This is Carlito Carlos, and I probably have gotten to know this guy the most out of all the other pastors thus far. Carlito is not a pastor, but is a church leader and is at the teaching center due to his influence, ability to read, and his knowledge of Portuguese. The place that we went to today, is around the area that he is currently serving. I also believe he is the youngest of all the guys here. He actually introduced me to his baby daughter and his mother...his little girl is adorable and you can tell he is a very proud parent.
Please, take a moment and pray for Carlito
Today, is Sunday...and instead of going to the teaching center we went to a new mission off the coast of the Indian Ocean. By "off the coast", I literally mean about 25ft away. The village we were heading to was called, Madingoni and it was about a 2.5 hour drive out. It is one of my favorite drives though, because we pass through a coconut plantation, over a super old colonial bridge, and then onto sandy shores; it's a beautiful drive.
Once we arrived to the village, I realized it was unlike any of the previous ones I had seen. All the houses were entirely made of straw from palm branches, and goats were EVERYWHERE. I understood the straw, because this was the only building material close by to them...I had to ask about the goats though. John said, "Well, there are a lot of goats because this village is mostly Muslim Joshua".
"Why does that matter?", I asked.
"Because Muslim's love goats", John replied.
And that was my only explanation, haha
Once we got to the village, the first thing I noticed was the sound of crashing waves and the cool breeze. Most of the village was out at the preaching point to greet all the visitors, so we drove up to loud voices and a rhythmic drum beat.
I can't really explain all that I was thinking and feeling at the time when I saw this new church. To be able to see and be a part of this new church plant, which is part of the seed that Jeremiah has sown, and to watch these great men that I have been teaching preach God's Word...just amazing. It wasn't long before we were all seated, and the introductions began. Because of my visit last year, I was able introduce myself in a mix of Portuguese and Chawbo...which made people laugh because John was all prepared to interpret for me. After some songs John looked over at me and asked if I was "ready"...which I had half-intended to preach today since Rick was not able to last week, but man...if you're gonna give me the opportunity, then I'm gonna preach! I taught out of John 9, and kept the points very simple. All through-out this trip, I have only had my words interpreted into one language, by one interpreter. This time however, John translated my words into Portuguese and then Pastor Gaspar translated John's words into Chawbo. It reminded me so much of last year with my youth, and then it made me miss them....awwwww. haha.After I was finished speaking, there was more music and then tithe. It was around this time that I learned that Pastor Dino LOVES music.
He kept standing up, clapping, singing SUPER loud, and even taught the church some new songs. I was laughing soo hard though, because he would get inches away from somebody's face and just SING at the top of his lungs trying to keep people awake and having a good time. There is no such thing as "personal space" here, haha. It was Rick's turn to speak, and he taught out of Luke 9. I could tell he was having a lot of fun, but I could also tell that the double-interpretation was hard for him at first. As a speaker (I guess), I can certainly say that preaching in Africa helps you out GREATLY, because you have to make your points simple, concise, and vividly clear. After Rick spoke there was some more music, and an alter call. At this point the "spectators" who had come to see this event had left so it was mostly the people who actually belonged to the church that remained. Nobody made any professions of faith, but this is often the case with new missions...gotta lay that foundation of truth & love first :) People will come...and it's awesome to be a small part of that.
After church, we took advantage of the ocean behind us. Children from the village followed us in, so Jessica and I had a lot of fun with them. I could spend days on this beach taking pictures;
the boats, along with the long shore line, trees, clear skies, all of this just makes for fantastic pictures. The boats are all handmade, out of freshly cut trees that resemble our pine trees in the States. They'll cut one down, and then carve out the poles for the skeleton of the boat, then they'll carve out the boards. Here are a few more spiffy pictures...
These kids sure to love to pose, haha
What you don't see is the mass of children running towards us in hopes to also get a picture taken.
Again, these kids will do anything for a picture...haha
So, after a little break on the beach...we went back in for lunch; rice and chicken...or at least I hope it was. After lunch we stayed and talked for a while and then it was time to take the long and bumpy road home. I gotta sit next to John on the trip back and we talked for a very long time about all different kinds of stuff. The thing I like a lot about John, is that not only does he give a person godly wisdom and counsel...but he cares & listens. People like him are very rare in my opinion.
When we got home we ate, and then prepared to video Skype the church...which was fun! Just before the 10am service started, I was able to say "Hi" to many of the youth and it was great seeing their faces. It just makes me realize how much I miss home. Many thanks to Paul-o for that!!
Things to remember...
* "GOOD PREACHING!" -Pastor Dino...in English...at the top of his lungs, haha.
* For some reason Praying mantas love me here.
* "Interpret what I MEAN John, not what I say!" -Me, haha
No comments:
Post a Comment