My journey to Africa

Follow, Christian Science Journal staff editor, Amy Farnsworth Nagel, as she travels through Ghana and Nigeria. Along the way, she will share sights, sounds, and spiritual insights from her journey. Check back frequently for regular updates from Amy.

November 18, 2009

In Nigeria ... .

It’s been a while since I’ve written, but that’s because I’ve really been cherishing my experiences in Nigeria. Although I was only in Nigeria for a short weekend, the experiences I had in this country will always stay with me.

Before I decided to embark on this trip, I was really afraid to go to Nigeria. I know it sounds silly, but I’d taken in all the negative things I’d heard about this country. Whenever I would ask anyone what they knew about Nigeria, they would usually throw out a few stereotypes claiming that Nigeria is full of scam artists, crime, and corruption. But I knew that there had to be another side to this story. That’s why I’m grateful I had the opportunity to travel to Nigeria in the first place.

The morning my colleague and I left Ghana for Nigeria, we found out that our flight to Owerri, a city in southern Nigeria, was cancelled. We were stuck in the Lagos, Nigeria, airport at the ticket counter looking for solutions because we had to make an early morning meeting in Owerri the next day. I felt panicked. Where would we go? What would we do? The airport was bustling with activity and I was in a foreign place. I felt completely lost and hopeless.

I soon learned that the only place we could fly to was a city called Port Harcourt. The city is located in the Niger Delta, an area that is central to the oil industry, and one that is generally noted as a place where foreigners shouldn’t travel unless it’s absolutely necessary.

While I was waiting near the ticket counter, I began to grow fearful about our trip to Port Harcourt. Whenever I read about this city, I had heard it was a place where foreigners were kidnapped or robbed. I was afraid I would end up in the same situation or worse. In the middle of the airport, I grew very worried, but then I remembered a young woman I knew who grew up in the area and had such a passion for her hometown. I began to wonder how I could let myself get so carried away by fear, especially when I knew someone from this area. During this time, my colleague recommended I read the 27th Psalm. The Psalm assures of God’s protection and care for each one of His children no matter the circumstances. This brought me much comfort. As I waited for my flight to board, my colleague and I went to a store. We didn’t end up buying anything from the store, but after we left, the owner of the store appeared at a convenience store in the mall saying he had paid for two bottles of water for us. We were so grateful for this act of kindness, and my perception of Nigeria began to switch from scary to friendly. My colleague and I lovingly referred to the man as an angel (And this wasn’t our last angel that day either!)

When we exited the Port Harcourt airport, the baggage turnstile wasn’t working so all the airport crew members started wheeling out the luggage on carts. I was stuck in a frenzy of passengers all calling out for their bags and rolling over my toes with luggage carts. I was being so patient and knowing that I would be able to get my bag eventually. Suddenly, a man we had met on the plane, helped us grab our bags. He made sure I had gathered my belongings and told me to have a safe journey. I began to wonder: Is this the real Nigeria? If so, it’s really not what people say it is!

So far, Nigeria wasn’t a place to be feared, but as it grew dark, I began to panic. The roads were bumpy and narrow and traffic was moving very fast. Many of the cars driving on the roads didn’t have lights and the cars were in poor condition. We had about a three and a half hour drive to get to our hotel in Owerri, and I was completely worried about the police checkpoints. At these checkpoints, I had heard that police would ask for bribes, steal money, or kidnap foreigners.

Instead of worrying, I decided to pray. Every time we drove through a checkpoint, I listened to whatever God wanted to tell me. The thought that we are God’s offspring and all come from one family continued to resonate with me the entire ride. I wasn’t just a white foreigner, or a vulnerable woman traveling through Nigeria. I had a bond with all of these policemen that could never be broken – we were all God’s children and His reflection. So how could I possibly be scared of my brothers or sisters? I also focused on knowing that I was innocent. I had not come to Nigeria to do any harm. I was on this trip not only to help church members, but to pray for Africa and to help uplift my own thoughts about Nigeria and the world beliefs that surround this country. I couldn’t be a victim because I hadn’t committed a crime. Therefore, how could I be punished for doing good work?

During the long car ride, I recalled some of my favorite hymns. Whenever a police officer would stop us and shine his flashlight in my window or say “hello” to me, I quietly hummed hymn verses such as, “Everlasting arms of love are beneath around above,” the verses to “Feed My Sheep,” and “In heavenly love abiding no change my heart shall fear.” When I grew fearful, my colleague helped me focus on “checking my thought” at each checkpoint.

As we drove along, to my surprise, some of the policemen smiled and others quietly waved us through the checkpoints. One policeman even referred to me as his sister!

I can’t remember the number of checkpoints we drove through, but the man driving us said it was more than usual that night. That night, no one asked us for a bribe, yelled at us, or made us feel unsafe. At times there was a strong temptation to think of these men as corrupt individuals who had ulterior motives, but that wasn’t the truth about them. They were just doing their jobs and protecting the country. They didn’t need to take anything from me because they already had everything they needed from God. The truth is, we have everything we already need. And although we may feel paralyzed by fear when we face difficult situations, we are always charged with Love and Truth that can take us anywhere we need to travel, even through checkpoints.

