Andrew is here! After some minor issues at the Oklahoma City airport, he continued safely on his way to Newark and then to Lima. Last night, he spent the night in the Lima airport, which (thankfully) has Starbucks and free wi-fi so that he was well-fed and could be in touch with people. He is glad to be here and is currently napping to catch up from his hour of sleep last night.
There is nothing quite like worshiping with believers in another country. Church this morning was truly beautiful. We attended a church in Arevalo (a "suburb" of Trujillo), and the church there is about 4 years old. I was amazed to see the work that had been accomplished on the church since I left in 2008. It is a beautiful but modest building now with several different rooms for Sunday school classes and a large sanctuary. I would guess that there were about 80 people there this morning, including our team. The church is still small, obviously, but it is so encouraging to see that people from this broken city are finding out about it, attending, and serving as faithfully as they can. Everyone was so kind and welcoming to us. The pastor was excellent. I understood almost all of the sermon (about the Prodigal Son), but I think I was probably the only one from our team who did. I am so thankful for the years of Spanish I have had! Even without understanding, I think that everyone else would agree that the service was incredible because of its simplicity. No fancy clothes (because the Peruvians honestly just don't have any), so songbooks, no video projectors. Just worship of the Almighty Creator who binds Christians together in love for Him. The first time I went to church in Peru, I was a little overwhelmed by the church service. I could not believe that people were clapping during the songs, or that they placed bags of beans and rice in the offering plates (really they are baskets here) instead of money. And then when I thought about it more, I realized that this is their culture. They give food because others have none. They clap because they are filled with joy towards a God who provides enough for each day. They just bring what they have, and that is plenty. It's easy to judge people who are different because of what they do or do not have, but when you really sit down and listen to these people, you see that the only thing which really matters to them is Christ. Oh, that we were all more that way!
In Christ alone,
Mary Rachel
No comments:
Post a Comment