Sunday, June 1, 2008
There was a knock at my door around 8:00 am on Sunday. I opened the door and saw Vava, a church planter from Brazil (who lives in America now) standing there. He said, “Are you Matthew?” Then he told me that Bart wanted Nathan and me to meet him downstairs for breakfast. He told me not to worry about what I was wearing and that he would go get Nathan in his room. I went downstairs in gym shorts, the wrinkled dress shirt that I had worn on the plane, and my sneakers; a fashion statement for sure. I walked in and saw Bart enjoying a piece of toast and a hot cup of coffee. Nathan arrived shortly after. Bart said we’d be visiting a couple churches in Accra that day after breakfast. I ate some toast with mango jelly on it, Bart let me send a text message to Hana on his phone, and then I went up to get ready for the day.
We were picked up by Humphrey (an employee of Scripture Union) and driven to the first church
we would visit that day. When we arrived, their worship service had already begun. We stood near the side, but were then ushered up to the front row (which was uncomfortable for us, but it was culturally important for them to put us in a place of honor). Shortly after we sat down, an assistant pastor gave a number of announcements in Ewe (pronounced “ay-way” in this native Ghanaian language) followed by the same announcements in English. They began to worship in song and dance. As the music played, first the women came up and danced around in a circle (sort of like a conga line); after they finished, the men came up and danced around. They swung their handkerchiefs around in the air and shouted praises to God. A choir sang (angelically),
the band played, and the worship continued. Eventually one of the men grabbed the four Presbyterians sitting on the sidelines and brought us onto the dance floor. We danced around in circles with big fat smiles on our faces. I fought back the tears that kept attempting to well up in my eyes: tears of joy, tears of “Wow God… Wow,” tears of excitement.
Later, they called the four of us up front and recognized us and the work we had come to Africa to do. Steve preached a short (but, three-point!) sermon, and then we sat back down. The service went on and on (in a good way). They brought up all the children and anointed them with oil;
then the single parents, then the parents of children who do not yet know the Lord. It was powerful. In my heart I continually heard God telling me, “Look what I’ve done here.” A people that once worshiped idols and animals and worthless false gods are now worshiping the one true God in a vibrant and growing church on the outskirts of Ghana‘s capital city. They had been set free, and the weight and texture of their joy was not only tangible, but immense. I had never seen anything like it. The profundity of the situation left me forgetting to breathe. I kept thinking, “Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above, with wisdom power and love, our God is an awesome God.” After the service Steve prayed a blessing over the church and the choir, and then we visited with the pastor in his office. From there we got in Jude Hama‘s Car (Jude is the president of Scripture Union). He took us over to another church; one much bigger and fancier. When we arrived they were performing healings (the minister placed his hands on a woman who violently shook and then fell to the ground). We sat down near the back, but were once again ushered up to the front row. They had a choir with a least 80 people in it, singing beautifully.
Steve was invited up to speak briefly about why we were there and what we would be doing the following week. This service was a lot more like a service you’d experience in the U.S. However, outside the worship center were two things that revealed to us that this church viewed the Gospel somewhat differently than we do. First, there was a large set of pictures of people that had been healed at the church. There were pictures of people with diseases, rashes, and all sorts of problems. Many of the pictures were quite disturbing. Yet, the display consisted of before and after pictures.
The second thing was the fact that the people at this church were not poor. Many nice cars lined the outside of the worship center. Christ may not be being preached the same way at the second church as He was at the first, but He was indeed being preached. Let me be clear, I believe God heals people today (as He always has) but my heart’s jury is still out on whether or not God continues to give certain people the ability to heal others. And secondly, I believe that the Gospel is good news for individuals as well as communities and that prosperity (yet, not extreme wealth and over-abundance) is to be expected as Christ ushers in the fullness of the Kingdom of God; yet I do not believe blessing should be expected to come in the form of a BMW for those in a poverty-stricken city. I suppose we can echo Paul‘s notion in Philippians 1:18 in cases such as these. John Piper has said that it is not the receiving of a new car that portrays God as magnificent, but that when we are in our deepest struggles, our deepest pain and loss, we can shout, “God is enough!” “That,” Piper says, “makes God look glorious.” From there we drove back to GIMPA, but not before Jude Hama pointed out the two towers of a Mosque that overshadowed the surrounding buildings. It’s interesting how God provides glimpses of His glory amidst our fears. As we sat and looked at the Mosque in the distance, a father and his three kids walked passed our car on their way home from church.
Our thoughts were so focused on threat of Islam that we almost didn’t see the glory of God radiating from the smiling faces of the man and his children. I felt as if God was reminding me to keep my eyes on my King, not on my King’s enemies. And I realized that I do that a lot. I stare, in fear, at what I’m up against in life instead of gazing upon the glory of the sovereign, all powerful King who will lead me through everything He leads me to. “The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid?” (Ps. 27:1).
Written by: GCA Staff on August 11, 2008.