If you recall recently from our newsletter, we have a ministry that we began a few months ago that we call 'Compassion Monday'. A few months after arriving here I had to take some trash to our local trash dump and my eyes were astonished to what I saw. When I got there, there was smoke all over the place because the city burns all the trash, but what I did not expect were people living out there.
These people have make shift tents that they have made out of tarps, and misc. materials that they find and that is home for them. When I was there I saw little children under the age of 2 that were walking around amongst all the trash crying and following their mothers who were trying to find anything of value and most of all food. You could here the small ones crying in the back ground, the smoke is all over and the smell from the rotting trash was horrible.
So we started going out there once a month and giving them bags of food and toiletry items. It is not much, but they get fresh bread, instant soups and some other things we are able to get into the bags. Our kids help put together the bags and go with me out there to deliver them to the people. It is a humbling experience and the people are very appreciative of the fact that we just come out there just for them.
Attached is a video of one of our visits in August when Allison and Sarah Callahan from the US were ministering here with us.
God Bless!
2 comments:
Hi Brian - I love the idea of the 'Compassion Monday" and what you are doing with your family there. I think all of us need people and situations outside our comfort zone to help keep us with open and compassionate eyes. How are things going with the young people? What has been good and not so good - let me know as I would like to keep up with what you and your family are doing.
Hey Uncle Seanie. Things are going really well with the young people we are working with. I have a Bible study on Saturday afternoons outside in town, started with around 15 kids, but the Holy Spirit is working, because we are now having between 50 and 60 kids each week. Meeting outside of church has made a big difference. It is less formal and the youth like inviting their friends to that. We also have Bible studies in the hostels and those work well also. I know lots of people like Megachurches, but I think that small and simple is much better, more focused on the needs of the people, and certainly gospel centered. I think that is why it works so well here, and I think it would work great back in the US as well. Megachurches and even churches with memberships around 500+ should really think about planting churches closer to the communities where all their people come from and have smaller community churches. People here in Namibia do not like large church congregations, they like to be intimate, they like to know everyone in the church and feel like they are recognized as a part of the church. When the church gets too big, they don't come. I think people back in the US feel the same.
Thanks for the interest in our ministry here.
God Bless
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