This past week, I was part of an encounter between a Canadian congregation and five Nicaraguan congregations. A group of seven people from up north visited for a week, and they spent a day with each of the pastoral couples who are part of the church friendship in León. Two of the pastoral couples have two congregations under their wing, thus the five congregations. We visited the elderly, discussed church structure and liturgy, made greeting cards, participated in a quarterly evaluation of church programs, toured a school, and got to know the different congregations. We also had an outing with the pastoral families and the group to Estelí where we enjoyed walking through the woods, a beautiful view, petting some goats, a delicious dinner, and an hour's worth of joke telling (translated by yours truly). It was a great week.
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| Team members in their t-shirts |
To welcome the group, the churches held a combined worship service. The hosting church had made t-shirts for the seven team members and the other pastoral couples with Canadian and Nicaraguan flags on the front and a verse from Psalm 133 on the back, "How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony." The hosting pastor welcomed everyone, one pastor read the Bible, another prayed for the offering, and another preached. People from the four different churches prayed and sang and worshiped God together. As I participated in a service with all my León friendship churches at once, I was overcome with emotion. All of these churches, Nicaraguan and Canadian, are important to me. The pastors are like my own pastors, and I really enjoy my meetings with them. Usually I am a go-between with the churches, but last week I didn't have to be a link because everyone was together.
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| Pastors across the aisle in their t-shirts |
As we sang together, I was filled with joy and wonder for the body of Christ. Worshiping among the different congregations, I realized that I was experiencing heaven, like when it says in Revelation 7:9 "After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb." This past week with the team and the León pastors was a taste of heaven. Different nations and languages, adoring God together through worship, times of fun, and service to others. These moments are the reason that I serve as the coordinator of church friendships in Nicaragua. I love getting to know the churches, praying with the pastors, and translating their messages to and from each other year round, but these team visits are the high points (although also the most exhausting times) of these friendships. They make me see heaven.
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| After the combined service, we took handprints to send back to Canada |
I hope that wherever you are, whatever you are doing, you get to witness glimpses of heaven this week too.
