Day 18 - Church and Water Heaters

Church and Water Heaters

Saturday morning, I walked around my neighborhood taking pictures of various things to use in this week’s blogs.  It was cold and it was windy.  I was out of the house from 9:00 till probably around 1:00, maybe later.  I didn’t notice right away, but my water heater stopped working.  I went through my day writing blogs, cooking, washing dishes, and cleaning the house a little, not knowing what happened.  Around 9:00, I was washing dinner dishes and noticed the water was not getting hot. 

It was still cold outside.  In Bolivia, I have never seen indoor heating.  It doesn’t get cold enough for it.  Maybe a few days this time a year it is cold, but is only in the 50s.  But still, that is an uncomfortable shower.

I tried reading the instructions, but something I was not doing right.  I gave up after an hour and called my landlady.  It was already 10:00, so I knew I would not get anything done tonight.  She asked if I was going to church on Sunday and I said yes.  So she promised to send him after.

I think I said before that there are two church services on Sunday mornings, around 8:00 and 10:00.  Today I recognized some songs the praise team sang before.  One is about having a fiesta, singing and celebrating before the Lord.  It makes sense.  If you love God more than the world, why shouldn’t you celebrate?  Why should your worship be bland and boring?  I don’t want to step on any toes, but maybe this is why our churches are turning off the young people.  At Berea Church, easily half are between 15 and 25.  This morning I was surrounded by young men; five in front and three on the side.  All were singing and worshipping.  This church is raising men to lead.

Well, during the worship service, my landlady called me.  I turned off the ringer, but kept feeling it buzz.  I typed a message that I was at church.  She messaged back that the water heater man could only come this morning.  If not, it might be Tuesday until he came.  So I debated what to do and decided that I needed to go home.   

I rushed home, but from the church to my house is 20 minutes by taxi.  I was worried I would be late, but kept telling myself that Bolivian time is different from American time.  If he says 11:00, he will be there at 11:15 or later.

So I was late, but the water heater man was later.  The first time he came by two weeks ago, he was in and out in two minutes.  Today it took him longer.  It was yesterday’s wind that blew out the pilot.  The wind from an exhaust tube was still keeping it from staying lit.  He said that might happen every time we have a surazo (cold south wind from the Antarctic).  Before he left, I had him teach me how to get it going again.  At 8:45 pm, it is still working.  Hopefully he won’t’ have to come back.

So I didn’t have enough church this week.  Berea Church is on the edge of town and I am in the middle.  It takes about 20+ minutes to get there by taxi and longer by micro.  But I wanted to be there tonight.  And I am so glad I went.

The evening service was worship and prayer.  Basically it was 45 minutes of singing, 20 minutes of a young lady teaching from Ephesians 3, and 20 minutes of prayer.

When this group sings, they take literally these verses from 2 Samuel 6 to heart.  In verses 14 and 15 it says, “David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the Ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of instruments.”  The younger members, and a few of the older ones, get into the worship with shouting, dancing, jumping, always with smiles of joy on their faces.  In one song, so many of the young men and women were jumping so high and hard that you could feel the floor shaking (no Mom, it wasn’t an earthquake).  During prayer time, two-thirds of the church was on their face before the altar.  I haven’t been in a prayer service like that in so many years.  The ones who weren’t on their faces, were old people like me, a few children, and some mom’s with babies.

Now if you are inclined to say that is not what you want out of your church, or maybe that it embarrasses you or you think it not dignified enough for church, I know several dozen young men and women that would respond like David did in that same chapter, “I will celebrate (in Spanish it translates as dance) before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.”

If for no other reason, this is why I am glad to be back in Bolivia.