MY BROTHER, FRED, WITH A HEN IN THE PULPIT.....

A HEN IN THE PULPIT

by Fred M. Allen

No, the hen was not doing the preaching that day, but she refused to leave the pulpit when yours truly was delivering the message. Chainda Baptist Church was a new church start in the compound just outside of the capital city of Lusaka where we had recently showed Christian films to reach many new people for Christ. We had no building yet so we were meeting in a chicken house which one of the members had donated. Also, we were using a new pulpit stand which had just been built by Roy, a voluntary missionary from America, who was present with his wife, Faye, that day. During the singing of hymns and choruses, the hen had made her way through the crowd and seemed to be enjoying the service. When I stood to preach a church member tried to remove the hen much to the delight of those present, but she refused to budge. I assured them that it was all right to just let her stay in the pulpit, so she did. She sat exactly between my feet, so I could not move at all. When an invitation was given for folks to respond to the message, I expected the hen to do so, but she just remained in her favorite spot, so I could not count her among my converts that day!

I mentioned Roy and Faye whom we had known years earlier in our church in Fort Worth, Texas. They had come to Zambia to assist us in ministry as volunteers. Faye was to lead a Vacation Bible School for children later in the week. The VBS was held in Chelston Baptist Church which had a new brick building which was packed out every Sunday. About 60 children came to the VBS and it was a very exciting and successful time. The next year Roy and Faye replaced a missionary couple on furlough in Tanzania for several months and did a super job. We visited them there and were very impressed with their ministry.

The Chainda Church received funds to pay for a roof once they had built the new building. Most of the men of the church had jobs in town and could not miss work to work on the new building. I asked if they could work two hours at night if I would provide lights and they agreed. I brought a portable generator with lights and they finished the building in only a few nights. The church grew and was in the process of building a large permanent building when their pastor, Brother John, was killed by a drunk driver, leaving a wife and eight children. So many people attended his funeral that it had to be held in open air. He was a good man and a dedicated servant of the Lord who had visited me when my mother died.