Off to Church We Go

Our family attends two separate churches each Sunday. Emily and Hannah walk across the street to Bishara #2, the first church we visited here in Jos. The wooden pews are jam-packed (there is no such thing as personal space); the service is lively and there is a lot of singing. But everyone’s favourite part is the Women’s Fellowship Choir. These ladies go back and forth singing sometimes in English and sometimes in Hausa. (Although because of their thick accents, you can’t always tell which of the two languages they are singing in!) You can always know they are about to start singing because you hear one lone voice start up. Then the hand drums join in. The ladies are experts at building the excitement of the song: the choir comes in, then adds harmony, and finally at the most exciting part of the song, the choreographed movements begin. Michael and I get teary-eyed everytime . . .there is no doubt we are in Africa at that moment. Their music is beautiful and touches you deep down inside your soul! When I hear the ladies singing acapella as the drums begin, I can picture these women in small villages. I think this is the way music has been sung for hundreds of years, well before any bature showed up!

The rest of the family has settled on JETS Seminary Church. This is the church that is associated with the seminary I teach in; many of my students also attend there. Though the music is not quite as unique to Africa as Bishara #2, the teaching is excellent. We really appreciate the pastor’s sound theology and his expository style of teaching. I was particularly struck by a comment Pastor Maigadi said this past weekend. He talked about what a difference Christ has made in the lives of African Christians since the gospel came to the continent 150 years ago. He talked about how they as individuals have been delivered from the darkness and have left their former ways behind. He drove this point home with a rhetorical question:” Do you go to witch doctors anymore?” Initially, I smiled; you would never hear a comment like that from a pulpit in America! Jesus Christ has made a huge difference in the lives of the people of Africa. He has delivered His loved ones from horrible practices and ways and filled their hearts with joy so that now they sing a new song unto Him, drums and all!

By the way, witchcraft and animism are alive and well in Africa. Michael recently took care of a lawyer from Jos who had been driving in northern Nigeria on a business trip. The Christian population and influence is almost non-existent there. This man was involved in a car wreck. When he awoke in the hospital, he discovered that both of his ears had been cut off as he lay unconscious at the scene of the accident. Such animist rituals are common where Christian influence is so scarce. He is lucky compared to another man he heard of who awoke from his injuries to find that both of his eyes had been gouged out.

Lisa