After I arrived at the hotel in Owerri, I was so grateful for God’s protection and for our driver’s patience and authority under intense pressure, but I also realized I still had to pray about the images I encountered along the ride. I felt overwhelmed by what I had just seen – men holdings guns and cars speeding across the road – so I decided to call a Christian Science practitioner to help me find a solid spiritual foundation to rest upon. She reminded me that a healing could never produce a harmful after effect. I understood this to mean we can’t ever step backward or retract after having a healing and that we can’t feel the effects of error after we have proved that it’s powerless.

I further affirmed this truth when we stopped at a local market the next day. Our friend and driver wanted to buy me bananas and pick up some other goods. When we got back in the car, a man approached the front of the vehicle and held up an immigration ID and demanded the driver hand us over as well as our passports. I was sitting in the back seat looking at this man. I wasn’t afraid. I had spent the day looking at villages and visiting with people in Nigeria. My heart was so filled with love for this country and its people – there was simply no room for fear. I felt completely calm during this situation because I knew God was in control. Our driver was being directed by God to do what he had to do as well. With fearless determination, our driver told the man to move away from our car and insisted that we would not be in this country without a visa. Within seconds, we were able to drive away, totally safe and unharmed. This was yet another example of God’s protection, but it also reaffirmed that I had been completely free of any fears I held about this country in the first place. To me, it was a complete healing and a trip that God intended me to take. Sometimes, we may not feel ready to greet a challenge, but God never puts you in a situation you can’t handle. He knows what you are capable of, and with Him, all things are possible.

Next, follow me to Hohoe, Ghana, where I’ll hang out with monkeys, meet a Christian Science society, and hike through a tropical rain forest to see West Africa’s largest waterfall!

November 12, 2009

The drive to Takoradi ... .

I’m in a car driving back to Accra from Takoradi, where we met with a small society Wednesday night. The drive to Takoradi was around four hours (without traffic) and I was able to take in the sights of Ghana from the car. During this trip, I have been looking for examples of The Christ, or “the true idea of God,” being expressed everywhere I go (Science and Health, p. 316).

As we traveled, I began to see the Christ being expressed among the lush, green banana and cassava trees. There were children joyfully skipping to school and playing soccer, digging their feet into the red earth. There were women, strong and proud, carrying baskets of water and plantains on the top of their heads. And there were families sitting near coconut stands talking with one another and laughing.

For me, a common thread in my travels has been looking for God’s qualities being expressed wherever I go. No matter where you may be, there’s no shortage of God’s seven synonyms – Mind, Truth, Life, Love, Spirit, Principle, Soul – making their presence known. While looking out my car window, I could see all of these synonyms in action. Mind was directing our driver through busy traffic. Truth was giving me and my co-worker the wisdom to conduct our evening meeting with the society. Life was a friendly woman selling cashews, who tapped on my car window and gave me a smile. Principle and order could be seen in the organization of the cities we passed through. Soul was a mother’s ability to tenderly carry her baby on her back, while she balanced a pile of heavy wood on top of her head.

Traveling in a developing country might mean that some things appear meager or desolate, maybe not exactly what you’re used to seeing back at home. Still, I’ve found it helpful to direct my thought to what I do know--to the sweet assurance of knowing that the expression of The Christ will make its presence known wherever I go. It may come in the form of a smiling child or a beautiful sunset. And it may come at the most unexpected times. The Christ is not just present in Africa. It is present in warzones, workplaces, and our homes. It is constantly communicating to us and making us aware of God’s presence in our lives.

The four hour drive didn’t seem so long after I began to see my surroundings as evidence of the Christ presence wherever I go … I’m going to keep that up.

Tomorrow we are off to Nigeria!

November 11, 2009

At the market... .

It’s been a few days since I arrived in Ghana, and a lot has happened! On Monday, I went to a local African market in Osu, a section of Accra. My co-worker and I were looking for some things we could bring back home to our family and friends. The market, a colorful display of dresses, wood carvings, and soccer jerseys, was bustling with activity. As we walked down the road, we encountered two young men who wanted to know our names and where we were from. One of them extended their hand to me, and I told them we were from Boston, Massachusetts. After we exchanged greetings, the two young men continued to follow us throughout the market. After a while, one of the men gave up, but the other continued to follow us. He was trying to sell me a bracelet he had made out of string. He had stitched my name into the bracelet and insisted that I wanted to buy it. I told the young man that I wasn’t interested in buying, and my co-worker continued to tell him we weren’t interested. Still, he continued to follow us everywhere we went. Feeling frustrated, and not knowing what to do, I pulled out a Christian Science Sentinel and handed it to the young man. I didn’t know how he would react, but I felt led to give it to him.

Immediately he asked, “What is this?”

“It’s a Christian magazine,” I replied.

