Monday, June 1, 2009

Sunday in Antigua

What a beautiful, Sunday morning here in Antigua Guatemala!  I walked outside to clear views of all three volcanoes.  I could see the tree lines and the new rock that is being formed daily by the eruptions. 

 Yesterday, we met up with Scott, Melissa, and Madi Davis in the Central Park so that we could all walk together to church.  They attend an evangelical church about 3 blocks off the square.  I am here to tell you that it was another “coincidental” moment for us.  When we got to the corner of the block where the church is located, Melissa introduced us to her friend, Brandon.  Brandon is the director of a school right outside of town.  He is from Texas originally.  Kristin noticed that he was carrying a bible with a Young Life logo on it.  So naturally, our YL conversation created an instant connection.  We are excited to check out his school and ministry while we are here.  Oh, and Mac LOVED Brandon from the start!  J

Worship had already begun as we took our seats.  One of the songs we sang during worship was a song written by a friend of ours who lives in Nashville.  We sang it in English and Spanish and I noticed that there were a couple of people in the front row using sign language.  As a musician and writer, my hope is that my music would be heard by as many people that will listen and not only just listen, but be inspired, moved, changed, etc. I stood there and listened as the voices and hands of the congregation blended both harmony and language into a beautiful masterpiece.  A glimpse of heaven anyone?

Part of the sermon time was a “spotlight on ministry”.  The ministry to be spotlighted today… the deaf ministry.  Hmmm.  After the service, I introduced myself to Gustavo who heads up the deaf ministry for the church.  Let me pause right here and say, that I have struggled the most with the language barrier. Most of my Spanish-speaking conversations consist of:  “Hello, My name is Darrell.  What is your name?  How are you?  I am fine.”  And then it gets complicated unless the other person can speak English.  The amazing thing about my conversation with Gustavo is that he is full Guatemalan and was taught sign language by Spanish speakers. But since he uses Guatemalan Sign Language (which is very similar in structure and grammar to American Sign Language with subtle differences), we were able to communicate clearly with each other.  He and I both noted in our conversation that it was really cool how this works.  I am still amazed by it.

After church, we walked a couple of blocks down the street to a great bakery/restaurant.  Scott, Melissa, Madi, and Brandon joined us, as well as some new friends we made that morning at church.  The degree in which we were all able to engage with one another was remarkable.  It seemed like we were all old friends, just back from summer hiatus, catching up with each other.  There was even a huge fish tank full of piranha that the kids went nuts over.

I love how our “being” here allows us to walk into situations fully anticipating and watchful of how God is speaking to our little family.  


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

really grateful for what God is doing in and through you as you "show up" and be with people.

prayers for you...
Jason