Just Another Day at Church

I grasp my hands together tighter as I desperately try to keep the flailing woman somewhat still and upright as she forcefully attempts to knock herself, me, and several others down on the dirt floor of the small church in Chabwino (a chinyanja word meaning "it is good"). She's probably around my age, but much smaller. At that moment she seemed to have the strength of 10 people though. Luckily she was more interested in taunting us than escaping. And by "she" I don't actually mean the woman who is named Prisca, I mean the demonic spirits who have taken over her body.

Demon possession and exorcism may seem more like topics for horror movies to many Americans, but having grown up in Africa demons manifesting in church seem as normal to me as flowers blooming in spring. Prisca isn't a member of our small church in Chabwino. A friend had convinced her to come since we had a special guest worship leader, Keswel Malimba, who thanks to Namwianga radio has become popular in the area. We had a powerful service and the pastor invited those with special needs to come forward for prayer. Prisca along with dozens of others came forward. She knew she was possessed and came forward to ask for deliverance. As soon as Keswel started praying for her I guess in a sense literally "all hell broke lose."

Because dealing with demon possession in a Bible believing African church becomes so routine we have it down to a science. Our faithful members spring into action to help. If it's a woman she probably has a baby tied to her back who needs to be removed and cared for first of all. Sound easy enough but when the woman has supernatural strength and is flailing around it takes a few people. We need the men for their strength. You would never believe how strong these people get unless you've experienced it. We need the women because of the modesty issues. Women tie chitenge material at the bottom of the woman's skirt to try to keep it from riding up. They also wrap chitenge material around the woman's waist to keep her stomach from being exposed. Woman push down the woman's knees and thighs to keep her from hurting herself or others and also to keep her from getting away. Men hold the woman by her arms desperately trying to keep her somewhat still.

By the end of it I sat down with Prisca who was visibly shaken by the experience. I asked her in my broken Tonga about her life. She thanked me for casting out the demons and asked if I'd be in prayer for her family. She told me she was going to become our member and be in church every Sunday and that she wanted me to pray that her husband would agree to start coming with her. She thanked me, we shared some chibwantu (a genius drink made from water, maize porridge, and a root called munkoyo), and then she went home.

There were over a hundred people in our tiny little church on Sunday. Our church 6 months ago had 20 people on a good Sunday. It's been so encouraging to be a part of it. I also thank God that although we still deal with plenty of demon possessed people they are nearly always visitors and not our members. I think we are doing something right and the people are learning a life given completely to Jesus is the best way to live.

Rain

Although I lived in Maryland when I was very young, I have mainly lived in Zambia, Kenya, Oklahoma, Texas, and Congo. Where I lived in Zambia is on the border of being a drought area. Most of my friends and neighbors were farmers so we always prayed for rain and thanked God each time it fell. Somehow the beautiful afternoon showers that cooled down the weather always left you wanting a bit more. I then moved to Kenya when it was going through a period of drought. We rejoiced when we would get randomly soaked through and through because the rain was such a blessing. Then I moved to Oklahoma and Texas while they were experiencing drought. The rain seemed to rarely make an appearance and whenever it did I was always grateful. Of course I could have done without the snow.

But now I live in Congo when the rain shows up far too often and seems to accomplish nothing. By the time August comes around there is so much dust everywhere it’s almost unbelievable. Having spent nearly all of my life on the African continent I’ve become well accustomed to dirt and dust, but Congo dirt is special. Somehow there is just more of it and it sticks and clings to you unrelentingly no matter how hard you scrub. I’ve literally walked in dust over a foot deep here. So when September rolls around and we get a few rain showers it’s beautiful. It cools things down, gets rid of the dust, and miraculously turns brown into green nearly everywhere.

October is fine, but there is always a point in November when the rain becomes annoying. Now is that point. It starts to rain through the night and nearly every afternoon. The temperature never seems to get higher than 75 (which over here is winter weather!). We have crazy lightning storms that hit mostly trees but occasionally people. Mud is everywhere! The roads become impassible (even the main highways since they aren’t paved) without 4 wheel drive and even then people are getting stuck everywhere you look.

Then when you don’t think it could get any worse December comes along. It starts to rain some mornings as well as every afternoon and most nights. Usually January seems to be the worst but some times it carries into February. It rains all morning, all afternoon, and all night. We literally had 3 weeks of straight rain last year.

