Relaxing after Morning Services

We have had such an eventful day today--the first service was at the International Assemblies of God church in Maseru, Lesotho, where we are staying. It was a small group of people meeting in a high school room but the worship was so energetic and we could sense the presence of the Lord in such a powerful way. There was a worship team of seven ladies and one keyboard player. They sang with such excitement and MOVED when they sang! I thoroughly enjoyed the way we were able to praise God together and almost all of this service was in English. Before Pastor John spoke, I was able to lead a few worship songs and Mary Ann sang a solo using a CD soundtrack. Since most of the people in this congregation speak English, Pastor John needed no interpreter. Before leaving the church, I felt especially honored to when the worship team asked for the words and chords to one of the worship songs I had written ("God Almighty"). They sang it before we left for the next service.

Mazenod is several miles outside the city and this is where we have been building the new church building. When we arrived the church was filled with children and adults as they began their children's church at 10:00 a.m. We sat on wooden planks supported by some of the cinder blocks we have been using for construction. It was such a lively service--people sang with fervor completely unmatched in the United States. Someone will start a song and everyone will just pick it up and sing! No accompaniment, no one "sitting out" and I truly believe every person was MOVING!! We were asked to sing a song as a group, so we taught them to sing "God Almighty" in worship and they sang along with us in English. We were unable to understand most of their songs but there was an excellent interpreter. After Mary Ann sang, Pastor John spoke again and the interpreter followed. We also passed out all of the gifts we had brought to the kids. The service lasted about 3 hours in all but I know our team members enjoyed the entire experience.

Currently we are at the Pettengers (our missionary hosts) and we have enjoyed a wonderful lunch and some have been playing volleyball, others just resting. It will be just the "break" we need before getting back to work on the building construction tomorrow morning. After having service in a partially-built structure, we realize the need for the completion of the walls.

We miss everyone back at home but when we get back to the U.S., there will be SO MANY stories to tell!!

Pastor Tim