The Church Dilemma

Through the years, we have always been a bit embarrassed when folks in the US ask us about "our" church in Mexico. We are not pastors or even directly involved in "church" work. In fact, we have always struggled with the reality that Sunday was our least favorite day of the week. Not only did we not fit in at any of the local churches, we struggled with guilt that our children would either grow up un-churched or else hating church.

Our purpose in coming to Mexico (and Guatemala before that) was to see that indigenous people had the privilege of hearing God's Word and of worshiping in their own language. At the same time we tried to insist that our own children attend church in their second language: Spanish. While we still attend special services at different Mexican churches from time to time, (and Hannah sometimes plays the keyboard at the local church when needed), our main church is now in English. We have found our niche.

Sunday mornings we attend church at our house or at the home of the Quezadas (our coworkers/ neighbors). Depending on who is leading the worship time, we either sing hymns or choruses, or a combination of the two. Sometimes we have communion together. Then we watch/ listen to a sermon on DVD from Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. Afterward we simply discuss the message, and talk about how to apply it to our lives. It's become a life-giving time for us. In the past we would go on mini-furloughs every other year, spiritually dry and thirsty for worship in English. Now we are well watered and nourished every week. We are thankful.

You can listen to a sample sermon online at Cornerstone Church.
Mike will be attending Cornerstone while studying at their Bible College starting next month. I've provided a link to Eternity Bible College on the side bar if you are interested. It's a fairly new school, but it sounds just right for Mike as he contemplates his future in youth ministry or some other area of Christian service. It's exciting to be able to "go" to the same church as Mike, even though he's far from home.

If you have suggestions for worship books we might use, please let me know. We enjoy several of the newer choruses, but with our current guitar player/music leader leaving to return to the states, I'll need the piano music to be able to accompany our worship times. We do have a box of old hymnals we enjoy using.

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