One Sunday in April we visited the litte church in Mphanda Village. The service was sort of solemn and lifeless. The singing was not lively as it has been in the past, but when Larry preached they were all attentive and laughed when he joked with them and even clapped a few times. During his sermon, some visitors walked in and sat down. After the preaching we expected to partake of the Lord's Supper and there was no communion prepared. The church leader asked for the choir to stand up and sing. There was no choir. After asking a few more times, the women began 
rustling and talking amongst themselves seeing who would get up and sing. Then the visitors went outside and got some instruments and brought them to the front and began playing and singing. It was so beautiful....reminded us of a hillbilly band with home-made instruments. The guitars were made with metal gas cans for the box part and a carved stick for the neck. Two of them had 3 strings and one had 4. The bass was a large stringed instrument with 2 strings and the box part doubled as a bass drum. We were so blessed. These men visit other churches and bless them with their music. Their music was a blessing and we were amazed at the quality.
Please keep this congregation in your prayers. One of the church leaders lost a child a few weeks ago. That along with some other issues is really weighing heavy on their hearts. Larry will begin next week to go out and spend time with the leaders, hearing their needs and teaching them. As always, we also need prayer when we go out because we are really "piercing the darkness" in our work in that village.