Almost no one in this area is a farmer. Nearly everyone does mining. The rains causes hand dug artisanal pits to collapse killing lots of people. The rains drive up the mining companies’ expenses because the roads cannot transport the minerals they are producing, dilutes acid used for producing hydroxides, and prevents machinery from running safely. People can’t get their clothes dry on a clothes line. Mosquitoes are breading in every nearby puddle taunting us all with their malaria and dengue fever carrying potential. Cholera and typhoid fever break out all over the place due to the water run off spreading sewage. Because people are inside more to avoid the rain colds and the flu spread like wild fire. Satellite internet goes out due to the storms. Our jobs come to a stand still, everyone looses money, people are unhealthy, and it’s just plain miserable.

My wise friend, Albert, a Congolese businessperson, informed me “We have only 2 seasons in Congo, the dust season and the mud season. I don’t know which is worse.” So for the first time in my life I’m hoping the rain will go away! March cannot come soon enough!

Hospital

On Monday I started to feel sick after lunch. I figured it was nothing. Sadly, the pain became worse and worse and I couldn’t sleep at all. It hurt to stand, to sit, but even worse to lie down. I had fever and chills and the worst pain in my abdomen. Finally at 2pm I couldn’t take it any longer so I got our on site doctor. I had to walk about 300 yards to our clinic and I barely made it. It hurt to breath and much worse to walk. The doctor thought it was appendicitis. He gave me a shot that did absolutely nothing for me. The pain just kept getting worse. Finally when my boss woke up I told him I had to go to a hospital. At 9am we left.

It’s rainy season and the main highways here are dirt roads so that means the roads are in terrible condition right now. Every bump was excruciatingly painful. I was wincing and grimacing like I never had before. Then the car broke down for no apparent reason. We were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no plan for what to do. Luckily, not 10 minutes after we broke down an expat friend of mine was driving past and offered to take me to the hospital. I endured more terrible bumps and slipping and sliding in the mud until we finally reached the hospital.

I went to Mumi Hospital which is run by Glencore, a Swiss company that is the world’s largest mineral trading company. It was supposed to be the best in the area and happened to be the closest as well. I filled out the paper work and then started answering questions in Swahili. The problem is when you’re learning a language if you’ve never been in a situation before you won’t have the vocabulary to deal with it. It was so frustrating trying to communicate what I was feeling in Swahili. All I could say was “My stomach really hurts!”

They ran some tests and concluded I had an infection that had caused the inflammation of my abdomen muscle. They started treating me with antibiotics and anti inflammatory drugs. They wanted to keep me for 4 days until I had finished the meds they needed to inject into my veins. Since we have an on site doctor I convinced them to release me into his care.

So the next day I went back to the mine feeling better. I woke up on Thursday morning with pain in my back. I hoped it would go away but it just got worse and worse. The pain continued to be terrible until Saturday. From them on I’ve felt human again. I am so happy to be feeling better!

I’ve had a lot of strange, scary, stressful experiences in Congo, but I think this one takes the cake. It’s horrible to be alone when you’re sick. It’s horrible to be in a third world country when you’re sick. It’s horrible to deal with health care in a foreign language. The worse part was just not knowing what was wrong or how serious it actually was. I am so grateful for all of my friends who prayed for me. I know God healed me from whatever it was that I had. Thank you all and thank you Jesus!

Rock of Ages Part 2

Nothing in my hand I bring,

simply to the cross I cling;

naked, come to thee for dress;

helpless, look to thee for grace;

foul, I to the fountain fly;

wash me, Savior, or I die.

Nothing in my hand I bring reminded me of something I was taught while at college. I was taught the concept of “receipting” and no I’m not making it up. Apparently if you want God to heal you or bless you or give you more money you need to do good things like tithe, pray, read your Bible, help the old lady across the street, etc. After you do a good deed you need to write it down. Then when you pray you can show God your “receipt” and tell Him He has to bless you since you did good things. In case you didn’t catch that it’s called salvation through works and probably more resembles the idea of karma than anything Christianity teaches. But what makes Christianity so beautiful is grace. Jesus didn’t heal people because they deserved it! Jesus healed people because he had mercy on them and because they had the faith to receive it. Jesus didn’t die on the cross because we deserved it! There is nothing in my hand I bring but simply to the cross I cling! It would be like if someone brought filthy rags to pay for gold! I don’t come to God with anything in my hand or with any need to remind God of my righteousness. I come clinging to the cross. I come hidden with God in Christ.

