Church day.

We are at the end of a long and enjoyable day. The day begins much like any Sunday with waking up and getting ready to attend church. We came out to some coffee and plantains fried with onions for a light breakfast. We then headed over to Sunday school. Seeing that I would be speaking today I was wearing a suit coat and tie. That can prove to be very warm in this climate. After sitting through teaching by Deacon Johnson I was asked to move to the front to sit as the guest speaker. It is humbling to think Liberians would care to hear me speak, but truth be told they want to hear the Bible preached and I just happened to be the conduit today. The service begins with an old hymn, ‘Send the Light’, and there are many church announcements and such during this time. The highlight to me is seeing the Liberian people get excited and dance to the praise and worship team with electric piano, drums and gourd shakers. The intensity of the singing and worship is different from our home church, but I am aware it is a cultural difference as this is how all the churches worship. Just before I was to preach the choir sang a song. I love to hear the Liberian young adults as they sing so well and powerful. They sang a song called ‘Grateful’ that I’ve not heard before, but it highlighted their voices as they sang it out. It was so good to hear them.

Just before I was going to get up to preach, Jenny caught my attention and mouthed the words to take off my suit jacket. She informed me I was very red in the face and she thought I may pass out. So, when I stood up to speak I told the congregation it is about to get serious and I need to remove my jacket. Of course they laughed and it was cooler. By the time I finished I was drenched in sweat. It rolled down my face into my eyes and I was dabbing it off with my shirt. A lady usher noticed it so she turned a fan directly on me to who I mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to her as that helped immensely.

After church was a time of reconnecting with many friends and meeting new ones. By the time we got back to our room to change I was soaked in sweat. It felt real good to get a fresh shirt on and shorts. Lunch was ready and we served up some potato greens over rice. Just as I was going to sit down, in walk Pastor Titus and Mother Mercy, missionaries that Country Bible Church support. We invited them to eat with us and we sat and ate and visited for the next couple hours. What a great visit it was. Emmanuel Jonah joined us for the visit. I am always pleased when Titus and Emmanuel connect. With both of them being missionaries, I am encouraged with their common goal of preaching the Gospel.

The later afternoon brought about more visiting as well as Jenny having a meeting with a few people from LCMI church to plan an upcoming ’Kid’s Club’. That will be coming up in the next week or so. Jenny plans on teaching from the wordless book and they decided to feed the kids that come with rice and beans. We look forward to this and we love the cooperation with the other LCMI members who simply want to share the Bible with the kids in the community.

We had one visitor, Anastasia Paye, who had requested a stethoscope that was graciously donated by Renee Haberland.

Later on in the evening, as Jenny was in her meeting, I left with Emmanuel and Wintee to visit a lady in a clinic that has health struggles. She attends an LCMI church and Emmanuel wanted us to stop in and encourage her and pray with her.

We arrived back home to have a snack of fried plantains and popcorn. I do love popcorn, so it was a great snack.

It has been a tiring day, but very enjoyable.