Nochebuena, 2012 (Christmas Eve)

Dec. 24 found me at church at 4:00 to help prepare for the Christmas Eve service which was to start at 5 pm.  The children were presenting a drama, and we needed to get them in costume and practice once more before we started.

The adults were enjoying "ponche" (a juice based punch filled with dried and fresh fruit) and cookies in the cafe.  In fact, they were enjoying the preservice celebration so much that, in true Guatemalan tradition, we didn't start the service until 5:30.  That was good for Dick, though, since he was running late trying to collect all the boys and almost had decided to stay home.  A call from our friend Daryl Fulp encouraged him to still come in, and he really wasn't that late afterall!

Pastor Antonio (with his daughter Sophia) and Pastor Giovanni, our Celebrate Recovery Pastor

I was never so proud to be a member of Iglesia del Camino (Church of the Way) as I was this night.  Our lead pastor, Mike Watkins, pretty much stepped aside for most of the service and turned the major part of the evening over to our Guatemala staff. I know few pastors who are willing to give up their pulpit time to another, and this is the second time I've seem Mike do this on a major holiday, as well as frequently having Antonio and Giovanni (our two Guatemalan pastors who are seminary trained as well as ordained) preach throughout the year.

Maria Dolores, our Children's Director whom I serve with, had written a skit for the kids to present.  The skit dealt with the struggle of many Guatemala children whose families are too poor to provide even a small gift for them.  The drama pointed them to the real gift of Christmas, the coming of Our Savior to live with us, and invited them to commit their lives to following Him.

This little girl had a hard time keeping her place, often running over to me for a quick hug and then going back to the group.  As I watched her, I couldn't help but think of the children's book, The Littlest Angel.  She's such a doll!

 At the end of the service Pastor Mike announce that eight of our children had prayed with Maria Dolores to ask Jesus into their lives.  What a blessing, especially since I know Maria Dolores will follow up with discipling these children.

After the children sang a few carols, two members of our congregation gave their testimonies.

 One was a member of our Celebrate Recovery group, who shared his story of how the love of Christ and the support of this community helped him not only find sobriety, but a job and a home.

The second was one of our musicians who recently had open heart surgery.  He shared with us how God had miraculously provided the thousands of dollars he needed for his care.  This may sound a bit strange for a Christmas service, but the whole point was that Jesus' coming makes a difference.  As Pastor Mike enthusiastically reminded us throughout the night, LOVE HAS COME, we need only to accept it.

We closed the service with the most appropriate celebration of this love, the Lord's Supper, followed by a candlelight presentation of the hymn Light of the World.  In all we were at church more than two-and-a-half hours, but it really didn't seem that long.  We had experienced first hand the Light of the World, and the Love of the Father.

After our Christmas Eve celebration at church, Dick, 12 of the boys, and I headed over to my house for our first Christmas Eve dinner.  The boys had voted that they wanted hamburgers for supper tonight, so Linda Hardee, who is staying with me along with her husband Scott, helped me dish up and fry burgers.

Scott praying the blessing

The menu was simple; hamburgers, chips, cabbage salad, and condiments (including dill pickles which I had managed to find at WalMart in Guatemala City--yeah!), followed by cookies.  Not what I would probably have chosen, but the boys were full and content.

Dick then presented each of the boys with a small Christmas gift, and Esbin served as the spokesman for the group, as he gave me a blender from them all.

One of the blessings of this house has been my ability to "entertain" the boys here.  They sometimes come over after Youth Group on Friday nights, even sleeping over a few times.  We can also come back here on Sunday after church, to visit and talk about what had been taught in church that morning.  The boys say they get more out of this small group discussion than they do from just listening to the sermon.  It humbles and blesses my heart at these times to hear them share what God is doing in each of their lives.  It amazes me how willing most of them are to share in a more intimate setting, and I am honored we can provide a space for this through our house.  God is already using this place beyond what I would have expected.  But, then, isn't that just like Him?