A busy month of May
Muli shaani from OpenChurch Ndola!
The month of May has been busy in the OpenChurch calendar as we have had a few different teams visiting us to share their wisdom and impart into church life. We also had our mother's day service and have begun a new series in church looking at 'Kingdom Culture'.
Our 'Kingdom Culture' series looks into what does it mean to be a part of God's Kingdom and how we should live as citizens of this kingdom. We have been exploring various aspects that transcend all cultures and showing how the culture of God's kingdom often goes against the various cultures we may have grown up with.
Mother's Day and Youth Camp
Our Mother's Day service was church with a difference! We gathered at Lene's house and had a family service outside. The content was very interactive and got the adults and kids to mingle very well. Besides worship and prayer, we also explored different women from the Bible and the impact they had. There was coffee and cake and everyone attending had a great time.
Whilst this was on most of our youth were away with Euroclass enjoying youth camp! It was organised by Kevin and Signe, two of our Danish interns, and was so good that many of the youths are asking why we cannot have two camps a year, instead of one! The youth were wowed by the quality of the performances by Euroclass and really enjoyed the opportunity to hang out with them, play games and learn more about life in Europe.
Coffee Sunday
The following week New Life Church in Australia shared a message on the importance of forgiveness during our Coffee Sunday. Coffee Sunday is a gathering we have once a month on a Sunday afternoon. It's just a chance for the church to spend more time as family, hanging out, playing games, sharing food and learning more about our vision and direction as a church.
Bible College Team
International Apostolic Bible College were a great blessing to our worship team. They held a masterclass last weekend speaking on worship dynamics and how to lead worship. We also heard a great message on integrity and a powerful testimony.
We held a worship night in the open air on Friday evening. We had a great turnout with many visitors who are not a part of church. IABC joined our worship team and helped create a vibrant atmosphere of faith.
Youth Rising
On Saturday evening, one of the young guys who serves as our events co-ordinator had created his own event called Diamond. It was a poetry event (which is quite popular over here) and was directly speaking out against abuse, raising a cry for social justice. Many of the artists spoke from their own experiences of suffering and finding freedom through Jesus.
So that's a quick look at what May at OpenChurch looked like. Not every month is as packed as this one was (our leaders need a chance to breathe!). But we are really looking forward to where we are heading as a church and the opportunity to bring a fresh revelation of Jesus to the African continent.
/Josh Harris