Non-Western Christianity (One of the Three Worlds)

Nobel-prize winning write V.S. Naipaul is directing his considerable writing talents to a subject I am very interested in as well, African Spirituality.  The spectacular growth of Non-Western Christianity is what Philip Jenkins has called "The Next Christendom" or the most important moment in religious history since the Protestant Reformation.  The bulk of this growth is occurring in places like China, India, Brazil, and Sub-Saharan Africa.  Sub-Saharan Africa is now estimated to have 390 million Christians.  How African Christianity is processed and transported oversees will have a big impact on the world.  Naipaul's new book The Masque of African Belief promises to be an excellent examination of the subject.

Christianity in Africa is often inner-mixed with local religious beliefs and practices.  This is called syncretism.  To some extend, syncretism occurs in any culture.  It can eventually get institutionalized and we don't even recognize it anymore.  Culture inevitable affects Christianity and this seemed to be fine with Jesus and the Bible which continually sees culture absorbed, but the ultimate meanings changed after it encounters the Christian message.

African Christianity is often used as an example of overly-sycretistic Christianity because it is true that many African Christians still practice folk religion--and perhaps even trust it more than the Bible at times.  Yet, on the other hand, African Christianity is much more likely to take the Gospel stories of miracles as literal and possible even in today's world---and lo and behold, more miracles due tend to occur in these settings where people value the supernatural.

In much of the world, the supernatural and the material world do not live in hostility.  Whether it's secularized Europeans planning vacation pilgrimages to Poland, Portugal, or France to see the Virgin, Japanese construction companies paying tribute to a Shinto Shrine before a new modern railway is built, or an African witch-doctor making appointments using their cell phone, the world is still remarkably spiritual in most places.

The difference, however, is to the degree which the spiritual affects daily life.  Naipaul's journey is into 21st Century Africa where the spiritual is very much everywhere.

From the Book Review:

There is a great thudding taboo in any discussion of Africa. Western journalists and aid workers see it everywhere, yet it is nowhere in our coverage back home. We don't want to talk about it. We don't know how to. We smother it in silence, even though it is one of the most vivid and vibrant and violent parts of African life. We are afraid—of being misunderstood, or of sounding like our own ugliest ancestors. The suppressed topic? The African belief in spirits and spells and ancestors and black magic.

Political-correctness, which is often the death of any good scholarship and analysis has prevented a lot of examination of this subject.  One of the reasons I have valued V.S. Naipaul is for his willingness to ignore political-correctness and show the grime and grit beneath cultures.

The review continues:

In most indigenous African religions, "God" is pretty much inaccessible to humans. But they believe every human is surrounded by a swirl of spirits—of the dead, of the living who can temporarily leave their bodies, of nature—that are constantly at work. Many of these spirits will take on physical representations at key moments, from trees to carved idols to animals. They can protect and heal, or they can smite and curse. Life is a constant exhausting process of wooing the spirits and warding them off. They can be communicated with directly, but it is easier to talk through the local soothsayers and witch doctors. Africans who describe themselves as Muslims and Christians will often retain these traditional beliefs not far beneath the surface.

These beliefs—like all religions—can bring both sweet, illusory comfort and intense terror. One typical story Naipaul stumbles across captures both. In a corner of Uganda, a young woman explains to Naipaul: "My grandmother produced twins who died. They had to be buried in a special way, in hollow pots, and a shed had to be built over the grave, to protect and shade them. Every year my grandmother went there to tend the shed, feed the grave, and sing and dance there. When she became a Pentecostal, she had to stop that, as it is not allowed. She had to remove the shed, and she was so afraid that the twins would come and kill her and her living children."

And this gets to the heart of the issue, which is that the deep respect for the supernatural that Africans possess is something that secularied Westerners should probably respect more.  At the very least, Western Christians---who often use the language of spirituality constantly--but in the final analysis spend little time or energy devoted to it in any real risk-taking way--could learn a lot from African Christians and their confidence in a God that acts not only in history, but in our present age.

On the other hand, my own feeling is that a lot of African Christianity is held hostage to a world that resembles Zoroastrianism (a battle between good and evil with humans as simply the pawns) and not the victorious, empowered, spirituality that Jesus preached.  This bent toward superstition and tradition is very common of cultures accepting Christianity for the first time (Actually, Christianity has been in Africa longer than it has in Europe--but I mean Sub-Saharan Christianity as it has grown since the 1930's).  Inevitably, a lot of syncretism does occur in the first generations.  You even see this in the New Testament and St. Paul has to call out churches that are still clinging to their old pagan ways.

