It may have been the Big Game back at home, but for us, Sunday the 7th was the big worship service. While we didn’t start on time (I really didn’t expect to; during our days in Dakar we used to say that all a 10:00 worship service means is that it won’t start before 10:00 am. This proved to be the case here, too.
A little background: as I had been informed well ahead of time by Pr Medson that they would like me to preach on the Sunday when the group was there, I thought I’d dust off the ol’ Swahili. I remembered that I used to preach weekly in Swahili and assumed, like riding a bicycle, you never really forget how.
Reality check: the last time I preached in Swahili was June of 1993.
So, I prepared something in English, and then sent it off to Iringa to be translated by Pr Msigwa, the BKB Director on the Iringa Diocese side of the equation. I figured I’d have at least a few days to practice it. Pastor Msigwa sent the translation via email on Wednesday. But before Peter Harrits could print it out for me (and as you may have figured out by now), the internet went down. All over the Iringa region. I would be able to preach the Swahili version of my sermon, but only from Peter Harrits’ phone.
By Saturday night, as it has still not come back, Peter H (the other one) resorted to taking screen shots of the pages, connecting his phone to his computer and then printing it off. It came out landscape, in two columns and at about 18 pt font. But I had it. And so I practiced.
We arrived for tea at the parsonage, and then right around 10 headed next door for worship. I met with the Pastors (Medson and Tumsifu) and the lay leaders (Flora and Samba) and we prayed together for the worship service. And then as we processed to the singing of the Kwaya ya Amani (Choir of Peace, their adult choir), we led the folks from Nduli and Christ the King in what turned out to be right around a 4-hour service. Believe me, it was not this preacher’s fault….
The flow of the ELCT liturgy is a bit different from that of the ELCA, and I admit that's the CtK we’ve monkeyed with the order more than would be tolerated in the ELCT as well. But after the opening Psalm, it all started coming back to me. Turns out it’s the sung liturgy that is more like riding a bike. I knew the tunes. I knew many, perhaps even most of the words. Those I did not know, I knew where to find in the book—even the parts where we jumped around a bit. “Utukufu ni wa Mungu juu Mbinguni” (Glory to God in the highest heaven); “Bwana akaiye nanyi; akaiye na roho yako” (The Lord be with you, and with your spirit); “Hilo ndiyo ni Neno la Bwana” (this is the Word of the Lord). I’d never been to worship in Nduli before, but I this liturgy I began to feel at home.
The time came for the gospel and the sermon, and I stood in the pulpit and closed my eyes briefly to pray. I heard the voice of Pr. Wilson Sanga, one of my “unofficial” internship supervisors, saying “you can preach this, Hanson!” And so I did. I pulled up my socks and did my level best, as my LJS students used to say. It seemed longer than 20 minutes (actually clocked in at 18) and it was at least 10 degrees warmer in the pulpit than in the pews, but I think it went ok. Nobody laughed in appropriately. The only one I noticed falling asleep was a babe in arms (and a couple of the CtK visitors, perhaps, who were not able to follow along). I felt good about it. I felt like I was able to preach the gospel in a way that could be understood by the people we are called to accompany.
Of course, even after the sermon, the service was still not half over.
We continued with the presentation of gifts—shirts for all the male travelers, dresses for all the women, plus honey and peanut butter from the parish’s economic development projects. We offered a communion plate to match the chalice they use at Nduli, as well as colorful wristbands with motivational words in both English and Swahili. Then there were the offerings. Yes, plural—they had two offerings, one for the regular ministries of the parish, one in thanksgiving for the gift of Holy Communion. Worshippers processed up the aisle to place their offering into the basket at the front, all the while singing and/or hearing one of the three choirs that sang that morning (Amani, youth, and children). The youth choir in particular featured many different soloists, as well as some incredible dancing!
Then came holy communion, with Pr Medson and I co-presiding at the Words of Institution. Had I known, I would have also practiced this portion of the liturgy; but as I heard later from CtK folks and Nduli people alike, having both languages was very much appreciated. As we brought the worship service to a close, we followed the ELCT tradition to have the entire congregation recess to the back door, and then gather around outside the church for one more some and a second benediction. At that point I did check my watch—1:15 pm, verifying that it was a four-hour service—but up until then, it didn’t seem that long (ok, it seemed long, but not that long).
A great lunch was followed by a quick trip to hear about the parish’s SACCOS or micro-credit program, as well as to see their milling machine, currently not functional, as they have paid for a new one and are awaiting some legal decisions concerning the company that took that money and has not yet delivered their machine. Finally, we met together with the evangelists of the various preaching points that make up the parish. Any last thoughts and concerns were shared—a particular concern about post-secondary education was asked to be passed along to BKB, for example—and then we began to say our goodbyes to Pastor Medson, his family and the parish leaders at Nduli. I’m sure we created some new connections and deepened some others. I for one look forward to building on what we’ve done already.
Back in Iringa Town, we began our debriefing of our companion synod experience at the BKB office, where we were hosted by Julia Hubbard and Peter Harrits, along with Gary and Carol Langsness and Birdie Olson. While part of the group would be continuing on to Ruaha National Park, and another, smaller group to Arusha as well, Neil and Courtney Hess and I were set to leave before sunrise on Monday morning. This was a great exercise to begin to bring our trip to some closure, focusing on how best to share this experience with others, and in the process helping us understand it better ourselves. I’d like to reflect more on that later. But let me say now, what a blessing it is to be so ably served and led by the BKB staff and volunteers. I feel like this was exactly what I needed to begin to figure out what this trip—and this partnership—might mean in the not-too-distant future.
Bega Kwa Bega (Shoulder to Shoulder),
Pr Peter
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