Musings from the Congos

Linda McCrae, pastor of Central Christian Church in Indianapolis, recently returned from a trip to Congo and shares some of her insights:

Presence matters. Communication possibilities abound in the age of the internet, but there is no substitute for physical presence. For our partner churches in the Congo, visiting them is a way of honoring them. They felt honored by our visit, and we received an overwhelmingly warm welcome that reflected their joy at being honored. One day we traveled three hours by car from Mbandaka, the city where we were staying, to visit the small village of Boyeka. We stopped at three or four other villages with Disciple churches both on the way there and on the way back. On the way there, we greeted people briefly. On the way back, people gave us gifts of bananas and pineapples in thanksgiving for our visit. The experience is making me think about my own gift-giving and also think about visiting people as a way of honoring them (not an obligation) and other people's visits as an honor to me.