Praise God!
I came back to Maryland yesterday night. I was in St. Louis, Missouri worshiping God with the most fantastic and fascinating people of God.
As I always do, I first want to thank the people who gave me this wonderful opportunity.
So, I would like to say thank you to the senior pastor of the Redeemer of World Evangelical Church (RWEC), Pastor Tesfay and his wife, Melkam, for having me over. May God bless you and all your hard work!
I also would like to say thank you to the elders and the family ministry leaders of RWEC who have worked very hard to pull this program off nicely.
I had the most unforgettable time at St. Louis. Why?
Well, it was a fun filled program. I laughed a lot and I enjoyed every moment of my stay in St. Louis.
So, let me give you the synopses of the funny incidents I encountered in St. Louis.
So, I arrived in St. Louis on Thursday afternoon and in the evening, I met all the leaders of RWEC over dinner, in the church. It was an informal meeting where we took time to introduce ourselves turn by turn. Then when we prepared to leave, one of the leaders came to me and said, “Missy, may God bless you for coming out here! But I want to give you some heads up when it comes to ministering to us. I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to get discouraged. So, we the RWEC members, when we listen to a speaker, we have this weird look. We look like we are half asleep. I’m not sure why but that is how we are. But know that we are not asleep and actually we all are very good listeners. So, don’t pay too much attention to our looks. Just focus on your points.”
This person is one of those PhD individuals I met in that church and I know that she can’t just say things without any fact and on top of that, she lives in St. Louis. So, I said to myself, “I better listen to her.” But honestly speaking, I didn’t know exactly what she was telling me until I met the congregation the next day.
Mind you, in the middle of my teaching, to make a point, I tend to ask questions, such as, “How many of you wives are married to an imperfect man?”
And when I ask that kind of question, St. Louis folks sit there and stare at me without moving a finger.
My! I felt like they were saying, “There is no truth in her teaching. Why did they bring her here?” And after I spoke for half an hour, I said, “I think you guys are tired. Do you want me to continue tomorrow?” They all say, “No!” Then, as that kind lady told me, I realized that they were actually listening to me. This was the most entertaining as well as fascinating part of my trip.
But the good thing is I told them this same story and on Sunday morning, on the last day, they were responding back to me very well, not only by raising their hands but in words.
Oh, the other most fascinating thing about St. Louis church is this: The church is blessed by many educated professionals, mainly health professionals. And it is not like these educated people are attending the church but they are heavily involved in various ministries of their church; such as children’s ministry, family ministry and some of them are elders of the church.
I had dinner on Sunday night at one of the couples’ house and the picture I’m sharing with you now is the picture I took with some of these educated people and I want to introduce them with you:
Let me start from the top, from a gentleman in a purple shirt: He is Dr. Zerihun, (a critical care specialist – a physician who works at ICU), next to him, Dr. Amanuel G/Tinsae, PhD in Molecular Biology; below him, Dr. Amanuel’s better half, Dr. Eden Tesfu, PhD in Chemistry, next to her, with eye glasses, Dr. Mehert, a family physician; next to Dr. Mehert, Pastor Tesfay, the senior pastor of RWEC; below pastor Tesfay, from his left side, Henok Gerbi, IT specialist and MBA; next to him, Henok’s better half, Atsede Gerbi, private business owner; next to her, Netsa Fissehazion, finance manager, next to Netsa, Betty Mandefro, privately owned business manager, next to her, Merry Fissehazion (twin sister of Netsa), private business owner; below Merry, Dr. Azaria Mandefro, husband of Betty and a dentist who owns two dental offices in St. Louis.
Yeah, if you want to work with professionals in the kingdom of God, go to St. Louis! If you want people who challenge you to go to school, go to St. Louis. BTW, these are not the only professionals in that church. I’m telling you, this church is blessed!
And these people treated me as if I was a special person.
Thank you so much St. Louis’ RWEC church leaders! Above all, thank you all, for striving to turn your professional achievements into eternity by getting involved in the work of the kingdom of God. May God bless you all!
Okay, I better go back to sleep. I’m very tired. I’m so sorry but I don’t have any video clip to share with you. The video clips I have don’t seem to sync with my system. ///