He had given me this incredible opportunity as a gift - don't ruin it by letting anxiety take root! OK, Lord, you're right, I won't, I trust YOU! And the anxiety went away. :)
This story will never communicate just how terrible the roads are in Nigeria. And yet, we MUST travel to our schools throughout the nation to check on them and encourage them. Be thankful for our roads in the US, such as they are!
A Miraculous Day In Plateau State
Driving days were filled with discussion about each school, the people, God's gifts, many challenges, our team, etc. We were on our way to Plateau State. Chief Security Officer Jacob lives in Plateau State. Phyllis went to Jacob's church for his baby's dedication, and found the congregation meeting in a tin shack on rented land. The Lord asked Phyllis to build them a church! She did, then the church partnered with us to build a school nearby, called Solid Rock School.
The school is run by Victoria, a wonderful woman of God who is passionate about kids, Jesus, well actually, this beautiful woman is passionate about most things! She is doing a great job running the school. The local Fulani chief in the area, Ardo, is SO happy and SO thankful to have a school for his children. He is a great advocate for education - he and his wife are taking afternoon classes to learn to read and write English! He says he has left the disgrace of ignorance behind him. The school brings opportunity for a better life, and Ardo is thrilled for his family to have this opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive.
Ardo is SO thrilled that after we built the school in 2023, he immediately started telling his brother Usman (also an Ardo, or village chief) all about it. His brother has a large village about 1 hour away. Ardo and Usman have been PESTERING Victoria for Reverend Phyllis to PLEASE PLEASE build a school for Ardo's brother's village! Well, finally, we are on our way to visit Ardo, and possibly go to see his brother. On the way there, Phyllis ACTUALLY SAYS TO ME that she wants to slow down (SHOCKING) building primary schools. Maybe we want to focus on building secondary schools, now that our students are needing to progress to further education. Our year is already packed with building projects, so in my heart I am thinking "We can not build a school for Ardo's brother, Usman. We are too busy."
After an hour of driving horrible roads through the bush way way out, we pull under the shade of a large nut tree, looking out over a field of corn. Across the field is the beautiful village of Ardo's brother Usman, made of cement block homes and huts. We trek down the trail through the corn, and are escorted to the shade in a stand of trees. They pull out Chief Usman's thrones for our 'mommies', Phyllis and Carol, to sit on - what honor they show us! They bring us a treat - a bottle of Maltina, my favorite soda, and bottled water!
The children are streaming in to join us - you should have SEEN them pouring in! First there were 8-10 children, then 20, then 50! Soon the whole village and almost 80 children surround us!
Ardo and Usman sit down with us, and through an interpreter, Ardo introduces Phyllis as MAMA FULANI to Usman. Usman is desperate for a school for his children as well - you should have seen the look in his eyes! Phyllis describes to Usman and the village how God called her to the Fulani. She explained that not only will we be blessing the Fulani with education, we will build peace with our neighbors by allowing other tribes to attend the school as well! Usman CLAPPED at the idea. He explained that there were MANY Fulani camps in the area, and many other tribes as well. He had already purchased land for the school, hoping that we would come. He can sell the land to Schools For Africa for a token small amount.
All was agreed upon, and we were off to see the land right next to his village. The land is plenty big enough for a LARGE school and soccer field. It is a beautiful location overlooking a lush green valley. How could we possibly say no to this man, his family, his children? We could not. Phyllis agreed to build a school for Chief Usman's village next year. There are THREE schools ahead of him. The elder men in the village actually CHEERED at the news, thanking Phyllis with great joy. They too would leave the disgrace of ignorance behind them. Their children would have opportunities that they themselves never dreamed of! Praise God!
I (Carisa) actually got this whole exchange on video! I will learn how to share it, and get it out to you as soon as I can. It is 20 minutes long. Carol and I could barely hold back the weeping as we watched it all happen before our own eyes. WOW! This is how the Lord leads SFA. He leads, we follow. WOW! Praise God!
