Jesus In A Birds Nest

Over the last couple of years we have taken the opportunity to partner with Pastors and Leaders in Burkina Faso to build churches. They actually do most of the building while we are not there. They provide the bricks and mortar (literally), and our teams help provide the capital and the labor on steel supports and tin for the roof. What I love about the Burkinabe people is that they don’t wait on us to get the job done.

Take for instance, the church in the village of Saneba. The church is made out of stalks of millet, and in their words it looks like a birds nest. The benches were made out of round, dead, tree trunks that would create an abdominal challenge for most of us to keep our balance on. When I walked in for a tour, which means stand in the middle of the 15×30 structure on the dirt floor and look around, there was no doubt, Jesus was in that birds nest. They gave us a little ‘worship snack’ for the little bit of time that we were in this village, and it was just delicious. The joy those people know with their voices, hands, and feet, is awe-inspiring.

Whenever I am feeling grumpy, or whiny, or synical about this beautiful thing called The Church I try and think about that birds nest.

Not that you would ever do this, but the next time you go to church and think:

1.My parking spot is too far away

2. The music is too loud

3. The Pastor just didn’t do it for me today

4. The line to check-in/pick-up my kids is too long

5. The coffee is too weak (I might support you on that one)

6. I couldn’t find a good seat

Remember that gathering for worship is not about making sure everything is perfectly according to your liking. It’s about taking what inspired, equipped, challenged, and messed you up, leaving that place and giving it away to others. Everything that our gatherings should actually accomplish, can be done in that birds nest.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul