The Lord Will Build His Church
The sound of voices chattering and wood pounding carried across the dry, arid landscape on a thin breeze and wafted into the window of our nearby house. The local village church building in South Sudan was getting a new roof! From dawn until dusk every day, members from the church worked to re-thatch the large area in the traditional way.
The hot sun beat down as men and boys carefully hoisted the branches up across the roof and secured them with large strands of soaked palm leaves. In the shade, the women laughed and chattered as their hands deftly worked to portion out the stiff straw-like grass into the smaller bundles to make the thatching. Younger girls were stationed to bring cups of chai and coffee throughout the day.
On Sunday, the work was only partially finished, but the whole church still met inside their building. The hot sun shone down through the wood lattice, unhindered by the grass that had just begun around the perimeter. Some women and children huddled in the small bits of shade, but the majority continued staunchly forth to lift their hands in worship, even with sweat pouring down their faces.
After a week of work, the work on the roof paused. Money, which members had contributed over the past month, had run out—and so the work would stop until more supplies could be secured. As we look out of our window and see a partially-finished church building roof, we are reminded of the reason we are here in South Sudan.
The church is started. The foundation has been laid. It is growing. But there is still much unfinished work. There are setbacks and discouragements. It is hard, and honestly, sometimes feeling like there is not much progress being made. But we trust the Lord when He promised that HE will build His church. The gates of hell will not prevail.
As with any church full of not-quite-yet-completely-sanctified believers living in a not-yet-redeemed fallen world, we wrestle with frustrations and discouragements. Adultery among leadership brings hurt and disillusionment. There is a constant need for faithful men to continue to lead. Hurting people and their needs abound. Families are experiencing some of the worst hunger crisis that the country has seen in years. Countless families are experiencing the hurt of broken and dysfunctional marriages. Girls are seen as property to be procured with a high number of cows for a dowry. The list could go on and on.
The realities of church planting and mission work bring our team to our knees in prayer. If left to ourselves, the whole situation seems hopeless sometimes. But thankfully it is not our work! It is the Lord’s Work, His Bride, His Glory.
“Even when wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet!”
We see the Spirit clearly at work, breaking through the scattered dust and grime of sin. People are showing a hunger for the Word of God. One young student comes to devour theology books for hours. Another was just licensed by the Presbytery to receive a call. One pastor seeks to love his wife in a counter-cultural way, including walking to church with her. Ladies are prayerfully seeking the Lord regarding unbelieving and abusive husbands, lack of food for their children, and other physical needs. They are meeting together regularly to encourage each other in Scripture teaching. The list could go on and on.
The Lord is working. He is building His church.
This week, work on the church roof resumed and is now nearing completion. We are looking forward to worshipping under a nicely shaded area once again, and seeing the beautiful thatching finished. But oh, how much more do we look forward to the completion of the Church, when Christ comes to claim His Bride — perfect and spotless— and how we look forward to that Day!