Midweek connections

I just thought I would write another post to give you an insight into one of the aspects of ministry I haven’t had time to mention yet. Last night was my turn to speak at the midweek meeting in Ite and I distinctly feel I failed to make a connection with the congregation. This however, thankfully wasn't due to my fledgling preaching skills but because sadly I was the only person who turned up. I waited for an hour and in the end decided to call it a night.

This isn’t however, the first time something similar has happened, and no doubt will not be the last. I remember one Friday accompanying Dave Murphy to the youth meeting to find all the youth had gone to some other event in the village. More recently Trevor and I went out and found that the building temporarily being used for the church was having a wake held in it.

Thankfully now the church is meeting once again in its own premises, yet numbers still seem to be low for most meetings. Last night was simply the first time it happened directly to me and also in the new premises which adds to the disappointment. In a way this is just one of those experiences that are part of any church plant situation. Because I’m preaching through a series it means at least I have the sermon prepared, apart from a revision, for the next time.

The meetings in Moquegua and Ite last Sunday seemed to go well and I had some positive feedback. As for the lecture preparation, the more I read, the more I feel I yet need to read. I said I would let you know more details as my preparation went along. Well at the minute having the sermons out of the way, I am trying to write the introduction lectures for 1 Peter, issues like: authorship, context, dating etc. In some ways quite dry but yet I’m finding some of it very interesting.

Simultaneously I am preparing the lectures for the practical theology module. This I thought was just for general students but recently found out that it is being offered to the pastors study group on Saturday mornings which adds another dimension to the issue. The topics I plan to major on are Grief, Addiction and Suicide, not because I have any great expertise in these areas, but they do interest me, they are very valuable if not necessary issues to be covered and I’m told they aren’t presently covered by anyone else. I just can’t decide where to start as I’ve been reading for all three topics so I might just start all three and then see where things go from there.

Anyway, must go, thanks for reading and continuing to pray for the Lord’s work here in Peru,
Blessings,
Alistair.