This summer started with a rather different twist for me. Little did I know how different this summer would be from previous ones. For starters, I was going to the Reynosa project as a camp speaker. I have been to the Reynosa project countless times but never as just the camp speaker. It was a very educational experience for me as I learned more about speaking to an interdenominational group. We had 4 different churches represented that week. God spoke to me about how his body functions and how we can grow as we serve Him. The next week I was off to Honduras to oversee a project of home building. The biggest glitch I faced here was that the airport in Tegucigalpa was closed due to an airplane accident at the end of May. That meant that all international flights were to arrive in San Pedro Sula, 4 hours away. Logistically it was difficult to transport the groups but as always God is faithful. He even has bus companies at his disposal. We were able to build 3 houses, have a medical clinic and do Children’s Bible school during the course of our week. I learned during the week that no matter how much planning and preparation we do, God is in control. Life WILL throw us a curve ball but it will never catch Him off guard and boy am I thankful for that! The Honduras trip was different this year but different proved to be good! After Honduras I packed my bags and headed to the Dominican Republic.
It’s a beautiful country with extremely friendly people. Our project here over the last 2 years has been church construction. We have partnered with some local churches to help them along in their building process. Our groups come ready to mix cement, carry blocks and worship as they do it. This year was no different. I had a very intense learning experience here.
Our groups travel schedule was such that we were able to go to church on Sunday morning. We went to visit my friend, Pastor Juan Ortiz. He is Haitian but has lived in the DR long enough to be very fluent in Spanish. He pastors in a rough neighborhood in a community where Haitians and Dominicans don’t always get along very well. I had given Pastor Juan advance notice about our group coming so he would be prepared. Wow, were they ever prepared. They had decorated the church for our arrival. They had put up streamers and had some hand-made signs on the wall to welcome us. As the service began I realized it was my turn to experience
some pretty intense cultural differences. The service was in Creole. I hadn’t thought about not being able to understand the service. As the service proceeded I remember feeling a little lost and a lot confused. As I listened to the music it seemed off key and the lyrics didn’t really flow. Then one young man broke out a keyboard. It was a small portable type like we might buy for
a child just beginning to play. As he played I noticed the keyboard only worked on about every third note. It was rather distracting to me. I began to get critical of their worship service and hoped my team wasn’t as distracted as I was. I closed my eyes and tried to think about God and giving Him the upcoming week. But my mind kept drifting back to the sound of the music and
how off key and pitch it was. As I struggled with their worship style and sound I heard a small voice whisper to me, “What if their worship service is part of a larger worship service?” The thought weighed heavily on me. What if we were just a small part of a much larger worship
ensemble that God had orchestrated? What if the keys and pitches they were missing were right in tune with this other larger service? And the keyboard, what if it was perfectly in sync with this larger service? And this larger service, what if it was bigger than the community we were in? Bigger than the DR? Bigger than the Caribbean? Bigger than the U.S.? These thoughts flooded my mind as I sat there realizing I’d just been taught a life lesson by God. Worship is something that God uses in His own way for His own purpose and for His glory. As I sat there realizing I’d just been schooled by the Holy Spirit I noticed a pause in the service. Unbeknownst to me Pastor Juan was waiting for me to come up and preach the Sunday morning message…..
(What a great life lesson!)
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