As you know, the church is the people and not the building. So I wanted to take a minute to talk about the Church and the building they meet in. We have been worshiping with the church of Christ in Iringa, Tanzania. It is about 25-30 min. from the house. The congregation, the church, is a small group of men and women. They each have their own story on who taught them the gospel (good news of Christ) and it is going to be encouraging getting to know them better and making new friends. They have expressed excitement in having two missionary families work with them, to encourage them and help build up the congregation. This congregation has been worshiping each Sunday on their own and we also find this encouraging. The plan is not to come in and take over what they have already been doing for themselves (by preaching and teaching every Sunday for them) but to do occasional preaching/teaching, home Bible studies, and seminars. Carey has preached once already and did a great job encouraging them in personal growth.
The building, as you can see from the picture above, it is very simple. I was at the back with Ryan (my youngest) when I snapped a shot of this picture, without the flash, as not to cause a distraction during worship. It is actually a pretty decent building, for Tanzanian standards. It has no electricity, no running water in the (outhouse style) bathroom, and no padded pews. Just picture all five us on on one tiny wooden bench. The kids are now 5,4,and almost 2. Believe it or not, it can be done. We just have to be careful that the weight isn’t just at one end of the pew in case someone on the other end has to get up. It works like a see-saw and someone goes flying.
Until Next Time,
Bonnie
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