Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Revival in Pedregales


Last week our Bible Methodist church in Pedregales celebrated their 16th anniversary with a set of special services in their brand new church building. Marc was invited to preach the revival and our family was invited to sing. We preached and sang in this same revival last year, but a big difference is that Marc preached in Spanish this year! He did a great job - I was so proud of him. There were altar services every night, with people earnestly seeking the Lord. The boys helped us sing and I played the piano in the services. The pastor and people had worked so hard getting this new church building ready and it looks beautiful. They were still putting in windows and electric during the days of the revival.

Another challenge for me was that the pastor, Bro. Manuel, asked me to have children's services on the weekend. He had asked me last year but I for sure wasn't ready. I didn't feel ready this year, but felt like I should accept and say yes; on one condition, if my good friend Isela would help me. She agreed and we had services for the kids on Saturday and Sunday nights. I was nervous, but the Lord helped me do my part.



We enjoyed good meals with the pastor and people during the week and on Sunday, I decided that I needed a cooking lesson. So I went into the little lean-to where the ladies were cooking the carne guisada (meat and gravy), sat down in a chair and started asking, "What is this?" "How are you cooking that?" "What kind of spice is that?", etc. The smoke from the wood fires they were cooking with burned my eyes but the smiles on the ladies' faces made up for it. They just chattered away, showing and teaching me and I loved it. I also helped them serve the plates for the guests until they realized what I was doing and quickly insisted that I sit down and eat with the guests. Proper protocol for meal serving is a big deal here.

My boys had fun running around and getting filthy. They played, renewed acquaintances with friends, and even taught some English to a few of their friends who were asking.




The crowds were too big for the church on Saturday and Sunday nights. People were standing and sitting outside, looking in the windows, etc. There was respresentation from many of our other Bible Methodist Churches and pastors in Mexico as well as the HIM church here in Salamanca and pastors, Philip and Collette Burch. Community people also attended the revival and we were blessed to visit with 2 Catholic ladies who had come to one of the services. They were commenting on Marc's message and had lots of questions about who we are as a church. They told Marc that they had never understood some things about the Bible until they had heard his message that night and thanked him for the truth he had preached to them. Those moments make it all worthwhile.





Singing: There were lots of different groups and people that also provided special music for the revival. We enjoyed it all.





It was a busy and challenging week, but also very rewarding, too. Now to get these boys done with homeschool this week and get ready for the company coming on the weekend. But that's a topic for another post.....

9 comments:

Eric said...

Glad to hear all the good reports. We are thinking and praying for you all. Keep up the great work! God Bless.

Janella said...

Oh I would have loved to be there! Sounds like it was very busy and fun! I'm glad you did the childrens' services! Your do a great job! Miss you! Love, Janella

The Dickinsons said...

Great hearing about the revival...and yes those questions, and the comments on realizing more truths about the Bible, etc. do make all of our struggles worth while. I'm proud of you for helping do the Children's services...that is great. The church building looked nice, and so happy that Marc can preach in Spanish this year. Isn't it fun hearing our men preach in another language? All in all, it's fun knowing a second language and meeting a whole new group of God's people on the other side of the globe. Heaven will be rich, with Christians from every land. Enjoyed the report and the pics! Thanks for sharing!
Yes, Colombia seems to have a "holiday" every other week...I think it's a latin American thing. =)

Love, Heather =)

Springer Family said...

The pictures were great! Seeing them & reading your post just made me more homesick to be down there! I would be nervous about the children's services too - I'm glad you did it! :-) Thanks too, for all the comments! :-)

The Going Blog said...

Doing the children's service would be daunting alone but you did it in Spanish, I assume. You go girl :) I went back to your friend post to get a mental picture of Isela. Do you live near each other?

Myranda said...

You are awesome, Mel! Can't believe you agreed to those children's services. Proud of you. I'm sure you did a great job. LOVE LOVE all the pics. Keep them coming.

I love you!

sankey family said...

Martha, both our families live here in Salamanca. We live about 10-15 minutes apart - so we get to see each other alot and spend time together. She's an awesome friend.

Melodie

sarahmfry said...

Wow. This is all so exciting to me. I LOVE seeing pictures of you in your new world - teaching in Spanish!

The website is being neglected right now, but please send me your latest article anyway, so that I'll have it when I do get a chance to spend some website time.

Lavy Country said...

I'm glad you have those moments that let you see what a difference you're making. It must help so much. I know you all are loved -- you can see it in the pictures.
Love, Wilma