Lausanne World Pulse – Urban Articles – The Echo of a Saint: Signs of Hope in a Slum Community
By Christopher L. Heuertz
April 2008
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More Than Good News: Affirming God’s Goodness in a Bad World
This church is where Noah conducts the Good News Club. Nearly three hundred children were quickly yet gently ushered into seven rows of old wooden pews. When the pews were filled, kids stood against the walls and in the aisles.
Church was happening in a way I had never seen before. The service opened up with a couple other friends, David and Joseph, leading the few hundred children in song and dance.
We were told that during the civil war, Joseph was conscripted by the rebels and forced to fight. As a child soldier, he was a victim himself. Radiant and beaming with joy, you would never have known that during the war, Joseph had committed unspeakable crimes and perpetrated horrific atrocities. He is one of Kroo Bay’s many reminders of grace; his past is still being redeemed and his life is being restored.
Joseph’s joy and enthusiasm were inspiring. The songs he sang were truly angelic. His praise to God was a prophetic utterance of hope realized.
Joseph, David, and Noah have been joined by a few others who have made substantial sacrifices to serve Christ among the poor. Cami left a strong community and a stable job in southern California (USA). Faye put a high-paced life of influence in Washington, D.C. (USA) behind her. Stephanie grieved the loss of proximity and the embrace of her loving family in a small Midwestern American town. All three obediently and faithfully set out to discover Jesus amidst the suffering of Sierra Leone.
Once the singing concluded, Noah shared a Bible story, a simple reflection on the scriptures, and a challenge to find the goodness of God in a bad world.
After church, the Word Made Flesh staff joined David and Cami in setting up a makeshift first-aid stand. I sat stunned as I watched child after child come forward to have their painful boils or open wounds washed and bandaged. The infections in most of the gaping cuts were gruesome. I was shocked to see how suffering was a commonality shared by every child in that church.
Rarely in my life have I ever been as inspired by a community as I was by those children who gathered to worship in Kroo Bay. Watching Noah lead that congregation of forgotten children in the shell of what was left of that church reminded me of my favorite saint, Francis of Assisi.
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Noah’s home in Kroo Bay. |
The Imagination of a Modern Saint: Suffering for the Sake of Restoration
I also think about Noah, and sometimes refer to him as “St. Noah of Kroo Bay.” What is it about his life that is so inspiring? How is it that God is using Noah in such compelling ways?
Is it his prayerfulness? A hope against hope, a lament for equality and the affirmation of the dignity of his neighbors?
Is it his commitment to poverty? Noah doesn’t have to live in Kroo Bay, but he does. In fact, he came back to Kroo Bay after escaping its devastating grasp on his life. Even more, Noah has entertained the opportunity to study finance in England, yet remains among his friends—the victims of poverty’s relentless prison of oppression.
Is it his vision and vocation for restoration? Noah believes in the potential of God to change the lives of the children with whom he worships. That is real church. That little, broken-down, poor excuse of a church building at the bottom of the slum is the Church. That is where God is.
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