“So how long have you been going to this church?” I ask my friend, Saa.

“Well, it’s my mother’s church…”

I nodded, “Oh, okay. So forever?”

He just smiled at me.

I followed him through the gate to his mom’s house. As I entered, little faces smiled at me curiously. Before I knew it a group of kids ran up to give me hugs.

A few moments later, Saa’s mom came out the door to greet us. I was immediately struck by her commanding but incredibly warm presence. She welcomed each of us and then announced, “I am so happy that you are all coming to church with us, but we must go now or we are going to be late!”

With that we quickly piled into the cars, parents wrangled the kids into their seats, and we headed off to church. As we bumped down the road to the highway, I reveled in the normalcy of a Sunday morning. I praised God for the faithfulness of Moms collecting their family and friends for church.

When we arrived, I realized what I didn’t quite understand before. When Saa said it was “his mother’s church”, he didn’t mean that she just attended service there…  He meant that his mom is the lead pastor. As I listened to the service I could see why. She sang, prayed, and taught passionately. I enjoyed watching her fire for Jesus and fierce love for her community.

When the service finished, we visited with church members outside… many of them work on the ship with us as Day Crew. It was fun to see each other dressed up instead of in scrubs and uniforms. The kids were happy to play outside again and eager for attention. I remember thinking it was the most at home I felt since arriving in Africa.

Saa’s mom came up to me with arms outstretched for a hug. I happily leaned in saying, “You must be so proud of Saa. I work with him on the wards and he does such an excellent job! I’m so grateful for him. He has helped me so much and he is so sweet with our patients.”

She hugged me tight, held my shoulders, and stepped back to look at me with a huge smile, “You are so beautiful,” she stated looking me straight in the eyes. “Do you know that? You are so beautiful.”

I smiled and told her she is beautiful too. But like so many moms, she didn’t believe me. My friend, Rebecca, snapped a picture of her to prove how lovely she is. I love this picture… not only because she is beautiful, but because we were all having so much fun laughing together.

I’m so grateful for Moms. I’m so grateful for friends that bring you home to church with them. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to get just a glimpse of how big, beautiful, and kind our Church family truly is.