Dear beloved daughter Fannie,
It is summer here in Toronto in June and everyone looks delighted to see the sun. Everyone keeps telling me that I am lucky to have come during this time of the year because it can be terribly cold during their winter. Imagine it is usually below zero degrees here, while in Malawi the coldest day would be six. People tell me that six degrees is not cold but cool.
From what I have experienced during my stay in Canada, and Toronto in particular, I would like to share with you some of my observations.
Canada is by all standards one of the most developed and economically stable countries in the world. Due to this it is very difficult for someone like me who comes from one of the least developed countries to draw a clear line to demarcate the poor, middle class and the rich. It seems that the citizens have all one may need within their reach, and some have them in excess; hence, materialism and individualism have taken centre stage. From my observation, since these people have everything, they do not feel the relevance of worshipping God, let alone going to church.
I had the privilege of patronizing a baseball game. Baseball involves two teams of nine players each who take turns batting and base running. It is difficult to follow, especially if you are just being introduced to the game. Let me mention that stadiums here are quite huge and by all standards comparatively far ahead of ours, but baseball proved to be a popular game as the stadium was fully packed. I was really amazed to see the number of people patronizing the game, something which made me occasionally switch off from the game and concentrate on the multitudes.
To my left, my right, in front of me, at my back, on the upper front decks, side decks, the list goes on, it was people—people and people all over. Each of these sides accommodates thousands of spectators. I understand the stadium has the capacity to accommodate more than 52,000 people. Can you believe this, Fannie? This means that this stadium is able to swallow the whole population of Ekwendeni, which is around 45,000.
What was so surprising is that though we were in the stadium for more than six hours, and the evening was getting colder, nobody seemed to care. [Editor’s note: Nyangulu just happened to go on June 6th, the longest game in Blue Jays’ history, with 18 innings.] The scoreboard was tagged at three each, and upon enquiry I learned that the final whistle would not blow before one team comes out a winner. Unlike in a soccer match where we usually spend 90 minutes or a little more in some cases, this took us the time we could take to watch six soccer matches before the game wound up. But the good news was that “our” team became victorious. It was good that we won as the loss would have spoiled the fun on a day well started.
My ignorance of the rules of the game did not really affect me, as apart from watching the game, there were so many eye catching happenings in the stadium like dancing, feet stamping and shouting by a crowd of excited supporters. However, I made sure that I struck a balance between my diverted attention and the response to the happenings in the pitch.
I discovered that people felt at home in the stadium, and it was not difficult to tell that they were where they belong. Though they were not players themselves, but mere spectators, I noticed that they were not left out, but fully participated throughout the game. Their intimacy with the game openly indicated that there is something that naturally and emotionally binds them to it.
The stadium experience drove me into a fierce battle within my mind; I kept thinking about the Sunday worship services I have attended at different churches here in Canada. The common sight was a good number of empty pews waiting in vain for someone to warm them up, while here I was in the stadium where it was a totally different scenario; thousands and thousands of people gathered together just for a baseball game. Unlike in the churches where most of the members are elderly men and women, the baseball game attracts members of all ages.
Some parents even took their small children to the game, and believably these children will keep patronizing the game when they grow up, hence being assured of its future.
This reminds me of what Rev. Sowah Ablorh, minister of a growing Ghananian Church in Montreal, said during an encounter at the General Assembly when I asked him if there is anything that should be done if the church is to reclaim its lost patronage. He shouldered the blame on the parents in what he termed “indigenous churches” for not making enough efforts to bring their children to church; something he thinks will seriously affect the future of the church in Canada.
He claimed that his church will keep growing because the parents encourage their children to go to church with them. I think Ablorh has a point by looking at the children and young people as the future church and the parents as having a bigger part to play; hence the need for parents and grandparents to start the ball rolling with education on the importance of going to church. There is a need to engage a strong gear, of course accompanied by serious prayer. Moreover, the word of God assures us that with God nothing is impossible, and indeed everything is possible.
This, I feel, should not just be water under the bridge, but rather the point of departure with a view to reverse the present situation in the churches in Canada. Probably, this may be a stepping stone for the church here and beyond to further explore strategies in order to make people feel at home during times of worship.
