African immigrants find local sanctuary to call their own

ROBINS - The African immigrants' regular Sunday service at King of Kings Lutheran Church - just north of Cedar Rapids - might shake the spirit loose of most Iowa-born Christians.

In fact, the group of about 30 African immigrants attending on a brisk Sunday in early March are so enthusiastic and animated that there's little room to worry about unemployment or memories of tragedies or cramped African refugee camps.

More than a year ago, Mark Halvorson, head pastor at King of Kings, welcomed a few African immigrants into the church. But he said he had a feeling the regular Sunday services weren't quite fulfilling for them. Not only that, many of them speak Swahili as a first language.

'I'd stand there and be preaching and think, ‘I don't think they're understanding a lot of what I'm saying,'” Halvorson said. 'It was a logical conclusion to say, ‘Would you like to have the opportunity to worship in your own language in your own customs?'”

In April 2016, King of Kings opened its sanctuary space to African immigrants. Shortly after that, Pierre Manirakiza decided to move here.

Manirakiza, a refugee from Burundi, was looking to move his family from where they had first settled in Tuscon, Ariz., to Cedar Rapids for a safer community and better job opportunities.

Manirakiza, who was raised Catholic and later trained to become an evangelical pastor, was interested in preaching.

And it was after Manirakiza joined King of Kings' congregation that the African immigrant group began to grow.

Now Manirakiza is one of three men who act as pastors in the non-denominational Christian service on Sunday afternoons. Each Sunday afternoon service is given in Swahili, and someone from the group translates the message into English.

About 21 adults and children attended the first session, which typically begin at 1 and last until 4 p.m. each Sunday.

Now, Halvorson said, the attendance has more than doubled and the church added a religious education class for children during the last part of the Sunday afternoon worship time.

King of Kings is even helping two families move to Cedar Rapids from Des Moines and Missouri. Halvorson cites the African service as one of the reasons the families wanted to relocate to Eastern Iowa.

In February, Manirakiza also was named the African immigrant ministry coordinator for the church.

The regulars at the Lutheran church are appreciative of the growing immigrant congregation, Halvorson said.

'There is a desire to do it right instead of telling them ... to emulate our practices,” he said. 'Then we come together in a core of what we believe together. For us that's a matter of Christian freedom.”

Having a space to worship in their own customs is essential for the group. Manirakiza said traditional Christian church services in Africa could last for hours. Typical American one-hour services left the African natives feeling cheated, Halvorson said.

The group now sings many songs in Swahili with the resonant tones of chimes and traditional African music coming from a keyboard in the corner. They stand up to dance or jump with the choir when the moment seems right. Cubahiro Masabo, a Congolese refugee and one of the pastors of the African service, was so moved during a song at a February service he jogged from one side of the sanctuary to the other.

'We have to move. We have to cry. We have to say ‘hallelujah,'” said Masabo, with Manirakiza translating. 'It's the kinds of things (that were) strange to our (other) King of Kings Lutheran members. We fulfill our body, our spirit. It's a spiritual therapy.”

And that therapy is something many of the attendees - who came to America after years living in warfare or refugee camps - still crave, Masabo said.

'Since we are born, our lives are amid fighting, amid war and crime,” he said. 'Sometimes people die, and we ask God to give us peace. When we leave our country for a camp, we didn't stop serving God. When we get here in America, we praise the lord.”

Though they're thankful for the improved living conditions, safety and prosperity they now have, Masabo said they haven't forgotten the struggles they went through. Many still search for work.

For now, Manirakiza said his role as an African immigrant ministry coordinator will be to introduce immigrant families to resources, oversee and preach at some of the services and provide a point of contact between the growing African immigrant congregation and the rest of the church.

'We have our customs and our manners,” Manirakiza said. 'We worship the same God, same Christ.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8516; makayla.tendall@thegazette.com