Saturday afternoon service.

Shortly after lunch on Saturday, one of the ladies gave me a program for the afternoon service that they were going to hold for us. Honestly, I didn't think much of it and kept on working because I knew time was getting short. As we were working on Saturday, I noticed that our fellow native workers kinda drifted off one by one so my curiosity about the afternoon thing was rising a bit. I guess around 2pm (I didn't wear a watch all week) those workers started showing back up at the church all spiffy and cleaned up. Tons of kids had made their way to the church as well and they were all dressed up too. We could tell something big was up so we quit working and tried to find a place in some shade to view the program. It was obvious they had worked very hard and were anxious to show us what they had been working on. I started to get a guilty feeling for having wanted to keep working instead of watching the program. I remember looking at my program at about this time.....there were 27 things listed in the program. 27! There were songs, skits, scripture reading, and a couple of devotional type things. I'll admit...my first thought was that we were going to be out in that scorching hot sun for-e-v-e-r (it was held outside). Sometimes I can't believe my own selfishness and pride. As the program got started though, those selfish feelings were quickly removed and I was just plain flat blessed. These people that we had come to visit had worked so hard and were so sincere that I don't think one could've attended that service without being blessed. The kids put on skits that were just as good and maybe better than some skits I've seen in services in churches all over my area and they recited chapters of the bible in English. That's right....chapters. In English. That just floored me and at the same time humbled me. I can't recite a whole chapter in my native language, much less a second language. The adults joined in the skits too and both the adults and kids sang songs.

The good thing about having 16 freak show Americans as guests is that it draws a crowd. Even though the program seemed to be geared toward us, there were several in the community that showed up to watch the program. So, a non-threatening program that's held outside and not in the church along with some freaks to look at made for a good time to share the gospel. Bro. Mike shared the gospel message with Pastor Primo translating to close the service and about 20 people came forward to surrender their lives to Christ. Man, it was so cool. Just a great great service.