Thank you all so much for your prayers and notes of encouragement. I woke up this morning and read through all the replies and was very uplifted. I was going back and forth between two passages to preach on. I didn't make up my mind until I was actually at the first church.
I was picked up at 11 am by the lead minister (his title is bishop) and taken by car to the first church at which I was scheduled to preach. The prayers against loneliness were answered beyond all I could ask or imagine. When I entered the tent (where the church was meeting) I immediately felt at home. The service included many testimonies including children about the ages of my grandchildren who shared Bible verses they had memorized, songs they knew, and words of thanks to God.
After delivering my message (Luke 15, focusing on the story of the prodigal son) I gave an altar call and nine people came forward to pray to receive Jesus as their Savior. [See the picture below] There was great rejoicing both in the tent and in heaven!
Following the first service I greeted people outside and got to see the children being fed. Many people in Swaziland do not have enough to eat, so I was glad to see the children being cared for.
We were running a bit late so I was then driven about a half an hour up the highway to the capital of Swaziland, Mbabane. There I was prepared to deliver the same sermon to another church. However, when I got there, the bishop from the first church (who drove me and joined us for the service at the second church) was invited to come up and say a few words. He did. He shared with the church the message he had just heard; the message I was about to deliver!
Soooo, at that point understood why I was divided between the two different passages: I ended up preaching on both. The second service was a smaller and older crowd, and the second message (Matthew 28:18 and Acts 1:8 - the Great Commission) was well-received.
Afterward, as we left Mbabane to return to Manzini (my "home" in Swaziland) we decided to stop for a drink. The bishop pulled into a service station and I treated everyone to a Coca-cola. With sugar. They don't use high-fructose corn syrup in Swaziland, just sugar (sugar cane accounts for about 25% of GDPin Swaziland). At that point, I had to take a selfie.
Enjoy the pictures, and thanks for your prayers and support.
No comments:
Post a Comment