Today we wrap up our experience at the Bible school and head out to San Cristobo for a day’s relaxation before we return to the states. Yesterday morning one of the mission workers at our morning devotion reflected on the contrast between his experience of church here in Mexico and what he experienced back home. Here, especially protestants like Presbyterians, find the center of their life in the church. They will walk for miles to a worships service. The elders will stand in an open truck in the wind and the rain to attend a session meeting. If you offer a vacation church school class, a hundred kids will show up.
I was helping a Mexican write a devotional the other day and he spoke of how when they build a church in their village, they will build it with stronger walls and a better roof than they have in their homes. The church literally becomes their sanctuary in what is a very fragile world for them. That is why they will walk for miles to attend a service or attend a meeting. It reminds me how much we have changed in the USA. For good or bad, the church does not receive the support of society. When we have a service of worship, it is in competition with many other options. In some ways it is healthy to understand that what we have to offer must compete with the other gods of our society. However, it is worth considering how we might offer a sanctuary for our people in a healthy way. There is a need for people to pull away from the pressures of life occasionally to remember who they are and whose they are.
It has been a good experience to be here for two weeks. There is much we can learn from each other.
