Last night was wonderful.
Hermano Jorge Rodriguez, preacher for the Church of Christ in Ocotepeque, Honduras, came to pick us up in his van to take us to attend worship with the family in Ocotepeque. He picked up the Lalli family and Teresa. We went to his house first, to pick up his family, then we all went to the new building to finish getting ready for the first service in the nearly completed building.
We arrived there at 5 something while services start at 7:00. We made final preparations while listening to the Spanish equivalent to the vocal group Acapella - as did the neighborhood.
Nathan had an "interesting" (translated: near death) experience, that nearly gave his mother a heart attack. He and I were admiring the newly welded bars in one of the windows. I reached out to see if they had anchored it yet, as last we were here they had not. It still was not. Realize, I am a "big 'ol boy" and have further developed muscularly since I have spent time here. The window bars are solid steel rod, probably 3/4" in diameter welded to an iron frame. I moved them enough to determine that they were not anchored, then immediately pushing them back into place. I thought no more about it.
Nathan, however, had much more thought about it. He went to the other windows and checked them. One, he climbed atop a pile of large stones to see if it was anchored. It was not. It was heavy. It came down on him, folding him in half while standing on the stones. At this point Erin and Teresa saw the situation and began screaming for me. The echoes in the concrete building with a steel roof masked the clarity of their words, and I thought they were screaming for Jorge. I was immediately concerned for Sessia (his youngest daughter). All four adults came running, anyway - which is when Lori's heart almost quit. Upon seeing Nathan caught as he was, she began screaming, and I am uncertain how her eyes remained in their sockets as they popped to three or four times their normal size. As I thought it was Sessia, I had let Jorge go ahead of me to get there first, so he was already atop the stones helping to remove Nathan from his predicament. I had to hold Lori back at this point.
By the tone of this writing, I'm sure you can tell Nate is none the worse for wear. He was scared and Lori only reinforced that - even though I instructed her to leave him alone, she attached herself to him like the mother hen she is. I, knowing a little more about boys, realized he just needed to be left alone to compose himself and nurse his bruised ego - which actually took the most damage. Later, while running around with Fernando, he slipped and skinned his elbow - the worse of the two injuries, yet minor still.
But, back to the good beginning...
Before the services began as a few people started to arrive, Jorge sat down in the front row and slouched over with his head in his hands. I thought the stress must have been getting to him. I went up to him a short while later while he was standing near the front and asked him if all was ok. He said that everything was good, but I pressed him saying I saw him looking stressed. He said, "No, brother," with a smile crossing his face, "I was praying."
There was close to 100 people there last night. The singing was great, as was the sermon. The invitation was given with three responding. There are to be 2 baptisms this afternoon! After the service, Jorge came to me and asked what I thought. I said it was a wonderful night, and that so much greater is still to come.
His reply? "It was a good beginning."
Tomorrow promises to be another good day.
Hermano Jorge Rodriguez, preacher for the Church of Christ in Ocotepeque, Honduras, came to pick us up in his van to take us to attend worship with the family in Ocotepeque. He picked up the Lalli family and Teresa. We went to his house first, to pick up his family, then we all went to the new building to finish getting ready for the first service in the nearly completed building.
We arrived there at 5 something while services start at 7:00. We made final preparations while listening to the Spanish equivalent to the vocal group Acapella - as did the neighborhood.
Nathan had an "interesting" (translated: near death) experience, that nearly gave his mother a heart attack. He and I were admiring the newly welded bars in one of the windows. I reached out to see if they had anchored it yet, as last we were here they had not. It still was not. Realize, I am a "big 'ol boy" and have further developed muscularly since I have spent time here. The window bars are solid steel rod, probably 3/4" in diameter welded to an iron frame. I moved them enough to determine that they were not anchored, then immediately pushing them back into place. I thought no more about it.
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| Can you pick out the two Americanos in this picture? Hint: Head and shoulders above the rest. |
Nathan, however, had much more thought about it. He went to the other windows and checked them. One, he climbed atop a pile of large stones to see if it was anchored. It was not. It was heavy. It came down on him, folding him in half while standing on the stones. At this point Erin and Teresa saw the situation and began screaming for me. The echoes in the concrete building with a steel roof masked the clarity of their words, and I thought they were screaming for Jorge. I was immediately concerned for Sessia (his youngest daughter). All four adults came running, anyway - which is when Lori's heart almost quit. Upon seeing Nathan caught as he was, she began screaming, and I am uncertain how her eyes remained in their sockets as they popped to three or four times their normal size. As I thought it was Sessia, I had let Jorge go ahead of me to get there first, so he was already atop the stones helping to remove Nathan from his predicament. I had to hold Lori back at this point.
By the tone of this writing, I'm sure you can tell Nate is none the worse for wear. He was scared and Lori only reinforced that - even though I instructed her to leave him alone, she attached herself to him like the mother hen she is. I, knowing a little more about boys, realized he just needed to be left alone to compose himself and nurse his bruised ego - which actually took the most damage. Later, while running around with Fernando, he slipped and skinned his elbow - the worse of the two injuries, yet minor still.
But, back to the good beginning...
Before the services began as a few people started to arrive, Jorge sat down in the front row and slouched over with his head in his hands. I thought the stress must have been getting to him. I went up to him a short while later while he was standing near the front and asked him if all was ok. He said that everything was good, but I pressed him saying I saw him looking stressed. He said, "No, brother," with a smile crossing his face, "I was praying."
There was close to 100 people there last night. The singing was great, as was the sermon. The invitation was given with three responding. There are to be 2 baptisms this afternoon! After the service, Jorge came to me and asked what I thought. I said it was a wonderful night, and that so much greater is still to come.
His reply? "It was a good beginning."
Tomorrow promises to be another good day.
I have to side with Lori on this one. She had every right to mother him. She's probably still picturing it when she closes her eyes!
ReplyDeleteLove you guys,
Charla
Missing your reads.
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