More than a building

Today, being Sunday, we went to church (on the back of the truck, much to the girls delight!)


There are lots of churches in the Solomons, and every village has it's own church too. We went to the church Kevin and Machi go to when they are in town (they get back from NZ this Tuesday). The building is a very old, rusty tin shed - (concrete floor, timber pews, open window with no glass, holes in roof), situated next to a soccer field on the main road. I was suprised when Geoff told me that is where we would be going to church - it looks so dumpy and run down.

But thankfully church has nothing whatsoever to do with buildings! It is the hearts of the people that God is interested in, and the people at this church seem to have a real heart for the things of God.

There were about 100 people, seated facing each other, with the pastor in-between everyone at the side. To my dismay, our family were seated facing the pastor, right in the middle of the church, with everyone looking at us! Certainly not what I had in mind, but I just had to 'go with the flow'. We were welcomed, and Geoff was asked to introduce us. He stood up and spoke in very good Pidgin (well, to me anyway!), and gave our names and the girls ages. There were lots of murmurs and smiles and everyone seemed very kind. Things went along well until Millie somehow dropped water all over the floor (from her water bottle) and dissolved into tears. Ahh, we continue to be quite a spectacle ...

But it was the singing I was really looking forward to, and I wasn't disappointed. I didn't know any of the songs, but as Brianna commented later, they are easy to pick up and learn (it also helps that they sing in English!) We sang about 7 or 8 songs throughout the service and I enjoyed them all. What a privilege it is to praise God with believers from another country! I could have gone on for so much longer.