New Jerusalem

Sunday was our first full day in Guatemala City and we went to New Jerusalem Baptist Church for worship. I didn’t know what to expect because I had never attended a worship service in another country before. JT has an established relationship with Pastor Morales and his congregation so they knew we would be there but we clearly stood out. Everyone was so warm and welcomed us into their church. It made me wonder whether or not we are as welcoming to the visitors in our churches. In larger churches it is hard to distinguish who the guests are sometimes but that just means we need to be warm and welcoming to whomever we come in contact with, visitor or not.

The first song we sang was “Vengo A Adorarte” (Hear I Am to Worship). Thankfully they had a projection screen with the Spanish words so I was somewhat able to sing along. It was one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. I was a little emotional because I thought about how my faith family in the US could be singing the very same song at that moment in English. It made me realize how united we are as the body of Christ even when languages and space separate us. We sing the same songs and praise the same God. It also gave me a glimpse of heaven when ever nation, tribe, people and language will stand before the throne and in front of the Lamb (Rev. 7: 9)

We also sang “Open the Eyes of My Heart” in Spanish, too. That was beautiful, as well. And my favorite was “Eres TodoPoderoso” I’m not sure if there is an English version of that song but I like it just fine in Spanish. I downloaded it from itunes and have been practicing it!

The service was longer than most US services but no one checked their watches or looked antsy for it to end. I didn’t realize it was long since I’m used to that at Brook Hills. Pastor Morales gave a good message and thankfully Patty and Wendy interpreted for us!

I will never forget my first worship experience outside the US. In the past when I have traveled overseas I have never taken the time to attend a church service so this was a special treat. Our team did VBS at New Jerusalem Baptist Monday and Tuesday. There were over 500 kids over the course of two days bused in from local schools to attend VBS and we served alongside the people of New Jerusalem ministering to these children…..more to come on VBS later.