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Singing the
Lord’s Song in a Foreign Land
It was like raising the dimmer switch on a light. We moved in our
worship from a song in English to a song in Igbo, one of
the regional dialects of Nigeria. Their voices grew louder, their
faces brighter, their clapping more enthusiastic. It was like the
sun breaking though the clouds and flooding the room with light.
They all speak English; we worship in English. But Igbo is
theirs, fully theirs. It wasn’t brought to them by Europeans. It
is the sound of home. You hear it nowhere else—except, of course,
in immigrant churches when people from southern Nigeria gather to
worship in places like
Italy—when
they are “singing the Lord’s song in a foreign land.” For them it
is like the smell of their mother’s kitchen.
The Hebrew exiles found themselves in Babylon, a land where their
faith and culture was often not appreciated. They struggled with
worshipping God in this unfriendly place. And the psalmist
writes:
By the
rivers of Babylon-- there we sat down and there we wept when we
remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For
there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for
mirth, saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" How could we
sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O
Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the
roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set
Jerusalem above my highest joy (Psalm 137:1-6).
The Africans with whom we were worshipping that morning struggle
with singing the Lord’s song in an unfamiliar land. They find
themselves in a land that sometimes does not appreciate their
culture and traditions, a land where people often do not
understand their evangelical protestant faith, a land where they
are made to feel increasingly unwelcome. They are like exiles in
a foreign land. And yet they sing the Lord’s song! When they
sing, they are not exiles, unwanted immigrants, or a source of
cheap labor. When they sing they remember that they are the
precious, beloved, gifted children of God.
I didn’t get to stay and finish singing. Jesse, the worship
leader, motioned for me to follow him outside. We had to do a
“sound check.” We were worshipping for the first time in our new
place. The congregation was put out of their old place of worship
and now borrows space from the Seventh Day Adventist church.
Jesse and I had to check to see if the sound of our worship was
carrying into the street. We are confident that there are people
in the neighborhood who would love to find a reason to bar these
Africans from worshipping there; we are trying to be model
citizens. The sound was carrying into the street,
and we decided that the microphones would have to be turned off
when we sang. This is part of singing the Lord’s song in a
foreign land. It is part of living like exiles, smart exiles,
adaptive exiles, resourceful exiles.
But they continue to sing. They always will. In this place, in
another place, without microphones—they will sing. They have
brought their faith with them. Just like Igbo, it is a
part of who they are; it is a piece of home they will never leave
behind.
Your prayers and financial support of us enable Debbie and me to
work alongside these immigrant churches in Italy, encouraging
them, training them, and celebrating with them, making stronger
and clearer the Lord’s song in a foreign land.
As you pray, please remember the following:
-Give thanks for this new place to worship and pray that this
church will be able to continue to worship there and be able to
use the building more frequently in the future.
-That the Union of Christian Evangelical Baptists in Italy will
find the resources to continue to be able to provide some type of
pastoral support to all her churches.
-That Debbie’s time at the shelter for women in Padua will be
fruitful in the lives of the residents.
-That the immigrant pastors of the Baptist Union will be able to
attend Jim’s pastoral training courses (as in be able to miss work
on Saturday and have the money to travel).
-Give thanks that so many opportunities for ministry are opening
up for us here.
Sincerely,
Jim (along with Debbie, Ben, and Luke)
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