Today was Making Allies Day. Elder Elam has been successful in making connections with the Interfaith Community and as a result, arranged several meetings.  The most was significant was with a state leader.  Nigeria has 36 states and we met with the Governor of Kaduna State, not a major state of importance but no small potatoes either.  The Governor’s mansion was one of the more impressive buildings I had seen so far, and he seems to wield some power and respect.  The press covered the visit, and there was a feeling of significance.

 

Aside from myself and Howard, it was Elder Elam, Habbakkuk and two of the more promising young guys, Shmuel Tikvah and Shmuel Okuma.  From the looks on their faces, this was a good day.

 

The day continued with a meeting with a Tribal Chief, a Christian minister and more get-to-know-ya meetings with our Interfaith allies.  There is always a degree of formality with each visit, and the introductions, responses, greetings, and gift exchanges get a little tedious.  But there were some interesting moments along the way.  One in particular was a conversation with the Christian minister who joined us for the day and did much of the driving.  He was  unclear on certain aspects of Judaism, and had many questions.  Luckily Shmuel from Port Hartcourt was in the car, and made up for my ignorance.  His knowledge on the entire history of Judaism is astounding for someone who just started studying a few years ago.  I was a bit surprised that morning when I learned that Judaism was his third religion, something that seems to be common here, and I think might make North American Jews uncomfortable with the amount of picking and choosing.  I challenged him on what his next religion would be, and without a beat he said that this is the last bus stop.  With Colonialism came a large amount of Christian proselytizing, and there are those still looking for their religious and cultural roots that existed before.  Many of these guys went looking for Judaism and ended up with more religious brainwashing through the Messianics, or Jews for Jesus.  Many feel fortunate that they escaped that trap, and have finally returned to Judaism.  For Shmuel, a guy who used to spend many of his evenings street fighting, his Judaism seems to have inspired him to do great things.  His greatest dream is to become a rabbi, and despite the cost and problems for Nigerians to get foreign visas, I have a good feeling it’s going to happen.