Great Night

I went to the Wed. evening Bile Study at La Iglesia del Camino and what an evening.  The Bible study is called Cuerpo y Alma-Body and Soul, and consists of a potluck dinner followed by Bible study.  I was expecting maybe 12 or so people (thinking about Bible study in the States; to my surprise there were probably between 60 and 80 people there.  The evening started wiht the praise team leading worship and while they sang (with words projected in English & Spanish) people were served buffet style.  The team continued to play as people were eating.  After dinner, people were asked to work as a group at their tables on the Bible study question that were on a handout.  After working in small groups for about 45 minutes, there was large group sharing of the responses.  It was only a sharing out with no opportunity for folks to respond to what others had said, and the pastor indicated whether or not the responses were the "correct" answers.  As with everything else in the church, the Bible study was also bilingual.  The whole evening lasted about two hours, but afterwards people hung around chatting.  I met a woman who invited me to another gathering that meets every Thursday evening, so I will attend that tomorrow.

The blessings of the evening were several.  First the ability to gather with other Christians and study the Word.  The second was the dinner itself.  It was quite good, but it also will provide me with a very good meal once each week at the time when my funds are low and I can't afford to buy too much for preparing meals at home.  The other blessing was the opportunity to meet some Christians and have some fellowship with like-minded people, something that does not happen when I am interacting with the other volunteers.  In fact, I don't attend any of the social gatherings for the volunteers because they are usually focused on drinking and talk how drunk they got  or how late they stayed out.  Just not my thing.

On Saturday the church is hosting a fiesta in celebration of Mother's day, but it will be a celebration for all women.  It will include a time of praise, teaching, music, Hebrew dancing and "more."  I have invited some women I know and am looking forward to the time.

Although my time here in Guatemala is almost over, I am thankful to God for providing this Christian community for my last few weeks here.

Hasta Luego