Not criticizing them. More power to them and the people they gather. But it all leaves me wanting more. Much more. And it seems Like African's think so as well. I have heard them say this many times myself.
So let's hear our Brother speak, and try not to get angry with me, or questioning my attitude, just because I shared it.
A Friend of mine share this with us in her journal. (shared with permission)
"Friday, Wassi, a Beninois guy i met at the language and culture discussion group at the university on Wednesday, called me. He was wanting to do something this weekend. So I told him our program for the weekend and he said that he'd like to go to church with us. I told him i didn't go to the official "service" but then decided that i probably should go with him, instead of making him sit through two Sunday school classes or go by himself with Austin. I had been thinking of trying it again anyway and thought that today was as good of an excuse as any to see if i am missing something i should be a part of.
This morning i went to pick Wassi up, leaving Damon and Austin at home because they weren't ready. (And they say it's the girls that take too long!) It made my heart smile when i pulled into his parking lot and there was his black face, dressed in his Sunday best with the pointy black shoes smelling all like powder and soap and cologne. Then he got into my car and said "Bonjour soeur" and it just made me want to grab him and give him a big old hug. I contained myself and didn't tackle him but replied "Bonjour frère" and we went from there, but i sure was happy. We all chatted in French all of the way to church while Kate kept saying "Can you just talk American PLEASE?!" It was a really odd feeling. We've given zillions of rides to Africans where we all sit around in the car speaking French so that felt normal but the American houses passing by out the window seemed really out of place. I was looking for Africa and could only find her in the front seat of my van.
So we went to church in our big old 4 million dollar cave. As soon as everyone stood and started singing, (or not) Wassi leaned over and said "Aren't we supposed to sing? Why is everyone just standing there? They all look like they are dead." I had to agree with him. Nary a head or hip or hand was moving. In fact, it was hard to detect a lip. It was pretty humorous. God love the stoic white people. So he and i clapped and swayed together and everyone else just watched. He paid me a great compliment though when he leaned over at the end and said, "Wow, you dance like an African." (I know i don't, but it was nice of him to say so and considering the lack of movement in everyone else nearby i guess i wasn't too bad. I just didn't want him to be the only one getting jiggy wid it.)
As soon as Tim started in preaching, i knew i had made a mistake by coming to church. The singing was blah and boring, with lots of key changes and guitar solos. A dandy concert but not great for congregational singing. The stewardship thought was read from a devotional book, long and dry and had nothing to do with communion which we took right after BUT they played a video during communion so you couldn't really even reflect and confess anyway. They put the Bible verses on the screen with no references so it was hard to tell if they were the words of Jesus, Paul or Walter Cronkite and there was no way you could follow along in your Bible. No one even lifted a finger to open a Bible anywhere anyway. Not even Tim. But when he announced that he was preaching on Acts 1:1-11, you know "And you will be My witnesses in Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth." i knew i shouldn't be there. Of all the people to be preaching a "missions" passage and of all the Sundays to bring it up....uh oh. Turns out missions was mentioned in 1 minute and 20 seconds of the entire 20 minute sermon so i needn't be worried.
I felt like i was on candid camera or the Twilight Zone or something. It was the weirdest thing. I'm sure after preaching for 30 years, one might run dry and not see things in a fresh new way, but that was almost like listening to an Alzheimer's patient preach. Bless his heart. It was great confirmation to me though, that i'm great right where i am in Myrlen's Sunday school class. After it was all over, Wassi said, "I don't think i understood the preacher well because i don't know what his message was about. It was also very short and no one here looked joyful or like they were praising God. I can see why you don't come here. I can't find the spirit of God here." ouch. They are good people, but something is missing somewhere. something big.
After church there was a dinner for the college students so Wassi stayed. We ate with him so he wouldn't feel alone. It was during lunch that i really learned a lot about him, like the fact that he's married and has lived in Atlanta for 2 years and is 28 and is the oldest of 3 and that he does all of his cooking on Saturdays and freezes it for the rest of the week so he can study. I learned that he thinks America is more messed up than Africa. He said, "America is more corrupt than Africa and the bad thing is that Americans can't see it." I asked what he meant and he talked about the government and health care and how we have more than enough to take care of our poor and yet we throw food away instead of sharing with those in need because somehow we think that poor people deserve being poor. He talked about how expensive health care is and how we worship wealth and forget God. It was interesting to hear his "outsiders" perspective and honestly, in some ways, he has a point. We sat there jabbering away in French until well after everyone else had left. People looked at us like we were speaking Jibberish from the planet Mars or something. It was really funny and really fun."
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