Glad To Be in the House of the Lord

The message at church last night was about being "glad to be in the house of the Lord" from Psalm 122.  The parallel was made between David being glad to go to the temple and Christians being glad to go to church.  It reminded me of my missions trip to South Africa earlier this summer.  I couldn't help but wonder how many Christians in the U.S. truly know what it is like to be glad to go to church.

We have nice church buildings with central heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer.  We have comfortable chairs and enough of them for everyone to sit down.  The buildings are clean and solid enough to block out at least most of the sounds from outside.

This is Horseshoe, a small church plant in a township near the city of Kokstad.  The area is poor.  The tent they meet in is small; the floor nothing but dirt.

There were not many chairs.  Many people stood in the back, insisting that their "American brothers and sisters" sit instead.  The temperature was probably in the low 40s.  I was cold in all my layers, and many of the people had less than I did.  One boy, whom I guessed to be about six years old, came in barefoot with only a t-shirt and shorts.  We could hear the dogs searching through the trash outside the tent.

However, these dear people were truly "glad to be in the house of the Lord."  They drank in every word.  Most of them knew nothing except that Christ had died for them, but that was enough.  The joy they had was evident, despite their situation.  It was clear that no matter when they were told that there would be a meeting, they would be there.  The temperature did not matter; the lack of chairs did not matter.  They were eager to learn, frantically scribbling down notes on whatever scraps of paper they had.

These wonderful people put us to shame.  They have so little, but they have more joy than I usually see anywhere in the States.  How many of us would go to church if we knew that we would probably end up standing in the cold with nothing but a small tent to block the wind?  How many of us are so eager to hear the Word that we would come any day of the week just to hear someone explain a handful of verses?

Please pray for these brothers and sisters.  I only know one of their names, but I have been hugged by many of them.  Not all of them speak English, but that made no difference while we were with them.  I have very rarely been as reluctant to leave a place as I was to leave this small church plant.  Pray that they would grow, both numerically and spiritually.  Pray that their "American brothers and sisters" would learn from their example.  They are hungry for God.  Are we?

(Thanks to Grace and Michelle for the pictures.)