Anglican Communion alive and well

One of the high points of my trip to Lui was discovering that Vasco and Gordon had framed a silly display "check" that the kids of Advent had given to Vasco for the Church at Lozoh. When Deb had come back from Lui after her six month stay, she had felt a special fondness for Lozoh. She asked if we could enter a sister relationship with that parish, which we did. Every week, we pray for the Parish at Lozoh and for Noel N, their pastor. During Lent of 2007, we got the news that the church at Lozoh (a mud church, with a grass roof) had burned in an uncontrolled brush fire. After I had announced the news, a Sunday School kid, Mark, who was eight years old, asked if we could do something. He suggested a bake sale.

Nathaniel and the Sunday School kids ran with it. They baked hundreds of dozens of hot-cross buns, which they sold to anyone who would buy them on Palm Sunday. The kids raised $450. They wanted the money to go for a new metal roof for the Church, so it wouldn't burn again. Vasco and Bishop Bullen were in town during Easter 2007, and went over to Office Max and copied a check onto a three foot banner. We filled it out, and all the kids signed the check. On a Sunday, we presented it to Vasco. I figured he would get back to his hotel, and pitch it.

On my second day in Lui, we went to the Diocesan Office (a two room mud house, with a metal roof, a generator and two computers). Vasco brought out the check, now framed. He told me they use it in catechism classes to show the reality of the Anglican Communion: here's a parish in America that prays for the parish in Lozoh (who in their turn pray for the parish in America). This is what their Sunday School did when they heard about the fire in Lozoh. I have to admit, I was completely non-plused. We throw out these little actions, only to discover they have huge consequences. You can be sure I'll show this photo to the Sunday School kids at Advent, along with the photo of the new church at Lozoh, with its metal roof.