Dump Church

What if I told you that the pretty church that you go to, you can not go to any more? What if I told you that the nice pews you sit in are going to be replaced with broken plastic chairs that have three legs and no back, dirty broken buckets, or old paint cans? What if I said that the fancy lighting that brightens up your church is now the hot sun? What if the beautiful, spacious land that your church building is on, is now the local dump? What if the church building is taken away and all that is left is a big tree for you to sit under with your broken chair or paint can?  

Would you still go or would you dump church? 

Every Wednesday my team and I go to the local dump of eManzana, South Africa and hold an hour long church service with about 20-30 women and some children. Talk about being desperate to hear the Lord’s word. I want to be that desperate for the Lord.  

I was very convicted the first time we were told that we were going to host church at the dump because honestly I did not want to go and smell all the trash and get dirty with literal trash. However, after our first visit this has become one of my favorite sites to visit throughout the week. When we got there and began to worship and dance for the Lord under a big tree next to a huge pile of trash, I quickly realized the stinky trash smell that I was so mad that I was going to have to endure was actually covered with a beautiful fragrance offering for the Lord. 

I think the part that convicted me the most is that this is not their only option for church, actually some of them go to a very nice church on Sunday morning, this is just an added service to their week. Though not all pictured, this congregation is made up of about 50-70 people who just want more of the Lord, they do not care about the trash smell or broken seats, they just want the Lord.

This church is beautiful. It is not gross and stinky. It is a dwelling place and home for the Holy Spirit  where the people of eManzana come to encounter the Most High God. I pray that I am always so desperate for the Lord that I would still pursue Him even if it meant my only option for church was the dump.