Incredible. There is no other word to describe this morning's worship services.

Like I said yesterday, we split into four groups and went to various churches in the area. The stories around the table tonight at team time were pretty much identical. We all felt so welcomed by these churches, and it made for a very special morning. And, man, oh man, do these people know how to worship!!! They leave all inhibitions at the door, and it made for quite the experience for us, since they wanted us to join in with them. At a few of the churches, the song service lasted about an hour or more before the preaching ever began! They were dancing in the rows and aisles, praising the Lord in a language we couldn't understand, but still we were bonded with them because we had the Object of our worship in common with them. It was such a sweet, sweet time... and gave us just a tiny glimpse of what heaven might be like when Christians from all around the world are one day finally gathered together.

To give you a picture of what a service in Malawi, here's what the church service my group attended look like:

To begin the service, one of the church leaders went outside, picked up a hammer and banged a piece of metal several times to let the villagers know that the services were starting at our little Baptist church. The building is one small room, with about 10 rows on each side made of stone. There was a tin roof, no glass in the windows, and a row of stone benches at the front where the guests of honor were to sit, which just happened to be our group this morning. So there we were, sitting with all eyes facing us as the small congregation began to filter in slowly. One of the leaders explained that there was going to be a funeral following the service, so a few of their church members wouldn't be attending. They opened with a greeting, asked all visitors to stand and introduce themselves, then the ENTIRE congregation stood up and sang a song as they walked around greeting us.

The worship began after that, with the youth group singing four songs, then they asked our group to stand up and sing a song for them. Ours was a little slower tempo, and we didn't have any motions or dancing involved, but they still enjoyed it! After all the singing, the leader mentioned that because of the time constraints due to the funeral, they were only going to be able to sing three more songs that morning... these people love to worship through song!!! Following the songs, there was a time of corporate prayer, when the congregation fell to their knees and each of them prayed aloud at the same time. I have never been part of something like that before, and it was pretty amazing. At team time tonight, Michelle (Dayton) brought up the fact that hearing all those people praying at the same time served as a reminder of how big God really is, since He could hear each and every individual praise and request, no matter the fact that it could never be distinguished by us.

When they took the offering, the church members would sing a common song while they walked up the row and placed their coins in a bowl sitting up in the front of the church. I was reminded once again of the story Jesus told of the widow's mite. These people have next to nothing, and still they give a portion of that back to the Lord. What a blessing it was for our team to see, and how it must bless the heart of God. After the offering, Nick (California) brought the message with Stewart (Passion Center staffer) interpreting. When his message was finished, they asked our team to line up outside the door so that the church members could once again greet each of us and thank us for attending their church. They couldn't even begin to know how much we were blessed by having worshiped with them today.

At the church Tim was speaking at, their team noted they collected part of the offering in zones, to see which section could collect more money! Chris (Dayton) spoke at another church and it was a special time of reunion when Jill got to be reunited with one of the widows she had spent time with during last year's trip. Mike (Dayton) spoke at the new church plant Pilira has started. How exciting that our church is able to be part of this new church from its very beginning!

After church was lunch at Tasty Bites, and it was quite the experience once again. We had to remind ourselves once again that we were on Malawi time, and its not uncommon for one person to get their food within ten minutes, and another waits 1.5 hours, which is what happened to us. But it was great just to sit back, relax with a Coke and talk with the Passion Center staffers that joined us for the meal. This is an amazing group of people that God has assembled to work with these children day in and out. We are so blessed to know them! It would be worth coming over here just to meet these wonderful men and women.

Once that was done, we dropped off the new bicycle ambulances for Sharon's community health leaders talk. During that time, she was able to share with the leaders the importance of good hygiene and simple steps to avoid spreading sickness and disease. To show just a glimpse of the difference between our cultures, Sharon said one of the leaders asked if it was alright for pigs and goats to sleep in the room with humans. We knew going in to this that there was no way every problem was going to be solved, but simple things like sitting the drinking water out in the sun for a certain amount of time before drinking it would kill all the bacteria that causes some of the most common sicknesses. Such simple steps could help so many people.

Once the day was end, it was time to pack for the hospital visits tomorrow. We're bringing 150 bags filled with drinks, soap, and vaseline for the mothers who stay with their children in the hospital day in and day out. Remembering what we saw last year, I'm sure tomorrow will be another amazing experience for our team. VBS will be in the morning at Grace Orphan Center (another orphanage about 30 minutes away from the Passion Center) and then we'll head right to the hospital to deliver the gifts.

Thank you again for all your prayers! You will never know how much we appreciate them. God has been answering in a HUGE way, and the way He has blessed our team has been incredible!

—Brooke