I've been Presbyterian since birth, was born into a Presbyterian lineage, and am married to a man with a similar Presbyterian heritage. Two of my very best lifetime friends are each daughters of Presbyterian ministers. It makes me feel that I am not a member of a Presbyterian congregation, but the Presbyterian church at large.
So, considering the connectional way I feel about the church, imagine my delight to meet Tom. He's living in South Carolina, but in February accompanied a team to Uganda. On that team? My friend Anne with whom I traveled to Haiti one year ago! Small world? Yes. And big church.
Sometimes you hand your camera to someone and say "take my picture," and then everyone groups together and smiles. Other times, you walk off of a 20-hour plane ride and someone else says, "let me take your picture" and you get a photo (such as this) of reluctant smiles and perhaps even a grimace. Both of the gentlemen in this photo are named Tom, but the one on the far left is the one who went to Uganda with Anne.
The gentleman on the left of this photo is Cesar. He is a Presbyterian minister in Brazil who therefore speaks Portuguese and very little English. He's had a quite a time getting connected with our group, but we were finally able to locate him last night. He'll do just fine once we're in Mozambique since Portuguese is also their official language.
In the center of this picture is the doorman from the hotel last night. His name is Bishop and he is - wait for it - Presbyterian and from Malawi! Small world, big church.
I'll leave you with one last photo from the airport. There weren't trashcans all over the place, but rather these little bins where you sorted your glass, paper, and plastic. I like this photo because, well, saving the planet is awesome...
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