Saturday Night Service

We attended church this past weekend at the same home where we learned to make Sopa Paraguaya. Around 8:30 PM, the pastor's family and some others from the neighborhood began gathering in the front yard, where chairs and a few benches were waiting for the crowd. We were given the opportunity to speak for a few minutes, and to my surprise, both of the girls volunteered to greet the crowd and give a short testimony, completely in Spanish. Way to make the Mommy proud!

Apparently, church services have been held here for the past 11 years, using the yard as the meeting area. One of the men took me around the side of the house and showed me a foundation which had been poured for an actual church building. He shared that they think more people from the community would attend if the facilities for meeting were more "formal," like this small church building would provide. He said the foundation was finished and now they lacked about 10 million guaranis to finish the rest of the building (approximately $2000). Some of this money they already have, if I'm understanding correctly. I smiled to hear of their fundraising endeavors, since some things just don't change. They've been hosting soccer tournaments, cooking dinners to sell, and selling things, much like what we do in the U.S. to raise funds for building projects!! The only thing lacking was a good old fashioned Krispy Kreme doughnut sale in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

The pastor did us a favor by preaching his sermon in Spanish, rather than Guarani. The language most spoken out here is a blend of the two called Jopora, where most words are Guarani with a few Spanish ones thrown in the mix. (Jopora is actually the Guarani word for "mix.") Usually, there's enough Spanish in Jopora preaching for us to get the main point of the sermon. He voluntarily worked his way through the sermon in Spanish, though, and we enjoyed some of the praise and worship in Guarani. Afterward, the lady of the home served us a wonderful chicken and rice dinner (much like my Granny's version of chicken and dumplins) while the men sang and played the harp and guitar. The pastor's daughter invited us to her Quince party--the traditional party when a young lady turns 15. We can't wait!

We enjoyed our fellowship with these brothers and sisters and felt quite at home in "God's house" with them.

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