Within days of arriving in Africa, I began hearing about a
kind of church service called a Crusade. I had an immediately negative visceral reaction to the word. As many people who have studied early
medieval history beyond a cursory glance would know, the Crusades were not a
pretty time in church history. In fact,
one of the definitions of a Crusade is ‘A war instigated by the Church for
alleged religious ends.’ Not a shining moment
in church history. So, it is
understandable that for me, the word brought nothing but awful and violent
images to mind. In those first few days,
the appalled look on my face gave away my thoughts; squadmates who had been to
Africa before assured me that Crusades were fun, and that no one flinched at
the word. This did nothing to assuage my
apprehension. I still thought it was
like inviting people to a party and calling it a Holocaust. Just because the occasion is a celebration
doesn’t make the word any less painful. And to add insult to injury, in both Uganda and Tanzania, where we were
going to be doing many of these Crusades, the prevailing religion in the area
is Islam. In the 11th, 12th
and 13th Centuries, it was the Muslims who were the primary targets
of the church, as the Crusaders massacred everyone who blocked their zealous
quest to take back the Holy Land. My
heart hurt for the people who I was sure we were gravely insulting over the use
of such a hurtful word.
But, yet again on the World Race, my preconceived notions
have been blown out of the water. A typical
Crusade occurs in an open area, a field or a central part of town. Sound equipment is rented or borrowed. When the music starts, it is a signal for the
townspeople to start the dance party! It
is amazing, and actually quite beautiful (yes, I just used the word beautiful
to describe a Crusade). Most Crusades
have ‘performance’ segments, where local choirs come and perform a song and
dance routine. We are usually on benches
or have spread a kanga on the grass and we are seated on the ground. Children seem to flock to the mzungos; each
one of us usually has anywhere from one to a dozen children sprawled on
us. The last portion of the Crusade is
one of us preaching a basic gospel/salvation message. There is no violence. There is no pressure. There is only love and a genuine desire to
reach the people who have never heard of Jesus. The word Crusade has been redeemed for me.
