Lost in Translation....But Where We Want to Be

Yesterday was our first worship service in Spanish. We visited a Spanish-speaking Nazarene church not far from Parque el Bosque, about a 15 minute walk from our house. Some missionary friends of ours (folks who also graduated from the same college we attended) referred us to the church and even specifically asked several people they knew to "watch out for" our family and help us feel welcomed. What a blessing!

In Latin America, things either start on time or on "Latin time" (which means things are a bit more laid back and schedules are not closely adhered to). We knew that church was scheduled to begin at 10, but we didn't know if that was the "scheduled time" or "Latin time", so we decided to arrive a bit early just in case. We needn't have worried. We could probably leave our house closer to 10 AM and still be on time. :-)

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by several church members, including the pastor. Greetings here are slightly different than they are at home. If you haven't seen folks in awhile at home, or are very close to them, you might hug. But usually a touch on the arm or handshake suffices. Not here! When people greet each other (even when meeting strangers for the first time, as we discovered yesterday!), you lean in and kiss each other on the cheek! I'd been notified of this on Saturday but had completely forgotten about it. So it was a bit of a surprise for me, and a bit awkward for the poor church members. We'll do better next week. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, which helped.

There is a very long worship service with lots of upbeat music and energetic clapping. I'm really not much of a clapper, so it will take some time for me to "loosen up" enough to really get into Latin worship. That's not to say my heart wasn't in it. Quite the contrary! I may not have understood the words, and most of the songs were foreign to me (we did sing two familiar songs. What a relief to be able to recognize the music! I could even sing along in English in my head), but the spirit of worship present in the church captured my heart nonetheless. At one point, it really occurred to me where we were standing and I instantly teared up. We have spent the last four years preparing for ministry in Mexico. And yesterday, we were actually in a place that would help us get there. As much as we love our home church, it is not Mexico. Our hearts have been drawn to Mexico since our first missions trip there. Costa Rica isn't Mexico, either. But we were worshiping in Spanish....like our brothers and sisters in the country of our heart.

All of our waiting has come to an end. We may not have understood everything said yesterday (although of course, Troy understands quite a bit as a former Spanish speaker, and can communicate amazingly well for someone whose Spanish is so rusty), but there was an overwhelming conviction that we are exactly where we need to be. Where God has placed us. And where we want to be.