AFRICA TRIP BLOG #6: A Day of Worship in Zambia…

Today we went to church in Africa…and almost everyone said this would be the place they’d like to worship again next Sunday…

We walked into a former orphanage filled with people singing this morning.  In a Zambian worship service you are very active…you sing, you say AMEN, you dance…church is actually a physical and spiritual experience.  Zambian voices filled the air announcing that today WE WORSHIP GOD ALONE as we took in the beauty of their harmony and level of engagement in what they were singing. 

Our team was welcomed and then we shared the Benediction song, our kind of official community song at Cornerstone as we raised hands together across the church with our Zambian brothers and sisters.  It was a moment of unity and community for God’s remarkable global church.  I shared some thoughts with the Zambian people from Philippians 3 about how my life, my faith, and my life passions have been so deeply affected by the Zambian people.  This community of believers has truly changed my life for the good and I loved the chance to tell them as an American who came first to help, but met God and found meaning and purpose and joy like never before among them…

Our favorite bus driver for the week is also the pastor of Bethel Church and he gave a great message on taking steps to spiritual maturity, including a fun reference to the fact that we needed to be like FRENCH TOAST as we soak ourselves in God’s word!  And as the service ended, we were invited to all come up to the front of the church, and then the music started and we started to dance.  We danced with joy and worship as most of the congregation came and greeted us as they danced their way up to join us.

I found myself at one point in the service with tears running down by face, obviously from the beauty of this worship time and the chance to be among such welcoming friends together celebrating what God has done and what He will do…and I think there was also a sadness in my tears that for so many in this generation of students and even for many others in America church is not a moving or compelling time…and I struggle with what we are missing in comparison to this community experience…

After lunch we came back to the church and led some games and SJ shared a talk from I Corinthians 15 about the fullness of the Gospel with about a hundred young adults and students from area churches…we even demonstrated a trust fall as an object lesson and caught many Africans falling off a ledge!

And then we moved on to another community soccer match, once again filled with hundreds of children and community fans lining the sidelines.  The whole team got in on the action and the CU Soccer Crew is now 2-0 behind a single goal from Isaac Grotenhuis.  Our post game celebration included singing OLE OLE OLE (a soccer victory chant) with a hundred kids joining Coach Bell jumping up and down surrounding our bus…only in Africa can you experience moments and memories like this…pure, unadulterated joy that is so sweet and so pure….

We went to Lawrence and Martha’s home for dinner tonight as they prepared a great meal and shared their stories of faith as God has led them to found and then grow the ministry of Jubilee Center in Zambia…we were able to hear from them how we might partner with them in the future as a university, and they were able to hear from us how our experiences here are impacting how we look at our futures…it was a wonderful close to a remarkable Sunday on the other side of the world…

Tomorrow we head off to spend time with families in poverty-stricken communities as we will get a closer look into their daily lives and needs in this culture…our learning just continues on this trip…

The team is loving being together and the development of new friendships and new jokes and new memories is something you treasure on a trip like this one…

We are blessed tonight as we go to sleep in Africa…thanks for your love and support and prayers back home in the States…

For All the Zambia Team,

CHIP