Acts

“all the believers were together and had everything in common” Acts 2:44

Sunday morning came quickly. The plan was to have our “team” split into three groups, each visiting a different worship service in the area. T and K visited the Sri Lankan (Tamil) refugee camp, G and N visited a congregation of ten, while V and I went to the Training Center Pastor’s church, located not far from our hotel which made for an easy safe drive. We turned down a dirt road and arrived at a small house with the congregants gathered outside waiting for our arrival. We trudged through the separating alley between the two houses, trying not to step in the droppings of the various animals residing alongside the people.

The church was a palm thatch construction, with mats laid over the dirt and sawdust floor. The people were already at worship, we heard the praise of God as we entered. As in most worship situations, we are asked to remove our shoes, while it may be in an effort to keep the dirt out, it also has an air of holiness as if following the instructions of God to Moses, “take off your shoes for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Ex 3:5

The singing and praying went on for over half an hour, and then we were formally introduced. V spoke on ministry and seeing the worship of God all over the world as well as the importance of children to the Kingdom of God.

“Let the little children come unto me” Matt 19:14

The proportion of children to adults was over three to one. Among the village, children are allowed to come to the church since the parents view the moral instruction as a good thing. The youth group from the Training Center, performed a cute drama skit about a well (well - that was what we figured out it was about).

I was up next and remained seated to be closer to the audience seated on the floor a foot lower than the water buffalo dung stage we were seated on. They (as always) loved the tricks, as well as the older boys, finding out how the trick worked. We ended the program with prayer, and more praise and worship. Although we were running late, the Pastor insisted we stay and have chai (tea). The children all got sweets (we wished we had kept some of the balloons) and we enjoyed our very sweet, very hot, milk tea.

We arrived in time to meet our group, deciding on lunch and drinks (lime soda is everyone’s new favorite.) V and I decided to try the local handicraft market. We purchased a few items and headed for the “dam” that turned out to be closed “dam”. It was an interesting ride through the villages on the way back through the sugar cane fields. We were of course quite an odd sight, traveling down the streets. After our “dam” discovery, we headed out to the main road. At the junction, an old woman started yelling at our stopped car. We couldn’t make out from her tone if it was a good thing or a bad thing. We asked our companion to translate. He turned and smiled, “she is saying, come back, come to our village, visit us again.”

A renewed invitation from the Lord, “come again – go and preach.”