Praising God Together

February 17, 2013 (Sunday) As I entered the village of Taito I watched for familiar faces along the way.  It’s not every day that a white woman comes rolling in on a motorbike so I think they were watching me more than I was watching them. It is a quiet and peaceful area which represents many tribes.  After the last election there was lots of violence, death and people pushed from their homes and land.   Some of these people came to this area to settle and start over.   Last year we built a church here in the village.  The vision started with a group of widows that gathered weekly for Bible study and prayer.  Most of these women are HIV positive.

The church continues to shine and has been well keep inside and out.  It pleased me so much to see that they have continued to make improvements while we’ve been gone.  They have invested in several plastic lawn chairs for seating and have a beautiful pulpit on the platform.  They have been inserting glass panels into the iron framed windows. The fence around the border of the church property has also been finished.  The gate into the church has to be kept closed though as I understand the cows come in and mess up the area!

There are many children in the area and many were seated inside the church when I arrived. It was good to see the mommas again.  They glowed with happiness when I greeted them by name. 

 

 

I presented a cross to them that Jan Hasty had given to me to take to Africa.  Her husband had made several of them before he passed away.  They immediately found a safe place for it in there church.  They will treasure it!  There are many wood carvers here and it pleased them to know that someone in America would carve something for them. Thank you Jan!  

  

                                
The children came forward at the end of the service and sang a special song for me.  Each one of them received a pair of slipper/socks hand made by my Mom, Charlotte Towne, before they left that day. We will soon be coming into our rainy season here and the socks will help them stay warm at night. The nights are cool here in the mountain ranges and they really feel it when the temperature drops. Thank you Mom :)

As we sat together after the service the pastor shared with me the hurts and false accusations that he had been dealing with because he walked with an American.  Many here believe that a white person brings bags of money and leaves it with certain people.  When the white person leaves the native that has been supposedly given money is expected to share it with everyone.  When that doesn’t happen there is often trouble. 
 
It was such a good day and it encouraged me to see that they had taken responsibility to keep the church in good order and to hear of the special services they have planned for the future.

 

Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.