Day two in Brazzaville

I can tell I'm going to start sounding like a broken record in this blog, as I go on and on about how wonderful and inspiring and generous everyone we've met is. Today, after a meeting, a woman approached me and asked if I wore earrings. I didn't have any in today, but said that I normally do- at which point she pressed the earrings she'd been wearing into my hand. Later, I saw her remove her necklace and tie it around Lari's neck. Giving is done so naturally here- she didn't ask if the earrings were my style, or if Lari could see herself wearing the necklace, or anything like that. She didn't second guess her gift, as we so often do in the US- spending days agonizing about the right christmas present to get for someone, worrying if our offers are appreciated or not. This must be why Christian Science seems so easily shared here- people are confident in their gift. They seem to give out of love, not out of a desire to seem generous, or out of a sense of obligation.

At times in the past, I've found myself wondering how Christian Science's message sounds to people in extreme situations- is saying "God is Love" really enough for someone who doesn't have enough to eat? But what this trip has really driven home for me is how extremely relevant Christian Science is here, and everywhere. Yes, people here may run into bigger problems than a lot of Church members in the United States or Europe. But bigger problems just make for bigger healings. Instead of healings of lost ipods or car keys, I've heard a young man talk about healing a woman of AIDS, and a woman share how prayer saved her and six other people during the civil war, when a group of soldiers had lined them up against a wall and were getting ready to shoot them. One of the branches we visited has services twice on Sundays, with a full house each time- and a member there asked us for advice on how to help his church grow. With the wonderful healing that is going on here, it would be impossible for them to stop their church from growing!

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