For the first 12 years of her life, freshman Miehrit “Mercy” Kassa was raised in an Ethiopian church, where the Amharic language was spoken and worship was a joyous affair. It included stomping, clapping and multiple voices crying out to God. Services started with “Korean-style” prayer, in which everyone prays out loud at the same time.

This was the only worship style she had ever experienced, and was what she considered to be normal.

Raised in a conflict between two cultures

Kassa lived in the middle of two completely different worlds for most of her life. In her strictly Ethiopian church, she was immersed in ways of her parents and their Ethiopian heritage. Outside of church, she was raised in a predominantly white culture because her parents wanted her to have the same opportunities as other children.

This caused Kassa to struggle with her identity — was it in her Ethiopian church, or in the white culture around her? Kassa’s family moved to Bakersfield, Calif. and stopped attending the Pentecostal Ethiopian church when she turned 12. The quieter style of worship at her new evangelical Caucasian church took her by surprise.

Unlike the energetic Ethiopian church, they were much more regimented on time and had an overall quiet and calm feel. As Kassa was thrust into an entirely white culture, she no longer experienced her Ethiopian roots through worship. However, she learned to praise God in new ways.

“When I got to Bakersfield, the Lord really showed me another side of worship — how you don’t always have to be saying something while you are worshiping,” Kassa said.

Entering the Biola culture

Due to her experience of multiple styles of worship, Kassa was not shocked by the Biola’s worship culture when she first came. Instead, it gave her a deeper understanding of the university’s overall culture. It has also convicted her of certain changes that she feels need to be made.

In an effort to keep herself well rounded, Kassa now attends an Ethiopian service on Sundays, along with the chapels at Biola. They give her a more complete perspective of both the Ethiopian and Biola worship culture.

Examining worship

Kassa views the worship culture at Biola as being very linear in nature. The majority of students only attend main chapels, After Dark and Singspiration, which can often be similar in content and style. This causes students to only experience different styles of worship a few times in a semester during special, Reconciliation chapels.
This can lead to culture shock for students who have not experienced particular styles of worship before. Kassa believes that this is a result of a bigger issue — a heart issue — than just the type of music that is played.

“A lot of people’s hearts aren’t conditioned to accept different styles of worship, or to let people experience God in the way they want to or are used to,” she said. “The way we experience God varies from culture to culture and person to person.”
She says that feeling uncomfortable with a style of worship shows there are heart issues and spiritual issues in that person.

“We need to pray about our own hearts, attitudes and presuppositions, and try not to be ethnocentric in our worship attitude or when we are looking at worship,” Kassa said.

Accepting other people means embracing differences

Along with praying to be open to other’s style of worship, Kassa suggests two things. First, listen, and second, take a moment to look through the other person’s eyes.
Kassa says it is not always about doing something to make a difference, but rather taking the time to listen, hear a person’s story, and try to understand where a person is coming from.

While listening to other’s and trying to understand their heart. Kassa suggests that people think about one another in the context of how they fit into the kingdom of God, not just their own lives — it is about caring for the individual.

Kassa does not believe that listening alone will solve problems. It must be followed by putting what one hears into perspective. She believes that the reason we do not understand a person’s story and culture is because many look at the situation through the lenses of their own culture and background, making them nearsighted.

“We should step back and say, ‘Why do you do this?’ or ‘Why do we do things in my culture this way?’” Kassa said.

Kassa has experienced what happens when people take the time to truly listen and understand.

Putting perspective into practice

After getting to know a fellow student, Kassa learned that he, a Caucasian, attended an Ethiopian church. He did this just to immerse himself in the culture and learn more about worshiping God in different ways, simply by observing and listening to others culture. This spoke volumes to Kassa, who believes students will greatly benefit from taking steps like these.

“When we listen to each other, then people will grasp the gravity of how important things are to certain people, such as the way they worship,” she said. Kassa believes that there will be more openness to a variety of worship on campus when people are willing to immerse themselves in the lives of others.

“People will stop thinking about doing things the way they want to, or the way they were raised,” she said. “We will start looking at it from the viewpoints of others and seeing how they can let their brothers and sisters praise. We will see how they can grow through the worship styles of others.”