I usually tell people that I started going to church before anyone even knew that I was there. That is because my family was committed to serving God and my mom must have taken me to church a few times before she even found out that she was expecting me. With my dad as a pastor, I don’t remember ever living more than a few blocks from a church building. When I left home to go to college, my dad recommended me to a pastor in the city where I would spend my college years. Belonging to a church family has always been an integral part of my life and walk with Christ. So when I made the move to Pasadena in the fall of 2011, finding a church family to belong to during my Fuller years was my number one priority. If you think that people who move to a different state or city have a hard time settling in, imagine moving from Cameroon in Central/West Africa to Los Angeles.
My home country, Cameroon has a population of over 20 million people dispersed over ten regions totaling a surface area of about 183,568 square miles. And for those, like me, who get confused by figures, this is just the complicated way of saying that Cameroon is somewhat slightly larger than the size of California. It has been described as “Africa in miniature” because if exhibits all the major climates and vegetation of the continent. One of the memories I will always carry with me of Cameroon is eating freshly harvested mangoes on top of a mango tree at age 13 with raindrops falling on my head through the leaves. The fondest of them all is my entire family singing at dusk right after my dad came home from work in front of our outdoor kitchen while my mom cooked dinner. I can still hear the voices of two generations of Fanfons rising to heaven as passersby stopped to either join in or just watch. Mine was a singing family that shared this gift of music with every Church family we belonged to. That is what Church was for me — extended family.
For someone who went to Church at least three times a week back home, the need to connect with a church got even more desperate when all efforts to make it to church even just for Sunday worship during the first two weeks of my stay in Pasadena, failed for different reasons.
The Saturday leading up to my third Sunday in Pasadena, I prayed and asked the Lord for guidance to not only the place where I wanted to be but the place He had prepared to become my church family away from home. Not more than thirty minutes after that prayer I decided to look up all churches in the area especially those that were a good walking distance away – since I did not own any means of transportation and did not want to go through the trouble of riding the bus to Church every week. The Google search revealed that I was less than a half mile away from Lake Avenue Church. The more I browsed through all the ministries at Lake, the more I wanted to belong there. That Saturday night must have been the longest night I have ever had in Pasadena. I was extremely thankful when morning came and it was time to go to Church.
When I walked into the worship center the morning of October 2, I knew that I had finally made it home. It felt right to be there but I knew I needed to wait until the end of the service to make any commitment. Although it felt right, I needed to experience the service before I could know for sure what my next steps would be. The full orchestra that morning made it pretty easy to know that I wanted to be a part of the worship ministry at Lake but I knew that my soul needed to be fed. So again, I contained the excitement I was feeling as I waited for the sermon. Of course, Pastor Greg nourished my soul from God’s word that day. Only one problem remained. The size of the Church was troublesome to me. I love belonging to smaller congregations where I can experience genuine fellowship beyond sitting in the pews next to multitudes of people. So it mattered to me that the Worship Center was huge and I wondered why the website had failed to mention that.
The worship folder mentioned the start of a PATHWAYS class that morning, so I rushed upstairs to find out more about it. Not only did I find answers about how to get involved in building the kind of worship community I was seeking, the people around my table were just amazing. Specifically, Terri and Jerry Barringer, my table leaders embraced me with so much love that I looked forward to the next PATHWAYS class during the week. To say the least, they have become my family away from home and I am grateful beyond words for them. They also put me in touch with leaders in the Church who gave me opportunity to share my gifts with the rest of the Church and serve in different capacities. John Stothers was my link to the Saturday evening service where I found a home in a wonderful group of people who are totally sold out for Jesus. I have built relationships that will last beyond this life and I have been completely blown away by Pastor Greg’s simplicity, humility and amazing ability to remember names. I never had to tell him my name more than once and he still remembers it!
My journey at Fuller officially ended in June 2013. After a summer ministry trip that took me to Cameroon and three different cities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I sensed the Lord leading me back to Pasadena. I was excited because not only had I missed my Lake family a lot, being in the states would make internet access much easier for my online Doctor of Strategic Leadership studies at Regent University, Virginia Beach. Nothing could have prepared me for the warmth and love I got when I returned. Different individuals took turns praying for and with me and committed to stand by me through the period of waiting on clarity from God about what is next for me. Now I can say without a doubt that it is thanks to this Church family that I have been able to connect with my next assignment – returning to Cameroon in November for another four to six months to do a follow up on the conference we organized in the summer as well as develop leaders to embrace the many doors that God is opening for ministry in different regions of the country.
It still amazes me how a church this huge could be so intentional. How could a group of people be so busy and yet always have time to stop and listen and encourage and spur me on. The privilege to serve on the Worship Team at Saturday night services is one that I will never exchange for anything else in the world. Thank you Lake Avenue Church for showing me what belonging to the family of believers in America should look like. I will remain forever grateful for the opportunity to do life together with you.
Delphine will be sharing about her ministry assignment “Leader Development Training” in Cameroon on Saturday, November 9, at 6:30 pm in FL 201-202. Please RSVP by November 7 at 626.343.0894. Come hear her story, catch her vision, connect with her passion and urgency and support her movement all while sampling great tasting African Food and soul-soothing African music.