I'm back. This city sets my heart on fire! I am so thankful for the opportunity to come here and take part in serving with the wonderful people in this church! This update will be mostly pictures because, well, they're worth 1000 words. I'll try to keep my comments brief, but helpful for understanding what you're looking at.
Zac, Justin and myself finally arrived late Saturday night. We took a nap and then went to church Sunday morning. The team was finally together. We were honored with traditional floral garlands at the beginning of service.
Its always great to take part in worship with in another culture. Makes me think of how creative my Heavenly Father is that He made and enjoys the traditions, languages and rhythms of many cultures. True our God is not colorblind, He is colorful.
We also had the second youth meeting Sunday night. We made rubber-band airplanes and played games together. It was a great time. I am sorry that we had to miss the first night.
Today we did the first day of a women's ministry. After some singing led by Suji my mom kicked things off by talking about the planning and prep for my wedding. I think they enjoyed hearing about an american style wedding and enjoyed looking through the photos.
The boys served us by watching the kiddos. :-) I'm thankful for Zac and Justin as well as the men from the church who volunteered to come help out so their sisters, mothers, and wives could take part in the women's conference. Real men serve! And these men are REAL MEN! I went to check on them a couple times and found fun with balloons was the theme. ;-)
Pretty much totally in love with this guy right here!
Dad did a great job (as always) teaching about how Jesus views the women. Christ broke all the social rules to reach out to and love the women around him!
The little-littles caught a quick nap during the service. So cute!
Dad was teaching on Christ kneeling and writing in the dirt when the pharisees wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery. He was sharing how much Christ loved and cared for this particular woman who was guilty, as the eerie sound of the Muslim call to prayer drifted in the windows. I was struck by the contrast of the moment.
After the teaching we made paper beads together and then shared a meal.
Ladies and Gentleman, The LOVE of my LIFE!
Moses was telling dad about being able to witness to some people in his classes. So cool to hear that this young man is following Christ and sharing his faith in a country where that is so much more difficult than I can even understand.
Before lunch I grabbed a little to tickle. :-)
We are having a wonderful time. Check back in a few days for some more photos and stories! :-)
Ooooh, wish we were there with you. Can close my eyes and recall the sounds, sights and smells. And yes, God timed the muezzin's call to contrast His love with legalism gone wrong. It's so good to see Zac and Justin stepping up with the program. Tell everyone how much we miss them! Suji, Babu, Susheela, all of them... God bless all you are doing for His Kingdom!
ReplyDeleteSo glad the beads worked! That's awesome!
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