First-time listeners to our African Pathways program both on the shortwave radio and from our website this month include Louis Byomuhangi from India, Mike Thompson in Canada, Tim Allison and Christian Klotz who did not indicate their locations, Mike Sjoberg from Goteborg, Sweden, Martin Vondracek from Czech Republic, Ibrahim Eshiya Obiya from Nigeria, Musa Dantata Dangana from Mali, Juha Räikkä from Turku, Finland, David Angango from Kenya and Solomon Ngoma from Kasulu, Tanzania. We wish all these our new listeners God’s blessing and safety over Covid-19 in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Last month we wrote to our listeners to find out how they were coping with the epidemic, and the response was encouraging. From the answers, the majority of our listeners who wrote to us this month are uncertain about the pandemic. They are following instructions in their different countries as they can, and they referenced God as the source of hope and their dependency at this challenging time.
One writer caught my attention, in particular, this month, when in her writing, she regretted not being able to meet and worship God in their church building on Sundays as it was always the norm. She regretted that church buildings were closed, and because of that, there was no more extended church for her. Our remarks back to her: “Churches are not closed; buildings are being closed. You are the Church, and you must remain open.” How we live our lives is essential, our characters present the Church that we are to the world. In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul is writing a letter “to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” In every activity/endeavor of our lives, we carry Jesus Christ with us. The writer of Hebrews puts it succinctly: “but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope” (Hebrews 3:6). So, if we miss being in the buildings we have used through the years to fellowship and worship God together, we are probably missing our friendship with our peers, brothers, and sisters in the Lord and the visitors who used to attend weekly. We are not missing Church because we are the Church.
We will devote our October page in sharing with you how terrorist organizations are marching in droves into West Africa and the effect of that exodus towards the spread of Christianity. Please pray for West Africa.
