It’s Easter!
The Resurrection, a time to celebrate the EMPTY TOMB, to rejoice that
our Lord Jesus is not dead, HE’S ALIVE. Easter, a time to DROP EGGS from a helicopter!
What?
Yes, several of my pastor friends are dropping candy-filled
eggs from the skies in about a week.
So far the largest amount of eggs I’ve heard that will be dropped is
20,000. The purpose of the egg
drop is so kids in the city/town will have a fun event and hear the
resurrection story and be introduced to the church.
As I heard and read about this truly American Christian
extravaganza my mind went back to my early years in Kenya as a church planter. My ministry experience prior to serving
in Africa was a pastor in Texas.
We had all kinds of gimmicks in the ‘70’s for outreach, from dunking the
pastor in a water tank to enticing kids to get on our church bus and get a toy
(sounds a bit creepy these days). Of
course, we’ve bribing teen-agers for yeas to come to church through the allure
of pizza (and no, extra thick cheese crust and anchovies is not the equivalent
of five loaves and two fishes). I’m not knocking egg drops; it’s very
creative and very American.
Forty years ago I took this gimmick mindset to Kenya and
said to the pastors one day, “Let’s have a special Sunday and call it Friend Day. Those who bring five or more friends will get a small
Bible. If they bring ten or more
friends they will get a big Bible.”
The Kenyan brothers looked at me like I just greeted them
with my left hand.
“Why would we give people a prize to bring someone to
church,” they asked?
Honestly, I didn’t know how to answer them and, a bit
embarrassed. Hidden in their
answer to me was, “Isn’t the reason we would bring our friends to church is so
they can hear the Gospel and maybe receive Christ as their Savior?”
What that conversation taught me, and many more throughout
the years, was first, someone working cross-culturally should study and
understand the host culture before they do anything (that’s why I teach
missionary anthropology, a class I didn’t have four decades ago). Second, don’t be quick to use your home
culture as a model for methods of outreach. (Those going on short-term trips,
are you listening?)
Kenyans, like many people in the world, are more relational
than task oriented. People are the
goal, not the event. Africans will
sit for hours just visiting. They
are not in a hurry to get to church and they sure aren’t in a hurry to go home
after the final amen. Attending
services on Sunday is usually an all day affair.
This Easter I will be worshipping the risen, living Savior
in West Pokot. No candy-filled
eggs will be dropped but it will be a great day to be with friends, lots of
singing and dancing. Not only will
we celebrate His resurrection, but also we will experience the miraculous…of
seeing people once dead in their sins come to life, eternal life, in
Christ. I promise you, it will be
more spectacular than a helicopter egg drop!
