We woke up to a misty morning today, and the mist has hung around all day. It obscures the gorgeous views of the hills, but it's also pretty cool in it's own way.
Today is Sunday, and that means church! Church is at 10:30am (or around 11, India time - nothing starts 'on time' here). In America, I had about a 20min drive to church. Here we have a 20min walk, uphill, on steep, rocky paths, with a refreshing 130-step climb at the end!
If you've ever been to church in North America, you would notice several differences between that and church here in Sikkim. First of all the men and women sit on separate sides. Also the women cover their heads. The "worship band" consists of one person playing acoustic guitar (today it was Passang), a couple people playing tambourines, a choir singing their hearts out, and everyone clapping along. I love how everyone sings so loud and wholeheartedly here. I feel like in America we often get so caught up in how we sound, how good the band is, what the lighting is like, etc. that we forget what we are doing - worshiping the Almighty God! It's really nice to have a full band, a screen with the words on it, good lighting, and a heated building, but none of that matters if our hearts aren't in the right place. Today we didn't have electricity at church, but that didn't matter. You don't need electricity to praise God and learn more about Him :)
View from our window this morning
Looking down the path on the way to church
Passang and our niece Kasis on the way to church
Me and Kasis
Anden Church
If you've ever been to church in North America, you would notice several differences between that and church here in Sikkim. First of all the men and women sit on separate sides. Also the women cover their heads. The "worship band" consists of one person playing acoustic guitar (today it was Passang), a couple people playing tambourines, a choir singing their hearts out, and everyone clapping along. I love how everyone sings so loud and wholeheartedly here. I feel like in America we often get so caught up in how we sound, how good the band is, what the lighting is like, etc. that we forget what we are doing - worshiping the Almighty God! It's really nice to have a full band, a screen with the words on it, good lighting, and a heated building, but none of that matters if our hearts aren't in the right place. Today we didn't have electricity at church, but that didn't matter. You don't need electricity to praise God and learn more about Him :)
Passang leading worship with the choir
Praying for the offering
Today the sermon was on Fellowship. The churches here don't have a consistent pastor who does all the preaching. They only have 4 pastors for all of the churches in West Sikkim (about 50), so each week a different person preaches - today a leader from another church came and preached. It's all in Nepali so I can't get too much out of it; although, one of the leaders was kind enough to translate the main jist of the sermon into English for me. I'll be listening to the recording of my pastor back in the US every week so that I continue to get good teaching. I love his preaching! If you're in need of some good Bible teaching, check it out: http://lifepointrenton.org/media/
It's now about 4pm here, and the mist has gotten even thicker... I can barely even see the house across the street! Apparently this is just a warmup for the really rainy season - bring it on!
I love that you are blogging about your new life and experiences! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing! This was perfect to read this morning.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your blog!!!!! It's so fun to hear about your new life there. We had a great talk with your Mom at Emily Yarnold's wedding yesterday. She was proudly showing everyone pictures and telling us all about the wedding and their experiences there.
ReplyDeletePlease keep posting more blogs!!!!! :-)
Much love from Kent.
Cathie
I love how you say "refreshing 130 step climb"! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing - very thought provoking and inspiring. Makes me think of "love God with your whole heart ...". I love how you plugged Pastor Stephen's message. I think you will like this week's, it was very good.
ReplyDeletelove the pics of you and passang with kasis. She's such a doll! Keep 'em coming, bec!
ReplyDeleteThis is so great that you have a blog! I have loved mine - great place to express and write! Thanks for the updates and pictures - your wedding was lovely!
ReplyDelete