Guatemala Campaign: Day 9...Worship with the saints in Guatemala.

Translation: The church of Christ Meets here.

Day 9.  Sunday March 20th, 2011.  Today was the Lord's Day as it was where you the reader were.  Today was another day I was looking forward to while here in Guatemala, another day of worship with the saints. Oh and by the way all in Spanish. :-)

This morning we worshipped at the Linda Vista congregation (pictured above).  Linda Vista is actually not within Guatemala City but in a little community called Villanueva located just outside the city.  On the way to services we detoured and drove past what is known as the mega temple.  The mega temple is a Pentecostal church building that holds up to 12000 people and has parking for about 16000 cars according to one of the ITL students, Benjamin.  After this detour, we went to services. 

Not sure if I have mentioned it but worship is handled differently here than what most of us are used to in the States.  At Linda Vista, they have worship first then Bible class.  I preached my second sermon in Spanish on Philippians 2:1-11 talking about being humble and serving others this morning with Byron serving as translator for the guys.  Had an issue with the mic though because I needed one hand to hold my Bible and another to speak with.  I had to stand close to the mic which was handheld but as a result Byron was unable to hear the whole thing to translate.  However, my message did get across and I received encouraging compliments.  Tony handled the adult Bible class and Jared handled the Teen Bible class.  I translated Jared's class.  It was really good as he followed up my sermon with a lesson on how we can put service into practice in our lives for the teens.   After service, we had a good lunch at a member's home and returned to our hotel for some afternoon R & R before evening service. 

Evening service went really well.  Jordan preached a sermon called Christianity Made Simple from Ephesians 2:1-10.  I translated for Jordan as well. The translation went well because I put into practice some pointers that Byron gave me to be an effective translator.  He told me do not only translate the words but also use the same tone of voice and body language that the speaker is using to make the message that much more effective. Even my peers, Tony and Jared noticed much improvement in this area. I was happy about that.  At the end of the sermon, this would bring our campaign to its official close. After evening services, we all went to a popular Guatemalan chain called Pollo Campero, a KFC type chicken restaurant.  We had a good meal with Jonathan, a relatively new convert, Benjamin and Anibal the preacher at Linda Vista along with Hi and Byron.  We returned to the hotel to prepare to fly out at noon on Monday back to Denver.  

On a final note, in addition to all this I got to celebrate my 27th birthday (Today) here in Guatemala. I wish to thank all who texted me and/or posted on my Facebook wall wishing me a Happy Birthday. I could not have asked for a better way to celebrate my birthday then being reminded of how loved I am and being humbled to know I have touched so many lives in so many ways. I am also happy to have celebrated my 27th worshipping with Hi, Byron, and all the saints at Linda Vista.  Safe to say I have fallen in love with Guatemala and the people here and pray I can return for a visit sometime in the near future. 

THANK YOU FOR READING EVERYONE!!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH AND TOMORROW I WILL BE POSTING MY CONCLUDING BLOG IN THIS SERIES WITH SOME FINAL THOUGHTS REGARDING THE BVBID GUATEMALA CAMPAIGN OF 2011!!! LOVE Y'ALL!!! GOD BLESS!!!