Sharing a testimony or an item at church

“What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” 1 Corinthians 14:26 (NIV)

At many churches here in Bougainville, there is an open time during the service where anyone can go to the front of the church and share a testimony (perhaps of what God has taught or done for them during the week) or present an item (usually a song). If someone has something to share, they don’t have to arrange with the service co-ordinator to have it put on the programme, as there is this time set aside for it.

I really like this aspect of church in Bougainville and I think that the verse quoted above encourages us that these sorts of things should be done in church.

Well that’s just my thoughts, but I don’t want to stir up any controversy, and in humility let me give a disclaimer regarding the interpretation of the verse above – I haven’t done a thorough exegesis (study) of this verse and I could be wrong in my understanding of it, plus I’m sure that there are various ways of interpreting and applying it.

Fancy, old churches

Perhaps ‘churches’ isn’t quite the right word – one is a chapel and two are cathedrals. But the three buildings that I show you here are quite fancy and admirable.

At Orkney there was an Italian chapel, which was built by and for the Italian prisoners of war during World War 2. The walls on the inside are beautifully painted – they couldn’t use real bricks, so they painted the walls to make it look like they used brick!

St Magnus Cathedral was also at Orkney, in Kirkwall the main town. It has a lot of history (google it if you want the details!)

You don’t normally associate the skull and crossbones imagery with churches, but here in St Magnus Cathedral is a memorial stone for some people who died. There were many such memorial stones throughout the building.

Lovely stained-glass window:

Another cathedral that I saw was Dunkeld Cathedral. It is on the mainland of Scotland, not at Orkney like the other two were. It has also had a long history.

Stained-glass at Dunkeld Cathedral:

A real pipe organ. No-one was playing it when we were there, but I think they are amazing instruments, they make loud music without the use of electronics or speakers.

Tearouki church service

Some Sundays we go to the church at Tearouki as we like to visit the different churches in the area. It’s about a 20 minute walk to Tearouki. There’s a river just near it that many people like to bathe in before going to church. You can see the bridge going over the river and the hill up to the church in this photo:

They have nice walls around the side of the church:

On special occasions, such as Easter Sunday last year when these photos were taken, they use traditional instruments and have some items.

Big bamboo flute:

Small bamboo flute. Note also the three guitars leaning against him!

Performers decorated:

Dancing with bows and arrows in church: