All About Abuja Ark

We sang the following refrain in church today. In the Igbo language, it simply says, "Thank you. God, thank you." There is power in its simplicity.

Ime...Imela
Imela, Chineke Imela.
Ime...Imela
Imela, Jehovah Imela

Add guitar, bongos, and a tambourine and you've got an idea of what it was like this morning at my church, Abuja Ark International.

Since our pastor relocated suddenly to South Africa, our church has elected a leadership team as the operating body, with different laypersons preaching and teaching each week. Some are missionaries, some are ambassadors, some are teachers, some are doctors. It has been encouraging, though, to learn from my brothers (and sisters!) as fellow believers. Apparently, I have a tendency to put pastors on pedestals and forget how much I can learn from those sitting in the pew (ahem, plastic chair) next to me.
There's a sign-up sheet that gets passed around each Sunday, and people sign up for responsibilities from teaching Sunday School to making coffee to leading worship to running the projector. I usually sign up for projector duty or the Scripture reading. Talk about being the elbow, knee, left ear, or ankle of the body of Christ!

Today was Communion Sunday (we celebrate twice a month) and the accompanying liturgy really stuck with me: The gifts of God for the people of God. The body of His only Son is offered as a gift to me--lowly me--who has been grafted into the family of God.
I chewed on that during the sermon, which was delivered by the Hon. Sekonte Davies, a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives and member of our church. His sermon addressed the lessons we learn from our children which we can apply to our relationship with God. Blind trust, easy forgiveness, willing openness, unconditional love, eager expectancy--these are all examples shown us by little children which we ought to mirror in our relationship with God.

Each quarter, our church selects a ministry to support with special offerings. This quarter, we're sponsoring an interfaith conference here in Abuja in April. The emphasis of the conference is on recognizing the common ground between the Islamic and Christian faiths and using that as a starting place for healthy and free discussion.
It is our prayer that this conference will bring together leaders from both faiths and bring about a mutual understanding and peace between the two groups, especially in light of the recent conflict in Plateau State, which is half-religious, half-ethnic in nature.

Abuja Ark is approximately 50% responsible for my sense of belonging, security, and well-being since arriving in Nigeria an astonishing 7.5 months ago (how has it been that long?!). It has truly been a place of inclusion, appreciation, community, and growth for me, and for all of that, I simply say, Imela, Jehovah, Imela.