Februay 27, 2017 - Return to Berea

February 27, 2017

A Return to Berea

Tuesday, I had a great morning.  I had slept all weekend and half of Monday, but I knew I needed to get up and get out.  Originally, I wasn’t going to tell anybody when I got back in Bolivia.  I was going to relax and chill a bit.  But Tuesday, I felt it was time I to say I was back in South America.

As I was walking to my barber, who can’t remember that my name is Mark (Señor George), I took a pretty picture of one of the frangipanis blooming in the Plaza Blacutt and posted it on Instagram and Facebook.  As I am leaving the barber salon, my friend Debbie sends me a message on Whatsapp.

“You are sly, aren’t you!”

“What?”

“You are back in Bolivia and haven’t told anyone.”

So I told her I had been back since Thursday.  She said she’d keep the secret, but I told her it was OK to tell others.  I said I wanted to go to church mid-week and she suggested Thursday prayer meeting.  She said she’d keep it quiet from Pastor Percy, her husband and let me surprise him.

Thursday arrives and that is my big plan for the day.  I was going back to Berea for the first time since the end of November.  I thought I left early, but my taxi driver took a circuitous route.  He thought he knew where he was going, but he discovered he did not.  I arrived right at 7:00! 

There were only 5 people in church and none of Pastor’s family.  I guessed that for some reason they weren’t there.  I decided to enjoy the worship, because they always have good worship.   One young man, Gustavo, saw me from across the room and came over and gave me a big bear hug.  Jhonny, who works in the school office, also came and gave me a hug.  There were others I don’t know by name, but it was good to be remembered.

Just when I thought I wouldn’t see the pastor or his family, the pastor came out of his office.  He is usually in his office praying during the worship part of service.  This night was no different.  When he stood at the podium to speak, he had a look of total surprise.  Debbie had kept it a secret.  He did not know I was there.

He had a short sermon from 2 Corinthians 10.  Percy talked about the importance of it in relation to Carnival, which is this weekend.  Berea Church takes their annual retreat on this weekend. It is a good thing for the youth.  Carnival can be tempting to a young person.  It is intended as a last-minute fling before the 40 days of Lent, leading to Easter.  In Latin America, anything goes during Carnival.  Their annual retreat is one of the reasons Berea Church has so many young men and women on fire for God. 

After the short sermon as a time of prayer.  Imagine this.  A church filled with about 75 or more people.  At least 60 of them go to the front of the church to pray.  They are on their knees, their faces to the floor, crying out to God to do a thing in their lives during this Carnival.  A few, like me, stayed in their seats to pray.  Some of us have more difficulty getting down on the floor and then getting up later.  This prayer time lasted for close to 30 minutes.

After church, I talked with Pastor Percy until his services as a pastor were needed.  A man who had been coming to church for a while brought his wife.  Percy wished to speak with her.  And that is the way it should be.

I love this amazing little church.