Sundays are our busiest days, but so good in so many ways. We get so much time with the community, in addition to our home church and other Burmese communities. It is usually just a full, good day.
And this week, it was one of the best of the good days!
Our trip to the market also included an ear piercing! Nyein Nyein is older than she looks–19 and married–and she & her husband ran off to get something at a market stall. Afraid we might lose them, Stephen went after them, and by the time he got there, she’d already gotten it pierced! That might be the last place in the world I’d choose to get my ear pierced, but hey!
After the market we drop off our purchases and head to Burmese church. We have had friends from the community joining us for the past eight weeks or so, but it generally looks like this:
– more children than adults, and plenty of weeks where it was just us and children; while this is okay, the kids color or play for most of the service, so it doesn’t feel as hopeful to impact their lives!
– we are very late, sometimes missing all of the singing
– occasionally, we’ve had some tearful, loud outbursts from the littler sibling; this has led to me spending one entire sermon walking him back and forth down the street in the sun
– occasionally, we’ve had some adults sit with their kids in the play area, but end up just playing checkers themselves; again, not bad, just not as impactful
But this week we had fourteen of us in the car, with FIVE adults and seven children! We also had our first man join us! We all were quiet and calm during the service, enjoyed lunch together afterward, and Stephen & I declared it a roaring success. It’s definitely a workout for us to keep an eye on all the kids and help a group of adults find their way through hymnals and Bibles. Since they aren’t too familiar with it all, we usually try to find the passages and songs so they can participate. Doing this in another language in five separate Bibles before the entire congregation stands up to read together is no easy task.
As Stephen led worship in our home church later in the day, I was just so thankful for the morning spent together and simply praying for God to use it.
Unleash Your kingdom’s power reaching the near and far
No force of hell can stop your beauty changing hearts
You made us for much more than this
Awake the kingdom seed in us
Fill us with the strength and love of Christ
We are Your church; we are the hope on earth
Build Your kingdom here; let the darkness fear
Show Your mighty hand; heal our streets and land
Set Your church on fire; win this nation back
Change the atmosphere; build Your kingdom here
We pray
So thankful for the good days and so hopeful for what God is doing!