The First Week in Summary

It's late Friday night (Saturday morning, actually) and we are heading out to the island congregations early tomorrow morning. So this is just a quick catch-up of the last few days.

Monday thru Wednesday: Seminary

After Mike's session with the seminary students on Monday night, it was announced that he would be teaching that group on Tuesday and Wednesday 9 am to noon, and 2:30 pm to 5. Surprise! Instant Prof. Weaver. Mike was very happy to do it, of course, and spent all the time he could preparing material on The Trinity and an intensive on the Book of John. During that same time I videotaped sections of Mike's class and Pastor Stadler's class, assessed needs for the computer system at the seminary, and spent time with the kids at the Moriah Children's home.

Thursday and Friday: Church Dedications

We had two congregation visits planned for Thursday and Friday, both of them dedications of new churches. On Thursday we went to Ganapavaram, which had a great location near a larger town. The new building is what we call a semi-permanent building, with a poured foundation and solid walls but a temporary roof. This kind of structure is very cost-effective and should hold up for 10-20 years.

The dedication was well organized, with a large festival tent in front of the church providing shade for the 150 or so people in attendance. Tarps are typically thrown down in front for the kids, and the parents are seated behind on chairs. This means that when we spoke up front, we were greeted by the smiling faces of over 40 kids.

Baby Rachel playing with big kids at Ganapavarm.

From left to right, Pastors Jachiah, Shalem, and Daniel lead the congregation in song while walking around the new building during the dedication.

Today (Friday) Mike held class at the seminary while Jennifer and I met with the pastors to assess needs of the seminary and congregations. We put together quite a list; if you are interested in supporting the construction needs of the BFLC, drop me an email.

After lunch, we visited Gokarlamattam, a village that I visited in 2001 when they were meeting in a congregant's house. At the time, I actually walked the proposed church site with Paul, so it was cool to see the finished building on that same site.

When Paul and I visited Gokarlamattam back in 2001, a 101-year-old woman came up to us and told Paul that she wanted to see a church built in the village during her lifetime. At the time, I thought, "Well, that may be asking a bit much." But there she was today, at 105, present for the dedication of the finished building. She announced that now that she's lived to see the church, she is asking for the Lord to take her home. I told her we still need to build churches in all the other villages first. The woman is pictured here with Pastor Mike.

Pastor Mike cuts the ribbon to open the church building.

Congregants crowd into the new church building for a prayer for the Lord's blessing.

A middle-aged man is baptized by Pastor Weaver, one of several that came forward for baptism after the dedication ceremony.

Tomorrow we will leave very early to head to the islands. The plan is to see three congregations tomorrow, then one more on Sunday. I'll try to post an update when I get back.

Oh, and if there is another tsunami, my plan is to hang on to something that floats, so send help. :) (We will have boats, actually, so the best thing would be to climb back into those and rise with the tide I suppose.)