No fireworks and no hotdogs. Today doesn't feel like the Fourth of July! Haha. To celebrate the holiday, the girls and I met at the school and walked to Friday's for lunch. Thank God for bacon cheeseburgers! And just so you know, this one DID NOT come with a piece of ham on it!
After lunch we took a taxi to a church that we had found out about earlier in the week, Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Guadalupe. They have an English service each Sunday at 3:00. Some of the people that work there are from Arkansas, and we were so glad to meet them. Including us, there were about 25 people there, and they kept referring to us as "the visitors," which made me laugh! Their pastor is back in the States for a while, so they had a guest speaker who has been there many times before. He looks Costa Rican, but is actually from Georgia. AND... he speaks with more of a southern accent than I do!
Here is the church's website: http://www.templobautistamisionero.org/en/
The service was so laid back. At one point, they gave us a microphone and told us to introduce ourselves! It was a blessing to hear the people share their prayer requests and praises. One Tica said, "My praise is that it is the Fourth of July, and I want to pray for Obama and the people in the United States since they are dealing with the oil spill, and immigration, and healthcare." I was touched by the fact that this lady wanted to pray for people she doesn't even know. It made me think about how selfish my prayers are sometimes. We sang a few hymns, as well as a few more contemporary "praise and worship" songs. It was a sweet experience to worship with the people there. The passage we read was Acts 16:16-34, which is the story of Paul and Silas being thrown in prison. The focus of the message was the importance of sincere and faithful prayer, even during difficult times. I was so encouraged by the reminder that no matter what I'm going through, God is good. We can't wait to go back next Sunday. We may even go for both the Spanish AND English service!
What a great first Sunday in Costa Rica! :)
We missed you during our cookout celebration, but we were really excited when you called during the fireworks! I am glad that you found this great church!
ReplyDeleteHow neat! You are doing great keeping us updated on your new life down there! =)
ReplyDeleteAunt Sharla- I was glad to at least hear some fireworks last night! It was good talking to everyone, too. :)
ReplyDeleteKati- Thank you! I'm probably giving way too many details! But at nights we don't have a whole lot to do, so I just blog!