A New Level of Spiciness

I want to tell you about my excitement for the ordination of Pastor Spicy to become Rev. Spicy. He was last in line because in his language his name starts with a Y, at the end of the alphabetic list. He didn’t have as long a list as the people who went before him when they gave his biography of stops on his education journey or his number of previous churches. But that just fits with his quiet and unassuming wisdom. He may not be as eloquent or extra education as some around the table at the church’s General Assembly meetings, but early on I noticed he is clear and passionate about what he is involved in. It’s obvious he still was every bit as worthy to move from the normal level of pastor in our partner church, into the more respected work of being one of the leaders among pastors, recognized for special work (as regional chairperson) and wisdom. I’ve gotten to know Rev. Spicy through my visits to his region, which is about half way to the capital, to do CHE training. We typically stay at his church/house and use it as a base for visiting and training, which has allowed me to see how he works with the other pastors in the area and what he does at home. 

The reason I’m happy for him and writing this post is because I’ve been amazed at how much he’s a man who’s gone before us in so many CHE ideas. He’s patched together quite a great repertoire of sustainable and forward-thinking practices from various other trainings and experiences, that I think he could already be our best CHE champion / poster-child if he didn’t already have so many other responsibilities. He persuaded his city church to put in a city-water connection and then uses it to judiciously water a 6 x 16 m. garden with all sorts of vegetables and fruits for the congregation to divide up. He raises rabbits for meat and to sell as extra income as well ducks, guinea fowl, and goats. He has many students from other villages living with him in old, makeshift storage rooms, but each one, whether male or female has to acquire the skill of cooking to take their turn in preparing meals for the whole group. On top of that, he's always serving people himself and cleaning up the church etc. which is rare for someone in a high position here. It seems like every time we introduce something to our group of CHE evangelists, someone relates to it by using an example of something that Rev. Spicy is doing. It warms my heart to know that there are church leaders like him, already taking initiative, trying sustainable things, and taking the trainings he’s received to heart to really use them. So welcome Rev. Spicy, to your next level of spreading the “spice of life” into a too often “same old, same old” world!

-- El Padre