Thoughtful Transition

 When we come to mainland Africa we tend to stay at the same place and if we are there on a Sunday we tend to fellowship with the same congregation.  The longer we’ve gone there, the more we’ve grown to appreciate their community—especially their thoughtfulness. 

African services are as diverse as any you might find in the States, with each congregation being unique.   This place is much more traditional.  A small band plays a mix of contemporary songs and hymns in multiple languages.  Most weeks the choir stands and sings a song in 4 part harmony.  The speaker speaks slowly and never strays far from his text.  His words are always thoughtful. 

We love the fact that before they send the children out for their classes, all of them are invited up to the front of the congregation where they pull on the speaker’s clothes to tell him about upcoming birthdays.  He bends down and listens and then announces each birthday to the congregation.  The children are comfortable with him and he takes his time with them.  Then we all sing a birthday blessing and send the kids off to their classes.  It is a small but thoughtful way to include the children and we love it.  It takes a bit of time.  But this congregation values thoughtfulness over time.

This past visit we were impressed by the thoughtfulness of the group again.  Unbeknownst to us, we had come on the Sunday when they were inducting a new associate-leader into their congregation.  The speaker warned us early on, “For those of you looking at your watches this morning, forget it.  We are going to take our time.” 

The induction service began by acknowledging all of the people from the new leader’s previous congregation—which included most of the elders, his parents and his grandparents, all of who had traveled to attend the service.  One of the elders from the previous congregation got up and testified to the new leader’s character.  He spoke about their sadness at saying goodbye to their leader and their joy at him being received into this new community.  We also learned that the previous Sunday the leader and elders of this new congregation had visited the old congregation to, in their way, receive the leader from his previous congregation.  

Next the speaker brought the man and his wife up to the front and asked them a number of questions and commitments—much like you might hear at a wedding ceremony.  “Do you promise to…?”  At the end of which he asked the members of the congregation to stand up and make some commitments as well.  

After this he called the elders of the former congregation up.  Then he called up the family members of the new leader.  Then the elders of the new congregation. Then representatives from the different committees and groups of the new congregation.  Finally he called up some of the children from the new congregation.  By the end, more people were up front surrounding this man and his family than sitting in the audience.  Hands were laid, prayers were said.  And then everyone at the front took a turn to each shake the hands of the leader and his wife before sitting down. It took time, but we did not begrudge it. 

Heading out on road trip

In the end, this new leader was not even required to teach or give a speech that day.  He was only welcomed.  After the service there was a great big meal and everyone was invited.  We (Tom & Megan) were both struck that we had never seen a leader so thoughtfully inducted into a congregation before, nor with such care and connection with the previous congregation.  It took a long time, but we had stopped looking at our watches because it was beautiful.   

PRAYERS ANSWERED
We made it safely to the US. Our daughter lost her cell phone but thankfully it was recovered by the airline and sent to the US for us. We have adjusted quickly to the time zone and are already well into a road trip that has allowed us to connect with several friends and extended family members that we haven’t seen in several years. Hashiri says that she studied with others this past week. 

PRAYERS REQUESTED
The community on the small island are lamenting the sudden loss of a dear sister— pray for comfort for her husband and those grieving and that they’d find ways to celebrate her life together.  One island sister is welcoming her son that has been gone for several years and will only visit the islands for a short time— pray that she can make the most of his visit. Continue to pray for our teammate still on Clove Island that she would be encouraged, especially during the busyness of wedding season and at work.  Pray for us as we get to know the area where our daughter will go to college and try to prepare her for living there, including an initial appointment with a rheumatologist. Pray that we use our time well and that the continuation of our road trip at the end of the week goes smoothly (we will have one very long day of driving so pray we stay safe on the road).