La Fe SDA Church, Plan de Ayala, Chiapas, Mexico

The members of La Fe (The Faith) SDA church welcomed us with open arms.  They donated their kitchen and their Sabbath school rooms for use as our base camp for 2 weeks while we built a church in the neighboring town of Peñitas. 

La Fe not only gave us use of their facility, but they encouraged us to worship with them whenever we could...and these faithful members worship together frequently.   While we were there La Fe was holding a 40 day prayer meeting each morning at 5am which I have previously blogged about.  Like our Samoan brethren, the members of La Fe sing with all their heart and with such intensity that no microphone is needed.  We woke up at 5am every day to the sweet music that was sung in an unfamiliar tongue but was well known to us by its tune.  What an excellent way to start the day--with a song in our heart and the wonderful words of God in our mind. 

We joined them one evening for worship service followed by refreshments of sweet bread and horchata (a delicious sweet drink made from rice, almonds, vanilla, and cinnamon).  Like secular Mexicans, the church played their music very loud...which was good because it covered up my badly pronounced Spanish!  They played recordings of hymns and displayed the words (Spanish, of course) on a screen at the front of the church.  Some team members sang the hymn in English, but I tried my best to belt it out in my version of Spanish.  I received a lot of smiles from the local worshippers when I sang, but I'm not sure if they were impressed or amused by my attempt at singing in the local language.  Sometimes it's just better to remain ignorant!

Our first Sabbath in Mexico we spent the morning worshipping with the Peñitas church and then spent the afternoon worshipping with the Plan de Ayala members.  It absolutely poured down rain that day, but even with the sound barrier produced by the rainfall I still believe you could hear the devoted church members singing their hearts out for at least a square block.  If the neighbors won't come to church....bring church to the neighbors!

The children of the Plan de Ayala church were so beautiful.  They couldn't keep their eyes off the 'gringos'!  We began to feel almost like celebrities since everyone watched us wherever we went and they couldn't wait for the opportunity to actually talk with us.  Then they would go off and tell someone what they had found out about the strangers in town.  Before long on that first Sabbath afternoon I was surrounded by children.  They laughed as I tried to understand what they were saying.  And let me tell you that when you don't know the language talking louder and even slower simply does not help!  Soon the children and I found a book to read and I pointed at objects and said their name in English.  Quite often the name was very similar in Spanish and I learned a few new words along the way.

Several of the Northern Lights team speak Spanish or at least enough to navigate around a little without an interpreter.  A few team members speak only English, but one common thought ran through our minds whether we spoke Spanish or not:  some day soon we will meet our Mexican brothers and sisters again and we will be able to speak in a universal language!  What a day that will be!

Why did the Plan de Ayala church open their arms to us when we came to serve a different community?  I'm not entirely sure, but from getting to know some of the members it must be because of their love for the Lord.  And wherever the Lord is at work La Fe members will be also. 

I heard that the Plan de Ayala church members were touched in a positive way by our presence.  They marveled that we would travel thousand of miles to help people we had never met.  They were surprised by our teamwork and our respect for one another.  And they could see by our actions that we love the Lord.  I also think it strengthened their faith to see that there were other people, from far away lands, who shared similar beliefs as them and were willing to do whatever was needed to share the love of God with others. 

I believe I can speak for the entire Northern Lights team when I say that we were honored to serve the Lord through this mission.  What a privilege it was to minister to others through our actions, our words, and in using our hands to build a church.

LaFe SDA Church, Plan de Ayala, Mexico

Panoramic view of LaFe: 

church on the left, kitchen in the back, and Sabbath school rooms on the right

LaFe church sanctuary - front

LaFe church sanctuary - back

Child of LaFe church member:

Janell with new friend from LaFe church:

Pastor Chuc (right), his wife (center), and some LaFe members

Looking out from the kitchen towards the street:

Looking down the street from the LaFe base camp:

House & farm across from the base camp: