YCE News

Sunday, January 10, 2010

We started today with a powerful service at the church in Papantla, about 30 minutes from the hotel and orphanage, of which Brother Omar is now pastoring.  We were all warmly welcomed, despite the unusually cold weather, and started off with some vibrant worship in both English and Spanish.  Dave sang the English verses alongside Elias Jr, Jesse, and Obed, who provided tremendous music and the Spanish verses. There were also some fresh-faced young ladies playing tambourines and honoring God with choreographed dance.  Brother Tony gave a brief but poignant message about how our plans are not necessarily the plans that God has for us.  Just as Mary and Joseph faced an unexpected pregnancy and the judgement of their community because they were not yet married, we too may worry about our own life circumstances and what people may think of us.  But God just might be preparing you today for what He has prepared for you in the future!  Later, the Millers from Cleveland Ohio blessed us with a song, and three other team members from South Carolina, North Carolina, and Ohio performed a drama to Spanish music.    Brother Brian then shared another powerful message from Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say in response to this, if God be for us, who shall be against us?”  Through his teaching we learned that where ever we go, we have God before us, Jesus at our side, the holy spirit within us, goodness and mercy following us and angels surrounding us.  The message truly moved us all.  At the close of the service we saw numerous people respond to the alter call and many more come up to assist in prayer, as the barriers of language were washed away by His living water.

As we left the church, our bus ended up getting stuck in the mud and what seemed like a damper to the amazing service we had just finished ended up becoming another opportunity for fellowship and comradery.  Many of the community members and members of the church congregation responded to our need and worked together to help get the bus unstuck.

We had another delicious meal at Enrique’s and then were off to the orphanage for the quinceanera and the purity service.  Despite the fact that we had 11 suitcases still missing from all the travel delays, we still managed to bring together the items we needed to present at the two services. First we celebrated the rite of passage from girlhood to womanhood with four of the 15-year old girls at Casa Hogar.  All of them really looked beautiful with their elegant dresses, heels, and tiaras.  After presenting them with a bible and kneeling pillow, the girls danced with Pastor Elias and others sharing in the celebration.  For the purity service, we saw most, if not all of the teens at the orphanage publicly commit themselves to sexual abstinence until marriage.  A sponsor presented each teen with a ring to wear on their left ring finger, not to be removed until it is replaced with a wedding band, to signify their commitment to God and to themselves.  The evening ended with a delicious meal of lamb (”birria”) prepared for us by the women of Casa Hogar.

We are now preparing the gifts for our young children’s Christmas party tomorrow.

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