It is a joy, when one sinner comes to Christ!

   Some weeks are full of stories and time to write them. Other weeks there are many stories, but no time to write them.  And some weeks life seems normal or even mundane and there is nothing to tell.  This week is full of stories!

  Today was Sunday. We went to church knowing the service would be a little different because we were to have a guest speaker.  Little did we know how unique the service would be.  I will start in reverse to save the best for last, although all of it is good!  Our speaker was Pastor M Mwendapole, He and his family will be the first Tanzania missionaries sent by the Grace Church of Tanzania.  They plan to head to the North of Tanzania and work with church planting and leadership training. We have seeds planted in the area but it will be good to have a leader go and establish the work well. This is a big step for the church here. They have done church planting a lot, but never sent someone out like this.  They will plant a church in a neighboring village or country, but to send the across country is a new thing. This is the first time the churches are being visited by a missionary who is asking for them to support/send him.  It was encouraging to see everyone raise their hands in encouragement as they want to take part in sending this family up north. 

  In and of itself it was encouraging, to see a family ready to go, to see a church ready to send, and to see others contemplating how they might do something similar in the future.  Praise the Lord for a maturing church!

  Before he even got up to speak, the service was exciting.  During announcements it is customary to let any visitors stand and greet the congregation. Even those members who have travelled can stand and bring greetings or a report of where they have been.  Those who stood up today each had a unique story.  It was not a normal Sunday!

  The first man stood up and said he was a Muslim whose wife is a Christian and today he decided to follow Christ and come to church.  We were all stunned. He and his wife are newer to the village and not many know them yet.

  The second many stood and greeted us all. He was mentally ill for the past couple years and had almost killed people in the village. It seems he has healed now and is back.  It will take time for some to accept him after he had threatened their lives but all who have talked to him believe he is now well. 

  The next man stood up and shared his testimony of God’s protection. We all know this young man. He was in a serious motorcycle accident 8 days ago. The bike was in pieces but he and his passenger were hardly harmed.  He had some bruising and swelling but looked pretty good today. He was praising God for His protection and telling us that he knows God has something special planned for him!

  Then a woman stood up and greeted the church, she said she wanted to come back to the Lord and join the church. 

  The next woman stood up. She is a regular but has been gone for a month taking care of her ailing mother, whom we all know. It was good to hear a report of progress as we have been praying for her mom.

  Wow!  That was a unique greeting time for all of us. As the service switched to the sermon, the pastor, soon-to-be-missionary, up.  He told us that he would go off topic for a bit and asked us to bear with him.  Then he called the man who had been in an accident forward and the daughter of the ill mom and led a special prayer time for them.  As they sat down, he called the Muslim man forward.

  Dismas came forward and the Pastor began to question him.  He asked why he decided to come to church today. Dismas said that he himself had decided.  As the pastor asked more deeply it became clear that the man had seen things in his belief that he didn’t agree with. He had also seen his wife’s belief and silent testimony and wanted to try things her way.  He had Dismas’ wife come forward and join them.  The pastor began to share the Gospel clearly with him right there in front of the whole church.  He then proceeded to lead this man to the Lord. We all were cheering and trilling as we witnessed this Muslim man kneel and repeat the “sinner’s prayer” after the pastor with his wife standing beside him.  Then the congregation erupted in joy! People ran forward and shook this man’s hand, they waved clothes around and then they sang a chorus that says, “It is Joy when a sinner repents and comes to Christ!” There were smiles all around. I had tears in my eyes. 

  What a great God we serve!  What a day of rejoicing! As we found our seats again we then hear a great sermon about mission work and how the church can help in sending this first missionary of theirs!  Yeah the service went long, but as one woman said later, “It was long but it was so good! We hardly realized how late we were.”