Bush church - Kumla Kane

On our second Sunday, we were invited to visit a Bush Church, which seems to be any church that you have to walk through the “bush” to get to. 

The Church of the Nazarene has been active in this area since 1954 and since those first missionaries came many churches, most of them “bush churches,” had been planted. 

This is a map that shows all the churches in the Highlands that are currently active. 

A new friend, Malachi, who works at the hospital, invited us and a few others to join him at his church, which was a 15 minute drive, and then additionally a 20 minutes walk from where the road ends. 

Tom and Malachi

It was a beautiful day and a fun group to share it with: The Stewardson family, the newly arrived Allen family, Cherish Skinners and another month-long volunteer couple, Rick and Karen Vollmann.

We were warned that we would need to cross a few rather rustic bridges to get there. 

Just a girl going to church.

As we arrived at the Kumla Kane church, we were welcomed by our beautiful brothers and sisters in Christ. They greeted us with smiles and hugs and happy calls of "Welkam, Hai, God blesim yu!" in that glorious Forever Hello that surpasses language and culture and age. The lawn was decorated with flower petals that formed the church’s name.

Pastor Jane invited us in to the small thatch covered room with a flower decorated altar up front and we joined in the joyful singing. 

I loved every minute. The spirit in the room was familiar and sweet, a welcome with family we just hadn’t met yet. Two hours never went by so fast. 

Afterwards, we chatted by the river and explored the new church building they were constructing. They added a wall, or a section, as they had money available and they hoped to be finished by March. 

Eventually, we pulled ourselves away and began the walk back, this time feeling more confident over the bridges. Children ran ahead and behind us, helping, always helping us, along with a cheerful grin.