So church meetings start rather earlier here than
I’m used to in the UK! We were up and
breakfasting around 7am as we needed to be in the church for 8am. I think there were a few more people in than
last night but it’s difficult to be sure as the house lights are down and there
are spotlights focused on the stage so seeing anything beyond the front row is
tricky. The music went well again and we
did ‘Bless the Lord’ originally from Godfrey’s fourth album ‘A Call To Pray’ in
2001 which I’ve not played with Godfrey in ten years, at least. He’s tweaked the words to sharpen up the
message in it and it’s a good song.
Johan’s brother Petrus preached this morning who
appears to be a gentle thoughtful man.
After his word we did a few more songs and then they announced a
surprise that in the evening there would be a ‘Gospel Party’ at 7pm for those
who wanted to attend. There was nothing
planned for tonight originally but I think Godfrey offered the option to Petrus during the meeting and he went with it.
Johan and Tarryn took us out for lunch at a
restaurant a short drive away and I had a steak with biltong shavings on it and
avocado dip with a side-salad. It was
very good. How did I not like avocado
until recently? It’s amazing.
When we go back I managed to get quite a bit more
of Baxter’s book read sitting out in the glorious sunshine and I started the
latest Jack Reacher novel too.
There’s a young puppy that’s taken a shine to me
and every time he sees me he runs up and want to lick my hands and for me to stroke
him and play with him. I hope Spike
won’t be cross with me for cheating on him with another dog!
The afternoon had a nice long nap in it which was
also very welcome as the worship sessions are reasonably long compared to what
we’d do in the UK so the drumming takes it out of me.
The evening meeting was due to start at 7pm so the house band did a few minutes at the beginning as people were arriving. They are a completely different style to Godfrey but they make a great sound together and Johan's brother Petrus is a very good drummer. The crowd for the evening was enthusiastic and we had a brilliant time.
I met a couple called Eric and Bea after the meeting and we talked about the gospel and how realising our inclusion, our sonship, our complete acceptance and how loved we really are changes everything about how we live and think about our relationship with God. They were obviously impacted by the message in Godfrey's songs and by his speaking. You could see the joy shining out of them.
My hosts Vicky and Terence and I went back with Godfrey to his hosts Johan and Tarryn's house for a supper of sandwiches, fruit and wine. They are easy and good company and we spent the evening laughing and telling tales about some of the crazy and funny things we've all got up to.
As they live next door to each other it was no problem to get off to my bed at the end of the evening!
Tomorrow we have a day of before heading to a town called Brit for some more meetings.
No comments:
Post a Comment