2022: Day 8, Church Services

After a long and busy week, we were thankful for a day to sleep a bit longer than normal. We gathered for breakfast at 8:30. We sipped coffee and ate the delicious savory scones and greek yoghurt that Monica and Valerie made for us.

Our leader announced that we would, in groups of three, go visiting various churches in the area. Each church has members with family backgrounds in countries other than the United States, and their services are conducted in languages other than English. Some went to a Chinese church, some went to an Indonesia church, and some went to Korean and Taiwanese churches.

Jaran, Sara, and Hannah went to The Reformed Church of Newtown which lies on the corner of Corona Avenue and Broadway. They entered the front door and were quickly warmly welcomed by several members who were standing in the foyer. The entire service was held in Chinese (a language spoken by nobody on our team), but as the service moved from songs, to prayer, to a sermon, the gentleman who sat on the pew in front of them showed them which songs in the hymnal were being sung, which psalm was being recited, and which text from the Bible the preacher based his sermon on. After the service, many approached to offer their welcome and to invite them to stay for tea and coffee.

When the groups returned to the Center, we spent time sharing our experiences, most of which were overwhelmingly positive. We can learn much from the hospitality and warmth that the churches we visited extend to the strangers in their midst.

Much of the remainder of the day was allocated for rest. However, we did take a few minutes to visit a nearby Hindu temple. It’s inside was filled with idols and other Hindu iconography. Once we returned to the center, we reflected on what we saw and prayed against idolatry and for the salvation of those to attend the temple for prayer and worship.