PERU, MEXICO, LONG BEACH JANUARY 2009 DAY 10

Sunday, January 25

I do begin to see the logic in young people’s propensity for sleeping in; though I awoke before 5:00am, I elected to “rest a bit more” and awoke just past 6:00am. The late-night meal and all the talking from the previous day must have taken a toll on me—and my sleeping patterns.

Pastor John and I had breakfast at the hotel buffet at 8:00am, and we had a spirited discussion about our common experiences in ministry—especially ministry within a larger organization that is doing its best to arrange national and international logistics, plans and arrangements. It isn’t always easy, and everyone ends up feeling slighted at one time or another. But all in all, it’s far better to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, even if it means things don’t always go our way. (More on that tomorrow).

The first service at church began at 10:30am, and it is the smaller of the two services. We still had a great turn-out, however, and I thoroughly enjoyed the worship that was led this week by the “younger” worship band. Very much like the Coastlands’ worship teams, this had many young people (hence the name). I loved, too, how the whole congregation allowed itself to be led by these younger ministers, and the people did not insist on music/leaders that matched themselves. I think this is a sign of a healthy and well-taught church. I’m always challenged at worship times in other countries because in addition to my natural inability to “pick out” a melody until I have sung it several times, I do not know the words. Even staring at the screen and making pitiful stabs at pronouncing the words of the lyrics is a labored activity. Before long, I usually revert to singing in the Spirit as I did through most of the songs.


I was translated by Debbie, a former dentist who now works for the US State Department as a consular agent at the local consulate. Did we ever have fun?!? In fact I was gesturing so wildly, making so many contorted faces and adopting such odd postures as I acted out the Bible story, Robin told me it was nearly impossible for her to capture a normal picture of me! She did her best with a digital camera, but results were limited. Johnny, the eldest son of John and Robin was my translator second service. Since he spent a good chunk of his life in America before moving with his family to Mexico, he retains all the American slang and mannerisms. But even he was challenged by my occasional slang—and by the acting-out I enjoy doing when I travel. A couple times the congregation and I agreed that he needed to be a bit more dramatic! It was such fun.


Second service was packed, as you can see from these photos.


After church I had lunch at an incredible Mexican restaurant. Grace and Oscar Femat, along with their daughter Sophia, were my hosts. I was clueless as to what to order, so they provided suggestions for the main course. Long before we got to that dish (chicken breast smothered in a guacamole/chili sauce) we enjoyed tortilla chips and salsa that was prepared from ingredients-of-our-choice, prepared before our eyes. The waitress combined chilies and onions and other veggies in a grinding bowl, and proceeded to grind everything and mix it with water (?). That specialty salsa, coupled with a dish of fresh guacamole would have been enough to keep me happy and full. The main dish finished us all off.

Grace and I were trying to have a conversation about the editing/translating of Enjoying Your Journey with God, but a Mariachi band took that opportunity to come into the room. Oh my! They were loud—an understatement. So loud, in fact, that we all decided to leave and return to my hotel where we could actually hear one another. We talked about the challenges of translating a book into another language, and I shared with them my understandings and hopes as we move forward with the translation of Unlock the Power of Family. Grace is the third Spanish-speaking leader who has told me she thinks that book will be even more impactful in Latin countries than Journey. We’ll see.

At church and at the leadership seminar on Saturday, Journey certainly seemed to be a hit. I autographed so many of them (that’s still an odd experience for me to sign someone’s book—even if I wrote it!). But I decided long ago that if it is meaningful for people to have me autograph my books, I’ll do so with a cheerful and honoring heart.

About 5:30 I returned to my room to do some work, but the hotel is adjacent to a huge sports-complex, replete with tennis courts, swimming pools, soccer fields and a track. The weight room and most of the facilities were closed this late on a Sunday, but I decided I better get back into doing my power walking—since I have not been able to do so the last several days. It was a bit surreal to walk around in the deserted, massive grounds of the sports-complex (most colleges would love to have such a recreation area) as the sun was setting. Eventually, I settled on a continuous walk around the track, keeping in the third lane. I imagine that people in the hotel, looking out on the track/field, wondered what that man was doing, going in circles at such a fast clip.

Here is a picture of the hotel I stayed in, taken from the track—



I returned to my room, did some emails and messages to friends and people who haven’t heard much from me lately (Several people kept informing me that my “out-of-office” message was on). Now I get to wait for my friends to reply to my messages…when they are available.