Kilimanjaro Christian Centre: The Ascent Of The Heart

Mount Kilimanjaro, the African peak and tallest freestanding mountain in the world, has for centuries held profound spiritual significance for the Chagga people of northern Tanzania and for everyone who glimpses its glorious, snow-capped summit. The Kilimanjaro Christian Centre, located on the slopes of this great mountain, offers pilgrims unique opportunity to embark upon a demanding physical test while undergoing an equally rewarding spiritual evolution. The center offers a staging point for those who would like to ascend mountain as an act of spiritual pilgrimage a contemporary pilgrimage to the “high place” as well as retreat programs for those who are not comfortable climbing to high altitudes but would like to sit in the presence of mountain’s grandeur from below.

The spirituality of the Kilimanjaro Christian Centre is deeply based on rich biblical tradition of mountains as selected locations of God’s encounter. It was on a mountain that Moses was presented with the Law; on a mountain that Elijah heard God in the “sound of sheer silence”; on a mountain that Jesus was transfigured; and on a mountain that he entrusted the Church with his great commission. In all these and countless other cases, mountains are regarded as conjunctions of heaven and earth, thin areas where border between material and spiritual worlds becomes wafer-thin like gossamer. The center’s programs are designed to allow climbers (or tourists) to approach their climb (or tourism) less as a pragmatic athletic exercise than as a form of traveling meditation, a somatic allegory for the spiritual journey. Each step a prayer, each breath a sigh of soul, and each barrier an opportunity to die to self and trust more completely in God’s grace. For those who choose to climb Kilimanjaro, the center provides veteran guides schooled not only in the technicalities of climbing but in the spiritual guidance of care.

These leaders are not just guides, but they are spiritual directors who help the participants draw a connection between exterior journey and their interior life. They offer reflection and prayer at key points during journey, helping climbers perceive landscape as a group of parables. The parched lower slopes can represent spiritual dryness we may experience; the struggle up through the darkness to the top to behold the dawn, a powerful symbol of the Paschal journey from death to new life, from darkness to light. The summit itself, with its wondrous views over Tanzanian plains and sheer exhilaration of achievement, is in itself a sign of spiritual ascension and rebirth, a vision of the eschatological promise, final summit of our journey to the breast of God. For those who would prefer not to climb, center offers a series of retreat programs that capitalize on spiritual atmosphere of mountain without requiring excessive physical exertion.

The programs include guided meditations, spiritual direction, and workshops on all manner of Christian spirituality themes, all set against the stunning beauty of the mountain. The center’s location, with its unparalleled view over Kili and the countryside, is the ideal spot for reflection and rest, a time to be still and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10).The accommodation at the Kilimanjaro Christian Centre is basic but comfortable, designed to facilitate but not intrude on the spiritual journey. The chapel of center, whose large windows face toward the top of mountain, invites a sacred space for prayer and reflection, and library for Christian spirituality materials and on convergence of faith and nature. There is where the pilgrim may prepare to journey inward or outward, nourished by Scripture, quiet, and still, eloquent witness of creation. A Pilgrim’s Prayer at Kilimanjaro: Climb the mountain or stand at the base of it, take the mountain as your prayer. Looking at it, pray for the virtues to enable your own journey in life: strength to climb higher, patience to be content with plateaus, and humility to know that every summit is a gift of God.