On
Sundays, my team split into two groups of three so that we could
travel to the branch churches of King Jesus Faith Ministries and
preach to the various congregations.
Brook,
Jake and I traveled to Ranje Faith Church with our contact Phillip
who was going to translate for us. We worshipped with the small
congregation. I preached. Phillip translated. The church took their
regular offering.
And
then they shocked us by taking a love offering for my team. I was
pulled up on stage, told to hold my hands open and then numerous
people from the congregation came up and started placing money in my
hands. Tears started to form in my eyes, but I tried as hard as I
could to hold it together and smile because I was standing in front
of everyone. Even small children were bringing money for my team. One
little boy just stood in front of me until a man picked him up so he
could reach my hands to place his coin in.
This
was a small church. There were only about 50 people who worship in a
small building with a dirt floor. And yet, I think out of all the
churches I’ve had the privilege to visit this year, Ranje was my
favorite. Love overflowed out of these people. They served
wholeheartedly and they gave like the widow in Luke 21. It was
incredible and one of the most humbling moments of my life.
I
am not poor.
Yes,
according to the standards of the United States and compared to some
of my peers at home, I may not have much money. On this trip, we do
live on $8 a day. But that is still eight times what some of these
people live on. And here I am, standing up front with my hands held
open, receiving a love offering from them.
After
this, my teammate Jake stood up and thanked the congregation,
explaining to them that out of all the countries and churches we’ve
been to, they were the first to take a love offering for us. He
explained that because of our budget on this race, we can’t always
provide the way we want for some of the people we meet along the way.
And so he told them that this love offering money would be used to
help someone we couldn’t have helped without it.
I
didn’t want to leave that Sunday. I wish we could have stayed
longer, gotten to know those people better. I wanted to show them
that we loved them, not just tell them. Because they showed us so
clearly how much they loved us, and it was a beautiful display.
