First Worship Service In Santa Rosa el Rodeo

Over fifty people gathered together to worship.

Sunday was by far the best, and most memorable day that we have spent in Guatemala so far. It was a milestone because it marked the first worship service that was held on the church property in Santa Rosa el Rodeo. We are so thankful for all of our family, friends and supporters for praying for the service. Also, we want to thank you for letting us be a part of something so exciting in the kingdom of God.

The weather and attendance seemed bleak when we first arrived to the property. We were supposed to start church at nine, but Max was running late and the rain started to pour. Our family and friends think we always run late, but in Guatemala we are always on time because everyone else is late! However, God poured out his spirit in that place and we had an amazing worship service.

Jennifer leading "Te Doy Gloria" with Kaylee's help.

The rain quickly faded as the worship service began, and it subsided until the worship service was over. As soon as everyone was leaving, the rain started again.

Over fifty people joined together to worship God on the property. I was overwhelmed and saw an unbelievable worship service transpire on the property. The amazing part was that we did not meet in a building, there were no chairs to sit upon, and a live band leading worship was absent. Yet, people humbly joined together to worship the Lord in a way that I have not ever experienced.

The children in the village singing during the service.

The service included various people leading out in worship. Pastor Max’s son-in-law, Guierrmo, shared verses and led in prayer numerous times throughout the service. A lady from the village led everyone in worship choruses, and later Jennifer led a praise song in Spanish. Max dedicated a portion of the service to bring the children up and allowed them to sing and then gave them a short devotional. I was blessed with the opportunity to preach, and it was the first sermon that I have ever preached in Spanish. All together, everything was simply astonishing. The service concluded with people gathered around pleading for God to guide their lives, while at the same time, 2 or 5 people decided to follow Jesus.

Men and women pleading for God's leadership.

I walked away from that service extremely excited, overwhelmed, and convicted. I have described the reason why I was excited and overwhelmed, but I was also convicted during this service. I saw first-hand that we do not need all of the luxuries of our American churches to truly worship God. It reminds me a lot of the topics that David Platt has wrote about in “Radical.” Most of us are so comfortable in our lifestyles and it seems to bleed over into our worship of God as well. We seem to believe that he enjoys us to be comfortable and take a relaxed position in our Christianity. I’m not saying that he doesn’t bless us with certain comforts, but everything that he entrusts to us are intended to be used for his glory. We are definitely excited about building the church building in Santa Rosa el Rodeo, but more importantly we are excited about making disciples of the people that live in that village. The proper perspective is that people are always more important than buildings, programs, or things of this world. Thank God for his grace so we can extend his glory!