The camp-meeting grandstand posts were set. Now somebody needed to nail the crossbeams and tie the rafters to support the steel roofing. While seven of us watched from the ground, Gamani gingerly climbed the tall, slender sticks, which swayed under his weight. He skillfully hammered with one hand while hanging on with the other. Soon the roof was complete. Moving with the ease and grace of an orangutan, he swung himself to the ground. “Wow!” I thought, “this guy is in his element.” The next day, Gamani came back to help. I was glad to see him. Six months earlier, he had returned to church after a lapse of several years. But only a month later, he had dropped out again.

When camp meeting began, Gamani was nowhere to be seen. The day after camp meeting finished, he came to our house wanting to get a sore on his finger dressed. While Laurie was bandaging his finger, he started making excuses for his lack of attendance at church and campmeeting. “I haven’t been coming to church because people talk about me,” He lamented. “I don’t have any nice clothes to wear. Also, I came back from the bush on Sabbath and was disappointed with what I saw of campmeeting, so I didn’t go.” Then, with a tinge of bitterness in his voice, he complained, “Church members aren’t doing anything inside the church or outside, there’s no action. That’s why I haven’t been coming.”

Laurie pointed out to Gamani that he could help resolve the problem if he came back to church. He could set a good example for others. Laurie also reminded him that he needn’t worry about what other people say or think. “What matters most is what God thinks about you, and He loves you,” she urged. “Come in the clothes you have. That will be fine.”

Our church is not made up of sinless saints. In fact, it sometimes seems more like a field of dry bones such as the one Ezekiel saw. Jesus said that those who are well don’t need a doctor—only those who are sick do (Matt. 9:12). The church can be thought of as a hospital where sinners come for spiritual healing. Let’s not do like Gamani did and miss out on opportunities to be a blessing to others who need to meet the divine Physician.

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