“What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace and be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
James 2:14-17
For years the benches at the Mukamba Church have been falling apart and it seems no one cares enough to come in and fix them. For years there has been a Sunday school class and one lousy, termite infested plank passed around from brick to brick for the children to share (anywhere from 8-40 kids at one time.) God put it on our hearts to ask the Sunday School class if they cared enough to do something about it…
To our surprise they were more enthusiastic at the idea of fixing the benches in the church and then building a nice area for them to worship on Sunday mornings. So we all gathered for our service project on Saturday bringing axes, saws, nails, hammers, shovels, tape measure, and anything else we thought we would need to make this happen.
First the older boys took the initiative to drive 5 inch nails into the benches inside the church building to secure all the benches falling off, and they even found old planks they could attach to the poles that had no bench seat.
As they were fixing the benches, the rest of us went outside to start working no the Sunday school area. Travis and the older girls grabbed some axes and headed off into the bush to start cutting polls as legs for the benches. Olivia and the younger girls decided where we wanted to put the benches, marked off where to dig holes, and then measured the length of each plank.
Some started digging holes, while others measured and cut the planks to size. When the older boys had finished the church, they came out to help cut the planks and to flatted to top of the legs so the bench seat would fit on nicely. The boys and girls did an excellent job making sure the benches were level, securely putting two nails on each side so the benches won’t break and will hopefully last a long time.
As the project went on, we had more and more children come to help. Many of the small ones jumped in with digging holes and then filling them back in to pack the dirt around the legs to keep them firm in the ground. Others enjoyed the new benches while watching their older siblings work or they played games in the shade!!
What a beautiful time we all had working together serving one another and bettering the learning environment for the young children who are coming to church. We hope and pray that God will use this effort and act of love, to bring more children and adults to the church Sunday mornings to hear about His love and desire to have a relationship them.
“His Master said to him, ‘Well done good and faithful servant…Enter into the joy of your Master’.”
Matthew 25:21
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