Nigeria Update
SANNU (HELLO)
Hello from Nigeria!
It's hard to believe my 5 weeks in Nigeria has come to a close, but what an incredible experience it was. I went to Nigeria ready to do a job of capturing footage for 5 different video projects and what I wasn't prepared for was how God used my time there to capture my heart, challenge me greatly, and refill my sense of purpose and calling.
PERSECUTED BUT PERSEVERING
Part of my work in Nigeria was to work on a story that would share about the persecuted church and the realities that many Christians still face in Nigeria. This one was also unexpected. I spent 8 days in the northern part of Nigeria interviewing pastors and missionaries who have experienced first hand the realities of the severity of the persecution.
This was truly a humbling experience and what I wasn’t ready for was the emotional weight of this trip, as I heard story after story of people killed, churches burned, and the challenges faced daily by the church in Nigeria. To hear these stories and visit gravesites and burned churches filled me with a heaviness of the gravity of what Christians face in different parts of the world. I take the weight of carrying these stories shared with me very seriously. To have everyone I interviewed share their story with me is something I will never forget. As I’m editing together this story I know I will be continually reminded that the church in Nigeria may be persecuted but they are persevering and chasing after God so well.
LIVING IN COMMUNITY
One thing I certainly did not expect in coming to Nigeria was to find an incredible community of short-termers to share life with. When I arrived I was greeted by 5 lovely faces of short-termers from all over the world serving in Nigeria for various lengths of time. Words cannot describe this community well enough, but I shall try. This group welcomed me so well, and from movie nights, togroup dinners, outings for ice cream, game nights, you name it, we had so much fun living inc ommunity together. More than that though, I was truly inspired by the way these short-termers were serving in their new home of Nigeria. They had already built deep connections with local friends and because of that doors were opened for relationship that I hadn’t seen before.
This group of young people play ultimate frisbee every week with friends they’ve met, they host a monthly worship night on the compound and invite so many Nigerian artists, they have weeklyHausa dinners with one of their Nigerian friends to practice their language skills, and they are always looking for new ways to connect with the Nigerian community and pour into those relationships. I loved that I got to see so much of their ministry work and getting to film them doing what they loved and what God made them to do, made my job so much easier and so full of joy. I was able to dive into life here because they all made it possible. I helped out with a sports day with some of the missionary kids from their partner church, and even helped lead a worship night with two of the girls. I also had the opportunity to share a bit of Kenya with them and make Kenyan chapati and chai. I will be forever changed by the friendships I made while in Nigeria and seeing the community they built has inspired and challenged me as I head back to Kenya.
PHOTOGRAPHY MOMENT
I absolutely loved getting to be behind the camera both in video form, but especially on this trip in the form of photography. I had shared already some photos from the Dye Pits, but there was another small excursion we had while in the north that was also a joy to photograph. The SIM Nigeria Director has built along standing relationship with a woman who makes pottery and so as part of our vision trip in the north we were able to visit her and she taught each of the girls how to make a pot. Her face lit up as everyone struggled through the steps, attempting to communicate, and just laughing at ourselves as she walked everyone through the process. I loved getting to take some pictures and seeing her pure joy was such a blessing.
REFLECTING
I can’t believe my time in Nigeria has come to an end and I loved every minute. It was a lot ofwork flying solo to capture enough material for 5 videos. I ended up with 38 interviews, 40hours of b-roll footage, and thousands of photos, but it’s the stories and hearts of all thepeople I met that I will carry with me. This was a special trip and one full of surprises. Onetheme that kept coming up was just how wonderful it is when you get to see how God wiredyou, with your talents, abilities, and passions so perfectly synced with serving Him andmeeting a need. There is truly no greater place to be than at the centre of God’s will and if Icame away from my time in Nigeria with one thing, it’s that. I am doing exactly what I wascreated to do and it has been such a joy to do that in Nigeria.
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© 2022 Emma Fuller
