Change and Tradition: Nigeria Unit
            
             The Journals of Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith
             Jesse Haines
            
            
             Mr. Brown's Journal
            
             Today I venture outward, toward the village of Mbanta, the next village selected for our missionary program. Hoping to begin on the right foot, I've hired an Ibo interpreter, someone who I hope will be able to make my life much easier. I have determined that a good interpreter is something of a rather big importance for missionary work; even such an objective thing such as "god" can be torn to pieces through a language barrier, and then reassembled into something completely different on the other end.
             I strongly believe communication is the key in converting the tribes in this area, for communication breeds understanding while miscommunication breeds violence, as the unfortunate occurrence in Abame. It is essential that the natives understand that we are merely here to open their eyes to the one and true God, not destroy everything they know and love. Language is such a sensitive thing-something I do not believe my colleagues understand, and proper translation of it is absolutely essential.
             My goal for tomorrow, the day I introduce myself and fellow missionaries to the Mbanta people, is to present Christianity in as clear and concise a manner as possible to a group of people who know nothing about it, which has proved to be a rather difficult task in the past.
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             The first day in a new village is always interesting. This one proved to be no different. The people of Mbanta assembled quickly to meet with me, a trait I've found to be similar thus far among all the villages I've visited. I told them that I had come to spread the word of God, and to help them reach salvation through discarding their false deities. Unlike the previous villages, the people seemed relatively uninterested in this fact at first, and seemed to be a great deal more concerned with what they called an "iron horse," which, after gr...