Praise, Worship and Rain
Day 2: Nov. 4, 2018
As we awakened to our first day here at Pura Vida, God was just finishing lifting the blanket of fog outside. The quiet neighborhood was just beginning to stir under a cloud-dotted sky to what appears to be a day promising sunshine.
The tradition here is to circle up after breakfast for a few moments of prayer and scripture, after which we have “TAG” (Time Alone with God) Time. In the silence of the mission house, we each sat with our Bibles, our journals, and the guide provided by Pura Vida, and had our own personal dialogue with God. Afterward, we headed to worship in the community of Linda Vista, where we will also be working with the children this week.
The humble church building had no markings on the outside identifying it as a house of worship, but from the first moment we stepped inside, it was clear that God was present and worshiped here. We were welcomed with smiles, hugs, and blessings by the pastor and his wife as we entered into their sanctuary — one room with a few dozen simple pews, a beautiful, wooden lectern in front and a small table on which sat the sound system. There were no hymnals in the pews — and none were needed by the congregation — and the only Bibles present were those well-worn ones that had been carried in by the parishioners. This simple setting came to life with music, praise, dancing and joy as the service began. Listening to the music was inspiring and uplifting, but I also was moved by the mumbled prayers of the worshipers that filled in the short silences between the songs. The energy and enthusiasm for praising God was infectious and we swayed and clapped and responded with “Hallelujah ” and “Amen” when appropriate.
Prior to Pastor Carlos’ message, the children were taken to a neighboring room for their lesson. Since the walls between the rooms did not reach the ceiling, the chatter of children was heard while he spoke, but he needed no amplification to be heard. After a while, the children’s chatter ceased to be a distraction as we listened to his passion for the Lord, which came across loud and clear. Reminding us of the presence of Satan among us and the need to stay vigilant, you would have thought he knew our lesson plan for the week — “The Armor of God.” He spoke from his heart, referred to the Bible as a “menu for life” and challenged us to consider just how we are preparing for Christ’s return. As he said, “When your eyes are on heaven, they cannot be on the world.” I would hope that our week here will be, for all of us, a part of our personal preparation.
As we headed back to the mission house for lunch, the bus pulled over at one point to let one of the young staff volunteers step off. We were puzzled at first as the bus slowly inched forward with this young man observing from alongside. Then we looked overhead. You see, when this community was built it was not wired with electricity. Rather than do without, the residents have tapped into the nearby electric sources, stringing wires like a crazy grid between houses and across streets. The reason for our slow-down today was that the bus driver was concerned that the bus would not clear under the wires overhanging the street. (Yes, we made it!)
And while the day did start with sunshine, it didn’t last for the entire day. Around lunchtime, we could tell that rain was definitely on its way — but we had all come prepared. As we packed our supplies to return to the same church for our Bible class with the children, we made sure to throw in our rain gear and ponchos. This turned out to be a very good decision. We were fortunate that the real rain did not start until we were back inside the church, and it pounded on the tin roof while we played with the children and began our instruction on “The Armor of God.” As our lessons came to an end and we prepared to leave, our supplies, made of poster board and cardboard and packed into fabric bags, would have suffered greatly without the protection of these ponchos as we made our way across the yard to our bus. The bus filled quickly with dripping missionaries, some of the children who we would drop off on our way out, and all of our supplies — safe and dry.
