Girja

Our friend holds me on another day while he shares that his "body is sick, but spirit is well!"

A couple of weekends ago I got to go to Bangla church (girja).  As I finished up my run with Mom and Dad, one of our friends who works as a guard for our building flagged us down.  He said his church was having a special service and gave us forty minutes for naps, snacks and showers.  Then, he came with his brother, niece and a CNG to get us.  

His church was meeting for the week in one room of an apartment that they use as an outreach center.  We sat on the floor and met all forty-five or so of the attendees as they came in.  Many were university students, one was the mother of our friend and five of the other men, and others were kids like me.  It was really a treat to sing along what I could pick up of the Bangla worship (led by one man with a guitar) and listen to the sermon (translated into English) and see the passion with which my friend and all of our new friends praised Jesus.  They have much harder lives than I think I ever will, and in spite of, or because of, that seem to appreciate all they have as His followers with such joy.  

Plus, we all got to laugh across cultures as one man introduced himself to my dad saying, "I'm Simon," and Dad responded with, "and I'm Peter."  Bangla, Kenyan and American people all laughed at the humor we can get from a shared New Testament context.