I'm in Tanzania.
It's after midnight and we start ministry tomorrow. I'm typing as quietly as I can, which is a pain because my poor keyboard has endured various spills, including the great red wine incident of 2011, nearly ruining the a, s, z, left ctrl, and left shift keys.
Our bus rides here were relatively safe. The first was awesome...
Travel buddy: my favorite Chinese-Canadian, Miss Peggy Cheng.
But oh that second bus was horrible. I had a lady's butt on me for 6 hours.
Note to self, dive for the window seat, avoid aisle at all costs. Apparently pinterest does not have an easy, fun, creative way to disinfect one's shoulder. Somebody needs to pin that, stat. I'm sticking with bar soap and desperate prayers.
But here's what the blog's all about :)
Today I stood in one of the coolest churches I've ever been to.
Mind you, I've been to the "Baptidome" Prestonwood, and I've been to super hipster churches in Denver, Austin, DFW, etc... but something was different about this Tanzanian church.
It had walls and a roof. The inside was painted a weathered Tiffany's blue.
As for doors, it had none. Windows were just big holes on the wall, through which the children outside played peek-a-boo with me, popping up and down with their beautiful smiles and heavenly giggles. There were no pews or chairs, but merely sand on the ground. The stage was small, just a raised cement step at the front. There were no paintings, no banners, no decorations, yet it was beautiful. The only attention-catcher was the thick presence of the Holy Spirit, blowing through the room. There was no sound system, for it is not needed here. People just listen. There was no lights show, for it is not needed here. People just come to church because they realize they need God. It's not about the building at all.
It was humbling to be reminded of this.
Upendo sana (much love),
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