In the end, Christian orthodoxy emerges through the interpretation of scripture and prophetic voices.  Notice how in the critics story about Africa a woman superstition is challenged by Pentecostals.  Pentecostals, of course, are on the far extreme of belief in spiritual manifestations by Western standards.  Yet in Africa, they are the corrective, moderate force.  This is why I believe it is not such a terrible thing that Pentecostalism is the primary growth vehicle for Christianity in Africa.  In the long run, this is probably the natural corrective.  Movements and denominations that are not Pentecostal, will not see the same level of growth.  Yet they are important as well.

Jamie "Sophia"

Photo: Icon in the Hagia Sophia Istanbul

As part of our duties as Regional Coordinators for Europe and the Middle East, we will be traveling a lot throughout the region.  Usually, it will be me traveling alone.  I have upcoming trips to France, Northern England, and Scotland for instance.  Sometimes we will travel as a family as we did last week when we went to Egypt.  We will attend the England CHOG quarterly meeting in London as a family in November.  But every once in a while Jamie will go without either of us. This week, Jamie goes to Turkey to help organize a conference in Istanbul.   That means Marco and I will be left at home ALONE!!!!!

What this means is that Marco and I will have to fend for ourselves.  Who will make us dinner?  Who will pack the school lunch?  Who will make sure that we get dressed?  Who will make sure that we bathe semi-regularly?  What will we eat?  Did I mention there's nobody here to cook for us?

Of course, this is not the first time Marco and I have been left alone.  Yes, it's true we both lost about 10 pounds the last time Jamie left.  And yes it's true that when we had our boys weekend last summer in Cincinnati, we forgot to eat.  But I think we should be okay. Well, not really.  We'll be counting the days until she comes back.  She's the glue that keeps it all together all the time.

Actually, there's more to the story.

The gals of 3W will be joining Jamie on the trip and they will be busy helping the Women's conference there.

Meanwhile, we will be getting a guest this week.  David Simpson, missionary to Bulgaria will be moving in with Marco and I.  And David can cook!!!!   So perhaps we will not starve to death.  In fact, between Kelley, Aaron, David, Marco, and I, we may have some pretty wild guy times this week sans frau (to mix my European languages).

Marco and I appreciate all that Jamie does for us--and yes, we tell her often.  Marco says, "We're dumb and dumber."  And guess who is "dumber?"  Yup, that would be me.  I'm wondering how many things I will get wrong this week.  Hopefully no major screw ups involving school schedules, homework, or anything else.  Jamie's got all the sophia (that means "wisdom"), but hopefully she'll be busy visiting the sights of one of the world's most beautiful cities---despite the unseemly headlines in today's news.  The American response to bombings is complete and utter panic.  The European response is:  "Well, that's unlikely to happen again for a while and there's nothing I can do about it anyway." I think we tend to fall in the latter category as far as our mindset goes.

I myself can't wait to visit Istanbul someday soon.  But I'll be real happy when Jamie is back because we will both miss her a lot.  And not just because we are starving to death.

The Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year.  But for the past 10 years, I haven't experienced an Autumn.  In Hong Kong , the tropical climate means that there really is no fall and there are no leaves changing.  Not since I lived in Connecticut have I been able to enjoy the leaves changing color.

A few weeks ago, Marco, Jamie and I were walking down the streets of our Berlin neighborhood.  We were stepping on leaves and feeling them under our feet--slippery against the wet pavement.  The colors were amazing and the cool brisk air blowing the leaves down gave us a foreign feeling.  Marco had never seen leaves fall and change colors.  He was amazed.  So were we.

It really is nothing short of miraculous to see this kind of beauty in nature.  It's something I appreciate more as I get older and as I see it all again through the eyes of a child.  How do we ever get numb to these things?

Scenes from our Neighborhood (Autumn)

I Believe I Can Fly

Yes, I do like the Michigan Wolverines--but this post is about human beings doing amazing things and appreciating amazing things.  An Airborne guy parachutes from an airplane into a stadium of 100,000 people in Ann Arbor.  Just watching it makes me nauseous---but it is truly amazing what human beings do.

