Attending Church in Cuenca

We have been attending an Adventist church for the past month. It is located on Mariscal Lamar, smack dab in the center of a business district. During the week, when the church doors are closed, it looks like a storefront. Sabbath morning the doors are flung open, and remain that way. The sound of singing and preaching fill the avenue.

This is no storefront, but a lovely tiled iglesia that holds 200 plus members. Every Sabbath the pews have been filled. The platform is unique, and resembles the tomb Christ arose from! In front of the "tomb" are large vases filled every week with beautiful fresh flowers.

We were told there are four Adventist churches in Cuenca. We have yet to meet the pastor, but have enjoyed the fire and passion of the lay preachers we heard. Keep in mind that we are not yet fluent in Spanish. Some preachers project the scripture on the screen, and we look them up in our English bible. It makes it much easier to follow along and understand what's being said. I bring pen and paper with me and jot down words I don't understand and look them up when I get home. This not only increases our understanding of the message, but helps improve our vocabulary.

We've noticed the deacons all dress in orange vests. Like in the States, they take up the collection, and at the end of the service, dismiss us by rows, greeting us warmly with a "Feliz Sabado".

Last Sabbath the scriptures were not projected on the screen. Because the books of the Bible sound so very different in Spanish, I was having a hard time looking them up and following along. A sweet lady sitting next to us, and her daughter behind her, seeing our struggle, looked up the scriptures, handed us their Spanish bible, and helped us find them in our English bible. One of the elders on the platform this week used to live in the States, and returned with his young family to his beloved Cuenca approximately two years ago. Fabian has three children. We met his precocious daughter Genesis, 9 years old. She speaks perfect English. They invited us to return at 4:30pm for the weekly youth program. We had to decline this week because we were helping Kenny, but look forward to visiting next week.

I mentioned to Fabian I was going to look for tabs for my Bible with the books in Spanish. He insisted that he would take care of that for me and bring them next Sabbath. He knows where to get them. We thought that was very thoughtful and generous.

God's people are scattered all over this earth, and it's wonderful to feel like "home" no matter where you are!