EVERETT — There’s a new song in Everett.
And God is likely pleased.
An African missionary pastor has planted a church in America.
In the book of Romans, God states that one day every tongue will praise him.
On a recent Sunday morning, emanating from the community center at First Baptist Church, songs of praise rose to the heavens in Swahili.
The songs were sung in a beautiful blend of African rhythm and American hymn. They were sung by a multicultural congregation made up of African refugees, African nationals and Americans.
On Oct. 26, Peter Gatata, born and raised in Kenya, led his congregation in the grand opening services for the small church he and his wife, Martha, had started in March.
It’s called Everett Community Church.
The Gatatas knew they wanted to serve God. They never imagined planting a church, let alone one in America, Peter Gatata said.
Yet that’s exactly what they’ve done.
“This is the mystery of God, the amazing leadership of God, once we submit to him,” Peter Gatata said. “Since day one we have had a heart for refugees.”
Peter Gatata came to the U.S. in August 1997 for the sole purpose of going to Bible school, he said.
After graduating from seminary school in 2006, he and his wife asked God where in the world he wanted them to serve.
That request led them to the Northwest, an area described in several studies as one of the “least-churched” places in America.
So in the fall of 2006, Gatata and his wife arrived at a new church in Lake Stevens to work as interns.
Soon, they learned of the Somali Bantu refugees living in north Everett. The refugees were born in Kenya, but their parents had come from Somalia as refugees to Kenya, Peter Gatata said.
They were alone and needed help becoming accustomed to their new country. So Peter and his wife began to “love on them and to help connect them to local churches,” Peter Gatata said.
“Coming from Africa and being a foreigner I understood their needs,” he said.
It wasn’t long before the Gatatas met the Burundi refugees from Tanzania who also had relocated in Everett.
Roughly 80 percent of them have a Christian affiliation, Peter Gatata said.
They had been praying for a pastor, said Pat Wolcott, an Everett woman who had started working with local refugees after taking a missions class, where she wrote a paper on the Somali Bantu.
When Peter Gatata learned of the Burundi refugees, he said to his wife, “‘What are we waiting for? It’s time to minister.’”
“The good thing is that we speak their language. So we went to an apartment and we would sing songs and get to know each other and I would preach the Gospel,” Peter Gatata said.
At the grand-opening services, some of those refugees were present. More than 80 people attended, many dressed in their Sunday best. Some African women wore vibrant, flowing gowns, men wore three-piece suits.
About one-fourth of those who attend the church are refugees from eastern Africa. Others were born in African nations but have relocated here, said Tom Hudon, who along with his wife Jill, was asked to lead worship for the church after meeting Peter Gatata at a Fourth of July celebration.
There are Congolese and Burundi refugee families and other people from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and America, said Rabula Wabula, a Ugandan who lives in Lake Stevens with his wife.
Wabula came to the U.S. in 1995 and met Gatata at a grocery store, he said.
At the grand opening, Wabula helped translate the messages from English into Swahili.
“We’re going to worship the Lord today in two languages,” he said. “The first song we would love to do is ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus.’…You people who speak Swahili, sing very loud.”
Reporter Leita Hermanson Crossfield: 425-339-3449 or lcrossfield@heraldnet.com.
Church services
Everett Community Church, Sunday services, 10:30 a.m. Community Center at First Baptist Church, 3120 Wetmore Ave., Everett; 206-239-8947, www.everettcommunitychurch.org.
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