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Guest Post by Robert Sagers

“Can you celebrate the Lord’s supper with a biscuit?”

The question wasn’t posed in jest. It came from the mouth of a straight-faced Zimbabwean Christian, one who seemed to be genuinely wrestling with the issue.

While on a short-term mission trip to Africa last week, a few of us were assigned biblical topics we planned to teach the local “leadership team,” believers from area villages with a heart for the evangelism of their people (the Tonga) and a desire to see churches planted.

On the day we spoke to the nature and role of the church, the questions from the team were similar to something you might hear asked just about anywhere, questions about women’s ordination and the difference (if any) between a pastor and an elder.

But the one about the biscuit made me hesitate, if only for a moment.

Thankfully, someone chimed in with some assistance. When the questioner said “biscuit,” he had in mind something more like a “cookie.” Ah.

We answered that question, but more followed. Eventually someone asked whether the church must celebrate communion with the fruit of the vine, or whether some other drink was sufficient. Soon it began to dawn on us: these Zimbabwean believers were facing difficulty acquiring anything made from grapes.

And they wanted to know what we thought about that.

I’d heard that kind of question posed before—but only as a hypothetical situation, one to which I had never given much thought beyond what I believed was the biblical response. These Zimbabwean Christians wanted that biblical response, but the answer seemed almost impossible.

This morning I have prayed for these faithful brothers and sisters, that they would somehow soon acquire grape juice, or wine. That’s likely the first time I’ve ever prayed for believers to find the proper elements to celebrate Jesus’ finished work and his coming kingdom.

So I wonder, as a friend of mine pointed out, what else I haven’t prayed for—or haven’t even thought to pray for?

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