GIFTS

I miss worshipping at my Anglican church on the University Campus.

As we were planning our lessons yesterday, we used this thinking strategy, from Havard, Project Zero– Parts, People, Interaction. I suddenly got an idea, to use it to write about the places I am missing. The African market came to mind and my church in Ghana was next. I chose to write about the church and immediately started with the people.

Our church is full of University lecturers and their families. Some of us travel a few minutes from our homes in the catchment area. There are two permanent local priests, a young ‘un and an elderly one. I must tell you about the young priest, his sermons are so animated.

Every time I see him climb the pulpit I have a smile on my face. His sermons are also very structured, he piles them up them in five or six memorable parts. I enjoy them and always take notes on my phone. The idea for me is to capture them, so I can read them when I am away from home, but that rarely happens.

His strategy is to make the sermons interactive, he sometimes starts in the aisles and calls on people to answer his questions. He is an extrovert and knows almost everybody’s name. This church has over a hundred members.

Before I moved to Hanoi, I attended one of the bi-weekly morning prayer meetings and quietly informed him about my travels. With a visiting priest, I was invited to the pulpit and they prayed for me. I thought that was special. I was quite emotional as it was very informal. I can’t remember if I was sprayed with holy water! They do that sometimes.

Since then he has kept in touch, I’m sure he prays for me. I am very far from home, so this means or a lot to me.