We are due to leave and visit the next Congregation, named Simpangtiga. Led by our phalanx of motor cycles we drive some fifteen kilometers down the road. A group of about 100 people stand in front of a modest structure. They have twenty-five families and 268 souls. Again, we are welcomed in song and scarves are received. We enter a church that quite literally has no walls. It is about twenty-five meters long and nine meters wide. There is a concrete floor, wooden frame and iron roof. Concrete barriers rise about a quarter of the way from the floor to the eaves where the walls would be, but the rest is open space. Leonel again acts as MC and introduces us to the local evangelist. He had prepared his report, for like many others his heart has burned for a long time with no-one to listen. We are told of the poverty of the people, which has prevented the completion of the construction of the church. He shares regarding the lack of electricity, the paucity of opportunity for young people and the drain which that is on the community. Health care is patchy.
The speeches which are made seek to again assure these folk that the Presbyterian church represents a link with the Christian heritage they have read about in the Bible and the concern which their Presbyterian brothers and sisters have for their needs and the admiration we have for the stand they have taken. After the speeches there is an afternoon tea of local staples, washed down with coffee. We must continue on, though, for there is still one more place to visit.
Our final welcome for the day sees us turning from the road down an unpaved path by some hundred meters or so. We see a group of about eighty standing in front of a blue plastic tarpaulin stretched over a bamboo frame. Again Leonel leads us through that which is growing familiar to us, but which has been the ardent desire of these folks. In times past they have barely warranted the notice of the denomination to which they formerly belonged, but now the Presbyterian Church of Australia is paying them a visit. It is almost overwhelming to them.
Having listened to song and received our scarves we repeat that the honour is ours. As a people desperate for tangible sign of God’s blessing on their work, they are visibly touched as Robert opens God’s Word to encourage them. Next to the tarp stands a bamboo hut. It was gifted to them as their place of worship, and soon they will move it to some land which the church now owns. The hut would not be much more than 15 meters by eight meters in size, already too small for all this group to fit into. Fortunately building extensions in this part of the world are easier to organize. All you need is to be able to afford the materials.
The needs of this group are a step more basic than the group in Simpangtiga. They are ministered to by a rotational group of elder and lay people. They have twenty families and seventy souls. Teaching materials are scant, resources needed for young people are manifold, from educational scholarships to musical instruments. The local leader spoke of the needs of orphans. A common theme has been the lack of transport which hinder the effective spread of the work of the pastors and evangelists. A young woman takes the opportunity to speak and talks of At this latitude darkness comes quickly, and the light is gone by the time we finish. As we pray, giving thanks, candles are lit so we can see our supper of bananas, cassava and coffee. After a time of fellowship we make our way back to the Marcel home.
As we arrive we here the sound of a generator whirring away in the out-building. Four hundred watts will power the lights and power points for the evening and then will remain quiet until darkness falls the next day. As we settle we wash and refresh ourselves to prepare for dinner, more about our bathing arrangements tomorrow. It is around 8.30pm when we sit down to dinner. Remember how I said to keep track of the time and the meals. We are trying to be disciplined about small, polite portions that enable a compliant acceptance of seconds while enabling us to walk.
The evening is cool. RD and GW are assigned one room and RB is assigned another. As we look upon the double bed in the room, RD and GW prepare to spend our first night on a mattress with someone who is not our wife. Apart from relating this piece of news, we have determined that whatever happens on the trip stays on the trip.
For days now we have been told to wait until we are in Samé. Now that we are here we can see that this comment, though made in some degree of parochial pride is not that large an exaggeration. We give thanks that we have been able to enjoy the majesty and wonder of God’s power in His creative work, and also in the grace and power of His redemptive work here today. In Samé.
Note the names of the congregations:
Emmanuel
Samaria
Golgotha
Hallelujah
Nazareth
Ebenezer
Gethsemane
Paulus
mgpcpastor's blog 