I knew a couple of days ago that I would be speaking at East Gate Chapel (Adams’ church) this morning, and I though I had the message for today, or at least the start of it.
Then last night I learned that I would also be speaking at a home fellowship this afternoon, and at the Christmas morning service tomorrow morning. Deep breath. OK, that’s two more messages I have to come up with (last night.) Did my usual, “God, what do You want to say to Your people?” Nothing. Went to bed asking. Nothing. Woke up at 2am asking. Still nothing.
During my Bible reading this morning a verse jumped out and grabbed me by the ears. That was my message for this morning. The Holy Spirit showed me half a dozen scriptural examples of it, and that was all I had when I stood up. It was one of those situations where either the Holy Spirit had to do His thing, or I was going to be in an embarrassing situation. Praise God He did, and I preached for nearly an hour under a powerful anointing. (I was actually feeling extremely tired and really not very well before I stood up. That disappeared the minute the anointing hit.)
Before I brought the message, there was a baby to dedicate, which was lovely. It’s such a delight to be included in these precious personal moments. After the message three people came out for prayer, then another couple brought their baby for an unscheduled dedication.
After the meeting, Mary told me that I would actually be speaking at two home groups, the first one being the celebration of a boy’s circumcision. OK, that’s different. I’ve never been involved in the celebration of a circumcision before, but it seems like this is the day for babies. Lord, what do You want to say about babies? Nothing.
Before we could leave for the home group there was a brief counselling and prayer session with one of the church members, then we headed to the cell group and arrived in time for a late lunch, then the meeting got rolling with the usual singing and dancing. It’s really funny how sometimes, even though you don’t understand a word of the language, you can pretty much know what is being said. At one point a group of young men came out to sing, and Adams kept sending them back to put more enthusiasm into the movement. All the while I’m seeking the Lord for His word about babies. Nothing.
For most of the service I didn’t understand anything that was being said, but I gathered that most of it was introductions of family members and explanations of their relation to the whole procedure. Then, in the middle of it, something caught my attention. One of the speakers indicated a boy of around 12 years, and I thought I caught the word “circumcision.” Quickly leaning towards Adams I asked, “Is that boy the one being circumcised?” “Yes.” Oh, whoops! No wonder God is not giving me a word about babies! I had from then till when I stood up, about 20 minutes later, to get the message. Once again, the Holy Spirit came through.
The boy who was being circumcised (who I am sure must have been terribly embarrassed by the who thing) was then brought out to sit on a chair at the front of the meeting, and I was asked to pray for him, followed by all the senior relatives. After that he was presented with gifts, including a live sheep that was led in by a rope around one of its legs. Definitely a different experience. Adams explained that circumcision is a traditional thing for them, but they have deliberately worked to bring it into a Christian context rather than the traditional ways.
Finally it was on to the second home meeting. On the trip between the two the Lord gave me the message, which I had to shorten because of lack of time, but I still covered the main points. And yet another baby … this time not for dedication, just for a blessing and a kind of baby shower. The ladies brought the bub in procession around the group before presenting her to be blessed, then presented her mum with gifts. Then, of course, there was food.
Actually, that wasn’t quite the end of the day. Elder Benson asked Adams and I to go back to his house to pray a blessing on the house and his family.
So, a very busy day, a very different day, in some ways a very challenging day, but a great day. One of the biggest differences between the church here in Africa and the church in Australia is the attitude toward visiting speakers. Here it’s “Please give us another meeting. We want to get as much as we can out of you.” In Oz, all too often, it’s “We might do you a favour and let you preach.” No wonder I love ministering in Africa.