In August, Oasis was blessed to hire Hannah Rasmussen to travel to Kenya to serve as the on-site Editorial Assistant for the Africa Study Bible. A recent graduate of Macalister University, Hannah grew up in East Africa in a missionary family. Hannah will work with Supervising Editor Dr. John Jusu and Writing Coordinator Janice Muchai with the vetting and editing of African submissions, and will also coordinate reviews by the four Africa International University professors who are editorial screeners on that campus.
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Last week, I visited the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa.
I had been invited to Ethiopia to present about the Africa Study Bible. Gideon Para-Mallam, a regional leader of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, had written for the Africa Study Bible himself. He was excited to partner with us to find young writers from a wider variety of countries. He invited me to a training for the leaders of Christian student movements throughout English-speaking Africa. He set up a meeting with national leaders over lunch and even sacrificed time from his own presentation to allow me to speak.
I told the group, “Africa is rising. Economies are growing. The population is growing, and with such a high percentage of youth, Africa has the potential to change the world in coming years. By serving Africa’s students you are doing valuable work on the front lines.
“We want to partner with you in your important work. The African church is also rising, while the church in the West is losing strength. The rest of the world needs to hear your perspective on the Bible. And African Christians need to know how to connect their faith with their culture. That’s why we’re creating the Africa Study Bible.”
I explained that the Africa Study Bible was designed with study features written for Africans, by Africans. We have 150 writers currently creating study content for this Bible, but we are looking for more representation from French- and Portuguese-speaking Africa, as well as female writers and writers from North Africa. Afterwards, so many people told me how excited they were for the project: “Can I write? Can I have a copy of the Gospel of John?”
I’d only come to present at the training and I’d never been to Ethiopia, but I didn’t feel like an outsider. As an undergraduate, I was a student leader in this Christian student movement, in the American branch called InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Most of the pivotal points in my college career were sparked by an InterVarsity conference. Now, I was with the staff leaders of the movement across the globe. The training was as high quality as ever.
So I fit in—mostly. I was the only white woman there. But that's been a lot of my life. So I switched between Swahili and my East African accent, relished the njera (sourdough flatbread) and helped myself to chai (black tea with milk and sugar, not the U.S. coffee shop version that tastes like pumpkin pie).
But then we took a field trip to the African Union.
In the center of the building stood the circular Nelson Mandela conference hall. Marble steps led up to its entry. Above them was a vast gold Africa. We took a picture beneath it, hands raised. Instead of “cheese,” we said, “Africa rising.”
Inside, the conference hall was like Congress, with seats for hundreds of delegates. Everyone scrambled to find the placard for their country. They posed for photos in the cushioned seats, hands poised on the light wooden table, wearing a headset.
I’m an American, but I only lived in the USA during college and on furlough from the mission field. I live in Kenya now, but only spent two years there. I spotted Tanzania, land of my childhood. But as an mzungu (white person) I don’t represent Tanzania. So I posed behind my seated Tanzanian friends, supporting them in a group pic.
We went outside to the statue of Kwame Nkrumah, who was Prime Minister and first President of Ghana as well as a pan-African activist.
We linked hands and prayed for Africa—that Africa would unite, that Africa would rise. The prayer rose in volume. Individuals saying “amen,” and “yes Jesus,” acknowledged becoming one through the prayer.
I felt honored to participate in such a powerful moment with my brothers and sisters. I also felt a little jealous.
When I returned to my room that night, I told God I wanted to belong to a country too. I wanted a flag, a national anthem, countrymen, national holidays, a history of heroes and battles.
Then I remembered some heroes. They too were “looking for a country of their own.”
Hebrews 11 describes the heroes of the Hebrew Bible as “foreigners and strangers on earth,” living in tents, moving when God said so, not knowing where they were going (sounds like me right before Oasis hired me). They were “looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
“People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:14-16).
That city will have a flag. Jesus “will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him” (Isaiah 11:10). People of all cultures will be one people: the people of God. With my compatriots, I’ll put my hand over my heart as we hear our national anthem:
“You are worthy [because] with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelations 5:9-10)
Then I realized: that’s what I had been doing all week.
In fact, that morning people from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan worshipped together in their own languages. We’d even sung from Revelations: “Worthy is the Lamb to receive praise.”
We’d recited victorious battle stories of the Christian student movement—how groups were fighting Ebola, building peace in war zones, and promoting holistic health for students.
I even had national holidays in common with these people: Christmas was our Presidents’ Day, Good Friday was our Memorial Day, and Easter, our Independence Day.
I spoke Swahili and giggled and prayed and danced in worship with these people.
No wonder I had felt so at home here. I was.
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A version of this post was originally published on Hannah's personal blog.
African writers from across the continent are working to complete the Africa Study Bible right now. Click here to help fund the completion of the project.