The service was special today because of the "induction" of two PC(USA) mission co-workers, Rev. Kari Nicewander and her husband, Joel DeJong. Actually they are both members of the United Church of Christ (UCC). However, she answered a mission posting from the PC(USA) for a Church Growth and Discipleship specialist. Her husband, Joel, is a media specialist. When the Synod of Zambia found out about that, they called him to that job. They have been in Zambia for about nine months.
Mission co-workers are required to be "inducted" into a local Zambian church. Today's service was sort of a cross between welcoming new members, ordination of officers, and the commissioning of church members to a particular task. Joel and Kari's parents were there for the service from Michigan.
We left from the college around 8 a.m. and arrived at the church a little before 8:30 a.m. The church is known as the Matero Congregation, named after the section/neighborhood of Lusaka in which it is located. Apparently, many Presbyterian/Reformed churches do not have biblical names (as in Mexico), but are named for the community (e.g., Wallace Presbyterian Church).
The church facility was rather large, made out of cinderblock.
We were invited to attend a vestry (session) meeting before worship. I think what we were actually doing was waiting for all of the pastors to arrive, including the "guest of honor," the president of the Zambian Council of Churches. Dustin told me that every big gathering in Zambia has a "guest of honor."
We went in for worship around 9:00 a.m. We left worship at 2:00 p.m. (it was still going on!) because we were invited to go ahead and start eating the lunch the women had prepared.
I was asked to say the opening prayer for the worship service. Following that prayer, eight or nine different choirs sang. Each choir made its way down the center aisle, the only instruments their voices, their bodies moving very rhythmically to the music. It was almost mesmerizing. Most of the songs had the call/response format. There were two children's choirs, women's choirs, and a men's chorus. Here are some pictures of some the choirs outside the church (they wore matching outfits, no choir robes).
There are several Presbyterian/Reformed denominations in Zambia, including the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), the Reformed Church of Africa, the Dutch Reformed Church (from South Africa), and the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Africa. The congregation we visited today is part of the CCAP.
Special guests included the Moderator of the Synod of Zambia, the President of the Zambian Council of Churches, ministers from across the synod, instructors from Justo Mwale Theological University College, and Nancy Collins, who is the PC(USA) liaison for East African missions. Her house and office are on the college campus.
The sermon began after about 2.5 hours! It was translated from English into the local vernacular, which I think is called Cherwa. The sermon was based on the story about Jesus walking on the water in the midst of the storm. The preacher said he was preaching to and for the mission co-workers to be inducted, who might be feeling overwhelmed, just as the disciples felt in the boat. He encouraged us to remember that Jesus is always with us, and that we need to get out of the boat to attempt great things for God. He quoted from John Ortberg.
Following the sermon (which was about 45 minutes long), all of the visiting ministers were introduced. That took quite awhile. After each group of ministers was introduced, the minister making the introductions would say, "Let us welcome these ministers by clapping three times. On 3, 1-2-3," and we would all clap, clap, clap. After a few times of doing that (I wondered why three times), he said something like, "Let us welcome these ministers by clapping three times, for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
There was no clear break between the worship service and the induction service, but at some point, Kari and Joel were asked to come forward and sit in chairs facing the pulpit/communion table. The moderator of the synod then made a formal statement about the partnership between the
PC(USA) and the CCAP/Synod of Zambia. He then asked each of them questions that sounded similar to the questions asked of elders when they are ordained/installed. Kari and Joel each signed a covenant agreement. After that, the President of the Council of Churches and Nancy Collins both made remarks. All ministers present were invited to come forward and shake their hands (just like elders and ministers are invited forward to welcome newly ordained/installed elders).
Then it got very interesting! All of a sudden, the worship leader introduced the "master of ceremonies," who made a grand entrance, took the microphone, introduced himself, and starting working the crowd! What was happening was the "presentation of gifts" to Kari and Joel. This went on for more than an hour. Every group that had any representation there was welcomed, introduced, and asked to come forward with gifts for the couple. Every group came in singing and dancing. It was fabulous! Here are a bunch of pictures:
Yes, this guy has a TV satellite dish on his head!
The ladies with the white kerchiefs are members of the Women's Guild (I guess it's like the Presbyterian Women). I noticed that some of the older women had quite a collection of pins on their blouses -- maybe for years of service?
We were invited to leave before the service was over, so as to begin eating lunch. Here is a picture of some women preparing lunch and a picture of my lunch plate:
Lunch was very good. On my plate, starting at 12 o'clock are: rice with vegetables; nshemi, which is the national dish (the large white mass that looks like mashed potatoes; made of corn/maize, has the consistency of semi-hard grits or a Mexican tamale; it's usually used sort of like a tortilla to scoop up other foods); chicken; beef (unusual, I think, to have even one meat, much less two); potatoes; slaw. This was a lot of food.
On our way to and from the church, we passed by this large futbol/soccer stadium that is under construction by the Chinese. Dustin says the Chines are heavily involved in Africa, including Zambia, for the natural resources (Zambia is rich in copper and cobalt) and in construction projects.
I may have mentioned in an earlier blog that Lusaka seemed to be more prosperous than either Villahermosa or Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mexico. Well, I found out that's not really true. We were still in Lusaka today when we arrived at the church, and we very quickly entered into residential areas that were extremely poverty stricken. However, Dustin and Sherri told me that what I saw would really be considered middle-class. Nancy Collins, the PC(USA) liaison in Zambia, quoted these statistics in her talk today: nationwide unemployment of 60%; 46% of the population only has access to unclean water; there is an increasing chance that adults will not survive to the age of 40. This is a desperately poor country.
The Ellingtons invited me, Marty, and Jurie (I've been misspelling his name as Yuri) over for supper tonight. Dustin grilled different kinds of meat (hamburgers, beef, German sausages). He told me he realized during worship that it was Father's Day and he was feeling badly that Marty, Jurie, and I were away from our children. Clayton made a cake for dessert. We had a long conversation after supper about politics, economics, the challenges of Africa. Jurie told some harrowing tales of life in Malawi earlier in his life, and some grim stories about the way things are now in South Africa, where he lives now in retirement (he is South African). He is a fascinating and delightful man, and I am certainly glad to get to know and visit with him.
Tomorrow starts another week of teaching. I feel more confident and comfortable now that I have gotten to know the students and a little bit about how the school operates. It's still a challenge (for the students and me) to cover as much Greek as we have to cover in three weeks. I have to write out my final exam tomorrow and give it to Dustin to review (a new college policy). The students will have two quizzes this week, two quizzes next week + the final exam. It's kind of amazing to me that no matter where you teach or in what setting, the grades tend to fall out into a bell curve! This class is no exception. I've got a couple of students who are doing very well, a couple who are doing poorly, and the rest are in the middle, doing OK.
Thanks to everybody back home for supporting me in the experience. It is truly an honor and a privilege to be here on behalf of Wallace Presbyterian Church. I'll have plenty of stories and pictures to share. Some of them might be familiar if you've been following this blog, but maybe I can expand on them somewhat.
Well, it's off to bed. It may be 4:07 p.m. in Wallace, but it's 10:07 p.m. here.
Good night! God bless you!
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