09459
June 9, 2009

Going the distance

Pennsylvania church has special connection to Kenyan Presbyterians

by Toni Montgomery
Special to the Presbyterian News Service

Editor’s note: This is one in a series of stories about congregations engaged in significant outreach and evangelism ministries, reflecting the General Assembly’s commitment to “Grow Christ’s Church Deep and Wide.” — Jerry L. Van Marter

Patty Colson talks with children outside the dormitory in Nyeri, Kenya.

STATESVILLE, NC — Many churches have programs in place to assist fellow Presbyterians in Africa. Some congregations raise and send money, while others send people to help build churches or schools. But Faith Presbyterian Church in Emmaus, PA, envisioned quite a different relationship when it formed a church-to-church partnership with the Riamukurwe Presbyterian Parish in Nyeri, Kenya. 

Of course, the church wanted to send what resources it could to help address the many needs of the Kenyan churches. But it also wanted to build a bond with Riamukurwe that went beyond simply sending money and exchanging letters.

The church suspected from the start that if it took the time to really develop a relationship, its new friends in Africa had just as much to offer as they had to receive.

The relationship began when the Rev. Bernard Muindi, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa and later a minister in Riamukurwe Parish, visited the United States in 1995.

The Rev. Charles Colson, pastor of Faith at the time, heard Muindi speak at a presbytery meeting and invited him to visit and address his congregation. The church already supported missionary work in Africa, and Colson thought members might find Muindi’s speech interesting.

Communication continued via occasional calls and letters. In response to some of the needs Muindi mentioned on his visit, the Sunday school children sent books. But the correspondence between Africa and Emmaus seemed slow and difficult, so Faith opted for a more direct approach: the church sent several members, including Colson, on a trip to visit Riamukurwe.  

That first 10-day trip to Kenya was exploratory and was meant to assess the needs of the people in the parish. It resulted in Faith’s decision to form a direct church-to-church partnership.

That initial group also took telecommunications equipment along to make future communications easier. The equipment can be used to make conference calls during which the two churches conduct business, keep in touch on a personal level and — in its most ambitious use — hold shared worship services. 

Members of Faith have made two subsequent trips to visit Riamukurwe and have hosted their Kenyan friends on a visit to the United States once.

“We’d love to have them come here more,” said Lisa Decker, mission chair for Faith. “But the government has tightened security because of all the terrorist activity in recent years and we just can’t get the visas to go through. They keep getting refused.”

Members of Riamukurwe Presbyterian Parish and Faith Presbyterian Church.

The communication equipment will be useful in keeping the rest of the members of Faith excited and involved in the partnership. Because the Kenyans have not been able to visit Emmaus as often as they would like, it can be challenging to keep church members who haven’t had the chance to visit Africa actively engaged. 

The joint worship services are one way to make that happen. The next one is coming up this month, and Jack Decker, Lisa Decker’s husband, is looking forward to it. 

“We initiate a conference call with the church in Kenya and then we share the service,” he said. “We conduct half of it and they conduct half of it. It’s really powerful to have the joint worship and hear those voices coming from Africa.”

Conducting a joint worship across continents is impressive, said Steve Shussett, teaching presbyter of Lehigh Presbytery, where Faith is based.

“I think it’s amazing that they are able to do that,” he said. “To be able to share that service and to worship together is just amazing.”

Jack Decker did not go on the first exploratory trip, but has gone on the two subsequent trips. He came away from the experience with much more than he expected.

“They had a lot of work to do in Nyeri. One of Rev. Muindi’s projects was to provide a place for the many orphaned children who were living on the street,” he said. “But they didn’t have much in the way of resources, so we asked how they planned to do it. The answer was always the same: We’re building this by faith.

“And that’s what struck me most about these people. Their faith and their willingness to share it and their openness about it and the love they showed us,” Jack Decker said. “We thought we were going over there to give them teaching and guidance, but they were the ones who opened our eyes and taught us.” 

The people of Riamukurwe have since built a four-story dormitory to house the orphans and a medical clinic to accompany it. This was done not just with the help of Faith but also with the assistance of other U.S. churches. What the members of Faith gained is just as precious in their eyes.

“It was daunting to go over there the first time, especially when we split up and we were left with our host families,” said Jack Decker, adding that visitors stay not in a hotel, but with church members in their homes. “It was me, alone, in a sea of Africans. I had nothing but myself as a person to rely on to build a friendship and a relationship.

“Partnership is going and giving yourself to somebody. Not how you look or dress or what your job is, but yourself,” he said. “We weren’t going to build things or take them lots of money. We were going to build friendships and establish partnership.” 

Riamukurwe session with members of Faith Presbyterian Church. Photos courtesy of Lisa Decker.

While it’s still in the very basic exploratory stages, Faith would love to send some of the church’s youth on a trip in the near future and make a multigenerational step forward. While Jack Decker said that pastors and sessions and personnel change, involving the youth would be a great way to generate some new excitement so the relationship and cultural awareness Faith has built continues to thrive and grow.

Toni Montgomery is a free-lance writer in Statesville, NC. She is church secretary for First Presbyterian Church there.