I Don't Want to Go to Church!

Today, my two-year-old son and I worshipped with the Christians at Tchatehoue (chah-tay-way).  While he was hopping into the car, Timothy whines, “I don’t want to go church.”  I replied very maturely, “But we GET to go don’t we.  It’s a privilege to go.” (He didn’t catch the importance of my semantics).  Later, when we arrived and sat down on the hard wooden bench, and one of the ladies in the church pinched him on his cheek as a part of her greeting, Timothy whined again, “I don’t want to go church.”  Finally, within minutes of the final ‘amen’, my toddler was tugging on my pants while I was trying to counsel a church leader on a particular problem.  “Dad, I don’t want to go church.  Give me keys.”  I think he repeated that phrase more than once on the way home and even said it again when he saw Mommy (who stayed home not feeling well).  No real point here, just thought you’d get a kick out of Timo’s antics this morning.

Today, Kelly’s under the weather and then later on, Timothy vomited three times this afternoon (maybe that’s the source of his whining!)  Plus, the water has been off all day, and yesterday evening was the first time it had been on in the three days prior (it came on last night about 11p and went off again at 6a).  It’s hard to blog with a good attitude sometimes.

But yesterday was good.  I was invited to come and teach some leaders in an area about an hour from us outside the Aja-speaking people group.  Many of these Christian leaders (about 25 in all) have their roots in the Churches of Christ in the Abomey-Bohicon region.  However, a few years back, because of some unfortunate directives from some leaders with different viewpoints, many of these men and women left our denominational registration here in Benin.  As a result, the “Association d’Eglise Chretienne” (Christian Church Association) was created.  It is my understanding that they have no association with any Christian Church in another country.  But because of my connection to them (through a former missionary to the area), I have developed a casual relationship with their president.  He and I visit about once a quarter and the last time he was here, he invited me to come and exhort their leadership with the Word of God.  The theme of the leadership gathering was “How to Develop a Christian Community”.  I was invited to challenge the shepherds of this particular group of churches based on the text from 1 Peter 5.1-4.  I ended up a lot in Ezekiel 34 where God condemns the elders of Israel for their selfishness and negligence.  After laying it on pretty tough on these leaders (such strong condemnation by God in that Ezekiel passage), we examined various roles and responsibilities of shepherds, notably according to the biblical metaphors through Scripture.  

In an effort to introduce our church leaders to other Christian leaders outside their own mentality and way of thinking (some of them will go to a men’s conference in the country of Togo next weekend at my urging…AP/MC: several are on their way!), I invited three of our leaders to go with me.  It was encouraging to me to see how easily they connected to these other believers.  In a land filled with jealousy, distrust, and even competition BETWEEN CHRISTIANS in the various denominations (did you know there are over 370 different denominational registrations in Benin alone!?!?!), I was thrilled at both the humility of this new group of leaders, and the accolades some of our leaders gave these men they know little about but with whom they instantly connected.  Some friendships were ignited and there is fantastic potential for collaboration between our churches and their association of churches.  (At this juncture, our churches operate under the COC registration and they are under the AEC one, but there might be a day where the two could become one!)  Because I knew I wasn’t going to be here forever (and as far as I know there are no new missionaries coming to the Aja people after 2007), I have prayed for over 5 years for our Aja Christians to discover relationships outside their own people group…relationships that can nurture them in times of discouragement, relationships that will offer mutual sharing of Christian counsel for difficult cases in the church, and relationships that will expand their minds to understanding the larger mission of God (just like us, the Aja can be very self-centered and focused only on themselves).  I’m not sure what all God is doing as a result of yesterday, but every one of the three men I took with me were beyond excited!  I think they appreciate having some believers nearby of like-mind and who are also a few years more mature in their faith.  Plus, the AEC “association” is more structurally developed than anything that exists within our churches and that is appealing to our guys.  These men share the idea with us about the importance of local church governing (church autonomy).  But they understand, too, the practical benefits of being a part of a larger structured assembly of like-minded believers.  At the end of the meeting, the two groups of leaders exchanged personal testimonies, contact information and even some practical ideas to help develop the local church.  God is answering my prayer for these Aja people.  I’m not sure what the extent of our relationship will be with this AEC group, but from what we witnessed yesterday, it has some real exciting possibility for the future of the church here.  

-Randy

My SuperBowl XL Prediction:
PITTSBURG  24   SEATTLE 10