Crosslinks -From 'nobodies' to 'OBEs' - St. Matthew's Church |
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Features by Bill & Sara Goodman (ex Crosslinks Ethiopia) - observations on life from Ethiopia
From 'nobodies' to 'OBEs' - St. Matthew's Church
50 Years!
A few weeks ago, we were sitting outside church, enjoying a whole mixture of different foods that reflected the diversity of the congregation: West African pilaus, East African ugali, Ethiopian wots, Indian samosas, American brownies....
We were celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the laying of our building's foundation stone. Sara spent most of lunch chatting to a Belgian couple and a newly married lass, home-sick for India. Picture the crowd: embassy people; folk working for the African Union or the United Nations; aid workers, mission partners; and a large proportion of Sudanese Refugees - former farmers, housewives, teachers, pastors who fled from the civil war. From 'OBEs' to 'nobodies', our congregation is amazingly diverse. It's a privilege to be part of it.
Sara finds helping with Communion particularly poignant: holding the chalice to the lips of a lad in rags, and then a UN lady in exotic dress; the blood of Christ, shed for both of them.
Many of us at St Matts are stretched; our church involvement beyond Sundays seems minimal. But there is real desire to know each other better, to grow in our Christian faith and to serve the needy around us more effectively. We need to build on this, find ways to make it happen more.
(Bill & Sara Goodman December 2003)
The Goodmans were Crosslinks' Mission Partners working in Ethiopia