Africa
For so many weeks of being absent and for the weird website you arrived at here; we were required to write a short report on our experience in Africa, so here goes mine:
There is no history which is not sacred history. As the Church struggles to express the new blueprint of being human as shown by Jesus Christ, as we fumble as we rise and fall and rise again and perhaps still getting a few trips here and there, god is passionately involved. Our experience is sanctifying. All that we have gone through and are going through are gearing us towards a day when every tears will be wipe away and when pain shall be no more. As I am trying to comprehend what god is teaching me through my personal history, I also cherished many special and wonderful events that dot it. This youth work camp is one of such event.
Reflecting on the past 17 days, there are three important lessons which I have learnt.
The first is about living in a community. Never had I come to join so diverse a group as this one. The enjoyment of different colours of life, however, comes with the irritation of a variety of human antics, some of which did not go well with me even to the last moments. Yet what matters in relationships, more especially so between Christians, is not uniformity where everyone look the same, say the same things, act the same way. Just as god confused the languages of people in Babel so that diversity prevailed over unity, he used the myriad of languages on Pentecost so that there is unity in diversity when the Church began to speak in one accord being of the same mind. In this group consisting of many many different kinds of people, I have come to realized more than ever the need for the room for disagreement. Yet, as we accommodate some forms of rejection because of Sin, we need to look beyond the surface and to communicate with one another afresh in a new language, to quote Dave Wanless – the language of love expressed through the Incarnation. God has redeemed us from our selfishness and self-centredness and placed us common, though no less as individuals, under one Head. It is on this ground that I began to be able to accept differences in others and thoroughly enjoy the company of my dear brothers and sisters throughout the camp.
The second has to do with the kind of god we worship. When the international delegates were asked to lead in one of the devotion sessions, we chose Isaiah 52:7-10 as our passage. Isaiah 52:7 was quoted by Paul as he expressed the dire need of the gospel among god’s chosen people. As we in our generation, begin to respond to the this need, Isa 52:7-10 confirm and comfort us of our decisions. Towards the end of the verses, we begin see a picture of the god of this gospel. YAHWEH has rolled up his sleeves and got down to work among the nations and therefore the whole world shall see the salvation of our god (v10). This is not a god who sits high up on his lofty throne. This is not a god who care less for his creation. YAHWEH is a god who would get into the dirt and mud. He did not whack this rebellious people with his mighty arms, he is the one whose tiny fingers moved playfully in the dirty manger. He did not shout down instructions and commands from heaven, he is the one who said, “Forgive” while left to die on the Cross. This is the god heralded in Isa 52:7.
And this is the god who would inspire us to be the heralds commended in Isa 52:7. This is my final point. How are we to do mission? Just as YAHWEH rolled up his sleeves, we must roll up our sleeves. As he got down to work in the mud, so we must get down to work in the mud. Dave taught us about the language of Incarnation. This is the language of unconditional love, of a commitment to love sinners to be like sinners and yet be without sin. As Jesus was for the Church, so the Church must be for the world. When we moved around in South Africa, in Bostwana, in Zimbabwe and finally arriving at Zambia, we were impressed with the missionaries activities in those places. We hear about Livingstone, Moffatt, Coillard, but along with these great men were other unsung heroes who like their god, left comfort and security of home, rolled up their sleeves and got down to work among the people of Africa. We discussed how we could do better with much modern facilities at our disposal, but I believe this is not a major concern for mission. Like Jesus, it was a secret joy that they saw set before them which gave them the endurance for mission. This is a joy which I did not know and still do not know. I am making a personal resolution to seek this joy.
Coming to the end of this camp, as I cherished the experiences and memories of it, I am convinced, as we often remind one another, that the whole thing was not by chance. God was passionately involved, sleeves rolled up and all, in enriching my life, our lives through all that had happened. There is no history which is not sacred history.
*photos later…
