A letter from Bob Rice in Congo
February 2014
You are my brother, you are my sister!
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Pastor William Pender preaches regarding our oneness in Christ (Bob translates into Tshiluba)
“You are my brother. You are my sister. I am your brother,” pronounces Pastor William Pender of First Presbyterian Church, Knoxville (Tenn.), looking into the faces of his Congolese listeners while concluding his sermon at the IMCK parish in Tshikaji. The congregation acknowledges him, “Eyowa, udi muan’etu” (Yes, you are our brother!). Pastor Pender and four others have come to express their unity and solidarity with the Congolese people, wanting to know how their church in the United States can be more connected with God’s people in Congo. This connection began with Dr. Bill and Effie Rule, long-term missionaries to Congo who helped start the IMCK hospital. The Rules had also been members and leaders in this Knoxville church.
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Knoxville group visits STUDIPROKA radio ministry
Pastor Pender’s message elucidates our oneness in Christ. In God’s Kingdom traditional separations and boundaries marked by tribe, class and gender no longer have power. God’s people now transcend these barriers. Our baptism into the Body of Christ enables a new ordering of relationships. Pastor Pender cites a poem in which the person who “wins” is the one who draws his circle of fellowship around "the other"; he chooses inclusion versus exclusion. “Inclusion is difficult,” Pender concedes. “Loving others who are different from us is like the resetting of bones. Love is the necessary healing agent that may be painful at first but ultimately leads to healing and wholeness.” Healing and wholeness are needed in our faith communities and our communities at large. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to be agents of reconciliation and healing. Jesus prayed that his followers may be one, even as he and his Father were one. Jesus prays for unity so that the world may know that the Father sent him, that the Father loves all peoples even as the Father demonstrated his love for his Son (John 17). The unity of God’s people communicates our oneness with Jesus (the Son), and our oneness with his Father (Yahweh).
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Mamu Ekanga Angelique preaches at our neighborhood cell group meeting
Yet too often we allow our brokenness and our worldly identities to trump the prayers petitioned by the Lord Jesus and the new realities Pastor Pender preaches. Within 24 hours of our arrival in Kananga we were called into the offices of the Congolese Presbyterian Church (CPC) leadership. We were told about divisions in Kananga Presbytery and advised not to visit certain churches. These divisions within the Presbytery signal larger divisions that currently afflict the CPC. We can only pray for God’s healing and reconciliation amongst us during this time of fragility and lack of trust. Moreover, I am saddened by the fact that on March 2 my home church, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California, will cast their vote to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This historic and vibrant church, founded 141 years ago under the auspices of the presbytery that birthed it, is choosing to leave its parent and its family. Moreover, churches across the land are also making the same choice. Of course there are some good reasons for leaving, but what does such action communicate to a world that the Lord Jesus prayed would come to the Father as they witness the unity of God’s people?
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Pastor Mbikayi, Kristi and Bob buy Bibles from the Bible Society in Kananga
Our human family and also our Christian family is a body of broken bones. Too often we don’t love each other very well. We may be good at loving those amongst "our kind"—but we struggle to love "the other" and welcome them into our circle. In Congo, within the CPC, we may be good at loving those belonging to our tribe, but loving and accepting members of another tribe? That is where the rubber meets the road. In the U.S., within the Christian family, conservative evangelicals and more progressive folk tend to love those of "their kind," but loving others who see the world differently? Here is where we struggle. The Presbyterian Mission Agency has conveyed that “we are better together.” I agree with this sentiment. We need different perspectives as we grow in faith and as we grow together in community. To cast others away or remove ourselves from our community is like Cain saying to Abel, “I don’t need you.”
“You are my brother. You are my sister. I am your brother.” Thank you, Pastor Pender, for such profound words. I pray that we can all say these life-affirming words to one another in spite of our differences. May we walk the rough-and-tumble road of discipleship, learning how to truly love one another. Your prayers and financial gifts allow us to walk alongside our sisters and brothers in Congo. For that we are so grateful! If you would like to learn more about how you can be more engaged with our ministry in Congo through prayer and financial giving in 2014, please let us know. God bless you!
“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your [kind], what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount).
Bob
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 138
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