It was an exciting day for us. We were asked by Pastor Yumba to join us at his church in Katuba (a suburb of Lubumbashi) today for preaching, the baptism of 11 children, and the ordination of three pastors. He had asked for Todd to prepare ordination certificates to give to the pastors to certify their ordination. Church was to begin at 9:00am, so we were to leave at 8:15, go to Pastor Yumba’s office to print the certificates that Todd had prepared on his laptop, and then continue on to church. But there was a hiccup in the plan. There was a problem with one of the certificates, so we had to return to the hotel, edit the certificate, return to the office, and reprint the certificate. By the time we had finished, it was almost 9:30. We asked Pastor Yumba about that, but he replied, “The people will wait.” And so they did.
When we arrived they were singing hymns to fill the time. By the time they were ready to begin, it was about 10:00am. I noticed that many of the CCLC pastors were at the service, as well as many of the members of the congregations we had visited yesterday. I guess we might liken this service to our CLC convention service, where members from all our congregations come together to celebrate the unity that we share in a special worship service. It was very enjoyable. They had a very distinct liturgy that was printed out and was close to our own. It contained the same parts we are familiar with: Invocation, Confession and Absolution, Responsive readings, Hymns, Choir songs, Scripture readings, and a Benediction.
Pastor Yumba conducted the service, and I was asked to preach. I preached on Acts 20:28 as a word of encouragement for the pastors who would be ordained and as a reminder to the congregation of the blessing of a faithful pastor. Following that Pastor Ohlmann conducted the ordination of the three pastors. When the ordination was completed there were cries of joy throughout the congregation as they demonstrated their thankfulness to the Lord for this precious gift! After a rousing hymn, we continued the service with the baptisms. Eleven children were brought forward, ranging in age from about 10 years to a small infant. One by one Todd baptized each one, and after each we hear more African cries of joy! What a joy it was to know that the Lord was at work through the water and the word in the hearts of those young ones!
After church Todd tried making some noise with the drum that was used by the choir.When the service finally concluded, it was 1:00 in the afternoon. Three hours had elapsed, but it didn’t feel that long at all! Following the service we were invited in to Pastor Yumba’s house for a fellowship lunch with the rest of the congregation. We enjoyed more rice and soup, fries, and an African version of “deviled” eggs on a salad, with Orange Fanta to drink. It was very good and we appreciated Pastor Yumba’s hospitality. While we ate, the choir continued to sing in the church – maybe for our enjoyment???
When lunch was concluded we walked to a near-by lot where a permanent church building was under construction. The current church is in an area that would be like a car-port in the states. But the walls of the new church are almost completed and then they will be able to build the roof and poor a floor. They also hope to build an office on the rear of the church in the future and as the Lord blesses. That the current progress had been a long process for them was evident in the different colors of mortar throughout the structure, showing the different stages of building as they had the money for materials. They did not ask for financial assistance, but we would like to be able to help them complete this project more quickly, if we were able. So many needs...
In the forground you can see the place where we worshiped this morning. The brick wall in the background is one of the exterior walls for the new church building that in under construction.
We returned to our hotel before 4:00pm – much earlier than usual. We have been able to rest up a bit and prepare for the lessons that we will be teaching over the coming four days. Todd and I will be taking turns presenting studies to some 30+ pastors, elders, and teachers of the ELCC and CCLC during the next few days and hope to conclude with a visit of the ELCC congregations next weekend. We pray for the Lord’s continued blessing on our fellowship with these faithful Christians!
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:23-25
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