Congo Blog VIII

Sunday July 29

I woke up feeling pretty poor as my G.I. tract was not happy with something. I wrestled with whether or not I should preach, but after much encouragement decided to go for it. Kevin came with me in case I could not preach in which case he would step in for me. We dropped people off at the 4 other churches and when we arrived at our destination, the drums began to beat, calling folks to church. The drums are pretty much used only by the church and so remind me of the era of the church bell.

The deacons set out chairs for us under a tree where we waited about 10 minutes before joining the pastor for tea. We entered the building a little later and the service began close to 10:30, which is fairly prompt for a 10:00 service in Africa!

As the first choir sang people continued to make their way to church and eventually it was a full house. My how the Congolese love to sing! I think there were 5 different choirs during the service, if I kept track correctly. They also love to give. People brought portions from their gardens for offering to the Lord, which made me think of Proverbs 3 where it says Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops (:9). The church will either distribute some of the food to the needy or they will sell it to help pay for other expenses.

Then, near the end, came the offering. There were two baskets up front, one for the men and one for the women. As people stood to bring their offering music and song filled the air and the people began to dance as they made their way to the front! Oh to see the church in America give so generously and joyously. The Lord loves a cheerful giver and his heart must soar when those who are so poor give from such depth.