Chris is currently participating in a one-month short term mission in Kenya, Africa with African Enterprise as part of the Youthworks Year 13 Gospel Gap Year program. In this, the fourth chapter of his journal, he explores the church-going habits of Nairobi Christians, discovering both the strength of their passion and the fragility of their commitments..
As I sit here in the matatu writing my journal entry, the Kylie Minogue classic Meant to be as one blasts out over the radio and my thoughts are drawn to the depth of influence that even Australian culture has on Kenyan society. It has never ceased to amaze me how modern and western Nairobi can be. Every now and then we find ourselves buying odds and ends at a Nakumatt, which leaves our supermarkets for dead when it comes to needless variety and excess. The affluent areas we trudge through abound with signs advertising shopping precincts which promise to enliven and fulfill our existence. Clearly consumerism is not confined to the western nations of our world. But Nairobi still abounds with a range of uniquely Kenyan experiences, which we discovered as we found ourselves incessantly harassed and bullied by store owners at the Massi Markets and attempted to haggle with these individuals bent on charging us "mozungu' (white men) prices on all wares.
As we ventured to church on Sunday we discovered how much influence some brands of modern, western Christianity have had on Kenyan worship. During this day our group was divided up into four teams, each visiting two churches. At the end of the day each team debriefed the group on their observations, so that we could support each other as we came to grips with our experiences. Most teams were sent to Pentecostal churches and, given that the majority of our participants come from evangelical backgrounds, experiencing a completely different style of teaching and worship set within an alien culture provided plenty to come to grips with.
I have been exposed to charismatic Christianity for most of my spiritual walk so the experience wasn’t as shocking. I even found myself encouraged by the zeal, passion and emotion witnessed in the church I visited. What I did find peculiar though was the almost auction-like manner in which the giving was conducted. Each congregant was exhorted to make an offering to give toward the church's 18th Anniversary celebration and each contribution was loudly announced to the congregation in a process which took half an hour. In general the preaching of the church was actually quite encouraging, with some important truths concerning the Christian's unity with Christ emphasised. The preacher also gave a clear explanation of Christ's atonement for our sin (though I thought the message's effectiveness was somewhat undermined by its two hour duration). I was, however, saddened to hear a few crucial flaws in the preaching. The speaker suggested that water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism (which he implied we had not received) were necessary for salvation.
This loose handling of the Scriptures turned out to be quite a universal experience for each of our groups. One reported that their church failed to even open the bible and only referred to God in a song entitled "Give to God and He will Give to You", whilst another group reported that the church they visited exercised the ministry of slaying in the spirit, speaking in tongues and preaching the prosperity gospel. Indeed a common report from all the churches was the presence of their flavour of western Christianity. Even within the church I visited, much of what we shared drifted very close to prosperity gospel.
Whilst staying at Resurrection Gardens, I have had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of two Kenyans undergoing discernment (a process which determines suitability) for mission work. As I talked to these two men, a range of startling truths emerged surrounding the Kenyan Church. They were not surprised by the prevalence of the prosperity gospel. They told me that the preaching of certain American Tele-evangelists heavily influences Kenyan Churches. In fact Nairobi is soon to play host to a conference which promises to impart the anointing for owning a car.
I was quite amazed by their assessment of the spiritual vitality of many Kenyan Christians. I had always thought that Kenyan Christianity was characterised by a deep passion and unmatched devotion to the Lord, if the myriad of "Praise the Lords", "Amens" and raised hands at churches were anything to go by. However these men suggested that my assumption was less than accurate. Whilst I do not want to deny that I have been inspired by a great number of devout Christians while in Kenya, these men's claims about the commitment of many Kenyan Christians to evangelism and avoiding sin caused my prior perception to wane dramatically. Apparently the "Sunday Christian" phenomena is not confined to Western Churches.
On Monday and Tuesday we spent a good deal of time ministering to orphanages, primary schools and high schools. I could not help but reflect on the contrasts within the church as I saw the keen interest and depth of knowledge these students demonstrated in the word of God. As I witnessed a multitude of decisions for Christ made in many of the schools, I was blown away by the amazing opportunities that exist and I could not help but to compare these kind of responses with the general disinterest which I often encounter in the lives of my friends and in the schools back in Australia. Truly Kenya is a nation thirsting for the true gospel of the Living Lord Jesus Christ.
Photos courtesy carlosjwj
