A Whirlwind of Activity

If you want to be close to God, all you need to do is pay the extra money to be buried under the church.

That’s what we learned on our tour of the catacombs on Wednesday. They packed (literally) more than 25,000 people under the primary church building. They would stack about 6 people per “grave,” and then when they were full, would move them to a bigger, vat-like hole and start all over again.

Even when cemeteries became an option, people with money wanted to be close to God.

I didn’t know that’s how it works (please sense my sarcasm).

We also saw a painting that was a Peruvian artists’ take on the last supper. Apparently he needed to repaint the great masterpiece because there must have been a Peruvian at that great feast where Jesus served guinea pig as the main dish.

Hmmm.

It’s so much easier to take the Bible at its word! (No offense Peru.)

Last night we held our opening concert. About 200 people attended. I wasn’t worried about the mechanics of the music. I knew we were rehearsed, and we have a great team.

I wasn’t sure how we would be received singing in English (though we did project Spanish lyrics). There were many in the audience who knew at least some English. We seemed to be received well. The lead pastor of our host church is adamant that we come back next year and do this again (and we haven’t even gotten to the main event…maybe he should withhold judgment).

After the concert, many wanted pictures with us. All of the teen boys surrounded Cory and were talking with him about the “cool” instrument. Duane was all alone…poor Duane.

This morning we head into the Pre-Conference Workshops for Senior Pastors and Pastors’ Wives. Pray that we are able to motivate, encourage and challenge through the language barrier.