Christian Life Assembly, a Church on Mission
An interview by David Lindell

This month we are profiling a church located in the Eastern United States whose missional focus has lead its pastoral leadership to the villages of East Africa.

In October, John Bongiorno, president of WorldServe, traveled with a team of leaders from Christian Life Assembly (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania) to the countries of Ethiopia and Tanzania to see the completed Life Center the church began raising funds for six years ago and to see an Ethiopian community that desperately needs that same gift.

This church, led by pastor Wayde Wilson, has a huge heart for Africa.

After the team returned, I spoke to the church’s lay missions director, Curt Harris, about the impact that the trip had on him personally as well as the impact he believes it will have on the church as a whole.

You and the team recently returned from Africa where you visited Ethiopia, Tanzania and Burkina Faso with John Bongiorno.  What was most impacting to you about that trip?

Curt Harris: The need is overwhelming you’ve been there. The need is just incredible! We were just overwhelmed by what we saw.

After visiting Ethiopia, what do you think will be the greatest benefit of developing a Life Center in a needy community?

Bringing training and support to the community. They will not even listen until we meet some of their tangible needs. Many of the communities we were in are predominantly Muslim, but we just wanted to share the love of Christ tangibly with them. We don’t want to get stalled out on other issues.

Christian Life has partnered with WorldServe in the past to build a clinic in Loiborsoit,Tanzania. What was it like to visit that Maasai community?

[I was] Overjoyed, just overjoyed! I wept as a stood there looking at the people and the building. Starting six years ago and to see what God is doing. [pause] I was just overjoyed. My head was just about to explode, it was just so exciting to think about all that has happened in that community.

As a lay leader in the church, what does a trip like this do for you, and what do you hope it in turn does for the church as a whole?

For me personally, it keeps me running the fight. It just confirms that I am in the right place, that I am living in that sweet spot.  Of the people that go on these trips, over half of the team had never been on a missions trip, and some of them were not even professing Christians. We just told them to come with us. God was all over them.

It [the trip to Africa] maximizes the efforts of what we trying to do here [at home]. These trips remind you of what the mission of the church is… It is not a bless me club! You’ve got to get it out there and do it!