African Time

“As I escorted groups to remote villages where we had helped plant churches, I found that our experiences were different in each village. Preparing for the most remote village, I mailed the village pastor a letter to let him know what day we expected to arrive. Because I knew the mail service was poor, I mailed the letter six months in advance. As we approached the village, the pastor (who was also an old friend of mine) was standing on the side of the main road waiting for us. On the basis of a letter mailed six months earlier, he had walked five miles from his home to meet us and was prepared to wait all day if necessary….”

(“African Time”, Robert Reese. EMQ. October 2006 Vol. 42, No. Page 474)

Personal Story. I sent a letter to one of our rural churches for hand to hand delivery via a bush taxi. Four weeks later I arrived in the isolated village to teach and speak for a few days. While the Leaders & I were eating dinner together after a worship service, a young man approached to hand delivered a letter to the leadership of the church. Turns out it was the letter I sent 4 week prior, announcing a leaders meeting they had missed earlier that week.