You would think, wouldn't you, that you might feel lonely if you traveled 8,888 miles away from home all by yourself? This doesn't have to be true for the believer though. I was reminder by Donovan Drew (Missionary here over part of the baby home and interns) of the beauty of adoption into the family of God. We call someone our sister or brother, we call God our Father, because it really is true. I felt that not just in name but as a reality tonight more vividly and tangibly than I ever have in my life.
This afternoon I went to church for the first time here at Living Hope - and I couldn't think of an more appropriate name for this church. It is a church that is on fire and alive; full of hope and sharing hope with the community.
At 1 o'clock, we loaded up the babies and drove to a rented property where the church was gathering. We were greeted as we walked in, people introduced themselves to me with genuine smiles and tried to get to know me - consistent with the hospitality I have felt from the moment I entered this country. The music was familiar - although a little more upbeat :) During the service I had to take my little charge outside since he was getting a little too fired up over Josh Mack's sermon. I went to the "cry room," which is really just taking them outside, and listened to the sermon through the open door. Josh taught an encouraging and convicting sermon on prayer today.
After the service, everyone (Maybe 100 people but I'm really bad at estimating) drove about 30 minutes to the Mack's home for a meal and communion (we couldn't stay in the church longer because the land owners recently upped the rent times three). The Mack's had filled their home with tables. All the kids played in the living room while everyone else sat around the tables and answered questions like, "Where is the most beautiful place you have ever been?" and "What is your life story in 4 sentences?" Instead of cheesy I'm-too-cool-for-this answers people were genuine and conversation was interesting and God-glorifying. A girl my age invited me to sit by her and I felt at home immediately. At my table, was an Afrikaans couple, a colored couple (not an offensive term here.. it just means that they are a line of mixed races), a girl from Zimbabwe, and a man from the Congo, an English South African (Donovan Drew), and an American who lived for 10 years in Spain (Heather Drew). The rest of the room was filled with even more diversity.
It was amazing to sit in that room with people from every nations who were truly worshiping as we sung to the Lord. I was with people with languages, traditions, histories, and lives so different from mine but we are all in the same family, with the same Father, worshipping the same God. Later we took communion together. THIS is the body of Christ, I thought. As Heather said on the way home, "It's a taste of heaven." What will it be like when there is someone from every tribe and every tongue worshiping him? I think tonight showed me just a little bit. I'm so thankful to be meeting all these sister and brothers of mine. Most of all I'm thankful that God adopted me into his family.
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