There is something special about Nigeria that often gets overlooked. One doesn't often hear about this innovative and industrious nation outside of its borders. In fact, many of us around the world seem to not take much notice of the 54 individual nations that make up the entire continent of Africa and tend to treat Morocco and South Africa as if it is one large borderless chunk of land. I of course admittedly have done this too.
That all changed however when I made my most unlikely friend to this day- the Nigerian Pastor, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome. An incident that brought me to the most life-changing decision- moving to Lagos Nigeria. An incredibly long story that I'll summarize like this…

Last June I took a vacation from my hometown of Houston to [url]Israel[/http://letsdiscoverisrael.com/url]. A place I had been dreaming about for years. I was thrilled when I landed, beginning my journey in the sacred city of the Holy land- Jerusalem.
Walking along the cobbled streets of the central district 'Ben Yehuda' I did the usual, saw the sights, enjoyed the street buskers and bought a falafel- an Israeli/Arabic staple - deep-fried[url][/url] chickpea balls, tahini, hummus (blended chickpeas, this country loves chickpeas) and salad, all stuffed into a soft split open pita bread, or a 'lafa' (think giant thick tortilla roll).

On my way, I encountered a group of people, about 10 of them of singing and dancing around this man. He seemed to have magnetic energy because they were completely glued to him. I caught the odd glimpse of the action between the dancing bodies-. I peered on and as the dancers cleared the way, I saw that he had his full hand on a woman's forehead. He was gripping it tightly and she was crying.

With my mouth full of tahini drenched chickpeas, I approached the joyous mob, and innocently asked one of the 'adorers' "who is this man?", to which they collectively jumped up and down and dropped their jaw in awe…This is the man of God, they yelled- Pastor Chris! I looked at him, our eyes met. He lifted his palm off the crying woman's hand and she dropped to her knees. He approached me and placed his hand on my shoulder, looked me dead in the eye and told me that "God is waiting for me to notice him". He smiled and for some reason that to this day I will never understand, I just burst out crying. My back got warm, my heart started beating incredibly fast and everything went silent. For a few minutes, the world was a blur. As I got my bearings back, I thanked him. He invited me for dinner on a rooftop near the Wailing Wall.
We talked about the man in the sky, the hope of Africa and the pursuit of fulfilment. The summer night was gorgeous, and the wine and conversation flowed. It was the most memorable night of my life.

The next week, still on a high, I flew back home. I opened my door, stared at my empty living room, with my backpack still on my back, standing in the middle of the room, pulled out my phone and bought a ticket to Nigeria at that moment.