A sweet sound in God's ear
“Don’t think that it is from our own goodness that we can be saved,” they sang in the Loron language. “It is because of the grace and goodness of Jesus that we will go up to Heaven.”
It was a time of unprecedented sweetness, Paul and Marina Briggs share. Many of the ladies, who ranged in age from their late teens to early 60’s, walked 10 miles to be part of the fellowship and worship.
They came from eight different villages. The local women provided all the food for the visitors and did most of the cooking: meals of rice, yams, corn/millet porridge and sauce. The visitors slept in the homes of their hosts or in the local church building.
From Friday evening until Sunday afternoon, this happy group listened eagerly to God’s Word taught. Since there was no particular theme for the conference, each speaker (many of them Loron elders and their wives) shared something personal from the heart. Among those who taught was Hovare, the very first Loron believer.
“Eri, an elder’s wife, spoke about Abraham and his relationship with his wife and family,” Paul writes.
The weekend ended in a march of witness for Christ that began at the church and proceeded to the village market, culminating in an open-air event on the edge of the market. The women walked in single file, singing as they walked and circling the entire village before they made their way to where hundreds of people had gathered from surrounding villages to be at the weekly market.
“It created quite a buzz,” Paul says. “A lot of people gathered to see what was happening and to listen to the Bible teaching.”
The Loron ladies were deeply encouraged by their time together.
One remarked, “It was really good to be together with Christian ladies from other villages … to see that we have a unity with each other because of Christ.”
Another observed, “The joyful days that we spent together were a witness to the village that God has changed us.”
The words of a favorite Loron worship song say it all. Filiwa, la boo lo, the ladies’ voices rang out again and again; meaning, “Lord, thank You.”
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