Today I went to church here in Kigali, it was half ex-pats and half nationals. It was in English which was a nice change, the first sermon I’ve heard in a church thus far that I actually understood! But this post is actually from my experience at a church in Gacundezi last Sunday. Because I ended up getting sick, I am just now able to post what I wrote a week ago, after that service. Without further adieu, here it is:
Church
It’s hard to know where to start. This morning I went to Apostles Church with Paul. The service started at nine and ended up going until 2:00. I was wiped out afterwords. Since it was a unique experience and I have a lot of thoughts to work through, I’ll break down this post into stages, starting with the sacrifice.
Before the Message
As we were heading up to the church Paul was telling me about the service and what I could expect. As he continued to describe it he asked, “Are you accustomed to making sacrifices in church?” I was a bit surprised and asked what he meant, he said that at the service at some point the pastor would ask for sacrifices to be brought forward, and he wanted to let me know so that I wouldn’t be uncomfortable. Now, before going on I should explain that I had just finished the book of Genesis two days prior and am now half way through Exodus. So immediately my mind was thinking, “small birds? goats? first born? what did I get myself into!?” At that point I told Paul, “No… no we don’t sacrifice things at church.” It was then that I think he caught my surprised tone and clarified that he meant the pastor would take a collection, a tithe, basically ask for people to give money sacrificially! I laughed and sighed in relief. I mean if I had known I would have at least brought a chicken. No body wants to be the only white guy, and have no livestock to sacrifice! But this was much better.
We arrived at the church and it was much like what I had expected. The building was essentially one long room. The walls were made of mud with sticks and support for the tin roof was comprised of strategically placed tree branches. We entered and found a seat on the old wooden benches. But as quickly as we had sat down we were signaled to get up as a middle aged woman wrapped in an African blanket led us towards the front. Now I’m thinking that they were leading us to the front row, that would be fine. Nope…right on to the stage (by stage I mean that the dirt floor was elevated at this point, roughly three feet above the rest of the room). On the stage I sat flanked by the pastor and Paul. There was also another man sitting on the stage, I later found out he was a guest pastor from another church named Fred, and that he would be preaching. It wasn’t enough that I was a 6′4″ white guy with long hair, apparently I needed to stick out a bit more. But I ended up finding out it was a way to honor me as a guest, so though it was awkward, it was a way for them to welcome me.
After a couple of energetic worship songs the pastor came up and spoke briefly. He recognized a few guests and asked them to speak telling where they were from and anything else they’d like to add. Paul then whispered to me that I would be introduced last and expected to deliver a brief message of some kind after introducing myself and why I was there. Mind you I didn’t, and still don’t, have any idea what the word brief means in this culture.
Once the pastor turned in my direction and motioned for me to come forward I got up and walked behind Paul toward the microphone (they had 2 microphones and 1 speaker that were powered by a generator). Paul was translating for me since the majority of the 250-300 people spoke no English. When he grabbed the microphone he started to talk in Kinyarwandan. I had no idea what he was talking about. Then I heard him say a few words that I recognized: Chris, intern, Food for the Hungry, Highlands Church, Arizona). By the time he finished he had done a complete introduction and left me without half of what I was planning on talking about to fill the brief time slot I was expected to fill. He looked towards me waiting for me to speak, I had nothing to do but talk so off I went. I began with the word “Urakoze,” meaning thank you. As always, they got a big kick out of me speaking their language, after some laughs and claps they attentively looked on with mostly smiles. I proceeded to give a short message on unity. I talked about the body of Christ, not only within the context of a single church, but within the realm of the universal church. I praised God for how he was working and told them how I had seen him through their gracious treatment of me. After a bit more along those lines I closed with this passage in 1 Corinthians 15:58
“Therefore my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
I explained that with the death of Christ upon that cross that we, our sins, had all been crucified with him; and that with his resurrection, we were raised up, and God began the process of restoring his creation. I went on to tell them that with faithfulness and through love that they were a part of God making life on “earth as it is in heaven.” And that I encouraged them to continue down this path.
Now much of what I said was fresh on my mind from reading through scripture and the book “Surprised by Hope,” which I have mentioned on this blog multiple times. That said, it went pretty well and after thanking them again I sat down, having made it though in one piece. Not that I wasn’t glad to have spoke but it was also nice to be a spectator again.
The Message
After a few more songs by various choirs the guest speaker, pastor Fred, came forward to speak. At first glance you wouldn’t be overwhelmingly impressed by pastor Fred. That isn’t meant negatively, he is just a man of small stature. He had an unassuming presence and though warm, seemed a little quiet at first impression. I was wrong. This man spoke with the boom that I presume would rival the mighty men of Noah’s day. True to the culture he was extremely animated, as was the audience as they engaged in most of what was said. Further, the brother likes to scream! I think he spoke for two hours and my best guess is that he was yelling for 70% of that. It wasn’t angry, but passionate and emphatic. Paul did his best to translate at different points but it served to be pointless. Even at a foot away his voice was drowned out by Pastor Fred.
To the best of my understanding the message started with Fred talking about the table that God has prepared for all of us (think Psalm 23:5). Later, he was explaining that we must go through trials as Christians, following that he spoke about everything from temptation to God’s provisions as we jumped from verse to verse, covering roughly a dozen different books in the Bible. When all was said and done, about two hours later, I wasn’t quiet sure what to make of it. But one thing was sure, the congregation was with him the whole time, and more alive than I had seen them throughout my time in the east.
After the Message
Once the sermon was completed we were about three and a half hours into the experience. I was tired, and ready to go but then soon realized that we weren’t yet done. Immediately after Fred, the pastor came forward and spoke. Soon after that they called forward what I think were new believers, and a couple dozen people came forward with them to pray over them. The choirs then sang more, each song with its own message, though I didn’t know what that was. Following the songs, a couple people came up and gave testimonies. One of them was a man who had come in that morning a non believer. he told how he had 11 brothers and sisters but 10 had died, I assume during the genocide but that was never made clear. Then just recently his last brother passed away too, making him the only one left. He said that during the pastor’s message he had wanted to come forward but felt like Satan was trying to make him leave (again this is what I gathered, he was pretty intense and I didn’t have every word translated). After about twenty minutes he finished speaking and I think was able to then speak with some one from the church.
Following this a woman who knew pastor Fred from childhood stood up to speak. She explained that no one would have through he would be a pastor when they were younger. Then in 2006 he visited her and her family and became a follower of Christ. Since then he has been passionately following him, studying his word, and leading others. It was hard to catch every detail but it was apparent that she was extremely emotional and proud of pastor Fred.
Then, after a few announcements were made, including needs that were put before the church, they sang some more songs and took collection. It seems like almost everyone in the church came forward with something, reminding me of Mark 12:41-44. Then the pastor prayed a final prayer; as he closed the prayer everyone in the room began to pray their own prayers out loud. About 300 voices, some screaming, others crying, as the prayed to God. It is hard to describe this scene. Picture the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, but instead of a high tech building it was a dirt floor with mud walls, instead of stock brokers they were rural Africans, and instead of selling stock they were praying to God. It was intense, and even a bit overwhelming. After about three minutes or so the pastor prayed again and closed.
As we left we greeted, and were greeted by, many, many people. They would approach with a smile and warmly embrace each other by holding one hand on the forearm and the other on the back of the bicep above the elbow. The first couple people that did this to me threw me off, I thought they were going in for a hug, ha, awk-ward. But I caught on quick and made may way through the crowd, greeting people as I went. It was a very genuine way for people to greet one another and you could see that this was a way the body of Christ here expresses love and appreciation for one another.
Thoughts in Closing
You still with me? I realize this has been long, but hey, so was church! I do have a few thoughts after processing the service for a couple hours.
So often I hear and have even said that much of the developing world church is an inch deep and a mile wide, essentially that it was too emotional or too charismatic and lacked real depth. That, to some extent, has been my experience through exposure to different churches in Mexico, Kenya and now Rwanda. But after giving it more consideration, I am noticing that there is a different way of going about things in the developing church, a way that is different than what we are used to in the Western Church setting, specifically in the States, church for the people serves a different purpose. While churches in the U.S. spend a shorter amount of time focused primarily on a very specific message (which hopefully brings depth to the congregations understanding of God), and worshiping God through music, the length and progression of the church service in the States is often part of a good weekly routine (I know I’m generalizing). Here it seems to have a more specific purpose and holds a different meaning for the people.
In developing countries (using what I’ve seen in Eastern Rwanda for this example), it isn’t unusual for people to work for 12 hours a day- everyday. Here in Gacundezi there is no water, it has to be pumped into 4 gallon containers and then brought roughly 10-20 km uphill back into the town. And with no power, that means their are no electric appliances. Thus, tasks that take us mere seconds can take them hours, or sometimes aren’t doable at all. Most people grow crops and care for livestock such as cattle and goats. These are their livelihood, they also require an extraordinary amount of time and energy to sustain. There are almost no cars, very few people have motorcycles, and if you are lucky you’ll have a beat up bike that was new when your parents were kids. That means that most people have to walk, walking takes time and energy. Because of all of this the majority of the people I have met do not have a hobby, entertainment is rare, and downtime is a foreign term.
My point is this; in the states church tends to be a great part of the week when we see family and friends and spend time community with God. But here, church is their rest, community, entertainment (not meant in shallow way), and worship all in one. So, with that understanding it begins to make sense that they would have a 5 hour service. It begins to make sense that emotion is such a huge part. It begins to make sense that much of their energy is not understood by us. We don’t get it, and probably wont. That understanding is reserved for those living a lifestyle that we on our worst days can’t touch, unfortunately that understanding isn’t one exclusive to just Rwanda. It is known well by billions of people…we are the minority in that understanding (or lack thereof).
So do I think that the developing countries need help with theology and biblical training? Yes, many do. Do I think that there are many Christians in these congregations who don’t have an entirely accurate biblical picture? Most likely yes, there are probably a fair amount of people lacking depth in their biblical understanding. But does that mean that the church here is any more broken than the church in America? In Arizona? In Scottsdale? Not in my opinion.
I believe fully in the importance of accurate theology and correct biblical teaching. I think the parable of the sower found in Matthew chapter 13 (among other places in the gospels) is the perfect example of the danger of not having depth in our walk with God. But I also recognize this; on the little understanding that many of the people here have, they are gaining perhaps more hope, more love, and more intimate and consistent “times” of relating to God than many of the more educated believers in the West. They hold to passages like Psalm 91 in a way and understanding that we don’t find in systematic theology books.
We have a lot to offer the church here, but we also have a lot to learn. Perhaps for some it is learning how to rest in God, how to rely upon or find hope in God. For others maybe it is a matter of learning of to balance learning about God with learning to experience God or learning/knowing his heart.
When all is said and done there is a lot I don’t understand about this church, more though, there is a lot I don’t understand about God. But I see his Goodness. I know that he is present. And I suppose the rest is all part of the journey.
My final thought is this. Perhaps when Jesus says that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to go into the kingdom of heaven, it isn’t just because of what the rich man has, and therefore what he has to lose. Perhaps it is what the rich man doesn’t have, or hasn’t had. Perhaps part of it is he just doesn’t know the full extent of what it means to rely on God.
Where the mother(s) give birth at the clinic
This is the road that I ran along and began to accumulate children!
