Nigeria World, Nigeria
Dec 14 2004

REFLECTION ON DR. HERBERT EZE’S SERIES ON AMERICAN PARK CULTURE FROM
NIGERIAN PERSPECTIVE

The author-spent two hours (9.00-11.00 a.m.) in McDonald amusement
park at Pasadena in California on a Sunday morning. Besides him,
there were 75 persons in the park, 15 children and 60 adults made up
of 35 men and 25 women. The Armenians were about 70% of the total
population, Caucasians about 25% and African Americans about 5%.
(Pictured: Lawrence Ettu, a Nigerian Church Leader).

Different groups of persons were involved in different activities at
the park that morning. Two sets of persons were practicing football
and two other sets were playing lawn tennis. Three different ethnic
groups were for the birthday parties of their loved ones. The
Caucasians had theirs at about 10.30 a.m. It was very colorful with
no spiritual dimension to it. The Armenians and African Americans
were yet to have theirs at the time the author left the park. Three
Caucasian single mothers and one single dad also brought their kids
and helped them play with playground instruments. (See full article
at )

The author preached the gospel to two sets of persons at the park
that morning. The first was Taisha, an African American lady of about
20 years of age, whose six-month-old baby was lying in a small couch
on wheels. Since she was just alone with her baby, the author walked
to her and tactfully engaged her in a discussion. As he gradually
changed the discussion to the Bible, the lady was obviously
uncomfortable and made excuses that where they were under a tree was
chilly. She left for another spot where she settled and started
smoking. After quite some time, the author approached her again and
started another discussion with her; but once more she warded him off
as he tried to change the discussion to the Bible.

The second set of persons the author preached to are two American
teenage boys. One of them, John, was initially playing basketball
alone. The author walked beside the court, watched him for some time,
then helped pick up the ball for him on two or more occasions, and
finally began to play with him. During a brief break on their play,
the author engaged him in a discussion and shared his salvation
testimony with him. The second boy arrived at that stage and the
author eventually led both of them to Christ.

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Reflection

It appears amusement parks are very well patronized in the US. How
else can one explain the presence of 75 persons in just one park on a
Sunday morning. The number may even be much more than this during the
day. The patronage also cuts across race, gender, age and possibly
occupation. Provision too is made for a wide range of activities for
both children and grown-ups. It could be interesting to know how
those parks are managed and the conditions for allowing people use
the park facilities.

Amusement parks are not very popular in Nigeria. The very few
available public parks are grossly ill equipped, poorly kept and
generally unattractive. For example, the Mbari amusement park
attached to Mbari Cultural center in Owerri is simply in a poor
state. It only has some non-functional skeletal facilities for
children and virtually none at all for youths and grown-ups. Private
parks are also not common. I wonder what could be the reason for the
non-availability of amusement parks in Nigerian cities. Could it
simply be that Nigerians don’t need them! Could it be that the social
structure and lifestyle pattern of our society does not necessitate
the establishment of parks! Could it be that town planners in Nigeria
simply failed to provide spaces for these important facilities! Could
it be that those in leadership were afraid of possible crimes and
delinquency that could be associated with these parks!

Whatever may be the explanation, it seems to me that amusement parks
could be very useful to a cross-section of Nigerians if well equipped
and managed. In this regard, churches that can afford the resources
should consider establishing private amusement parks where our youths
could come to relax rather than loitering along the streets and
patronizing dangerous joints in town. When this is done, a special
ministry group in the church should be created with well-trained
members to minister to those who come to the park.

The very careful methods used by the author in this article could be
employed to successfully get the gospel across to difficult persons.
Soft Christian music could be played at the background in the park,
or at some sections of the park, and posters and billboards that talk
of the love of God and/or that are capable of restoring hope to the
hopeless could be placed at strategic positions. I can see this
growing to become a very effective ministry strategy if well planned
and managed. This may be an answer to the problem of attracting
youths and unbelievers, especially those who need the gospel most,
church programs such as revival meetings/crusades.

While this is being contemplated, it could be nice to train and equip
some church members with the skills for reaching different persons,
especially the hurting and down-trodden members of our society, with
the gospel at the various joints where they go to seek “refuge”. This
must, however, be done in wisdom. Special church identity cards
should be given to these servants of God in case they are confronted
or arrested by law-enforcement agents together with crime suspects.