It is an amazing experience to visit a truly indigenous African church. But this amazement is only compounded when I realize I’m oftentimes the first mzungu (white person) to ever have visited the church. For example, this past Sunday I went to a Pentecostal church where I had been invited by Pastor Greyson, a brother in the Lord who ministers an hour outside Dar in Gongo la’Mboto. Pastor Greyson and I instantly knew we had a special connection, and where we lack understanding in language and culture, we make up for it with our love for each other.

He had invited me to come and preach and teach at his church, and when I showed up at 9AM I was utterly unprepared for what I would find.

Although the full crowd did not arrive until around 10-11AM, when things got going, it was a sea of motion, sound, Spirit and love. I have been to visit MANY churches around the world, and I don’t know if I’ve ever been so warmly (and elaborately) welcomed as at that church. In some ways I felt guilty and kept trying to turn the attention back to Christ. But they wanted to make sure I knew that as the first mzungu to ever come to their church, I was so very special to them. So twice they conducted long processions and offered me gifts of flowers and eggs. After about five hours of service, they served a delicious meal in my honor to everyone in the church, and then we continued with the service. All in all it was nearly NINE HOURS of praise, preaching, praying and celebrating! Even though they only have about 25-30 adults in the church, the amount of energy, volume and passion for the Lord that was produced by that group for sustained hours was truly awe-inspiring.

They also wanted to make clear that now that I had come, they were not only counting on me returning, but bringing other visitors as well. They told the story that a lion, when he travels through a land, will walk a certain path. Then when he returns, even if it is years later, he will walk on exactly the same path. Therefore, when I return, I’m expected to “walk the same path” in coming back to that church.

I hope that for each one of us, when we walk our paths through life, we leave a fragrant aroma and a pleasing memory so that those on that path earnestly desire that we will return soon. Praise God for Pastor Greyson and the Spirit-filled believers in his church. I can’t wait to go to church next Sunday and see what God has planned!!

Pressing on, Eric