Iglesia en Huanuco

Church is quite the experience here in Huanuco...  

We always ask people to show up at 3, so that we can start church on time at 5, with the hopes of getting people out the door before it is pitch black. Well, I have seen people show up at 4 twice, but never leave before dark. With luck, church does normally start around 5, just always goes longer than an hour. Ah well, no one complains about it. Once they're here, I think they enjoy themselves and lose track of time (if they really ever kept track of it..?). 

Last weekend, Melissa and I got the living room cleaned up and set up for church. Then, we waited and waited some more. Then asked Carolina and Orlando if we should start and they said they were coming, so we waited some more. Then, we asked Eynor, and he said we should start at 5:30. So we waited some more. Maybe around 5:40 we actually got started. Phew! 

Eynor helped me plan the service. The theme was something along the lines of "part bread together." He gave the introduction and I taught them about popcorn prayer. Nice to switch things up. :) 

Once we got a few songs in, Noel, Henry, and Vanesa showed up. Hey, they did want to come! But I digress, the music is worth mentioning. People say that music is the universal language. Even if you can't understand the words, you can feel the meaning and sentiment. I think that needs to be qualified a little - music that has rhythm and melody is a universal language. Here in Huanuco, we sorely lack those two things and oh so much more. I don't know how to play the tamborine, but I can keep a beat. At least I thought I could until Yimi took it away from me and decided someone else would be better suited to the job. Also, those who don't have the tamborine clap along to the song, or try to. Some clap loudly. Some half-heartedly clap. Some pretend to clap. Then there is the whole singing notes thing. No one has a particularly good singing voice, so everyone sings quietly, so as to not really be heard. Except for Orlando, who sings with gusto and however he likes. So, without the tamborine keeping a beat, no one can keep a beat to clap along with, and the singing just fits in wherever we remember how the song goes. It is the chorus of chaos and it makes my heart smile (and sometimes I can't stifle the giggle that follows).

As it was the first Sunday, we did communion. We didn't think to get some purple colored juice, so we just used Cifrut - a tasty alternative. 

Anyway, Melissa shared the message for us from Luke 24:13-35, about the two guys walking to Emaus who started telling this guy about the story of Jesus, and said guy ended up being Jesus.

Offertory here is another awkward moment, so instead of just making it about the money, we did an activity and had people write down something they could do to be more aware of God's presence in their daily lives. I'm always curious if people actually remember what they write and go through with it. It's the thought that counts. 

Finally, Henry closed the service with a benediction. I'm not sure exactly what time we ended, but despite our hang ups and curiosities of our little gathering, there was a lot of spirit and it just felt good to be sharing together. 

It was our last church service with Yimi. He left on Tuesday to head to Lima to find out where he will be working next. 

This weekend, plans are sort of up in the air for Mother's Day. All the moms have assorted plans, so I'm not sure how we'll get them all together to do something special for them. We'll see what happens. 

~nos vemos~