Church As We Know It

If you ever come to visit here, I should warn you that the world is really laid back. If you’re expecting to find “business as usual,” just in another language, you’ll be terribly surprised. For example, today is Sunday. Church service takes place in the all-purpose room of the camp, which doubles as the large dining hall when camp is taking place. We got there in time to help put out the white plastic lawn chairs for the congregation. Over the next couple weeks, rebuilding of the girls’ dorms destroyed by the tornado will begin, so the right half of the building is currently housing the lumber for that project. (I must digress here a bit. When I say lumber, I don’t mean the pretty little two-by-fours you pick up from Lowe’s or Home Depot, but actual trees that have been cut and “sliced” into hefty 3”x8”x10’ beams using a chainsaw, with the bark intact and chainsaw marks all along the length of the boards. Don’t quote me on those measurements, but suffice it to say that they’re big.) So these are stacked on the right side, meaning everyone has to sit in a long section on the left.

Because it’s extremely hot even at 9 AM, all the ceiling fans have to be on and the windows open. That’s great for a breeze, bad for the noise factor. The guitar player didn’t make it this morning, so a few kids volunteered to lead us in a praise and worship chorus or two, voices only. A beautiful sound, even if some of us at the back couldn’t hear the ones at the front and it ended up sounding like two different songs once or twice. Then those who wanted to, came to the front one at a time to testify or read a scripture. This past week was final exams for the school kids, meaning most of them thanked God for helping them pass.

Afterward, Dan brought the message (mind you, in shorts and an 84-Lumber t-shirt---casual here, I tell you!) about Jesus being the Way, the Truth, and the Life. This has been a sermon topic for some weeks here, and today’s focus was on the Truth. The kids volunteered various truths they know from God’s Word throughout the sermon. Then they came forward to be prayed for and to pray for others. Though the services are quite different, God is still the same, and His presence is definitely here.

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