I went to a prayer meeting where I was partnered with Pastor Ephraim and I thought it would be a long night seeing as how he didn’t speak english. We just kind of stared at each other for a few minutes and tried our best to communicate with each other. Luckily, this wasn’t a one on one gig and our third partner eventually came to join us. With his help, we actually had a translator, and so I was able to hear a little about Pastor Ephraim’s story.
Ephraim is a pastor in the mountains to some of the more rural and tribal people. He lives in the city, but every Sunday, and whenever else he can, he makes the four kilometer walk to his church. Like many tribal pastors here, he is able to study and train in the city, and then make the commute each weekend. Also like many tribal pastors, since most of the offering plates consists of fruits and vegetables, it’s not actually an ideal profession to “make money”. Who knew pastoral care wasn’t where the big bucks are? Somebody should have told him.
Pastor Ephraim told me a little about his congregation and how they are growing more and more receptive to his teachings about Jesus. It hasn’t been an easy road, and it’s not like our ideas of a church plant where you can go and find your core group of believers and expand from there. He has started with very few, if any believers and worked through the traditions and rituals that make up this bizarre blend of Roman Catholicism and animism. Nevertheless, he is committed to his church and will continue to make the hike until God blesses him with a mode of transportation. He is committed to his church.
As he talked, I had to feel a little convicted. How many mornings have I woken up and just not felt like doing what I needed to do, and rolled back over, giving into the comforts of my own bed? When we prayed, I couldn’t fully understand what he was saying, but he didn’t stop for a long time. It’s not that I think prayers need to be long winded and drawn out, but as he prayed, I could tell he’s done it before a few times. It was obvious that prayer was really the only reason his church kept going. So I did the only thing I knew to do. I joined him.
We prayed for a long while, and then it was time for us to close. I was blessed to be able to pray with this man for his church that I will probably never attend. But because of him and his obedience just to show up, I was able to get a glimpse into his church body. I have no idea the commitment level that this man has, but I was definitely encouraged and convicted…
