It is now the end of the day on Monday. We have been here three days and have met some very amazing people. We attended two churches yesterday. The one we attended in the morning meets in a English/Hindi language church that worships in both languages. They meet in a rented martial hall and on Sunday they had 16 kids and 24 children, including our team of seven.
Sunday afternoon and into the evening we attended worship at a house church. The first part of the service was for children up on the flat roof of the house. There were about 30 children, aged 4 - 12, and they were taught by an amazing group of young people. Some of these young leaders, in their early 20's, have been rejected by their families due to their conversion to Christianity, but they serve with such dedication and joy.
In the second worship service we started out on the roof where they completed the children's service, where about 35 children were in attendance. After the children's service the adult service was also to be held on the roof but it started to rain so everybody patiently move downstairs and inside. The room was crowded and dimly lit but the worship was powerful. Even though we could not understand the language, we could feel hearts of prayer being poured out to our Lord. The singing was amazing even though, with the exception of one song that was sung in English; we could not understand the word. We could however hear the joy in the voices and see it on the faces as they praise our Lord. We were reminded of the passages in the Bible that speak of many tribes and many languages and we knew that we were seeing a small example of that.
We are greatly humbled and in awe of the things that people will do and put up with here in order to worship and serve the Lord. If anybody ever hears me complain about the church being too hot or cold they have my permission to kick me. The hymnal we used at the morning church were typed and put together in three ring binders. At the house church the hymnals were hand written in beautiful hand writing and there were Hindi, Bengali, and English sections. The songs of praise were accompanied by a rhythm section consisting of a drum head, a tambourine type instrument with a handle, and a pair of small cymbals and of course accompanied by rhythmic hand clapping.
We have quickly grown to love these people. The Spirit we share helps us overcome the obstacles of language and culture. They treat us like we are so very special and seem not to understand that we are in awe of them and their faith and service. We need to stay focused to not allow ourselves to begin to feel special. It is not about us, it is about Jesus. We have not come here simply to do things for people; we have come here in obedience to our Lord. We believe that, and have found from past experience, that when we step out in obedience, our God will bless us in ways that we cannot imagine and beyond our ability to comprehend. Never have I been so thankful for toast with jam and butter and McDonald's (yes - believe it or not, there is McDonald's here but only chicken and fish, no beef).
I fully expect that we will all find ourselves changed by our God in ways that we cannot imagine and beyond our ability to comprehend. God so loves all of the people of the world, every color, every tribe, every culture, every language, and yes, even those of other religions. They worship a god with a little "g". We want them to know and experience the one true God. The pastor, in his sermons, calls Him the living God.
We covet your prayers and look forward to sharing with you our stories, pictures, and experiences. We are your missionaries, we were sent forth from you and by you. We represent first our Lord here, and then our family of faith.
We love you with the love of our Lord, praise be to His name!
Sunday afternoon and into the evening we attended worship at a house church. The first part of the service was for children up on the flat roof of the house. There were about 30 children, aged 4 - 12, and they were taught by an amazing group of young people. Some of these young leaders, in their early 20's, have been rejected by their families due to their conversion to Christianity, but they serve with such dedication and joy.
In the second worship service we started out on the roof where they completed the children's service, where about 35 children were in attendance. After the children's service the adult service was also to be held on the roof but it started to rain so everybody patiently move downstairs and inside. The room was crowded and dimly lit but the worship was powerful. Even though we could not understand the language, we could feel hearts of prayer being poured out to our Lord. The singing was amazing even though, with the exception of one song that was sung in English; we could not understand the word. We could however hear the joy in the voices and see it on the faces as they praise our Lord. We were reminded of the passages in the Bible that speak of many tribes and many languages and we knew that we were seeing a small example of that.
We are greatly humbled and in awe of the things that people will do and put up with here in order to worship and serve the Lord. If anybody ever hears me complain about the church being too hot or cold they have my permission to kick me. The hymnal we used at the morning church were typed and put together in three ring binders. At the house church the hymnals were hand written in beautiful hand writing and there were Hindi, Bengali, and English sections. The songs of praise were accompanied by a rhythm section consisting of a drum head, a tambourine type instrument with a handle, and a pair of small cymbals and of course accompanied by rhythmic hand clapping.
We have quickly grown to love these people. The Spirit we share helps us overcome the obstacles of language and culture. They treat us like we are so very special and seem not to understand that we are in awe of them and their faith and service. We need to stay focused to not allow ourselves to begin to feel special. It is not about us, it is about Jesus. We have not come here simply to do things for people; we have come here in obedience to our Lord. We believe that, and have found from past experience, that when we step out in obedience, our God will bless us in ways that we cannot imagine and beyond our ability to comprehend. Never have I been so thankful for toast with jam and butter and McDonald's (yes - believe it or not, there is McDonald's here but only chicken and fish, no beef).
I fully expect that we will all find ourselves changed by our God in ways that we cannot imagine and beyond our ability to comprehend. God so loves all of the people of the world, every color, every tribe, every culture, every language, and yes, even those of other religions. They worship a god with a little "g". We want them to know and experience the one true God. The pastor, in his sermons, calls Him the living God.
We covet your prayers and look forward to sharing with you our stories, pictures, and experiences. We are your missionaries, we were sent forth from you and by you. We represent first our Lord here, and then our family of faith.
We love you with the love of our Lord, praise be to His name!
