Oceans Apart

Twenty-two years ago Cheri, Justin, Jory and I (Chenille was still a dream) extended hospitality to an African man from the country of Kenya.  Reverend Peter Njiri was a special sort, a leader a preacher a church planter and the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Kenya.  Today I will preach at the church he pastors, Bahati Christian Church in Nairobi Kenya.

I have never forgotten this African church leader or the questions I asked about his culture that evening.  “How do you deal with polygamy in a culture where many who come to Christ already have more than one wife?”  He was serious and his answer was to the point, “we tell husbands to keep those they have but not to take on any additional wives.”  He continued matter-of-factly, “to put their wives out would be to turn them over to prostitution.”  I was hooked by his candor so I continued, “What is your Christian response in a culture where women are minimized, where it’s an acceptable practice for husbands to beat their wives?”  Pastor Njiri was a little more solemn as he spoke of a redeeming Christ who can free a culture from such unbiblical practices.   The evening continued like this; I would ask a question he would answer then he would laugh… a very big laugh his beautiful white teeth against his dark African skin.  I’m sure we didn’t completely agree with each other but his laugh compensated for any difference that might have lingered.

There was so much to learn from a man who loved Jesus and lived out that love in a land oceans away, a place unfamiliar to me.  Thousands of miles from our Colorado home Pastor Njiri grappled with cultural issues and doctrinal truths while embracing the same teachings of Jesus Christ we hold to.

Spending time with this man of God caused me to desire a larger world view.  My world needed more room for peoples and cultures that view the same Jesus from a different perspective.

And now I am given the honor of speaking this Sunday at the church he leads.  We exchange cordial greetings when I enter the room where Pastor Njiri and his leadership team gather prior to Sunday services.  As we talk I discovered that he also remembered that day 22 years ago.   Later, during the services, he said this to his congregation; “When I met Pastor John Pauls many years ago in the U.S. I probably told him, ‘if you’re ever in Nairobi you can preach at my church.’”  Back when he extended that loose invitation I doubt that either of us expected this day would come, a reunion of sorts, only this time at the fellowship he leads.

I absolutely love this church!  The auditorium filled with the most beautiful people, brothers and sisters, our extended spiritual family.  The volume of worship is electrifying, voices almost shouting the glories of God.  The singing, the swaying the smiles and joy all remind me of the Revelation passage that speaks of people from every tongue tribe and nation worshipping around the throne of God in heaven.