As I sat in church, I couldn’t help but think about the church I have been attending the last several weeks. We have a “sound system” that’s like fifth hand and consists of two speakers and the most unnecessary amp I’ve ever seen. The chairs we sit in were donated by an old school and most of them are still in working order. We have a tin roof over our head with a mixture of bamboo and mesh walls. And we have the biggest mixture of privileged Americans and poor Filipinos. The pastor of our church has a heart for the needy, so he drives every week to pick them up. He fits pretty much his entire congregation in the back of his van.
There are a few that do travel themselves to join with Mt. Moriah each Sunday morning, but they still have to make great sacrifices to come. Lydia travels from the farthest area, and has still yet to miss a Sunday. While the distance is only about 12 kilometers, she starts her morning before sunrise to try to make it on time for the 9:00 Sunday school. Because she lives in a more rural area, she has to walk a bulk of the way just to get where she can catch a taxi to drive her the rest of the way. There are plenty of churches along the way, but she comes to ours because this is where she met Jesus.
As she told her testimony through a few missing teeth, I couldn’t help but be moved by the dedication. Where I come from, there’s a church on every street corner (sometimes one of every denomination) and I’ve never once had to plan out how I’m getting there. I wake up, my car sits in the driveway, and as I look at the clock, I pray the cops aren’t trying to meet their end of the month quota as I rush to church. When I was young, I may have waited for the rest of my family to get ready, but I’ve never had to start my morning before sunrise just to make it to Sunday school.
While I was rocking in my rickety chair, trying to remind myself not to lean back too far, I couldn’t help but be thankful for this gathering of believers. I rolled out of bed and put on my “Sunday best” but these guys made sacrifices to get here. They live such a different life from me, but I’m so blessed to be able to worship with them. I was still thinking about Lydia’s testimony when we were asked to stand and sing the hymns. I bet songs like “Here I am to Worship” take on a totally different meaning when it takes you hours to get to worship…
