I received an update from friends at the Church of Christ (Ghanaian Congregation) that meets in the building of the University Park Church of Christ in Hyattsville, Md. I visited the church earlier this year — during a reporting trip to the Washington area with Bobby Ross — and reported on Ghanaian congregation as part of our ongoing Global South series. Recently, the church celebrated its fifth anniversary.

Lisa Brewer, my friend and sister in Christ, encouraged me to visit the 13th Street Church of Christ during my D.C. trip. “You will find the warmest welcome ever there! We LOVE that congregation,” Lisa said. She could not have been more right. See videos of singing and preaching from Sunday’s service.

The D.C. metro area seems an unlikely place for me to be gathering stories for our ongoing Global South series. But the Global South is here — alive and growing in our nation’s capital.

The Christian Chronicle won eight “Best of the Christian Press” national awards — five related to the yearlong “Global South” series — in an annual contest sponsored by the Associated Church Press. Winners were announced at an awards banquet at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City last night, and Erik Tryggestad and I were privileged to attend.

Are any Church of Christ members listed among the more than 58,000 names on “The Wall?” We would love to know … and to have the chance to look up their names in person.

I’m in the press box at Nationals Park, home of Washington’s major-league baseball team. This afternoon, I interviewed left fielder Josh Willingham, a faithful Church of Christ member who attends the Cross Point congregation in Florence, Ala., in the offseason.