Pleased to report that since the last entry my hip-hop career has
begun and ended in some style. Some weird, highly disturbing style.
Last weekend’s church Hogmanay shindig was based primarily around a
games night, in which we were divided into three teams and asked to nominate
participants for a series of mini-games. The final, deciding round was based on
one’s ability to verbalise in a rhythmic fashion and, seeing as no-one else was
forthcoming, I took up the bait as the self-styled Choco Loco (Crazy White Guy). It seemed to do the trick and,
happily, Facebook is currently devoid of the incriminating evidence. Currently.
The whole night, organised by a group of young people here, was a
great success, 2012 being seen in with much gusto.
Though in reality, nothing much else has changed. The working week
has been typical of school holiday period, with much preparation and limited
interaction. However, I’m preaching on Sunday on John 15:9-17, and so I’ve had
something a little more immediate to focus on too. So much of what I’ve been
taking in over the last few months seems to centre around obedience and the
blessings to be gained from it, and this passage is certainly no exception to
that. Perhaps somebody’s trying to tell me something.
We would appreciate your prayers not just for my sermon, but for all
of the church activities this weekend, as a fairly major scheduling overhaul is
about to take place. Until now, the church has had its Sunday School at 9am,
followed by the family service at 10.30am and, immediately following that, the
Communion service at 11.45am. This schedule served the church fairly well
initially, but it hasn’t been without problems, particularly in the final slot,
the Communion service. There has been a big increase in visitors coming to the
church in the last few months, many of whom are not yet believers. Such people
joyfully come to the family service but have to leave immediately after, so
that the Christians in the congregation can participate in the Communion
service. There is an inherent problem here, in that we want to be impacting our
community for Christ, yet there is no opportunity on Sunday morning to have
meaningful conversation with visitors.
Additionally – and this is more of a cultural consideration – the
big meal of the day here is lunch. Most people prefer to avoid cooking on a
Sunday and buy from various vendors in town, but Sunday lunches are so in
demand that they are often sold out by the time church is finished. Lunch has
therefore become something of an impediment to worship, with many Communion
regulars either having to send a family member out to pick it up, or spending
the service worrying about it. It also means that most folk do a runner for the
door as soon as the service is over.
The last thing we want to be doing as a church is putting barriers
between people and Christ. And so, from tomorrow, the church will meet at new
times. The Communion service will take place at 9am and the family service at
10am, allowing us some important fellowship time together afterwards as a
church community, and giving people plenty of time to get lunch. Additionally,
‘Sunday School’, from the beginning of the school year in February, will take
place on Saturday afternoons.
It’ll take the church a while to get used to, particularly as
Bolivians are not punctual people, but we’re really looking forward to the new
opportunities this will give us to impact our community. We’ll let you know
next week how Week 1 went.
Prayer
- For a smooth adjustment to the new church schedule.
- For Craig as he preaches this Sunday on John 15:9-17.
- For the opportunity to bring in 2012 together as a church.
- For the Lord’s provision to us in various small ways this week.
¡Que Dios les bendiga!
Craig & Amanda
We have been here 5 years and we're STILL adjusting to the meeting schedules as they're vastly different from what we grew up with ... sad, eh?
ReplyDeleteWould it work for you to do a lunch every Sunday to encourage extended fellowship?
Our chapel does a meal every Wednesday night (which is both Awana and prayer meeting night) and it's been a fantastic way to grow closer to people... food has a great way of bonding people :)