From Nairobi to Helsinki, to the 10/40

In Christian tradition, Epiphany marks the close of the Christmas season and commemorates the visit of the Magi to the Christ child, recognizing Him as Savior for all nations. 

The Magi are people from faraway countries who were not Jews but recognized Jesus; they worshiped him and brought their gifts from their own countries. Epiphany is about the rest of the world recognizing Jesus as the King of the whole world and then proclaiming that good news to all tribes and toungues and nations. 

Mr. Dan Culbertson, Chaplain Team Leader

Thus, from the beginning of January through this week, Mr. Culbertson and his Chaplain team have led us through a chapel series celebrating different expressions of Christianity around the world. 

 

Christianity in Nairobi, Helsinki, and Kigali

 

Kenya

The 2026 Epiphany Chapel series kicked off with Israel and Joel N., and the rest of their family, leading our community in worship and discussing Christian expression in Kenya. Their father shared that dance, joy, passion, and a love of music are among the many things Kenyan believers bring to Christianity, and this showed in the joyful, upbeat chapels he and his family led our community through. He talked about how movement is simply part of being Kenyan:

You don't even have to think about it [movement], it's just a part of you, part of the culture, people coming together, expressing themselves in worship. 

 

It was a fun and unique chapel service that our entire community was delighted to experience. Thank you to Israel, Joel, and their family for taking the time to share about Kenyan Christian's passion for the Lord, for sharing their faith, and the beauty of worshipping God with our whole being, including our body, and with our whole community

 

 

Finland

Next, Johannes K. and his family shared about Christianity in Finland. One interesting fact about Finnish is that the origin of its written language is closely connected to the translation of the Bible. Since it was only a spoken language at the time, in order to translate the Bible into Finnish, scholars first had to develop a standardized written form of the language. This effort not only enabled the translation and publication of the Bible in their own tongue but also laid the foundation for its literacy, thus playing a significant role in shaping Finland’s language and national identity.

 

 

Christianity, therefore, has a historical influence on nearly every layer of Finnish society. Many early reforms in education, health care, and government structures were guided by Christian leaders and values. This could perhaps be one of the reasons why Finland is often ranked among the happiest countries in the world, though the discussion noted present-day challenges, such as alcohol abuse and a shift toward secularism. Even so, there was agreement that historical Christianity has had a profound and lasting impact on Finland’s culture and institutions. As Mr. Paul Reed reflected, Christianity in Finland permeates...

...Thoughtfulness and care in the ways that people approach worshipping God, and an emphasis on care for others. 

Rwanda

For the final country explored in this year's Epiphany series, Ariella I., Aviella S., and their parents shared about Rwanda. Ariella and Aviella shared about their identity as Rwandans despite being third culture kids, while their parents gave their testimonies and shared about Rwanda's rich culture, scenic landscape, and complex history. 

 

 

Rwanda is unique in that it was one of only two African nations with one common language, which created a strong sense of unity between the tribes. They did not see themselves as distinctly separate people until colonialism, when a concerted effort was made to highlight differences and create division. During the genocide, some Christians helped and even gave their lives by standing up and refusing to participate in the violence. At the same time, some condoned the perpetrators' actions. Today, there is a strong desire to be unified once again, to become a country that loves peace and builds a hopeful future for the next generation. We are grateful to Ariella and Aviella and their parents,  Benedicto and Alice, for taking the time to share about their beautiful country and, as Mr. Culbertson put it, for tellling us about...

...The perseverance of Rwandan Christians and their contribution to the reconciliation in a country that has been torn apart at the hands of those who want to divide.

From Contemplation to Action

After exploring various expressions of faith around the world, the last two chapels of the series focused on different expressions of worship, from Contemplative to Active. 

Sometimes in Church, we close our eyes and deeply contemplate our relationship with God. Other times we feel the need to get out into the world and do something, take action. Both of these ways of doing church are important in the Christian tradition, and we are exploring them this Epiphany season. 

Mr. Culbertson

Contemplative

First, the contemplative chapel felt noticeably different, even as one entered the room. The drums and almost everything else were taken off the platform for a more stripped-down musical worship set, while students and staff wrapped around the stage forming one big circle with the cross at the center, and unlit candles around it. Then, Ms. Evi Dobner and her husband, Mr. Elijah Dobner, led our community through two Taizé songs during which, one by one, students lit the candles around the cross. 

 

 

These more classical-style pieces centered on a simple phrase that the congregation repeated like a long prayer resting on a single thought. Her closing song was an acoustic version of a contemporary worship song, led only by piano, guitar, and multiple vocals. This more spacious arrangement of these songs invited quiet reflection.

 

 

Then, Mr. Dobner led us through the traditional monastic practice of Lectio Divina, a Latin term meaning "divine reading," which engages scripture not as academic study, but through slow, contemplative prayer, repeating the same passage multiple times, allowing the Word to speak personally and bring transformation. The goal of this practice is to move from intellectual understanding to intimate conversation with God. The Passage in focus, fittingly, was Luke 7, where Mary washed Jesus' feet with oil worth a year's wages. A song followed, reflecting on this passage. 

In Early Grades, they incorporated art into their contemplation by making sculptures ahead of time in art class, then creating a mosaic in the chapel. Many in our community, students and staff of all ages, were moved by taking this time to pause, meditate on the Word, and rest in the Lord's presence. 

 

 

Active

Finally, in our last chapel of this year's Epiphany series, the emphasis was on faith action. In Middle Grades, guest speaker Ms. Helena Háló from Golgota Budapest shared about her Church's mission-mindedness and the camps and service projects they organize here in Hungary. She also shared about her own experience serving as a worship leader from an young age, but recognizing early on that when one serves on a platform it is essential to also serve out of the spotlight, in more hands on ways, not just in front of people, and how this has inspired her to be involved in all kinds of ministry outside of musical worship. 

 

 

In Upper School, she was a part of a panel along with Upper School Students and staff who each shared about their various ministry experiences, from mission trips in the Philippines, to helping those who are enibreated out on the street in the UK, to serving here locally towards the homeless, the Roma community, children's camps, and so on. 

 

 

To close out these chapels on active faith, Mr. Reed shared his experience preparing to walk our community through praying for the nations, specifically, unreached people groups. He talked about the 10/40 window, a region between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude spanning North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, which is home to roughly two-thirds of the world’s population, including a high concentration of unreached people groups, poverty, and limited access to the Christian gospel. He shared about the Joshua Project's database of unreached people groups all over the world, not just in the 10/40 region, which anyone can access to pray for these groups by name.

I figured I would print out the prayer cards for these unreached people groups for us to pray over, only to discover that there were 900 pages, with 8 groups per page. 

He then tried searching the most unreached of the unreached, that is, 0.00%, 0.01% and 0.02% to find these adding up to 500 pages, with 8  groups per page. That still adds up to 4000 people groups who have not heard the Good News of the Gospel.  Unable to print in such quantities, he printed a small portion of this list for our students and staff to pray over. 

 

 

As this series celebrating gentiles recognizing Jesus as King comes to a close, may we continue in our prayer for the unreached, and continually ask the Lord to guide us as we seek to make disciples of all nations, be it in the 10/40 window or in our own backyard. 

 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)