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"You are welcome." That's what
they say in Africa. They say it, too, in India and Myanmar, although in
different languages. "You are welcome." That's what Congregational
Christian people said to me everywhere I went around the world.
My first stop was Myanmar and
the small group of Myanmar Congregational Churches, descended from
the work of English Congregationalists in the late 1800's. I was met
in Yangon by the Rev. Sa Do and his family who, along with several clergy and lay
leaders, maintain a network of three churches in the city and
two up country mission churches in states to the north. The three
house churches meet regularly for
prayer, study and worship during the week, and all together on Sundays.
During the week they share the Gospel with their friends and neighbors and
invite them to their fellowships.
The church is growing steadily,
despite many challenges. Already visited, recognized and supported
by several churches in the International Congregational Fellowship,
especially those in the Congregational Federation of Australia, I hope
we can begin to support them too.
From Yangon, I traveled to
Mumbai, India, and then south to the city of Trivandrum. I was met in
Trivandrum by the Rev. Kenaz Solomon and a delegation from the Travancore
Church Council. Together, we drove to Nagercoil,
the council's headquarters, a city on the eastern
shore and southernmost tip of South India. The TCC now gathers 45 churches, 3 schools,
an embroidery project, a hospital and a community health clinic (in
progress). I was warmly welcomed everywhere I went, and impressed with the
commitment, passion and joy in the Lord I beheld in everyone.
They, too, face significant spiritual,
political and economic challenges. My hope is that we continue our
relationship and support of TCC, particularly the work of their schools and
teachers, their churches and pastors, and the completion of their hospital
and health clinic.
In my travels, I was welcome.
And you are welcome, too! To learn more about, and visit, all the places I
have seen. Please call or write us at the office, and we will send you all
you need to help you and your church become a part of all the great
things God is doing for His people — everywhere — in Jesus' name.
[Editor's note: Part 2 of this article
with the remainder of his travels will appear in the next NA News.]
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In a 1972 Congregationalist
article, Angus MacDonald, wrote:
Two dangers lurk for Congregationalism. The first is that the supremacy of being Christian is so difficult
that we become theoreticians, talking about faith without being faithful, and using words without intelligent
understanding. [. . .] The second danger is that we become so practical in religious matters we lose interest in
our intellectual heritage. [. . .] I would suggest we give serious attention to changing our basic position from
`Stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has made you free' to `Come to him, that living stone [. . .] and like
living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house …' The first without the second is triviality. The
second enables the first.
Rev. Dr. Lloyd Hall is the Association's Historian
and serves Plymouth Congregational Church of Lansing, MI
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