Domingo Bendiciónes

Sunday Blessings! What a wonderful experience it was to worship this Sunday with two different local churches. The common bond we have in Christ with believers from a different land, a different culture, and a different language was truly a blessing. We were able to celebrate both of the church ordinances (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper) with the believers here.

In the morning, most of our team went to Sunday School at Iglesia Centros Biblicos (Central Bible Church) in Paysandu. We joined with the youth and adults in a Sunday School class. Zach Haese shared his testimony. The lesson was taught by Coach Dennis Scott and interpreted by Caleb Salsman. Two members of our team (Andy Gibbons and Timothy Legg) were asked to stay at the camp to help prepare for an early afternoon baptismal service for the church from Salto (1 ½ hours north of Paysandu). The church in Salto does not have a baptismal tank so they use the “kiddie pool” at the camp. Andy and Tim helped Jorge (the camp custodian, maintenance man, and cook) build a large fire to heat the water that would be used to warm the baptismal water.

For lunch we had an amazing selection of meat cooked over a large wood fire along with salads and other special dishes. We shared this meal with the church members from Salto and enjoyed fellowshipping with them. After the meal, final preparations were made for the baptismal service. Two young ladies were baptized by missionary Andrew Thompson, a Northland graduate. It was a blessing to have a small part in the preparation of this special day for these young believers. It was also very special to see the members of the church at Salto rejoicing in this step of obedience by them.

In Uruguay, the evening service is the “main” Sunday service of the day. This service would be comparable to our Sunday morning service. We enjoyed participating in the Lord’s Supper with the church in Paysandu. Paul Johns shared his testimony (in Spanish) and Coach Andrew Scott preached the evening message in preparation for communion. Caleb Salsman again did the interpreting. Coach Andrew preached a message from Ephesians 2 contrasting our condition before salvation with our position in Christ once we have been saved. We were dead before, but now we are alive. We were slaves before, but now we are sons of God. We were under the wrath of God before, but now we enjoying the blessings of God’s love, mercy, grace and kindness.

Our MVP of the day was Jason Lorch (Most Valuable Piano-player). Just a minute or two before the evening service began, he was asked, by the pastor’s wife, to play the piano for the congregational singing. It came as a surprise to Jason, but he did a great job accompanying for the singing. Evidently musical notes are the same in any language. : ) Jason also played an impromptu offertory.

After the Sunday evening service we walked to downtown Paysandu to go to an Internet café so the guys could e-mail and communicate to everyone back home. Unfortunately, all of the computers were full. There are only about 12 computers at each of the two cafés we checked out. We had stopped by earlier in the day (before Sunday School), but both of them were closed then. We are finding it difficult to get internet access for everyone, but hope that you are following this blog to keep up with information about our trip.

Team Testimony from Paul Johns:
Today is August 8th. So far, we have been in Uruguay for just over 2 days. As our relationship with the people of Uruguay grows, so does the desire for our English-only speakers to have the ability to speak Spanish; not only is that the case, but many of the Uruguayans are trying to learn English as well. This was our first Sunday here, so it was also the first opportunity we have had to be in the church here in Paysandu.

In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to fellowship with fellow believers from Salto as they had a baptism service here at the campgrounds. It was quite an adventure getting warm water for the baptism as hot water here is limited, especially when it is winter, and the temperature is only in the 40s. A few of our guys were manning the fire for hours as we heated water over an open fire.

In the evening, we went to church again. Here, the Sunday night service is the main service for the day. I had the opportunity to share my testimony with the church. After church we were walking around downtown Paysandu looking for a Cyber Café where we could check our emails and such, but all of them were full, so we settled for a nice little stroll around neighborhood in the cities.

God has taught me so much on this trip in such a little amount of time. When you go to a foreign country, one of your first thoughts is that every aspect of everything you do is 180 degrees of what you expect. Sure, there are differences that we have with the people here, but there are also many bonds that we share with the people here.

In church today we had the opportunity to witness a baptism service, and take part in a communion service, both of which were similar to what we have in the U.S. The lives we live in the U.S. and in Uruguay may be different in many ways, but all humans have many of the same needs, both physically, and more importantly spiritually. I am excited for the remainder of the trip, and I am excited to see how God will use this team to glorify Him through the game of soccer and through the relationships that we build with the people here.

Paul Johns