Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
On another continent
While I was at my church’s convention in June I met a person who quickly became a friend. We were both in a workshop that lasted all afternoon. At one point she asked a question and her accent prompted me to think to ask her later where she was from. After the talk, in the lobby, I approached her and asked if she is from Nigeria. Her face crinkled into a smile and she asked me how I knew to ask. I told her my son-in-law is from there and I have had Nigerian clients at my work. She instantly threw her arms around me while saying a brief blessing. She introduced herself as Helen and asked my name.
It was the end of a long afternoon and we were both tired. We agreed to find time together during the following four days of Convention. The next day there was an ordination ceremony for all graduates of the Unity School of ministry. I looked for Helen and finally saw her in the first row with the other dignitaries. Not too much later she was introduced as Reverend Doctor Helen Wilcox-Evwaraye. Her role in the ceremony was to introduce each newly ordained man or woman from Nigeria. The graduates were not physically present, but through the miracle of Zoom we saw each face. There were at least 20 newly ordained ministers ready to carry the Unity message in that country.
Through the magic of Google, I have learned that Unity came to Africa in the 1920’s. The messages arrived via radio and sometimes the message came directly from our founder, Charles Fillmore. According to an article in TruthUnity.net, “Unity’s growth in Africa was a home-grown phenomenon, a result of the commitment and enthusiasm of Truth seekers there. The tradition of informed sharing in Nigerian culture helped spread the word, not only through organized ministries but through spontaneous communication of Unity message through radio, tapes, and word-of-mouth.”
After the ceremony, as the presenters were filing out, Reverend Helen grabbed my hand as said we would talk later. We did come across each other as we prepared to go to the dining hall for lunch. I gave her a ride to the venue. In that short ride we learned that we both have a child in an inter-racial marriage. This led to a few minutes of sitting in the parking lot showing each other pictures of our grandchildren – each child as beautiful as the other. She said she was shy about showing the pictures and I reminded her that as a grandmother, it’s our responsibility to show grandchild-pictures to whoever will stand still long enough. She remarked that she needs to do that more often. As beautiful as her grandchildren are, she owes the world that much.
By the last day of convention we had carved out a little time each day to greet each other and exchange bits of information about ourselves, including phone numbers and email addresses. Last Saturday I got an email from her. She thought she had lost my address and spent a lot of time searching for the email I sent her after convention. Finally on Saturday, through “divine order”, she found it and responded. She asked Momoh’s name and where he had grown up, and said to tell him that I now have a friend from Bonny, Rivers State, Nigeria.
I looked up Bonny. It is a coastal town in Southern Nigeria. It is also the capital of the Kingdom of Bonny – a largely ceremonial designation with a real King that has been in existence since the 15th century. I wrote to Helen that Momoh is from the town of Bida, Niger State, located in West-Central Nigeria. It too became a kingdom in the 1500’s and an Emir to this day lives in a palace outside of town.
I hope we continue to correspond. I asked her about growing up in Bonny and hope to read some stories about her. I know she has been a university professor and is an ordained minister. I figure we have three points in common: we are Unity devotees, we have a Nigerian connection, and we have beautiful grandchildren. I think that’s enough to cement a friendship.