First Church Service

Life is not boring. Sunday morning at 8:20 the pastor showed up at our door and asked if we could be ready for church in 10 minutes. (No previous warning) He wanted to present us to the congregation. We hadn´t showered and we looked like we had just gotten out of bed. NOT FIT FOR PRESENTATION TO ANYBODY!!! He said he would be back in 15 minutes. We did ¨the flight of the bumble bee¨ and were ready when an assistant pastor returned.

Mission emphasis is strong in this church. We were playing a role that we were not use to. A lengthy explanation of the importance of English for students, and assistant pastors was given. (A translator, a pilot from MFA flying service, was standing behind us to give us the word in English) My first sentence was in Spanish stating I was sorry I didn´t speak Spanish. He translated the sentence into English. Got a good reaction from the congregation. The pastor invited the entire congregation (300 in this service) to be sure and visit us. He then gave everyone our address. Not sure what to expect!! We have coffee and cookies ready. He also encouraged the congregation to invite us to their home for a meal. WE came down here to lose weight!

A local family was also presented. They plan to go to Morocco in a year as missionaries. The dynamics of this congregation is one of getting things done with congregational support. This is a dynamic we are not use to. The service itself was also dynamic from the singing to the sermon. Even though we could not understand the words, the atmosphere spoke for itself!

We were officially welcomed with a lunch with the senior pastor and an assistant pastor and wives present. The assistant pastor and wife took us on a tour of the school and other things during the afternoon. The final word was we would begoing to work this morning. A call at 7:30 this morning cancelled the work because the school is still on vacation.

Next entry will cover our tour today.