SEEDS FOR AREWA AID

Children have an honest idealism that causes them to often see problems and challenges as having very simple solutions. They often challenge us adults with their spontaneous compassion to do something about the needs of the suffering and hurting in our world. Nathaniel Hamm is one such young man. He is the 10 year old son of Darin Hamm, Teaching Pastor for the New Heights Church in Owasso, Oklahoma. Nathaniel heard about the street children that we are working with through our farm in Maiduguri, Nigeria, and how we train these young people, much the same age as Nathaniel, in the skills of drip irrigation that enable them to return to their families and help provide food year round in this aired desert region of Northern Nigeria. He also learned of our constant need for seed for our farm and to send home with these trainees to begin their own farming efforts. What follows is Nathaniel’s story in his own words. Read and be blessed as you see what a 10 year old can do for the cause of Christ.

Seeds for Arewa Aid by Nathaniel Hamm,

I came to dad and complained that people should do more. I wanted him to get something done. He asked me why I didn’t do something.

He told me about Arewa Aid and said they could use seeds to help people in Africa. He explained about irrigation and what was happening and we agreed that I could do something to help.

So I asked my school principle if I could try to get other kids to raise seeds. She told me that I needed to talk to the Superintendent so my dad helped me send them an email.

Oh, I also emailed the man from Arewa Aid, Lee, to seed if this would help and be a good idea. He said yes and gave me a list of seeds.

So the school said I could set up a table for a week at my school. The week came and I set up a table and made poster signs with information about the seeds and what they would be used for. I had bags that my dad gave me and they each had a flyer with the information.

I also had my dad tell people at church and he put something in our church bulletin.

In the end I collected seeds from people at my school and from people in my church. I boxed up the seeds and after finding the right address my dad took me to the post office where we mailed the seeds.

I hope it helps those kids on the street find a way to stay with their family. I hope they know it is because of Jesus that this was done.

Thanks for letting me help.

Nathaniel Hamm

Through Nathaniel’s efforts we are shipping a box of 234 packets of seeds to Nigeria. Great job Nathaniel and thanks for letting God use you to help the young people of Nigeria.

If you are encouraged and challenged by Nathaniel’s example and would like to learn how you can help drop me a note at rabboniblog@yahoo.com. There are many ways to help, both large and small all of which allow you to make a difference in the lives of people today.

IBRAHIM: 3RD CULTURE KID STRUGGLES

 

Until today, the end of every school term for our children, Ibrahim and Rahamatu, was thrilling.  We always enjoyed getting their report cards, going through their grades, and congratulating them on their hard work.  Ibrahim is only in kindergarten and Rahamatu is only 4 years old (pre-primary 2 on the British system).  However, we have taught them to attach value to their preparatory studies.  Thus, every time they would bring home their results, we would reward them at Mr. Biggs (Nigerian version of McDonalds) or Oasis Bakery (closest thing to Dunkin Donuts).

However, today I was shocked out of my seat when I saw that Ibrahim had dropped from 1st to 13th in his class of 37 children.  I began to analyze the fine details and saw that he had dropped in moral instruction, writing, and social studies.  As I looked through his exams, I saw that most of his mistakes in moral instruction and social studies were due to merely social dissimilarities.  For instance, one question on his moral instruction exam read: “When elders are in the room, children should keep quiet.”  Of course, Ibrahim answered that question by underlining “No” instead of “Yes” reducing his score on that test.

On another exam in social studies, he was to fill in the blank, “There are ______ types of family.”  Unfortunately, the nature of the teaching in this primary school is through rote memorization without conceptual understanding.  Therefore, he only knew to write “Daddy” because his teacher’s explanation of “2” didn’t make sense to him.  If his teacher would have explained “nuclear” or “extended”, he would have understood.  However, the answer “2” just appeared to be too simple of an explanation to him.

Some of the rhymes like “Ding Dang Bell” are hardly intelligible to us because they are sung in the local English accent.  “Ding Dong Bell” would sound to us a bit more familiar but the intonation is far from recognizable.  Other songs like “Tick says the Clock” are equally difficult to decipher with all of the “O” sounds being pronounced as a long vowel.  We laughed when we first heard Ibrahim say that he wanted to go outside and play “boll” not “ball.”  It was equally funny to us to hear Rahamatu say that we wanted to go to school with her “bige” (with a long “I”) not “bag.”

After reading this, my first reaction was to pull him out of this school and strictly began home-schooling.  Then, I thought about how much he would miss out on the blessing of socialization.  Shortly thereafter, I considered surveying all of the “American-based” schools in Nigeria to reduce his cultural frustrations.  Yet, I knew that simply putting him in a “homogeneous island of American children” might not be the best for him either.  These are struggles of the kingdom in which parents of “third culture kids” must wrestle.

Thank you for wrestling with us in prayer for the Great Teacher to bless all His servant’s children who are grappling with their identity as “bi-cultural children.” 

Ibrahim and Rahamatu In Their Uniforms

Ibrahim and Rahamatu Picking Green Beans

Ibrahim and Rahamatu’s School Pictures

Ibrahim With His Birthday Cake