Church in Chotororo (That’s fun to say!)

Saturday morning we headed to Chotororo for church with Pastor Fred's congregation. This area has a very large Seventh Day Adventist population so many other people we drove by were also going to church today. 

Pastor Fred’s house & small farm

Typical busy “junction” at a town near our hotel

It’s very common to see livestock (usually cattle, goats, or sheep) grazing in the ditches next to the roads and highways—even right in the middle of busy towns and shops.

 A small gathering of 18 met for our worship service in Pastor Fred's house on the outskirts of town. Pastor Gurath preached on John 3:16 and reminded us of the awe and wonder of the Gospel of God's love for us in sending Jesus to save us. Even though that is a passage and a message that we are very familiar with, God's grace and salvation should still make us go "Wow!" in amazement and appreciation. I followed with a sermon from Luke 7:1-10 and the account of Jesus' healing the Centurion's servant. I encouraged the hearers with the message that the love, actions, humility, and trust that make up their faith in Jesus are strengthened by hearing and reading God's Word.

The congregation gathered for todays “house church” worship service

Pastor Fred with his infant granddaughter

Pastor Gurath delivering his sermon

After the service the women served us a delicious lunch of rice, chicken, and a cabbage side dish that tasted a bit like mild sauerkraut (maybe that's just the German in me talking). After lunch we took a walk to town and went to the "weigh bridge" where they weigh the sugar cane trucks before and after they are loaded. I was given a stalk of sugar cane to chew on like the locals do. Spoiler alert: Sugar cane tastes sweet :)

 I made a few new little friends today pretty much the moment we got out of the car at Pastor Fred's. Two of his adorable grandchildren, James (4) and Esther (5), ran up to Pastor Gurath and me and were pretty much inseperable from us the entire time, both insisting on holding hands with us for the entire walk.

My new friend Esther

My other new friend, James

The young people of our “nature walk” into Chotororororo (<-- I added on an extra “roro” but I bet you didn’t notice!)

The weigh bridge

Biting into a stalk of sugar cane.
I like to say, “I’ll try pretty much anything once…but maybe just once!”

 After our walk we all prayed together and said our good byes. 

 Back at the hotel we got some rest, worked on preparations for the upcoming pastoral conference next Tues.-Thurs., and ate dinner at our usual outdoor table at the hotel restaraunt. The sun sets early here near the equator (6:48pm) so after dinner we turned in to our hotel room.

Our outdoor table at our hotel: Maya at Holiday Point

 Tomorrow morning we head back to St. David's in Etago for church at 9am.