In February of this year, I was contacted by the pastor of a church in Ichesa to be their speaker for Easter. You may recall that visiting this church in our first tour of service here led to the establishment of a new school. Sadly, the building permit has to date not been obtained from the regional government, but village interest in the project remains intense. As you see in the pictures, young people are always present.
My speaking assignment was to teach for four hours each day, Saturday and Sunday, with one session on the care of orphans and the remaining on the resurrection. As time drew near, I learned that four churches would be assembled for the Easter conference: Ichesa, Ihowa, Itewe, and Welu-II. I was to stay with Michael Kalinga, the pastor at Ichesa.
The church sent a motorcycle at 7:00 on Saturday morning to pick me up, and we made the 45 minute trip without too much slipping and fish-tailing on some of the final trails to Michael’s home.
Services began at 9:30 and ended at 6:00 in the evening, with a two hour lunch break from 1:00 to 3:00.
Each church had prepared a number of choir presentations, with different aged choirs represented.
So many choirs brought music that there was very little congregational singing.
We also had a visiting group from another church in Ichesa bring a choir.
The message on orphan care was the first address, and in a way set the mood for the weekend. Children are a constant presence in this culture.
They occupy nearly half of the bench space during church services, gather quietly around adult conversations, and eagerly respond to any attention given them.
But life here is hard, and the mortality rate is high. As always happens, people here want to know about life in America, and one question asked this weekend was, “Is it true that babies don’t die in America?”
During the weekend, one of the pastors repeatedly mentioned that the message on orphan care had touched his heart. He said he is determined to do more. I had emphasized from James 1:26-27, 2:14-17, and Matthew 25:31-40 that our “care” should not be the meeting of physical needs only, but should include “visits” with the intent to relieve the distress of emotional bereavement, loneliness, and hopelessness.
Saturday evening, on our walk home, we heard singing in the mountain forest. It was like a chant, the same phrase being repeated over and over. Michael told me it was the pagans, worshipping the spirits. What they were saying was, “Heaven is so far from us.” I suggested that their song would be a good starting point for the gospel message. Michael’s response was, “They are in opposition to the church; they oppose the gospel.” I replied, “Well, that’s the job Christ has given us, just the same.”
As planned, we took a side trail on the way to church to pay our respects to the family. There was already a crowd gathered, men sitting in groups talking and the women gathered in the home and around the front door, wailing. Some of the men were working on the construction of a small coffin. We spoke to the grandfather, who invited us to participate in the funeral. Michael discreetly pointed out a man as the leader of the pagan worship group we’d heard the night before.
The Easter service began with congregational singing, followed by a number of choirs, a time of greetings, scripture reading, and more songs. It had been arranged that a person would be sent to the church when the family was ready for the burial service. We would go and return, and thereby not disturb my preaching schedule at the church.
Well, Joanne and I have adopted a saying, “The only thing for sure is that nothing is for sure.” Half way through the first message, notice came that the family was ready for the burial. The series of expository sermons I’d prepared from I Corinthians 15, that the resurrection is the basis of our hope, allowed me to use the funeral as an illustration I am sure they will never forget.
On the way down the mountain, Michael reminded me that funerals are village events; everyone is invited, and that there would be many pagans in attendance. Shortly after we arrived, the small coffin was carried from the home, draped in katenge (the printed fabric used by women to wrap around their skirts while working and as slings for carrying their babies). We followed single file on the trail through coffee, maize, and banana plantings to the burial site.
(Would love to have had photos of the funeral, but did not want to offend . . .)
The men lowered the coffin into the hole and replaced the dirt. Hundreds of eyes turned towards us. We stepped forward.
“God loves children . . . God loves children . . . Children are precious to God . . . God wants all of us to be His children . . .”
Reading the Matthew 18 passage, we preached that heaven is very near to us when we come as children, trusting in Christ for salvation and a resurrection to eternal life.
The tradition at funerals here is to share a “kande” meal. It is very much like hominy soup with perhaps some beans added. Banana leaves are provided, a folded strip of which makes for a handy spoon. Small groups of people eat from a common bowl.
The rest of our Easter conference proceeded as scheduled, ending only an hour or so later than planned. The motorcycle was waiting to return me to Idigima, but was a bit cramped. The church, in appreciation of my services, had blessed me with a large bag of maize and a laying hen. We arrived home at twilight and a full moon rising.
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There is another story that must be told in conjunction with Ichesa and the pagans. One of our Form One students from Ichesa scored 100% on the Bible Knowledge Mid-Term Examination. When I mentioned his name, Anangysie Mtafya, to the pastors, I was told that the only Mtafya family in the area was pagan. In sharing this with Joanne upon my return, she recalled instances during the last few months where the other students seemed to have shunned him; he always seemed sad and lonely. These quiet ones draw our attention, and Joanne made him uniforms. He was very appreciative and made comments like, “No one has ever done anything like this for me.” Now, in hindsight, we can see the reason for his hunger for God’s Word. When we show God’s love to the world, the world is drawn to Christ. Seeds of the gospel are sprouting.
Thank you for your prayers; they are effectual.
Your fellow servants in God’s fields abroad,
Gary and Joanne Grenell
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