In Belmopan, we met up with the Maya Mopan Church of the Nazarene and followed their bus along a long, winding bumpy, dusty, bumpy, winding, bumpy road to a vacant lot. This used to be the location of the church of the Nazarene in this village in the Cayo District, called Valley of Peace. All that remains now, after a family that had lived there moved out, are several concrete pillars, a very broken thin concrete floor and a lot of trash. Undaunted, the people from the church spilled out of their bus and began to work. Some setting up the sound system, some gathering large rocks and firewood, to cook the lunch we would eventually enjoy. Others scoured the grounds and created some make shift benches. A number of children attacked a Golden Plum tree with glee. It was like watching a pinata being broken open, as they would throw sticks high up into the tree so that when one 'scored' and knocked loose some of the fruit, children would quickly run to collect the treasures!
During the service, Pastor Tiul revealed a remnant of the former church. This was all that was really left to show that anything remained of the once living church. He brought out a metal sign with the Nazarene logo on it. In Spanish, this aged sign still carried the declaration of Iglesia del Nazareno, Sanctidad o Jehova. Pastor Tiul wept as he shared its discovery. My minimal Spanish was not enough to understand all his words, but my heart understood his heart quite clearly! It was a very moving moment.
The Lord spoke into my heart this verse, "Once again, it will take root below and bear fruit above."
This former church WILL rise again from the ruins to become a place where the lost can find their way. In addition to the busload of church people who came to help restart this church, a few from the village of Valley of Peace made a cautious return visit. Several young men came by on their bicycles, creating an impromptu gathering there in the road.
As we met under the shade of a tree, we sang, prayed, testified, preached and worshipped - all to the Glory of God, who is able to do exeedingly, abundantly beyond all that we can ask or imagine. Pray for this restart church in Valley of Peace.
Next stop, rush back down to where we live in Stann Creek District. We got back just in time to hurry to Hope Creek. This was to be the first of our Bible Story Telling times to help establish a new church here. To be brutally honest, I found myself very challenged as everyone was culturally late. Those who made it were far fewer in number than I had expected. Some of the young children that came with their mothers were SO distracting that the two mothers took their crying, squabbling toddlers and left. To their credit and my appreciation, they did come back again later. Discussion seem awkward and felt a lot like pulling teeth. In actuality, it probably went better than I thought but I had such high hopes for Hope Creek that I could not fight off my disappointments.
I found out later that there were 2 major events competing against us at that very same time. A Billiards Tournament just down the street and in the park across from that - a futbol (soccer) marathon. A quick glance down the street confirmed that most of the men of the village were there instead of joining this Bible session.
A dozen of the 14 did stay, mostly women ( I didn't count all the ninos and ninas running around). We discussed the story of Zaccheus and saw how God already knows our name and is looking for each one of us. PRAY that this holds true and becomes a personal reality for many new people in Hope Creek!
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