December 17, 2007

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth
John 1: 14

Dear Friends and Family,

How quickly these three months have passed since my arrival in Nairobi, Kenya, en route to southern Sudan to work with the Association of Christian Resource Organizations Serving Sudan (ACROSS). It has been a whirlwind of traveling to, from, and within southern Sudan. But even in the midst of all this movement, there’s been stillness: awe and reflection. Thus, as we anticipate celebrating the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us, I hope you don’t mind that I take this time to share some of my reflections.

I’ve wondered about my presence here at a time like this, as a descendant of those enslaved Africans who chose to survive the middle passage. Why am I given this opportunity to witness what our Father is doing in His global family, both in Nairobi and in southern Sudan? The words of Ghanaian theologians Kwame and Mary Bediako have begun to inform my answer: “Consider, what is African saying to you? Of all the places in the world you could have gone ‘on mission,’ you are here in Africa, now, where Christianity is more vibrant than in the West; why has the Lord brought you here to serve Him? Consider Africa as teacher?” What, then is the Father saying to us of the West who have come to “dwell in the flesh” amongst Africans on His mission?

Worshipping our Father in a Presbyterian church in Boma, southern Sudan, with the Murle people.

This question undergirds my moments in Africa. It was the unspoken question that arose in my heart when I first arrived. I kept listening to the stories of mission co-workers serving in southern Sudan, stories of frustration, the enormous challenges to live and work in southern Sudan and wonderment at how were things ever going to change? Surely, they would never change! And I remember thinking, “But what if it is not the things or the people that we encounter that are to change, but that we must change! What if ultimately, we are the projects that God is “saving” or developing or maturing through His mission in Africa?” As a newcomer, it seemed an incomprehensible, bizarre idea to have; yet, it persisted. What if God has us here more for our own transformations, for only thus can He unite us as one with our African brothers and sisters?

Outside the Presbyterian church in Boma, southern Sudan.

As I worshipped our Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus, through His Holy Spirit in the huge Nairobi Pentecostal and Baptist Church, and Nairobi Chapel, I was struck by the mission zeal from the pulpits, the teachings on the Holy Spirit and His role in the mission of the early and contemporary Church.

Then, while in southern Sudan, whether I was worshipping our Father with the Murle people in the mud, thatched roofed Presbyterian or Reformed Churches, or under the huge mango tree with the Dinkas in the Presbyterian Church in Adol, or with the Kakwahs in the thousand-member Anglican Church, I was ushered into the movement of the Holy Spirit amongst His people: their ardently, insistent declaration that no matter what or where they have been or have come from or are going through, they too are worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

Worship with the Dinkas in the Presbyterian Church of Adol under a huge mango tree.

At times, my spirit was rocked in humbled adoration, praise, and thanksgiving for the wondrously, reciprocal love between our Father and the members of His family. This happened especially amongst the Murle in Boma, where the light inside the church was so dim I could hardly see the Scripture on the page; the pastors had to bow as they read to catch the flittering rays of light through the curtain doorway to the front of the tukul. But oh, when they sang, these worshippers lit up their entire village with their reverent songs of worship in polyrhythms and tones that reminded me of Native American chants, or the line singing I’ve heard in the deep south of rural Alabama.

During these months of orientation with ACROSS, I have witnessed the Holy Spirit’s yearning to make us one despite our seeming denominational divides, spiritual limitations, and our languishing insistence at being who we are culturally and otherwise. I have witnessed the unbridled fullness of the grace and truth of our Father for His people. I have witnessed the heavenly beauty of the spirit of southern Sudanese people: the quintessential 21st-century over-comers’ spirit from which we can learn much about endurance and eking out enjoyment and tenderness in the midst of incredible suffering.

Perhaps then, our Father’s mission with us and within us as we dwell amongst Africans is that we, too, would embody and live the reality of the incarnated Word of God so that we, too, may reflect His glory even as we are recipients of the reflections of His glory from those around us. Surely, as we begin to live this reciprocity of the fullness of His glory, we are all becoming one in our Christ, the savior of the world.

May your enjoyment of the reality of Immanuel be for His utmost glory, amen.

In His Glorious Church,

Ingrid

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 10