Recently Albert Castelijn returned home from the weekly Banwaon church leaders’ meeting with a big grin on his face.
The men had been telling him about another church building at one of the outreaches 15km from their village. One of the leaders had hiked over there to help finish building it and it is now complete. That makes eight new church buildings in the last year at the various outreaches!
Albert and wife Lynne love that the Banwaon church is growing and the leadership and believers are maturing. Although they provide the tin roofing for each of these churches, (thanks to their faithful support team and special gifts) everything else is planned and sourced by Banwaon believers. The wood is donated, chainsaw operators give of their time and skills, collections are taken to pay for the fuel, cement and nails.
Men who are carpenters, believers from the main church in the village – many of whom were trained working on the high school building the last few years – hike over to help build when materials are ready.
It always brings joy when the Banwaon deacons mention, “Oh, by the way, we need 40 sheets of roofing tin for such and such an outreach. There is a group of believers there now and they’ve indicated they’d like a more permanent place to meet.”
So, so cool! This is just one of many encouraging things Albert and Lynne see God doing as He continues to bring the Banwaon church to maturity.
Photograph by Tyler from Halle Project.