shanksteps west africa 2026 #04
This weekend has been much more relaxed then our weekends in a long time and different than any time in Africa. As most of you know, we attend church on Saturdays. For Jews and us it’s Sabbath. The reason we worship God on that day is because it’s the day that God asked us to remember at creation and also the day Jesus observed. And as far as I can see in the Bible it was never changed. There is no seventh day church here that I could find or hear about so we spent our Sabbath reading and praying and resting mostly in our house with a short trip to the hospital to round, but I arrived a little late and the other surgeon had already seen the ones he wanted to see. So I turned around and came back to the guesthouse. We also listened to a lot of music, one of our favorites is the group Selah. They used to be missionaries as well.
Today, Sunday, Audrey and I decided to go in and check on a few patients. I would guess there are about 15 total in the hospital. There are two nurses at work today. It seemed very vacant, without anyone in the ER, waiting area, no one at the cashier or pharmacy, We walked around till we found the nurse then went to see the few patients we were worried about. After seeing them we went back to the guesthouse and changed into church clothes. Then we went to the Evangelical church that is a part of the hospital compound.
We sat near the back where there was space, but were shortly thereafter ushered to the front rows where a wall fan was moving some air. The song service started with the mic’s turned up really loud for the resonant space we were in. And we all started praising God. There was a drummer, a guitar player and harmony amongst the song leaders. And in some songs there was dancing before the Lord. Made me think of David in Psalms. They were enthusiastically praising God. We hadn’t heard any of the songs and the ones in French we understood, the ones in local languages or Congolese we couldn’t. I guess they have learned many Congolese songs. As I learned later by asking the song leader, he said that christianity began in Congo and so many of the christian songs are from there.
After song service the sermon was given by an elderly gentleman who was very energetic and explained he has been a christian 3 years. He used to be a witchdoctor and go to the forest to perform sacrifices. But Jesus transformed his heart and he became a follower of Jesus. He used to think he was someone important as a witchdoctor. Now he recognizes his position in relation to God and is serving Him with all his heart, mind and spirit. His talk was about the transforming power of Jesus in his life and in each of our lives. He spoke in French and we understood almost all of it. They had a song at the end of praising Jesus for what God had done in the presenters life. I really appreciated how joyfully they praised God.
My prayer: Lord God creator of the universe help the people of this area and nation know who You really are. Make Yourself known to those who are ready to hear about You. Bring people that are ready to hear about You to this hospital and help them to hear Your words spoken here. Help Audrey and I to share Your love God, with those we are with right now. God continue to fill us with Your love for those around us, that they may see You when they look at us! Amen