Wonderful Egypt!

We just got back from Cairo, Egypt yesterday.  It was a business trip with lots of meetings taking up almost all of our time.  But we return very excited by what we saw.  Three-Worlds is going to be focusing heavily on Egypt in the future, and we were there to meet with the primary leaders in the Church of God in Egypt. We were also there to celebrate and honor Franco and Bea Santonocito who have spent 60 years in ministry with the Church of God and are now retiring and leaving Cairo for their home in Rome, Italy.

We are all extremely happy with what we saw in Egypt.  The Church of God is doing very well and a new generation of leaders is emerging.  For those of you that read Mosaic, I write about the church in Chapter 5.  Since I conducted that interview a year and half ago, the Church is in even better shape!

This new generation of pastors in their 30's and 40's are being allowed to take up key positions of leadership.  The are pastoring churches and make up the council that I met with.  They are sharp, self-sufficient, and very committed.  In our meetings we committed ourselves to encouraging them and partnering with them in the future.

As you may recall, three-worlds is committed to 1) engaging young people 2) raising up a new generation of empowered, accountable leaders, and 3) creating inner-connectivity within the Church of God in Europe and the Middle East.  All of that is on Egypt's agenda as well, so this is a very good match.

We also meet with the Cairo Christian Fellowship--the church Jamie attended when she was growing up in Egypt.  These people have become like family to me over the years and the connection continued to grow on this trip.  We discussed the future of the CCF and we were happy to learn that they are ready for new challenges.

And we had a wonderful celebration of the Santonocito's ministry in the garden of the villas that the Church of God owns in Cairo.  The Santonocito's were presented with gifts, a plaque, and a letter of appreciation from the General Director of the Church of God, Ronald Duncan.

We are worn out, but very encouraged by what we saw.  For Jamie's mother, it was a sort-of-homecoming.  It's the first time she has been back in 11 years.  I know she had a blast and it was great to have her with us.  She was very helpful as we tried to reconstruct and deconstruct the decisions of the past, so that we can make the right decisions for the future.  Very good stuff.

Here are some photos:

Photo: Marco with Giza behind him.

Photo: This time it was a father and son outing only.  Marco  and I went to the Pyramids together and then to the National Museum.  No girls allowed.

Photo: You can see the size of the stones that make up the Pyramid.  It took over 30 years to build.

Photo: At one time, the surface was all smooth limestone and at the top it was gold which could be seen for miles away.  By the time Jesus passed through Egypt, the Pyramids had already existed for 2,600 years.

Photo: The Pyramids have existed 4,600 years.  Marco has existed for 7.5 years.

Photo: Behind the Sphinx are the Pyramids.  In front of the Pyramid is Pizza Hut.  No kidding.

Photo: Marco is such a great traveler.  Egypt is chaotic and it doesn't bother Marco at all.  On the way to the Pyramids, our car was attacked as 4 guys tried to force our driver to pay money for no reason (seriously).  Marco and I thought it was super-fun.  It didn't phase him a bit.  Neither did the traffic.  Neither did falling and scraping his knee on one of Cairo's crumbling sidewalks.  Totally not phased.  That's my boy!

Photo: Unlike so many places in this globalized world, Cairo's skyline remains remarkably untouched in contrast with other developing countries.

Photo: For many years, the beautiful Shubra church did not have a pastor.  Now it has a young, Lebanese pastor.

Photo: Recognizing the Santonocito's after 60 years of hard work.

Photo: Jamie's mother Sharon joined us on this trip as a representative for Global Missions and Church of God Ministries.  Here she is presenting the Santonocito's with a plaque of recognition.  This was Sharon's and Jamie's home for 10 years.

We are off to Egypt

It's been about three months since we moved to Germany.  Those three months have mostly been spent setting up our home, getting Marco settled in school, and setting up appointments and meetings for the next three months.

We are entering an important period.  Over the next 3 months, we will be meeting with national leaders, missionaries, and other key leaders throughout the Middle East and Europe.  This past week I was in Central Germany talking with the national leader here about our future work and collaborations together.  From October to June, much of our time will be spent in these kinds of meetings as we begin our work in the region.

Tomorrow all three of us are going to Egypt to meet with a number of people there--including national leaders--as we set the next stage for Church of God work in the region.  It's a time of healthy transition there.  There is emerging young leadership (which is what Three Worlds is about), and the opportunity to see some new, exciting things come about.