Rev. Bob Faris, associate minister of St. Andrew’s in downtown Toronto, believes that by taking the church to the community, the situation will likely reverse. His church fulfils this by engaging the communities through breakfast and lunch for the homeless and jobless. During a visit to St. Andrew’s, I discovered that the church is open for everyone to do their meditations, regardless of their religious affiliations.
Although it is believed that what worked somewhere may not work everywhere, my mind boomeranged to the youth program that my church in Malawi embarked on; it’s known as “evangelism through sports” and is one of the ways of getting the young people into the church. This is a program aimed at attracting the youth to the church by introducing different sporting activities. Most of the youth in Malawi have a passion for soccer, hence so many teams have emerged and are used as a tool of bringing and maintaining young people in the church.
The church in Canada may borrow a leaf from their counterparts in Malawi by incorporating things like baseball and other games that may attract people to churches.
Rev. Tom Vais, a minister at Thornhill, is in total agreement with this line of thought. During a visit to his church he noted that the church should be proactive and know the needs of the neighbourhood.
Dorothy Murray, an adherent of Knox Church in Port Carling, feels it is time the church should reach out to the people’s needs by being active in the communities by inviting the people for a talk. This would probably work; unfortunately, the church seems to be so traditional and not as engaging in order to take care of the needs of young people.
Fannie, most people here do not put going to church on a priority list as we do in Malawi; they do not mind about the church anymore, and even those who go always seem to be mindful about time, yet they can spend the whole afternoon watching games or movies. When I engaged the former moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Rev. Dr. John Vissers on this issue, he was of the view that it is time for what he termed “church without walls.” He pointed out that this is not the time to build a church building and expect people to come in. What the learned man of God cited is very true in the Canadian context, while in Malawi it would be vice-versa.
Can you believe that I met a lady who has not been to church for close to 15 years, yet she does not find it to be a problem? From our talk it was clear that she does not see anything missing in her life. She does not believe in the Trinity and that Jesus Christ is God, but she believes about the existence of a supreme being. She even goes on to claim that there are many people of her calibre, and even some who have never been exposed to any religion. This lady quizzed me about why we have so many churches and yet claim to have one Christ. She accuses us of being hypocrites. Do you think we really are?
My presence at the 139th General Assembly provided the opportunity to engage ministers and commissioners from across the church, and through these interactions I may claim to have added a reasonable amount of knowledge about the church and life in this part of the world. Maybe this is the reason why my forefathers used to say that wisdom and knowledge are not only acquired through sitting within the four walls of a classroom, but also through travelling.
Just like the way we have changed from meeting within weekdays for the synod’s biennial assembly, the church here also for the first time tried conducting the General Assembly from Friday through the weekend to Monday.
I was surprised to see the moderator standing and conducting the whole assembly business, unlike in our Synod Assembly where the moderator sits and the general secretary introduces items on the agenda. I feel the moderator here does not get the honour he deserves as the church’s spiritual father.
I am afraid I am failing to compare Seneca College, where the General Assembly met, with any of our universities. It is quite a beautiful institution with good facilities. I wish we had similar tertiary educational institutions in Malawi. If we had such big university campuses in Malawi, all those students who qualify for university education but just end up loitering in the streets because of insufficient tertiary education institutions would have been graduates today. Unfortunately, due to frustrations, some have ended their studies, indulging in criminal activities.
It would be doing myself injustice if I skip the Niagara Falls experience. The Presbyterian Record organized a trip to the famous falls, an experience that I will live with the rest of my life. Many people go to the falls either to have fun or on educational trips, but I did not see a church trip to the falls. Maybe in the future the church will start identifying things that people like the most and will take advantage by organizing such trips as a way of evangelizing the lost souls. After visiting the falls we had our lunch at a revolving restaurant on top of a tower, which I learned is 750 feet from the ground.
To God be the glory.
For today I pen off,
Dad
The author and his eldest daughter, Fannie, near their home in Ekwendeni, Malawi.
