Build Your Kingom Here

The building isn't built yet; in fact, the temporary hanger isn't even finished. Piles of gravel and sand and leftover construction materials surrounded the meeting place, but that didn't stop the people from coming. Around 90 people - a fairly equal mix of men, women, children, young, and old - came on this first Sunday to celebrate the opening of the church here in our city. 

It just goes to show you that the church isn't the building anyway; it's the people. And just as our church building is still under construction, so also is the Lord building his church here in Burkina Faso. 

The original church planting team of missionaries started planting churches among the dagara people thirteen years ago, and they intentionally focused their efforts in the villages, and rightly so for the villages had not been evangelized. Now that there is a large number of operating churches in the villages, the time came to plant a central church in our city for a couple of reasons. 

"Look over that direction," the preacher said as everyone turned their heads to the north. The church is situated a top a hill that overlooks our entire city. "Think about the population of our city - around 15,000 - and think about the number of churches here. Is it sufficient?" This rhetorical question was understood by everyone as a resounding no. "Think also about the number of people who don't yet go to church or know the Lord." 

As one of our teammates put it, "The planting of this church is not for us who already know God. It's for the non-believers and the non reached." 

Another teammate expressed what everyone feels: "When we do our ministry work, we talk about being a part of the Evangelical Church of Christ. The first question people always ask is, 'Where is your church?' That used to be a complicated question, but now we have an answer, and people can come worship with us." 

And it's true. Many people in our city are touched as a result of medical care, orphan care, and clean water. I myself have a dozen stories of people asking to be a part of the church as a result of the love of Jesus that has been shown to them, and now we have a physical place to feed those who are hungry for the Word of God.

And people will come. The church is already here, we just have to be in the business of calling people to find their place in it. 

Our first Sunday was a day of immeasurable joy. The singing was animated,the prayers were passionate, the preaching was powerful, and the Spirit of God was tangible. 

"It's a day we've waited so long for!" Another member said. God truly does finish what he begins, and this is a dream come true after many years of waiting and planning. And although it feels like the completion of a much-awaited task, its actually more like a beginning. I can't wait to see what God does with and in this church, and I know I want to be a part of it. 

"One day, when the church has been here for a long time and grown up, those who were here for the first day will recount the story to the others," one member so eloquently stated. "The children who were present this first day will be the leaders and elders. And it will serve as a testimony to everything God has done." 

May this church grow into its head, that is, Christ, and may our entire city be touched and transformed by the people who make up the body of Christ.