This Lord's day was filled with unexpected blessings. Not that we didn't enter the day fully expecting God to be at every turn. But, you just can't imagine in your mind's eye the kind of stuff He has in store. I'm reminded of this in Ephesians: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,..." And I've been told I have an overactive imagination. Still when you walk into a ch^rch in this part of the world, it's hard to explain what you feel.
You see humble members enter without saying a word and just sit and pr^y quietly. I was struck by the contrast of the very humble building that seats maybe 30 or so with tile and stucko but with a hi tech video projector mounted from the ceiling. We watched in amazement as the electric screen rolled down into place for the service. And even though we did not understand a single word of the songs being sung- still our hearts were in tune perfectly with the spirit of G*d indwelling the pr^ises of his people. I hummed loudly just because I was so stirred up to w*rship by the heartfelt pr^ises being offered. The same was true of the message. This man, we had met with several times is normally a very meek, almost shy soul. But when he stepped up to proclaim the word, he became animated and enthusiastic about the truth of H*brews 2. We were immensely blessed. This little church is a government sponsored church but because they have a p^stor that loves J*sus- they are moving in the right direction.
After service we grabbed some lunch and then loaded into three "red chariots" (which are motorcycles that have been converted into three wheeled buggies) to get to another church at which we had been scheduled to speak and sing with the children and youth. We caught the tail end of the service at this church that although it is here in the larger city, is mostly comprised of M People from surrounding villages. This was not a total surprise to us since we know that there is a migration of M People toward the cities and some of them have been ev^ngelized and have ended up in ch^rches. However, one very important thing to remember is that when we say there are no churches among the M People we mean...no ev^angelical churches. The ones we are speaking about are government sponsored and are by their very definition not ev^ngelical.
There was one curious feature of this service- the choir seated up front in their choir robes! That's right, they were wearing simple white robes which were made from a muslin type material and each had a bright turquoise collar. The service ended and we met the church leaders all of whom were women.
Please lift this fellowship up to Father because they were once a vibrant group of almost 300 but have now dwindled to a few dozen. It was of particular note that of the 40 or 50 members there on this Sunday- not one man was present.
SO WHAT'S AN ENGLISH CORNER?
Father has opened some wonderful doors with some key people in this city over the past few years as CHFBC members have come on short term teams and developed friendships. Today we continued to reap the benefits of those teams as we were invited to do a program with the English students at the local government high school. A school with an attendance of over 3000, it ranks as one of the best schools in this part of the country.
Again, we mounted the three wheeled chariots and raced across town where we met with over 150 students in a breezeway at the entrance of the school. They worked so hard to learn the words to some simple english songs like: I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy. We then used the students to act out a "proverbial story from an ancient manuscript". They were the characters in the story of the Good Samaritan and they loved it. Finally we ended the program by dividing the into two groups and giving them lots of english letters on posters. Our team member TW did an awesome job of getting them involved and it turned out to be a great competition. The teachers were thrilled and are interested in using our story telling and game techniques at the school to help bolster student's English skills.
Afterward it seemed like every student wanted a picture with us as they whipped out their cell phones and snapped away.
Again, it is difficult to get a crowd like that together and not pr*ach the g*spel but you could tell that these students were deeply drawn to the difference in our lives. They are wandering spiritually but they are wondering now and that's where it all begins.
One day we will return to this area and see a thriving ch^rch planting movement and we will remember these humble beginnings.
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