Late in the afternoon on Saturday we received instruction to
pack up and prepare for a crusade in a village about an hour away. Gathering a
few odds n’ ends, we loaded into a Diahatsu and made our way with Peter and his
wife. Arriving at our destination we were greeted by a small pack of excited
villagers. They insisted on carrying our small bags – and led us down a trail
to a village about 20 minutes away. The sun was setting – and made the sky
absolutely gorgeous, dancing with vibrant pinks, fiery oranges, and soft blues.
We thought perhaps there would be an evening service, but after waiting about
two hours, we rejoiced in our assumption of a night of rest. We sat around
laughing with the children and women, braiding one another hair, and just
relaxing in
community.
Around
9:30 we received word that supper was running a little late, so they brought us
a treat of cold Fanta to hold us over. That’s when the unexpected happened. As
we all stood around our tents chatting Peter our contact asked, “Who will
preach after supper?” Everyone’s eyes got large with question and someone
managed to clarify, “After supper?” “Yes!” Peter responded,
“After supper we will have the preaching.” (Neat!) I knew at this
point, that I’d be speaking at whatever mystery time this service began.
Shortly
after 10:15 pm, supper arrived. Nsima and goat…organs?!?!
I
unfortunately missed this treat, because I’d gone off for a little while to
prepare.
My
team has some comical stories about their experience though…
When I
returned, I found it was almost 11pm now, and the elders of the village were
being seated to eat their dinner. Children were running around everywhere – and
the techno music began. People were dancing everywhere, and the volume of their
sound system, I can almost guarantee resonated across a radius of several
miles.
11:30pm,
they ushered us to the front of the crowd and seated us in VIP seating. There
was a long strand of rope to keep people a short distance from our chairs – and
the dancing continued. I laughed as the night marched on and we joined our
Mozambique village friends in dancing to songs we’ve never heard before.
“Is this really happening right now?” I thought to myself, “Well
it is Christy, so get over yourself. These people deserve to hear the Word, no
matter what time it is.”
Turning
to Megan, Shannon, and Lucas I asked, “How are we ever going to get people
to believe us that THIS really happened?” No one had answers. We just
laughed some more and thanked the Lord for a “new” African
experience.
Don’t
worry…it gets better.
Shortly
after midnight, I am invited to speak.
The
Lord brings a word to these people about their value, His love and purpose for
them. We talked about worshipping God with all our might like King David, and I
shared snippets of our journey in getting to Africa/how the Lord used that
endeavor to remind me of the importance of worship. It’s now about 12:30am –
and people are still FULL of energy. Worship continues – along with more
dancing. A few pregnant women are dancing with all their might in the crowd and
the Lord prompts my heart to pray a blessing over them and their babies. I
speak to Peter and he passes word on to the pastor. Immediately they respond –
and call for the attention of everyone. “We have just received a word from
the Lord. This is what the Lord is saying. Please come forward all of the
pregnant women.” People cheer loudly and smiles fill the crowd. I am
absolutely humbled by how seriously they took this prompting of my heart – and
how they legitimately trusted what God was speaking to me and acted immediately
on it. Back in America – and perhaps most other places people would have been
tempted in a service to “not interrupt the order or plan” of the
service. I’ve been in services on this race where that was the case – but not here.
The Lord spoke to someone leading the service – so action was taken. WOW!
Around
1:00am, they sent us to bed – but dancing and techno keyboard music continued
until around 3:00am. Somehow we disappeared into a deep sleep – then 5:00 came,
and we were awakened by passionate preaching and more music. It was time for
baptism. Kiddos hovered around our tents peeping at us and giggling. My mind
repeated this phrase for the next hour or so, “Lord, I don’t feel very
joyful right now, help me choose joy.”
6:15,
we joined a village parade and walked about a mile or so to swamp river. The
sun is already blazing and I feel like I’ve missed some important frame of
time…or maybe that was just my 3 hours of sleep. This place looked like a
brilliant place to acquire a parasite – and at this particular event, the Holy
Spirit. After baptisms, we walked back to the village and waited around for
several hours. A few of us went for an hour long walk to town to acquire some
bananas for breakfast – and then waited some more. It was a comical morning,
full of more practicing patience. Around noon, the Sunday service began – and
our friend from Zimbabwe preached passionately for an hour and a half – then we
had communion – followed by lunch time…rice and more goat.
We
eventually left the village, and at this point it felt like we’d been gone for
days.
By
now, any and all expectations I had about time, or plans for the day were gone.
I love
how the Lord loves His children – and how African worship with all their might.
I love
that He gave me the opportunity to preach at midnight in the middle of no where
Mozambique – just because He loves His children. What a humbling privilege to
speak His Word! How selfish it is to feel entitled to sleep, food, or whatever
else we expect as American missionaries sometimes. I’m thankful for a comical
night crusade I’ll never forget.
