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.....