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Scot preached on materialism, which I was worried about, considering they are all so poor. But the people soaked it up. The pastor got up at the end and said the Holy Spirit knew just what he needed to hear, and several people shared during the testimony that it was something they struggled with. I've heard it said that the most materialistic people are the very rich and the very poor because money is all they think about.

Scot was also invited out to preach on a Sunday morning, so we all went as a family. I can't even describe it. We were driving through the slums on a cold grey day, listening to Amy Grant sing "Sleigh Ride." The houses looked like something out of Haiti, with corrugated metal roofs and tarps.

People were everywhere. We drove by an open air market, and there on this huge table right by the street, was an enormous dead pig surrounded by several men. I guess they were going to butcher him right there.

We came to a little two story house and went upstairs. It was bricked in but there was no insulation, siding or anything. Lots of chairs and a stove-type  heater in the middle.

In the front was a man playing an electric keyboard and two women with microphones singing. No hymn books, no projector, no sheet of music. If you didn't know the song you were out of luck. We knew alot of them, but some of them were Roma songs which we didn't know. The gypsy music was fabulous and made you want to dance.

We sang for a long time. Scot preached for a short time. The pastor then talked about Scot's sermon. Then they had public confession and restoration--several people came forward and apologized to different people in the congregation. They hugged and made up.

Then we had communion--the old fashioned way--one cup. They started with Scot, and I thought they were going to do his side of the room first, which would put me at the end of the cup. Oh well. But actually the pastor served all the guests first, and said a prayer for every single person in the room as he gave them the cup and the bread. It was incredible.

Then the men and women separated into different rooms and had a foot washing ceremony. One or two women put on aprons and washed a woman's feet and prayed for her. And then that woman took the apron, got fresh water and washed another woman's feet and so on until everyone had been done. As they washed they sang, and it was just beautiful.]]> Tue, 25 Jan 2011 04:30:00 EST