“Well, if you give me your magazine, you should pay for my bracelet,” he said. My co-worker and I gently told the young man that this magazine would give him so much more than money and that it would help him. Then, he asked us to pray for him. He removed his hat and said he was a sinner. We reassured him, right in the middle of the streets of the marketplace, that God doesn’t see him as a sinner, but as His child, and we told him that God was taking care of him and would guide him throughout his life. The young man seemed to listen and he took the magazine with him. We did pay a small amount for the bracelet, but it didn’t matter. We couldn’t put a price on what we’d just been given: An opportunity to bless someone and have them bless us in return.

That same day, my co-worker and I had another opportunity to share. As we drove through the streets of Accra, beggars came up to our car windows asking for food. Instead of handing out money or food, my idea was to hand out Christian Science magazines. I had stashed a bunch of extra issues of the Christian Science Sentinel and The Christian Science Journal in my bag to give out along my trip. In the past, I’ve always tried to carry one with me to share with people. Today, a man reached up to the window looking for a handout. Instead, we shared a Christian Science Sentinel with him. After he received it, he walked away from the middle of the road and sat down on a curb and began reading it. As the car drove away, I saw him flipping through the pages and reading. Though I may never know what will happen to this person I saw on the street, I was comforted in knowing that they had moved out of the busy street full of cars and stopped begging, to take a moment to read.

November 9, 2009

Arriving in Africa... .

I’ve never traveled internationally before (unless you count Aruba). For me, the whole experience of coming to Africa was a little intimidating at first. I’d never been on a series of long flights and I’d never been someplace so far away from my home in Boston. Reading guide books about Africa made me very nervous. Paragraphs littered with sentences about crime, corruption, and disease, tried to steer me away from this adventure of a lifetime.

Now, after being in Africa for a few days, I think those guidebooks need a serious update! The Africa which is so harrowingly described online and in guidebooks is, from my first impression, a beautiful, lush landscape rich with warmth and hospitability like I have never experienced. That is not to say that there aren’t issues that need to be tackled here, but I do believe that the Africa we imagine may differ from reality. It is my hope that I’ll write my own version of a “guidebook,” one filled with stories of progress, as I travel through Ghana and Nigeria.

When I was asked to travel to Africa in connection with my work, I knew it would be a wonderful opportunity to see and experience an amazing part of the world, as well as an opportunity for me to grow spiritually.

As I prepared for this trip, I began to think about the spiritual concept of “home.” To many of us, home is a place where you hang your hat and take off your shoes at the end of the day, but it’s also much more than that. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes, “Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre, though not the boundary, of the affections.” In Africa, I’ve already seen what this means. I’ve felt uplifted by people’s generosity and their hospitality. Yesterday, we arrived at a local hotel looking for rooms. Our previous hotel had lost our reservations, so we needed a new place to stay. For some reason, many of the hotels were booked in Accra, and many employees didn’t know why.

At the local hotel, a young woman behind the counter told me (and the co-worker I’m traveling with) that there were no rooms, but instead of turning us away, she graciously called a few hotels in the area to help us find a room. While she called around the city, I took a quiet moment to pray about the trip. Throughout my preparation, I knew that God was taking care of all the details. I even lovingly referred to God as my “trip planner.” I knew that there was a hotel room for us somewhere because divine Love had already paved the trail before us, preparing the way for us in Africa.

During my long flights, I’d turned to a collection of Classic Articles from the Christian Science periodicals. One article, titled “All the Way,” by Milton Simon, really spoke to me. The article tells a story about two people who needed to travel downtown to a courthouse, but the railroad they took was on strike that day. While they were walking, a chauffeur stopped by and offered them a ride, but he explained that he could only take them halfway to their destination. Then a thought, or an angel message from God, came to one of the passengers traveling, “Love never takes anyone halfway. Love takes us all the way.” As soon as the passenger realized this, the chauffeur called out, “This is halfway, but I have time to take you all the way and would be glad to do so.”

The message of this story, to me, wasn’t the fact that the woman and her travel companions made it all the way to the courthouse, but knowing that God never takes us half-way in any situation. I knew that I hadn’t traveled to Africa to be led half-way. God never deserts us. He is always caring for us and guiding us in every situation. I knew that there was a right place for me to lay my head for the night and God would help both my co-worker and me find it.

While it may have been easy to be anxious or irritated that many of the hotels were already booked, or that our previous hotel never received our reservation, I began thinking about the influx of visitors to the city as an indication of vibrancy and prosperity. Thinking about all the people visiting Accra, who were all adding their own drumbeat to the rich tapestry of the country, uplifted my thought. I was able to view Africa in a new light, and I was able to pray for the world, all while waiting for a simple place to rest my head for the night.

It did take a while to find a room, but when the employee did, she asked the person on the other end of the phone to make sure we received a discount and to make sure we would both be taken care of when we arrived. I was truly grateful for this woman’s kindness and her willingness to make us feel at home, though she had no place for us at the hotel where she worked. It was her kindness, and the kindness expressed by others in Africa, that is making me feel at home wherever I go.

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