January 22, 2017 - A Typical Sunday

January 22, 2017

A Typical Sunday

Today I woke up several times in the night.  The wind was fierce.  I could see my curtains blowing.  I have no need of a nightlight in my new apartment.  The streets are lit and Downtown is just outside my window.  There is always enough light to see and I could see my curtains blowing at 90 degrees.  I debated closing the window, but I like nothing better than to be wrapped up in blankets.  Besides, it won’t be winter here forever.

But I couldn’t go back to sleep after 5:00, so I read my bible a bit.  I have two reading plans on my iPad, the New Testament Epistles and one on praise.  That is good for a Sunday morning.  For breakfast, I had a couple of cuñapé and a left-over piece of chicken.  But as I was getting ready for church, I discovered my bathroom sink was clogged.  Hmm?  That means I would have to go find a plunger now or draino, if they have it here.

Last week I took a radio taxi to church, one from the barrio of the church, so they would know shortcuts.  But that won’t help me know how to get there by myself.  Since I had a general idea of how to find the church, so I grabbed the first taxi I saw. 

“I have to go past kilometer 6,” I told the driver.  The first part is easy.  Santa Cruz is built around consecutive rings, encircling the center of the city.  I live just past the 1st Ring, Primer Anillo.   In the taxi I was counting, “1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.”  Five rings each about a kilometer from each other.  After the Sixth Ring, I was looking for a pedestrian bridge, because I know a little past that is the gas station, where we take a right.  About five blocks later is the church.  It usually costs 20 Bs. (7 Bolivianos = 1 dollar), but today he wanted 30 Bs.

I managed to make it about fifteen minutes before church started.  I was greeted by Debbie and one of the worship leaders, a lady named Erika.  She wants to learn English, so we made a deal that she would speak to me in English and I would speak to her in Spanish.  I then met Debbie’s oldest daughter, Hosanna, who was visiting from college and who just completed a mission outreach to Thailand.

I don’t know a lot of people in the church, but most are friendly and greet me.  The men will shake hands, then pat you on the back, and shake hands again – love it.  A few hug.  One of the worship leaders, Noel, hugs me. 

The worship here is beautiful.  It starts with vigorous praise songs, a lot of clapping, and a few of the more spirited youths bounce a lot. But it always is followed by some worship songs, more like love songs to God.  I have to tell you, that always moves me, often to tears.  I truly forgot how much I loved the worship here in Bolivia, being at home in the United States for so long.  I truly need this.

Pastor Percy preached a good sermon.  His emphasis was on the Church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, but he talked about all seven of the Revelation churches.  We read all of Revelation 2 and 3.  Here are some the points that stood out for me.  "Consider how much you have fallen” in chapter 2.  We as believers often become complacent after we have been believers for many years.  It clearly says here this is sin in our lives.  In chapter 3 it talks about the Philadelphian Church being open to what God wanted.  This is our primary role as Christians to be open to God.  It is not our plans that matter, but His.  And lastly, the Church of Laodicea always makes me think of America because we are so rich that we don’t see how spiritually poor we are.  This will offend many people, but our churches are not alive like I see here in Bolivia.  I want to be Philadelphian, not Laodicean.

I decided to go home differently.  I walked to the end of the street, about 5 blocks to the Doble Via la Guardia.  That is the same main road I took this morning.  It took ten minutes to walk the five blocks.  I crossed the road, carefully, because cars won’t stop for you. On the other side I looked for a micro (small bus) that would go to the Ramada Market, which is close to where I live.  The bus was crowded and I had to stand.  It was not six feet high inside, so it was uncomfortable, but at the Fifth Ring, about a quarter of the passengers got off, so I could sit.  By the time we got to the Ramada, I figured I could walk, since the traffic was slower than walking.  That ride only cost me 2 Bs. (remember 7 = 1 dollar).

The market was crowded, but soon I was on Iralá and almost home.  The wind was very strong.  I’m not kidding about this wind being strong.  I am a big guy and was almost blown over! 

The trip from church took a little under one hour.  Taxis are faster, so in the future, I will probably take taxis more often.  They are cheap and give me the chance to meet and talk to someone.

I’m sorry this was not the most exciting blog.  Some at home wanted to know what a typical day is like.  So that is the purpose of this; to let you know what a Sunday morning is like.

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