#5 – Prayer

#5 – Prayer

A couple of weeks ago we had dinner with this group from the Nebraska synod. There were only two Tanzanians there, otherwise all Americans. Before we ate, they looked at me and said that I should pray, being a pastor and all.

It felt a bit odd at the time, and later it occurred to me that this was the first time I had been asked to pray before a meal, other than the meals at our home.

Everyone here knows how to pray.

That shouldn’t be a strange statement, but in the U.S. it is my experience that most people are fairly uncomfortable praying out loud in front of a group. The pastors are always called upon to pray. Here the pastors really only pray in worship or when they visit a person’s home.

The kitchen people pray, the children pray, the Secondary School students pray, and the mamas and the babas pray.

I don’t speak Swahili, but I imagine that they are praying these deeply spiritual and eloquent prayers. They never say “um” and they never pause to think about what’s next. They just pour their hearts out to God. I always hear the words for “thank you” used over and over again during prayer. I’ve learned I don’t need to know this language to pray, the melodic voices just ooze with connection to our Creator.

I will miss these quiet and grateful prayers.