The Journey to Jamaa

5th December 2010, Sunday. Today as usual I went to the church for my Sunday Service. I was expecting pastor for his sermon on the “Honoring One Another” series, but I was wrong. After the last week’s “Forgiving One Another”, today is a special one. Indeed he didn’t preach much. What we experienced over there was a special journey into Africa. 🙂

十二月五日，星期日。今天一如往常，我一大早就起身準備去崇拜了。其實今天我還以為牧師會繼續他有關互相尊重的講道系列，但是卻沒有。今天的講道很特別，是透過一個大約三十分鐘的短片，帶我們到非洲的部落去。讓我們去體會那裡的小孩子他們的生活和需要。。。

這個短片的片名叫：回家的旅途。那個的“家”字，是非洲語的”Jamaa”，意思是家庭，也是整部片的主要題材。短片開始時是敘述著一對非洲部落的兄妹，他們很窮，由於母親病逝了，他們必須要遷移到另一個村莊去投靠他們的阿姨（沒有血緣關係的）。他們兩兄妹就這樣兩個人開始他們走路的旅程到另一個村莊去。而且，更驚人的是他們還帶上了他們母親的屍體上路。一路上他們也遇到了很多的事情，比如遇到拐子佬，缺水等。長話短說，總之最後他們終於也到了目的地。雖然那不是他們的家，他們一開始時也不被他們的叔叔歡迎，畢竟經濟上的確是個很大的負擔。但是也因為他們都是基督徒，到最後他的叔叔也明白了何謂“家”，更明白了接待小孩子就是接待耶穌的意義。所以，在耶穌裡我們都是一家人，不管有沒有血緣關係，膚色一不一樣，這個就是”Jamaa”。

Today’s main ‘preacher’ was a short video about “The Journey to Jamaa”. However, “Jamaa” is not a place. “Jamaa” is a Swahili word means “family”. So, what was the ‘family’ that the video talk about? The video is actually inspired by a true story in Africa. It started with 2 Africa children, very poor, and they embarked into a journey to another village due to their mother’s dead. They have no dependent except her mother’s sister in another village. And, the most amazing thing is that they bring along their mother’s corpse along the journey. And, they actually met a lot of incidents before reaching there. Long story short, they finally made their way there. And, even though their uncle was unwilling to accept them at first due to additional burden that needed to bear on feeding them and take care of them. At last, they were accepted because of the word “Jamaa”. Yea, even though they are not close in relationship, but because of Jesus, they are one in the family. 🙂 That’s the whole point of the video.

其實這部片真的蠻感動的，到後來看到他們被接納的時候，一家人，裡面有非洲人，美國人，全部都臉帶笑容，在一棵很美的樹下聚集，真的很感動。這部短片也是世界宣明會的製作。他們是配合他們在非洲的關懷事工和孩童領養事工來做宣傳。在過後我們每一個人都有一個小小的聖誕盒子。主要是要讓我們去開始為著這些在非洲貧困和有需要的孩子們來儲蓄。牧師說了一句話讓我茅塞頓開：“我們都是被祝福的一群，生活可以說是無憂無慮，沒有所謂的“需要”，只有所謂的“慾望”。正如這個的聖誕節，你們有些什麼的需要嗎？遊戲機？新手機？新衣服？那些不是必需品，而是慾望。我們並不會因為沒有那些東西而不能活，但是在非洲卻有許許多多的孩子會因為沒有乾淨的水而喪失生命。水，那才是“需要”。很多的東西不是理所當然的，我們的需要，真的是需要嗎？

It was indeed a very touching video. Nearly moved in tears. The video was actually a production of World Vision, for launching and promoting their holistic caring activities in Africa, and also their child sponsorship programme. We were given a special envelope and also a small christmas box after the sermon. The box is for us to start saving money for the Christmas and giving out to the children that really need them. Just as what pastor said:”Most of us are so blessed, that we only ‘desire’ for something else. But in fact, there are a lot of children out there is struggling with their ‘need’ for the most basic thing.” Desire, and Need. Do you ‘need’ a PS3 for your Christmas? Well, the children in Africa needs water, clean water for their live. That’s we called Need.

The Journey to Jamaa Official Website

** 提議AIM的教會也可以有這樣的一個運動，與其每個聖誕節都在想著要如何慶祝和籌劃節目，倒不如讓所有人都能夠參與像這樣有意義的一個活動。在這個聖誕節，我們就花少一點，買少一點，儲蓄那些的錢，給那些真正有“需要”的人。

** Suggesting the AIM church should also try to launch such programme. Instead of having party or celebration during Christmas, why not just asking everyone to participate in a more meaningful event. Just save $$ for their ‘desires’, and give them to a child that in need. 🙂