The Details

• Our day began at 530AM with loud music from a marathon event happening across the street. God gave us extra time to pray and prepare for church ;)
• Our group was warmly welcomed and thanked as honored guests during the church service. A strange experience since we felt like the beneficiaries.
• The church is about double what it was last year. There is still a sad lack of men but more than before. Children are comprised at least 1/3 of the attendance. (Pray for men to come to corporate worship)
• After a many a sweet conversation, and more than a few smiles and nods and when a translator wasn’t available, we returned for a big lunch and a siesta. 
• There was double the number of couples for the event as last year. They were dressed up and excited to be there. Dan taught a sound and relevant message concerning how Christ loves his Bride and not just that He loves her. 
• Carlos has said before that good teaching on marriage is rare and the couples need it badly.
• Tomorrow we go back to construction work and begin VBS in the afternoon. (Pray for a clean transition and for the ladies final prep for VBS)

Here’s Phillip Jukkola’s take on today:

What a great blessing and encouragement it was to sing together with the church today! It was a little hard to follow new tunes and new words (while also keeping rhythm with clapping!), but what a joy to participate with them in worshipping our gracious God. The last song to close the service was called Solo en Jesus and was a familiar song (In Christ Alone), so it was special to sing that one especially since I was familiar with it.

Pastor Mario preached (during Sunday School) from Genesis 3. Oz translated for me otherwise I would not have understood much if any at all. As a result of Pastor Mario’s message, I pondered how the devil’s tactics have not changed from that initial attack. He still seeks to counter God’s truth with his lies. God help us all to be on guard and vigilant against his evil schemes, and hold fast to God’s truth.

In the morning service, Pastor Tanner proclaimed the gospel of Christ and I was overwhelmed in my heart with awe and worship for our great Savior because His love is so lavishly poured out upon us. He gave up His riches and became poor, so that we, although poor, might become rich in Christ. What great truth to meditate upon.

It was really special to see so many kids and young people in the church. Surprisingly, some know quite a lot of English, others very little, and many none at all. I quickly felt my inadequacy in Spanish when I would say hola and would hear a response hola, followed by a sentence in Spanish about which I had no idea regarding what had been said. Some kids were so welcoming despite the language barrier; one girl ran up and hugged me without saying anything and ran off as fast as she had appeared, probably to hug the next one of our team that she could find. I pray that these children would have an enduring and abiding faith in Christ.

The evening with the married couples was a special night. It was good to see Pastor Carlos lead the church in strengthening marriages, and many of the couples seemed to really enjoy the night. Dan taught from Ephesians, and his message was rich with the truths of the book, which he then applied to the husband-wife relationship. At the dinner following the service, I got to sit with Rovelio and his wife Marybel. He knew some English, but we would not have gotten far in conversation without Daphni’s, one of Pastor Carlos’s daughters, help. He was very appreciative of Dan’s message from God’s Word; “Fantastico” and “Necessario”, I believe, were the words he used when Steph asked him  what he thought about the message. He said he learned some English words from a missionary family who had been here and when they went back to the States, they wrote letters to him in English. It was very fun to hear portions of his life story (thanks to Daphni translating!) and to get to know them a little.