Our Christmas morning church service was a lively event. The village’s youth had returned home for break and presented several musical numbers for the church. It was neat to see how the energy level of the church skyrocketed with all their young folks in attendance.
Pastor Sugri gave a message reflecting on the birth of Christ and he asked the congregation to look back at the blessings they received in 2014.
After church everyone headed over to the pastor’s house where they enjoyed a Christmas meal together. Everyone was served rice balls with ground nut stew. VIPs got some goat meat in their bowls. We are apparently VVIP because our bowl was chocked full. It’s always humbling how much respect and honor we are given here. We mustn’t let it get to our heads but we must also respect their cultural traditions of honoring guests.
It still blows my mind that I can show up in a remote village in Africa, find other followers of Jesus and we can worship Him together – even if we have nothing else in common. The Spirit that unites us is great indeed.