this morning in an expectant shimmer of trembling mystery, desiring to
look in (1 Pet 1). Suffering and glory and faith tested by fire,
these are the beauties which angels are said to marvel over, and which
have been improbably encased in the mess of human stories. This
morning's service was long (and felt longer because we were awakened
at 5 am by an emergency call, woman in labor bleeding to death, come
quickly . . . but by the time Scott got down there the woman had
amazingly delivered a healthy baby and both survived. Good news but
little sleep). And today's service was hot. Very hot. Dry season
is here in full shining force. Luke is longing for the coolness of
Kenya, sweating through his shirt without even moving. There was a
fundraiser for the choir to buy uniforms which generated an hour of
auctioning off the various gifts people donated: mostly sugar cane
stalks, pumpkins, oranges . . . but also one very small live white
rabbit in a cardboard box (went for 2,000 shillings) and one brand new
bright yellow Kwejuna Project T shirt donated by Scott (by far the
most popular item, went for 12,500 shillings!!). There was the usual
singing and sermons, greetings and announcements, and we were
admittedly tired and less than comfortable. But the show-stopper of
the day was the testimony time. A primary school head teacher, who
looked familiar to me but whom I do not really know, stood up front
with his Bible, and proceeded to give the most beautiful testimony of
repentance I have ever seen in any church. He began by saying that
though he had become a Christian in 1992, he felt he was truly being
born again today. He read several Scriptures to show that he needed
to repent to God, to the church, to his children, and to his wife.
Then instead of the vague "If I have done you any wrong please forgive
me" kind of weak semi-repentance, he boldly told his story, saying
that he had pursued two extra-marital sexual relationships over the
last few years, and describing the terrible impact on his wife, and on
his life. He actually got down on his knees, and his wife came up
front, and when he asked for her forgiveness she granted it. The
elders came forward and prayed for both of them, and their young
child. Bhiwa hugged the man so hard he lifted him off his feet, and
the women in the congregation were cheering they were so amazed. When
it was all over the wife stayed up and asked if she could sing. She
was too overcome to speak, but she stood in front of the church and
sang solo a song about Jesus on the cross while a tear rolled down her
cheek. Then in the prayer request time three other men stood up, none
with specific repentances like this but all three asking the church to
pray that they would be convicted by the Spirit and change as this man
had!
I can say that in many years of going to church, what we saw today was
very,very rare. We enter this season of Advent looking for Jesus, and
today I think we had a glimpse of His reality and presence. This is
what the angels long to witness, the birth of the baby and the battle
being won, the defeat of sin and the power of healing. Pray for
Vincent and Jane, for the long process of rebuilding trust and forging
a real marriage from these broken pieces.
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