From Pastor Frank Gantt

Sunday, July 19, 2009

This morning we were privileged to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Nellore. Since there was no translator present, there was much that we were not able to understand, yet the liturgy wasn’t so much different from ours back in the states. There were some songs of praise, the responsive reading of Psalm 134, also Scripture Lessons (Deuteronomy 6 and Romans 2). Pastor Moses then came forward to preach on several texts which each had to do with the concept of Christian love and bearing one another’s burdens. Following the sermon we had the opportunity to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with these fellow Christians. It was a unique experience that only further demonstrated what the Apostle Paul wrote: “For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread." It wasn't our skin color or language, it wasn't our economic status or caste, it wasn't our form of worship or confessional documentations; it is rather the very word and promise of God Himself that unites us in one body through this holy meal.

Following the worship service, I had the opportunity to conduct Bible Class/Sunday School. It was so telling that not a single individual decided to get up and go home before Bible study. Bible Class attendance was identical to worship attendance. And we are coming to teach them? We would do well to sit up and learn from them, at least in this respect.

After Bible study, we had an opportunity to meet one another. Within this congregation of about 120 Christians, there are four that are “studying the Greek,” which means preparing to enter the seminary. It’s equivalent to our pre-the department at ILC. There are more younger boys who are already expressing a desire for the pastoral ministry. At the capable tutelage of Pastor Moses, and the Holy Spirit’s wisdom from above, this is a good sign for this land in which the fields are indeed white for harvest.

Praise be to God.