Jay In Nigeria 2017: Finally, Getting Around to Posting

The February/March trip was busy. I never seemed to find the time to post. The main focus of the trip was to get the Training Building and Hostel Building at the Demsa Health Referral Center started and to get the Renovations of the Demsa Health Referral Center finished. In the middle of the trip was the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN) National Convention.

I am back in Nigeria starting my May/June trip. This trip is to finish the Training Building and Hostel Building and also finish the Renovations of the Demsa Health Referral Center (mostly paper work). This blog post will be from pictures I took during the February and March. Will cover the LCCN National Convention and Ribbon Cutting at the Demsa Health Referral Center.

All the pictures can be made larger by clicking or for some systems double clicking on the pictures.

First a little orientation, Nigeria is in West Africa. It is the most populated country in Africa. The LCCN is headquarter in Numan in Adamawa State in Northeast Nigeria. For the last couple trips I have mostly been working in Demsa and living in Jimeta. Jimeta a section of Yola the state capital. I stay in an old Danish missionary building on the Jimeta Mission Compound. Below are a series of Google Earth maps starting with West Africa and zooming in to Demsa.

The LCCN National Conventions will draw over 30,000 people to Demsa from all over Nigeria. They come by the truck load, buses, cars. People bring their sleeping mats, a change of clothes, and cooking pots.

Vendors come selling bibles, pastoral clothes, water, books, music, clothes, pots and pans, patent medicines, fruits, vegetables, fish, meats and more. There are many popup restaurants under tarps, clothing stores, household goods stores and you can even find shops with copy machines connected to generators. The Health Board sets up a clinic in one building. They have a steady stream of patients during the four days of the convention.

It is hard to show the size of the convention in pictures. I climbed to the top of the Boys Brigade Building where and took a few panorama shots. There are only a few permanent structures on the grounds. The small main stage is hard to see in this picture. It is mostly obscured by a tree. It is to the left of the open area, a little left of center of the picture. The green roof of the building used for the clinic is on the right. To get a place in the shade, where you can see the stage you need to arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday to place your mats under the shade shelters on the three sides of the stage area. By Thursday there are rows of people in front of the shade shelters.

Panorama from left of stage. This taken on Thursday early afternoon. Many people were still coming.

By Friday morning the crowds had swelled to fill in much of the open areas between the stage and the shade shelters.

Taken from behind the stage in the visitor and pastor seating.

Behind the stage is a concrete stadium seating area with woven mats for the roof. The first two rows are for dignitaries and visitors.

Bishop Ann Svennugsen, Archbishop Babba and Archbishop Elect Musa Filibus

Bishop Ann Svennungsen of the Minneapolis Area Synod attended the convention to participate in the installation of the new Archbishop.

Bishop Ann gave greeting to the crowd on Thursday afternoon,

I spent Friday morning and afternoon at the Demsa Health Referral Center getting it ready for the ribbon cutting later that afternoon. The bishops and guests took a quick break from the convention and went a little over a mile away to the Demsa Health Referral Center for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the renovations that were taking place. The two existing buildings have been razed and rebuilt with higher roofs, new electrical, improved plumbing and expansions. The In-Patient expanded to accommodate a surgical theater, two delivery suites and restrooms attached to the wards. A covered walkway was constructed to connect the two building and future buildings. The facility is now connected to the local power grid, has a back-up generator, and an uninterruptible power supply for the surgical theater.

On Sunday Archbishop-elect Rev. Dr. Musa Filibus was installed as the new Archbishop of the LCCN.

Following the installation of the new Archbishop it was his honor to install his replacement as the new Bishop of the Maya Belwa Diocese.

The last order of business for the convention was the installation of new pastors. All the bishops attending the convention joined in on the installation ceremony with the new Archbishop presiding.

Now some random pictures from the convention. I also shot video but it takes more bandwidth to upload than I have here in Nigeria. If I find time I may resize and edit some video down and post on my YouTube channel.

Tradition flute and drum performance for the installation of the new Archbishop. I am assuming they are from his tribe.

Music was a large part of the convention. Women's groups from each Diocese, Choirs, traditions signers and dancers all performed. Some had elaborate staging and props. Some mixed traditional dance with group performances.