An Old, Old Storyby Stacy Rector The drum beats rhythmically as the choir sways in time. A shrill female voice bellows the haunting first notes as the music begins. The chanting of the voices sounds at once familiar but yet full of mystery and miles. As the chanting continues, I imagine humanity’s ancient ancestors singing with the same rhythms and tones as they too celebrated the gift of life and spirit. Beside me a tiny baby is asleep. Her skin is as soft and dark as night. When the singing begins, she awakens. Smiling, she moves her baby arms and kicks her baby legs as if she might will herself to get up and dance. Other children laugh and clap. Some cry and run to their mothers who are singing with the choir. These children are quickly whisked up into arms and laps, becoming part of the music and celebrating. There is no room for tears with all of this singing. God is dancing in our midst, celebrating the triumph of hope again and again. You may be trying to imagine the scene that I have described. Perhaps such an experience occurred in a distant land such as Africa or the Caribbean. Maybe such a memorable event was the product of a mission trip or seminary experience. Such conclusions make a great deal of sense, yet I had this experience of the width and height and breadth of God’s creative life right in the sanctuary of Second Presbyterian Church when the Sudanese Nuer Presbyterian Church came to share in a time of worship and dialogue with us. Nearly eighty of us, adults and children alike, gathered on a Sunday afternoon to give thanks to God for the hope which God provides through the lives and stories of survival and faith that our sisters and brothers from the Sudan carry. During the week of July 14-19, we at Second Presbyterian had the unique opportunity to experience the wideness of God without leaving the state of Tennessee. We are traveling to Gallatin, home of the Sudanese Nuer Presbyterian Church, in order to serve side by side with them in the Christian education of God’s children during Vacation Bible School. Our mission volunteers, Emily Hendel and Matt Lang, have already spent a great deal of time with the Sudanese church, helping with projects and providing recreational opportunities for the children. Matt and Emily, in conjunction with Cathy Hoop, have asked adults from our congregation, like Susan Brantley and Meredith Siler, to volunteer their time, energy, and love by serving as teachers during this week of VBS. But not only are there volunteer opportunities during this week in July but also throughout the whole summer. On each Saturday during the summer months, individuals or groups from Second (youth, young adults, families, etc.) are invited to organize recreational activities for the children of the Sudanese church, as well as work on various projects in the new church building. Christians in the United States have a great deal to learn from our Sudanese sisters and brothers, who like Jesus and his own family, are political and religious refugees, attempting to make new lives for themselves and to provide for their families who remain in the Sudan. Continue to pray for the Sudan and for an end to the violence that has plagued that nation for years. EDITOR’S NOTE
|