Naked come to thee for dress will always make me think of the letter to the church in Laodicea from Revelation 3. “You say, 'I am rich and well off; I have all I need.' But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked, and blind.” God is saying to all people regardless of your material wealth you can still be poor, naked, and blind spiritually. “I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your eyes, so that you may see.” Only God can provide the solution to these spiritual problems.

Helpless look to thee for grace makes me think of Romans 7. Paul says “For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it.” We must all recognize how hopelessly lost we are without God, the sacrifice of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. The church has taught us to be people of discipline. We are told to use will power and discipline to prevent ourselves from sinning. We will do better, but we will never succeed. The only hope we have is that the Holy Spirit will transform our hearts so we can desire the right things. By ourselves we are helpless but with the grace of God nothing is impossible.

Foul… how often have you thought of yourself as foul? You know people say when you’re drunk you’re always the last person to realize it. I don’t know how many conversations I’ve had with intoxicated people who swore they were sober. There are so many people Christian and non Christian who swear they’re righteous but none are righteous no not one. We need a wake up call to see ourselves as we are- foul. And only after we see just how disgusting we actually are we will “fly” or go without hesitation as quickly as possible to the fountain of God. When we see our sin as disgusting we will run from it and allow Christ to save us from it. My favorite line of the song is “Wash me Savior or I die.” We far too often think “I’m a good person.” “God’s lucky to have me.” But the truth is no matter how evil or how good you consider yourself unless you’re washed in the blood of the lamb you will die spiritually in hell the second death. And consequently if we have seen how fowl we actually are we will no longer be able to judge the horrible sinners out there. We would accept what the Bible teaches us in Romans 2 that we are just as bad as those we are judging with disgust. If we could only be people who recognize apart from Christ we are foul we could lose our reputation as judgmental people and be seen as people of love as Christ foresaw.

While I draw this fleeting breath,

when mine eyes shall close in death,

when I soar to worlds unknown,

see thee on thy judgment throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee.

The Bible is clear that all people will be judged after death. Again we see the same theme of this hymn. On that judgment day I do not come with my own list of good deeds. I do not come saying “you can’t accuse me devil because Jesus forgave me.” On that day I’ll have nothing to say and nothing to offer God. All I will be able to do is look to Jesus and ask if I can hide myself in him. Only by the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ my Lord will I be saved from sin and hell.

Rock of Ages Part 1

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.

The first point I noticed was the idea of salvation through grace and not by works. Somehow now a days some Christians seem to have an almost Pelagian view of salvation. Of course if asked we’ll all say “grace through faith.” But then we go around saying “maybe I’ll go to hell if I don’t repent before I apologize for some unconscious sin of omission.” Or we say “they’re not good enough to enter heaven, ‘you’ll know a tree by it’s fruit’” Some even get angry when someone on their death bed gets saved without having lived all 80 years as a Christians. I wonder if we’ve actually grasped the reality that it’s only by grace. All I can hope for is to hide myself in Jesus and have his righteousness save me! My righteousness is as filthy rags!

The next thing I noticed is “let me”. It’s not I will it’s let me. Again the idea of respect and realizing I don’t deserve it but by God’s mercy I might be allowed to hide myself in His son.

The third things that struck me was the “double cure.” The blood and water which is to say the atonement and the spirit heals us in 2 ways. First, it saves us from wrath or hell. Our salvation is made possible by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. But the second thing is we are made pure. Throughout history the gospel has been presented as “fire insurance” or a ticket out of hell into heaven. We’ve all heard someone say “I’ll get saved on my death bed.” But somehow people don’t realize that it’s a double cure first from the wrath of God and secondly from sin itself. If you think you have salvation without purity or personal holiness you’ve missed it. It’s a pill that heals your head ache and stops your runny nose. You can’t have one without the other. And furthermore the salvation experience we can receive by grace through faith because of Christ’s sacrifice is a cure not a curse, freedom not slavery, a key not a lock. God loves us and wants to save us, help us, and set us free from every chain that binds us. He makes us pure to save us from what is killing us- sin. Just as much as we come to God to save us from hell we must desire he save us from sin.

Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law's commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

I have Jewish friends who work so hard to keep the law but fail continually. They eat kosher, respect Shabbat, never even so much as turn on a light bulb on the Sabbath, honor every holiday, go to temple, fast on Yom Kippor, and so many other things. They’re always telling me “it’s so easy to be a Christian.” At first I was a little taken aback by that statement but then I realized that’s right it’s so easy to be a Christian! Christ died to make it so easy. What I can do myself could NEVER be enough. I’m one of those people who found Jesus very young and never had a rebellious phase. I really haven’t done anything on the big list of no no’s for Christians, but I’ve sinned and without Jesus I’m just as lost as the mass murderer. Tim Keller, my favorite preacher, often says if every word you said was recorded and God judged you simply upon what you actually said at some point in your life was right and wrong you still wouldn’t live up. Even if I am the most “of fire” Christian in the world and dedicate every moment of my life to the Kingdom of God it could never be enough to make up for my sin. Even if I was repentant and cried all day and all night in sorrow for my short comings it could not save me. Only by the grace of God. Only by the blood of Jesus can I be saved.

Hymns

I have a deep love and appreciation for hymns. I was raised in the modern worship music age back when the cool churches were rocking it with “He has made me glad.” Then I moved to Africa where we rocked it with “takwaba” but also “Yama, yama” (What a Fellowship”) and before long I knew far more hymns in foreign languages than I did in English. When I was a teenager Hillsong and Vineyard seemed so much cooler and more relevant than old hymns. As I grew up I started listening to more hymns- really listening to the lyrics. I was awestruck by how deep, how profound, and how beautiful the carefully crafted words truly are. Before long I was hooked. I couldn’t help but recognize that the modern cool feel good songs lacked a theological basis and became disgusted by how the songs were all about me and not so much about God.

In college one of my most hated songs was “Friend of God” because the whole song is me focused instead of God focused. Anyone who has experienced other cultures will recognize that US culture lacks respect. The whole Word of Faith movement where we demand that God give us what we want is unthinkable in most places because it’s so ridiculous. Who am I that I could ever demand anything from the God of the universe. Let’s just think about it for a moment. I support a pastor’s kids through school. I’ve made a commitment to him and I’ve never not made good on it. But that pastor would never dream of coming up to me and saying “Give me money for school fees because you have to!” instead he always comes in humility and asks for my help and he always says thank you. He recognizes that he doesn’t deserve my help but he gets it because of grace. The same is true with us and God. We could never deserve God’s blessings but only receive them by His remarkable grace.

So my next entry will be going through my favorite hymn stanza by stanza to show it’s depth, beauty, and power in understanding Christianity. Can anyone guess what my favorite hymn is?

Congo Disorder

Some people call it Congo Disorder other Congo Dementia, or Congo Disease but we all say CD for short and we all know exactly what we mean by it. I don’t know what it is about this place (or maybe I do) but it seems to literally drive a person mad. I’ve spent years in other African countries without a break and it never bothered me. I admit there have been plenty of times even while living in America that I needed a break or was sick of life as usual but CD is very different.

When a foreigner first gets back to Congo after having been in some other more normal country Congo’s backwardness is extremely irritating and impatient sets in. After a week or 2 you get used to it fall into routine and Congo’s nonsense feels normal. After as short as 3 weeks for some or as long as 2 months for others CD starts to set in. You stop thinking like a normal person and start acting foolishly. There is a definite linkage to the onset of CD and the amount of time remaining before one leaves Congo.

Here are some common symptoms of CD

• A short fuse: even the smallest of problems are just too much and an explosion is likely to occur
• Throwing caution to the wind: being careful about not drinking contaminated water or eating food sure to make you sick, driving too fast too late etc
• Pessimism: thinking Congo will not change and projects will not be successful
• Insensitivity: not caring about other people’s feelings or situations
• Daydreaming: it is difficult to stay focused on the projects at hand since your mind is constantly wandering to better places

I am currently suffering from CD and need to get outta here! Hopefully tomorrow. As I’ve been telling some of my friends “I’ll be nicer when I get back.”