"Under African Skies"

Pastor Laura Guy

January 27, 2008

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We sang the song "South African Creed", thinking about what it means for the people in South Africa to sing "I believe in God, the Almight Lord Creator" and "I believe in Jesus, the Savior of the people."
We heard Pastor Laura share about her recent trip to Cape Town, South Africa. The group from Saint Paul School of Theology shared devotions each night, and one of the Scriptures they read was Luke 4:14-21. Jesus declared that he came to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed. Wherever she went in Cape Town, Pastor Laura saw Jesus at work, still doing those same things.
She learned about poverty, walking through a township and seeing the makeshift homes with no plumbing. In a preschool located in the township, she heard the director share about the needs of the school, and his dream of creating an orphanage for the AIDS orphans. When the group began to pray with him, a local woman started singing, "Thank you, Jesus." Laura thought that was an unusual choice at first, but then she realized that everything that had already happened to provide a preschool for the children in the township was recieved as a gift from Jesus. Extreme gratitude in the midst of extreme poverty.
When she visited an AIDS hospital, she prayed with a woman named Gloria. Although Gloria's body was very weak, her face beamed. Jesus was walking the halls of the hospital, releasing those oppressed with AIDS and bringing them hope.
Laura also learned about the history of apartheid, the cruel imprisonment of Nelson Mandela and others, and the way the people in that country had healed from that by finding their way to forgiveness. She also saw newspaper reports from the time of apartheid that played on people's fears - losing control to the black majority and escalating crime - and even an attempt to show that forced relocations were in the best interests of the black families. She realized that it is so easy for good people to get caught up in a mob mentality based on fear. The call of the Gospel is to hold everything up to the light of Jesus and ask if this is how he would have us behave.
Laura was aware of the presence of Jesus everywhere she went in Cape Town, but she realized that God is also at work in Kansas City, in Parkville, in our homes and our church. We don't have to go around the world to find Jesus, but when we follow him, he often leads us to new places so that he can open our eyes. Where is Jesus leading us now? We prayed for him to guide us.
We shared communion with each other, mindful of our brothers and sisters who gather at the table with us.

Join us next week in our time of worship!