Willoughby Church, through Christian Reformed World Missions, is excited to be a part of the Ringma family’s journey to Sierra Leone, Africa. From January to June of 2012, Naomi, Jacob, Maria, Ella and Joel will be living in Kabala where they will help develop indigenous church leadership and immerse themselves in the life of the church and community. Their ministry is part of a larger relationship between the Christian Reformed Church in Sierra Leone and the Christian Reformed Church in British Columbia.
First impressions?? On January 17th, Joel writes:
“We went to the Christian Reformed Church, Kabala this past Sunday. As one of my children noted, one difference here is that church can sometimes be longer in Sierra Leone than at home - OK, it's WAY longer (church was slated to begin at 10 AM and didn't finish until well after 2:00 PM, refreshments included). But the differences don't end there because we are also not used to: worship services being held in an open-air building beside a dusty road; church services in Krio; worshippers clapping and dancing during every song; 'bidding' prayer time where everyone is encouraged to simultaneously speak out loud their confession or praise or thanksgiving (and they do willingly, the result being a rousing cacophony of the prayers of the people).
An interesting feature of the worship services is the ‘song contributions' by various groups. Usually members from within the church (and sometimes guests) contribute to the worship service through singing. It is not uncommon for these groups to have uniform dress, to process to the front and to distribute an offering plate for their own ministry or the ministry of the church (so you can sometimes have upwards of 6 or 7 offerings).”
You can read more and follow the Ringma’s journey at ringmas.blogspot.com. There will be a special offering for Christian Reformed World Missions supporting Joel Ringma (a project of Classis BC) on Sunday, February 12th, 2012.