Ministry in Africa has been very similar, making it hard for me to think of what to blog about. Yes, it’s a different country, different people; but what we do has been the same. But I’m gonna tell you about this past weekend anyway! So there.
The Pastor we are working with this month has a close friend who is a Pastor in downtown. He was very interested in us doing a seminar for his church over the weekend. A few from our team had preached at his church the first Sunday we were here so we talked about it and agreed to do the seminar. None of us were really sure what that meant, but we were ready for anything.
Just getting to this church is an adventure. It’s about 3 hours of travel one way, 3-4 hours of travel back. First, we have to catch a “dala-dala” or a bus if we’re lucky. Most of the time it’s already so full we have to cram in the aisles. I’ve experienced some very interesting smells.
To get into town we actually take 3 different dalas or buses. Then it’s time for the ferry. The church is actually on an island right in the city center of Dar es Salaam. The ferry is like the last boat to America. People crowd on as much as they can and literally run on and off like their life depended on it! It’s quite a site to see.
Once we get to the island it’s one more dala-dala and then we walk. It’s a small town with street vendors and houses along the way. We walk until we see people.
Most of the time it’s kids playing outside but we know their parents are not far away. So I start playing guitar and singing, drawing a crowd. Then another teammate will either preach the gospel right then and there, or we just invite them all to come to the church.
The next day we went, I was playing in front of these vendors and a guy came up and gave me money! Guess he liked what he heard. I should have stayed all day!
So the “seminar” wasn’t this huge, thousand people gathering with hundreds getting saved and miracles happening every 5 minutes. The first night we had 2 adults and about 20 kids. It was a little chaotic with them running around and not paying attention. And honestly, I was pretty discouraged. We traveled all that way for 2 people? And then to go back the next day I was wondering the whole time if more people would come or if it would be another waste.
But Saturday we spent about 3 hours doing door-to-door. Angie and I went with a translator and we ran into a group of mechanics taking a break from work. We ended up talking with them for over an hour. They had a ton of questions and I really felt the Holy Spirit speak through both Angie and I. I don’t know if any of them accepted Christ but I know we presented the Gospel to them and challenged them to really think about it. Also, the guy in the white shirt and blue hat looks just like Usher…just sayin!
Later that day at the seminar, a guy we met the first day did got saved, a group of Muslim women came who we met doing door-to-door. They came up for prayer at the end and I believe both of them will know Jesus very soon.
So even though it seemed like we were wasting time, money and energy to come to this island to speak to about 20 people, I know it was worth it. At least that’s what I keep telling myself!
