Day 222

Jason had his daughters for the day yesterday, as he often does on Saturdays, and when I went into the kitchen to make some dinner they excitedly told me that they were allowed to spend the night.  I'm sure to them staying at a hostel is sort of like summer camp, plus we have a pool.  Anyway, a few minutes later Jason said to me, "Is it alright if I bring the girls to church with me tomorrow?"  I affirmed that it was definitely ok with me and he said that the girls were looking forward to it.  There were a few other people around, including South African Michael (as opposed to Kiwi Michael - the atheist).  We were all standing in the kitchen and he asked us if we were taking the girls to church tomorrow, and he said he thought that was great.  A moment later he told me he was religious and would I mind if he tagged along.  I told him that would be fine and gave him the time that I usually leave in the mornings and he said he'd see us then.  I was a bit blown away by yet another person asking to go to church with me.  

Some flowers the girls picked and gave to me

The church was having a ladies night, so I decided I might as well go along since I've been visiting for so long and still haven't really "met" that many people.  It was a really nice evening.  We had a little devotional with everyone sitting out in the courtyard area at the little tables.  After the devotional we had a time of prayer with the women at our tables and just shared some of the things that were on our hearts.  Lily asked for prayer for one of her daughters who is in a relationship with an unsaved gentleman and also for a speedy passport replacement as hers is lost and she's to leave for a visit to the U.S. at the end of the month.  Gabby, a young women I'd just met, asked for prayer about some things from her childhood that she'd been dealing with lately, and I asked for prayer and wisdom in regards to Jason, his girls, and Michael coming to church with me the next day.  After our time of prayer we decided we'd go ahead and watch a movie; after some debating a consensus was reached and we headed into the auditorium to watch "The Help".  I adore that movie, so although it's long and I wouldn't get to bed as early as I'd have liked to, I stayed for the whole thing.

This morning when I went down to breakfast the girls and Jason were down there eating but I didn't see Michael and he still hadn't appeared by the time we left, so I figured maybe he was hungover or had forgotten.  The girls did remarkably well, I thought, during the service and told me they wanted to come back next week.  It helped that they have little coloring packets for the kids, otherwise I'm certain they wouldn't have been able to sit still.

We had communion during the service and when we were walking back to the hostel they asked me to explain it to them.  They didn't ask any more questions after my explanation, so I guess they understood.  I ran into Michael while I was heading down to reception to start my shift and he apologized that he hadn't made it.  He said he had been up early, but was a bit hungover.  He said he really did want to come with me, so I told him he can always come next week.  He said he would do his best not to drink this week so he could go with me next week.  So, we'll see what happens come next Sunday.