Thankfully, we arrived at La Trinidad with about 15 minutes to spare!! It's a good thing God loves and accepts us just the way we are because we may have looked a little rough!
It is now dark and we have finally arrived in Concepcion.... God is with us and we pray for communion with our new companions here too. Amen.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the worship service at La Trinidad was beautiful! The service was led by Pastor Marcello, who serves at La Trinidad, and assisted by Pastor President Alveraz and Bishop Prois. We sang, prayed, and read scripture together alternating between Spanish and English. Bishop Prois preached the sermon and several from our group participated by reading scripture and leading prayers. It was so moving to commune with our new brothers and sisters in Christ here in Chile. During the service the Congregation La Trinidad and St. Mark Lutheran in Storm Lake, along with the Church of the Damascus Road Prison Ministry, shared gifts with each other and signed a congregational partnership.
When I asked members of our group for a highlight of the worship service, they had the following responses, "The presentation of artwork from the Church of the Damascus Road to the Congregation La Trinidad," "Communion with sheep from another flock," "Feeling a oneness of the Spirit singing songs together in different languages," "Sharing the peace by kissing each other on the cheek," "Hugging Pastor President Louis," "Communing by common cup with our Bishop and their pastors serving together," and lastly, "Seeing the excitement on everyone's face when the congregational partnership agreement was signed."
As you can probably tell, we felt very welcome and right at home at La Trinidad......and being invited to a potluck meal in the fellowship hall after the service certainly helped too!! It's nice to know that no matter where you find Lutherans, you'll find a great potluck!!
Even though it was hard leaving Santiago after getting to know these new friends, we were compelled to journey onward to our companion congregations in Concepcion. So we once again loaded up our stuff and hit the road, the Pan American Highway to be exact, for the 7-hour journey south. The views were breathtaking as we gazed upon the fertile valley vineyards and corn fields bathed in the warm late afternoon sunshine while watching the Andes mountains rise in the east and the sun set in the west. Oh, the beauty if God's creation.....
Great pictures!
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