God Moves

So, backtracking a bit...one day after teaching English we were waiting for the bus and there was a woman who was there also waiting for the bus. She struck me as beautiful. Sierra had taken up a lot of space on the bench, so I had her clean up her stuff and asked the woman if she wanted to sit down. She declined and said she preferred to sit in the shade.

We waited for the bus and when it finally came, I glanced back at her and noticed she was putting a book in her purse...it seemed to me it was a Bible. We all got on the bus and went on our way. I kept wondering...was that a Bible? Is she a Christian? I wanted to ask, but the bus was crowded and we weren't close enough to talk.

Finally, our bus stop came and Sierra and I got off the bus. I was surprised that the woman got off, too! I decided to be bold and just asked her...so, were you reading your Bible? She said yes, she was. So, being bold again (this is very unlike me...I'm not usually bold in matters concerning anything personal), I asked if she was a Christian. She said yes and I said...no, I mean, are you a Christian or a Catholic? She again responded she was a Christian. I was really excited! You see, there are many, many Catholics in Mexico, but not many Christians...I believe it's something like 93% of Mexicans consider themselves Catholic, 4-6% Chrisitian and 1-3% "other".

I've come to think that mostly the Catholicism here is symbolic and somewhat superstitious. It's interesting that everytime the bus goes by a church, the entire bus will do the cross symbol and kiss their fingers. It's a comfort to people, but I don't see a lot of people whose lives are dictated by what their faith says. I suppose the same is true of US "christians"...people who identify themselves by a particular religion, but it really has nothing to do with their day to day lives. Maybe earlier in American History, christianity was more embedded in the culture, as it is here in Mexico...thus making it an interesting intertwining of belief, culture and habit. I have a lot of thoughts on this, but won't bore you with my ill-thought-out philosophies!

So, anyway...back to the bus stop and the woman...I told her I was so excited to meet her as are missionaries here and working with the orphanage, but felt like I was not being "fed" and was anxious to find a church. She told me that the church was just up the street, so we went there with her...turns out it was only 3-4 blocks from where we are living! We went in with her to see it, and visited with her for awhile. Her brother is the pastor, and she is the Sunday School teacher for the pre-schoolers. They are building the church still, and so it is not all done. They have two rooms set aside for missionaries! I was really excited and felt so great. They are collecting donations of clothes and blankets to take to Michoacan in November - I told her I'd love to help out and go with them to Michoacan. Her name is Maria Elena, and she was also excited. She said at the bus stop she had had a feeling we were Christians! This made me feel really good. We told her we'd see her at church on Sunday.

That Sunday we got to church about 10:45. They start prayer at 10:30 and service at 11. Boy, do these people pray!! People were walking all over the church, praying out loud. It seemed pretty chaotic, but in an exciting way. Everyone was really passionate about their particular prayers. It wasn't being led by anyone and people weren't particularly praying together, but everyone was together...that sounds strange, I know. It was really cool!

Service started slowly, with people still praying while music started. By about 11:15 or so, everyone was singing along with the band and more people were showing up. The music was really uplifting...mostly fast songs, and people were dancing and some people were even jumping and dancing around the building with tamborines and other musical instruments. Everyone was clapping and raising their hands - it was great. I hadn't realized how "hungry" I'd been for Christian fellowship until I got there...I was overwhelmed with emotion most of the time and kept crying. Sierra kept asking why, which was really bugging me!!! I remembered really thinking my mom was wacky when she'd cry in church all the time, and how I'd ask her what was wrong...and now I know how she felt!

Everyone was so welcoming and it was great to be there. There was a girl who was turning 15 and was having her Quincinera, which is a sort of "coming out" party for young ladies, announcing them as young women. It's quite an ordeal and is as elaborate and fancy as a wedding. Families often spend as much as $20,000 US dollars for this party! She showed up at church in this beautiful baby blue formal and her hair done just so...she was gorgeous. The pastor had everyone go up and greet and hug her and the congregation was invited to the party afterwards. His sermon focused on Ephesians 6...about children obeying and honoring their parents, and the promise that they would live a long, happy life...and also for parents not to exasperate their children and to remember that it is more important to capture your childs heart than it is to have little robots. It was a great sermon...at least...as much as I understood!! Haha!

So, we didn't get out of church until...oh, about 2:30...yeah...it was like a 3 1/2 hour sermon! Yikes! I figured my pastor back home, John Strong, would have loved it! He is always chagrined at having to keep it at an hour and fifteen.

We were supposed to have left at 2 to go to a party (every Sunday there is a party of some sort), and we were late. I didn't really want to go...after working all week we were tired and I just wanted to relax a bit. We got home and found out our friends were waiting for us, so I felt really bad to tell them we weren't going! However, that is what we did, and then we enjoyed the rest of the day hanging out together.