Church and Leaving for Mzimba

Ok, so I am not leaving for Mzimba quite yet, but in a couple of hours. So I have more time on the internet...what? I am pathetically attached to the internet you say? Yes, I might agree with that. Instead of helping me to get over my pathetic attachment I am afraid this trip might make me more pathetically attached when I get home, which may be impossible...but there is still time to get over this. Besides it is approximately 5am in the States so no one is really up...

So church yesterday... I went with my host family, the Lumunga's (I finally found out their last name) to their church which is an Assembly of God church. I have never been to this kind of church so it was a different experience for me altogether. There were two sermons or messages, separated by music, some of which I could understand, most of not. The messages were done in both Engish and Chichewa. The translator served I would say as a second pastor, and though he was speaking in Chichewa, I got the sense that he was adding to what the other pastor was saying and that is was more of a partnership than just a repetition of what the other was saying, which I thought was neat. The first message was about the journey of Paul as he was teaching in one of the cities and then stoned to death by some of his opposition (Acts 14:19). Instead of leaving that city after he was healed, Paul returned to the same city. Ok, if people stoned you and left you for dead, would you return to that city and try and talk to them some more? Or if people said hateful things towards you, physically fought you almost to death, would you go back and try and help them to be saved? umm...probably not, that wouldn't be smart, right? But, to extend this a bit further, are you (me) going to stay in your comfort zone and do what is easy? Or would you step out, challenge yourself, and do God's work for those who really need it, where you can make the most difference, even if it is the most challenging work ever? That is what I am asking myself, should I stay in my comfort zone, which I would rather do, or maybe pursue something that would be completely out of my comfort zone. I am talking mostly about after graduation, which is scarily close...

The second message was titled "From Zero to Hero" and was about living in default or by design and the power of prayer. It was based on this man in the bible who was named as someone who lived or was born into sorrow, he prayed and was relieved of his sorrow by God. In short, we can change our lives and decide not to live life by default, going along mindlessly, but to live by design, making powerful decisions and praying for God to be active in our lives... no one has to be a zero, everyone can be a hero, it is a choice.

Ok, now for the part of the service that was a bit out of my comfort zone...speaking of those. I don't know if this is a part of all Assembly of God churches and I don't mean to offend anyone, but the part of the service where people go up and pray and the elders lay their hands on them, and then some people fall over and lay on the floor in prayer...is hard for me to take, and makes me a little uncomfortable. It's just not in my faith practice and I tend to look for an escape route whenever I see this on tv or elsewhere. It was difficult for me to see it up close and I think this is one of the questions I face when thinking about my own faith and I don't really have defined position on it. There wasn't really a purpose to this paragraph, besides just to put it out there...

After the service, I enjoyed meeting everyone (not every one - that would be 300 people) and then going home and relaxing for the rest of the day.

I posted pictures on facebook, for some reason they wouldn't load on here because of the connection. :(