Hope Sunday Featured Church: Northbrook Evangelical Covenant

Written by Adam Phillips, project consultant

Most Sunday’s when I go out to speak at a Covenant church’s Hope Sunday event, I am invited to give the message, answer questions at coffee hour, and maybe share a little bit in Sunday School. This past Sunday at Northbrook was not a typical Hope Sunday. Not only because I was able to give the message alongside Tom Beckstrom, who was my pastor growing up, but also because I sang in the choir. It’s been a few years since I joined the choir, but when we arrived at church that morning they were short a couple basses and baritones and asked if I could jump in. Once I arrived in the choir loft, I realized I was standing next to Chet Larson, former missionary to Congo, and his wife, Jean. In between rehearsing the anthem, Chet told me a little about his time in Congo – at mission stations from Gemena, Karawa, Wasolo and beyond. After worship ended I had the chance to catch up with Jean, too, who shared about learning Lingala, the national trade language, alongside Congolese women. It is always incredible to hear stories from the Covenant’s past as we see how God is unfolding the kingdom of God through the Covenant into the future.

My message on Sunday, alongside Pastor Tom, was in keeping with the last seven words of Christ – an appropriate Lenten sermon. Spending time on Christ’s words “I’m thirsty,” we explored what it meant for our Lord to suffer in body on the cross. Three out of four of our Congolese sisters and brothers lack access to clean, safe drinking water; most women have to walk miles each day just to get enough decent water to get through the family’s daily chores and cooking. As Covenanters in North America stand alongside our church in the Democratic Republic of Congo through child sponsorship, we seek clean water for all. Northbrook is one such church which is heeding the call to those who thirst.