Destination Nkara: part 3

This is part 3 of a series.  For the rest of the story, see Part 1 and Part 2.

Sunday morning we went to church in the village.  People were already singing when we arrived.  We were escorted to the front and seated facing the congregation.  That is the place of honor, and they were very happy to have Jim and Nancy in their presence again after several months in the U.S.

Nancy and Jim explained a lot to us about the culture and the way the people worship.  There are music groups, sort of like small choirs.  The day we went, there was a men’s group, a women’s group, and a young girls’ group. Each group is limited to two songs, but the processional song and the recessional song do not count, so really you can get away with singing four songs.  On the way to the front of the church (and back again), a music group will proceed slowly, regardless of how fast the beat of the song is, and they sing all the way to the front.  They told the Smiths that if a king or a very important chief came to visit, they would not dream of just walking up to him.  They would approach him with singing, dancing, and rejoicing and do their best to make him feel truly welcome in their midst.  I tried to let that really sink in and thought a lot about the way we worship in our churches.  Not that our worship style is wrong, but maybe we don’t always do our best to make God feel truly welcome in our midst.  He rejoices over us with singing, but how often do we approach Him in the same way?  

Of course the music style was also different.  The music groups stood in a circle, so some of them had their backs to the congregation.  At first we thought this was odd, but then we thought about Who are they really singing to?  Not to the congregation! All of the songs were sung from memory, which makes sense in a place where few can read or afford a song book.  There were men playing the drum (very cool!).  Some beat sticks together.  Some beat car parts together.  Some had shakers made out of carved wooden handles nailed to tin cans with seeds inside. Here is a wee sample.  It's less than a minute and I had to save it as "low-bandwidth quality" in order to upload it, but I wanted you to get to hear a little bit.  This is the group with the younger girls.

Another way the service was different for us was the way the offering was taken.  Baskets were placed at the altar and music played while people came forward to give their offering.  The men and boys sit on one side of the church and the women and girls sit on the other so there was a basket for each side.  People who did not have money brought manioc or corn.  What would happen if someone in our church placed something they had grown or made in the offering plate in lieu of money?  At this church, people sang. Giving to God was a blessing and a privilege!

The pastor introduced Jim and Nancy to the church as “our spiritual father and mother.” He invited them to share anything they wanted to with the church so each spoke for a couple of minutes.  Then our family was introduced and David and I were invited to share our testimonies.  Since we don’t speak their local language, and many in the congregation did not know French, we used an interpreter.

After church, Jim and Daniel played Frisbee with the children.  Everyone gathered around and if someone dropped it or made a bad throw, the crowd gave a collective “OH!”

Sunday afternoon we drove to the radio station to take a look around.  This is a Christian radio station out in the middle of nowhere, and people have really responded to it.  Scripture is read morning and evening, and whole groups in the villages gather round a radio to listen for their devotions.  This is a huge blessing since so many cannot read and do not own Bibles. A critical problem is that the station went off the air a few weeks ago and no one can figure out why.  It will cost a very large sum to get technicians out to look at it.  The Smith’s have had many people tell them that they miss the radio, that it is like someone died.  It’s their lifeline to hearing the gospel, getting the news, and not being isolated from the rest of the world.  We stopped and had a time of prayer for the station before returning to the house.

To be continued...   Part 4