Sunday in Africa, by Elton

Greetings from Africa. I am sure most of you are in total shock that I can actually type and do the Blog. First, I have to apologize to the men...I have lost control of the women. ;-) Sorry guys, not sure how that happened...

So far, our experience has been more outstanding than our wildest dreams could have hoped for. This Team has been Awesome and such a pleasure to lead. As you can tell if you have been following the Blog, we have had a very busy and tough schedule so a day of rest was badly needed. Today was Sunday and we attended church together as a Team. Paul and Pam spent the day with their Next Generation Ministries Team Members going to a church and a dinner, then saying their farewells. After Church we went out to dinner with Grace (our cook), her son Jeffrey, and Peter who has been our African Team Member and our driver. Then we did some shopping. (Keith and Cliff, you owe me one for the shopping!) Then we had the opportunity for naps. When Paul and Pam returned in the evening, we sat around in a circle in the living room and discussed our experiences so far and a lot of walls were lowered as we poured our hearts out. We are being changed!

I would like to tell you a little about the church that we attended. Saturday night we decided as a Team to attend the village mountain church where Abdu's mother attends. Well, God had a different plan. It rained in that village in the night so that made the road up the mountain too wet for travel. Since we were wanting a village church experience, Paul suggested the church that they had attended when their daughters were here. It was in a village just south and east of Jinja called Bugembe. The experience was overwhelming. First, Pastor David told the congregation that he had prayed the night before and again that morning for them to have visitors to encourage them. That is when we realized why it had rained at the mountain church. God had a plan. They were so grateful for visitors that their love and appreciation overflowed. There was lots of singing, testimonies and preaching. We even got up and sang "Ain't No Rock" and then taught it to their children. We witnessed worship in the purest form. Just direct worship of God, lots of singing and dancing and praying and praising God. There were no microphones, PowerPoint, organ, or piano. No one performed for anyone, just PURE worship and thanksgiving to God. At the end of the service, they prayed for us and blessed us. The service lasted about 2 1/2 hours and it honestly felt like an hour.

If there is anything that I could bring back to everyone, it would be this pure attitude of thanksgiving and worship. These people knew from the bottom their hearts what it a privilege it was to be in a church and truly wanted to be there.