We will be in Cairo for a week.  The schedule is pretty packed, but I've promised Marco I will take him back to the Pyramids and the National Museum.  The three of us were in Egypt last year (when these pictures were taken) and Marco really fell in love with the people and the culture.  It is one of my favorite places in the world to visit.

As many of you may know, Jamie grew up in Egypt so her Egyptian family has become my family.  It is always like going to see old friends.  And it reminds me very much of Costa Rica, culturally speaking, in many different ways.

We will be joined on this trip by Sharon Skaggs (Jamie's mother) who works at Global Missions and will be representing the North American Church of God as we say "goodbye" to Franco and Bea Santonocito who have been serving in Egypt and in the Mediterranean region for decades.  We are having a special time of celebration for them as we present them with a number of gifts on behalf of the Church of God, Global Missions, and our region.  We will also be discussing details regarding the transition of leadership in this region.  It's a big week for us.  And since this place has always been special to the Skaggs family, we really want to get it all right.

In addition to numerous meetings and celebrations, we are hoping to have some time with old friends and Marco and I want to do our regular ritual of morning Green Tea (and Mango juice for Marco) on Road 9 in Maadi, Cairo.  That little street has to be one of my favorite places to be in the world--and that's saying a lot.  Last year I found a place where we could get online and update the diary.  We'll see if we can do that again this time.  There's lots of internet cafe's, but since I'm so incompetent with computers, I wasn't always able to figure it out.

We've also been invited to the Cairo Opera--so we are all having to take extra fancy clothes.

Hopefully, I'll be able to write more very soon.

A New Church is Born: In Russia

Marco and Andrei on a very cold day at the Chelaybinsk zoo in Siberia. 

Congratulations to the Church of God in Chelaybink, Russia. This Sunday 10-10-10, they planted a new church in the Lenin district of the city.  The church is led by our great friend Pastor Andrei who reports that there were over 100 people and the place was packed.

A few years ago Jamie, Marco and I went to the Chelyabinsk church, and the church made it into my latest book Mosaic.  So if you want to read more about the challenging situation of trying to be a Protestant church in Russia today, check out the book and hear about the experience in Andrei's own words.

In March, the Philips and I will be going to Chelyabinsk for some key meetings and will be also getting our first look at the new work.  I included the Chelyabinsk church in Mosaic because it was an example of a very geographically isolated church (something that is common in the Church of God), but one that pro-actively and intentionally reaches out to make connections with the Church of God beyond Russia's borders.  Their efforts are impressive.  Now they are reaching into a new part of their own city.

Newsletter Changes: E-mail Only

For those of you that have signed up to get our newsletter, we hope you enjoyed the last one.  You should have received our first edition of Three Worlds Journal about a week ago.  This replaced our old Chinatimes Newsletter which some of you have been receiving for 10 years. 

We started our newsletter back during a time when many people were still not connected to the internet (especially older supporters) and people still expected most things coming to the them through the mail.  So while we were in Hong Kong, we had quite a few supporters that still asked to receive hard copy versions of our newsletter.

Now we live in Germany and due to the very high postage rates, we are going to ask that everyone switch to the email version of Three Worlds Journal.  The email version is longer, better, and more beautiful.  So it's a switch we hope you will want to make. 

In Hong Kong, we were able to mail international letters at a rate cheaper than what it costs to send mail from one place in the USA to another place in the USA.  It is under .40 US cents per letter.  The cost here in Germany per letter is $2.31 US.  Quite a difference.  Since we send out over 400 each time, that's a bit of a problem.  Consequently, we can't afford to keep sending the newsletter by regular mail (and let's save some trees--yoohoo!).

So if you are receiving the paper form of the newsletter but are ready to switch, send us an email and let us know. 

For churches, they will still receive a hard copy as they often post these on the walls or in places where people can read them.  Those come directly from the offices in the U.S. 

A new edition of Three Worlds Journal will be out very soon.  Look for it in your in-box.

Continuing the critique of the Emerging Church

This video continues with a critique of the post-modern mindset and of the Emerging Church (particularly Brian McLaren who seems to be the most extreme well-known figure in the movement). This is R.C. Sproul, Ravi Zacharias, and some other guy I don't know. Their concern is that there is an embracing of relative truth in this movement.