Holy Cross Catholic Church

We left Jos on Saturday, January 24th. It was heart-wrenching, and my mom was crying. But we felt that we were doing the right thing, and so that was a comfort.

The next day, we decided to go with David’s sister-in-law Stella and her household to mass. We woke up a bit late to join them for the 8:00 service, but we decided to go anyway. We got dressed hurriedly and waited downstairs. Around 8:15, the others showed up, ready to go. Stella has three kids, aged 11 months, 4, and 5. She also has three helpers in her house, two young ladies and a young man. And we were all going to church. One by one we piled into her SUV. It felt like one of those clown shows at the circus in which the clowns keep getting into and out of the vehicle that obviously can’t hold that many people. Well, there we were, in an SUV supposed to seat four passengers. Stella and David were in the front, David holding the baby Sasha. In the back, the three helpers and I were squeezed in, three of us holding kids on our laps. It was the kind of thing that ought to have been photographed except that they probably saw nothing funny in it at all. Just picture it: six adults and four children all fitting into an SUV!!

When we got to church, the sanctuary was full, so we found seats on benches outside at the back under a tree. The sermon was already in full swing, but I couldn’t hear to understand it. One of the helpers took the two older children to children’s church while the other took care of Sasha. After we’d been seated on the bench for ten minutes or so, a man came to tell us there were about 20 seats in the front; would we please go with him? I declined, preferring to sit outside with Timothy, but Stella went with him inside. For the next hour, we enjoyed ourselves immensely, listening to the singing and liturgy but not having to participate. Timothy played with seed pods, threw dirt, and chased two goats across the churchyard. I’ve hardly ever enjoyed church more!

So our last Sunday service in Nigeria was a great hit amongst us. We’ll remember it fondly. Thanks, Holy Cross Catholic Church!