Day 7

Today is Sunday, a day of church activities. Dr. Kari checked on her patients and returned in time for breakfast. Afterwards, we walked together to the Nakowa Wesleyan Church about a half mile or so from the mission house.

The church service started at 10 and ended about 1:30. As we arrived, Sunday School classes were still in session, several meeting on the lawn around the church. At 10, everyone filed into the church to find seats. The little church made of concrete covered brick with bare rafters and metal roof is smaller than the mission house but they manage to pack 200-300 adults and children in for the service. There is lots of very loud, animated, spirited singing. Some singing is in English and some in Tonga. The announcements, the testimonies, the preaching is all done in both. The translators are amazing, translating on the fly and managing to capture the cadence, emphasis and emotion of the speaker as well as the words. The preaching part of the service itself lasted about two hours.

At the conclusion of the service, all file out and form a receiving line to shake hands and greet one another. Today the minister indicated that he wanted all the men to remain seated for a special meeting. They want to start a men’s ministry at the church. They’d heard that this is being done quite commonly at churches in the U.S. and they thought it would be good for their church in Zimba also. Larry, Mark and Glen stayed after as well. We let them know that we are all involved in a men’s ministry at First Wes and would be pleased to describe the purpose, structure, routine and impact of that ministry on each of us, the other men we know, and on the church. They said they would welcome our comments and suggestions. As the meeting began, it became clear that they saw the men’s group as a way to fund-raise for the building of the new larger church they’ve started. They are looking for commitments from the men to mold or pay for 10,000 bricks to build the new church. There was a tepid response from those attending. Then they asked us to share our experience. Larry provided the overview of Monday Night Men with its primary focus on building godly men, who then become better husbands, fathers, workers, and witnesses. He described the small group study approach used to better understand God’s teaching, to share each other’s struggles and successes, and to encourage each other and hold each other accountable. Collectively, we also described the men’s ministry’s involvement in service projects. We each talked about the impact involvement in Monday Night Men has had on us personally. They seemed very appreciative of our comments and took notes for further discussion.

The whole team gathered for a wonderful Sunday dinner. Everyone pitched in to clean up after the meal and then some studied, others rested, and others chatted.
A 4 pm, the mission house is the host site of a vespers services. So just before 4, people began to arrive. Altogether, about 60 people packed into the mission house for teaching and discussion. Perhaps 90% of those attending were under 18 years of age. The pastor (Pastor Sichongwe) led the discussion. Those attending were much more engaged and participative than we’ve seen in most other settings. It was an interesting discussion about talents, spiritual gifts, working hard, and using the gifts God has given each of us.

After vespers concluded, Dr. Kari and Larry chatted briefly with Pastor Sichongwe about his vision for addressing the problems of orphans and about the challenges of building the larger church. It was another interesting, helpful discussion. It generated several ideas for us as to how we might help this community and this church. It also generated a couple of ideas for Pastor Schongwe for which he seemed thankful.

To conclude the day, we shared a wonderful lemon meringue pie Ann and Diane made together from fresh squeezed lemons. Baking the pie may not be a spiritual gift, but it was definitely a developed talent – and thoroughly appreciated.