SENTINEL WATCH August 3, 2009 Issue

WAKING UP IN NIGERIA

WALTER RODGERS

ABUJA, NIGERIA

A friend, a former Vatican diplomat in West Africa, cautioned me, "Be sure to lock your suitcase whenever you leave your hotel room." Warnings from others on the eve of my five-week posting in Nigeria were just as unsettling. Although this was a clear case of ethnic stereotyping, it was difficult to avoid whenever anyone heard where I was going.

It was an inauspicous way to begin an overseas consulting project. But I learned long ago that our comings and goings are never random. God governs every aspect of sojourns like this one. He has a spiritual purpose and plan for each of us, and discovering that plan and purpose brings unpredictable, deeply satisfying rewards. We get our marching orders from God.