Before this trip, when I would ask what kind of church someone attends, I only thought of answers such as Methodist, Catholic, Mormon, Presbyterian and other answers of the sort. Little did I know that varieties of churches expand far beyond denomination. So I have decided to dedicate this blog to tell you about all of the different kinds of churches I have attended here in Guatemala (and in the last 4 days in Honduras).
We attend El Calvario on a fairly regular basis. For the most part, this church is like a lot of churches back at home (However, not air conditioned…) except for their worship. I feel as if this church plays the same three songs every week, but those songs are powerful (even though I don’t understand the words, I still love them too). This church has a stage where the band plays but then there is a shorter stage where at least half of the congregation runs up to just dance for the Lord during worship.
We once attended a Pentecostal church. What was really cool about that church was that it congregated in an old boat house on a dock. Many of the members even ride in canoes to attend the church. They were very conservative (The women had their heads covered the entire time) and the pastor was very welcoming.
Just last week we were a part of two services that took place on a soccer field (in the rain, mind you). I really enjoyed those because we made a lot of noise and that caused people to stop and listen.
A couple of Sundays we have visited the church in the MarBrissa Hotel. Wow. Air conditioning. Coffee. Worship music by Hillsong. Podcast sermons on a projector screen. It is the nicest looking church we have been to in Guatemala (but we all know that looks aren’t everything; this is merely an observation).
On the other side of the fence, we have also attended many churches that meet on house porches, in yards, and under shelters made of rusting metal.
My favorite church that we have been to was the Iglesia de Dios Adulam in Honduras. This church meets in a ‘panderia’…A bread shop. The pastor of this church, Pastor Marcial is so kind, caring, and hilarious. His family has a hand in all of the different ministries: His son David plays the piano and leads the worship band, his daughters Maryli and Sara are on their dance team (A wonderful group of dancers that dance as a part of worship), and his wife who is just simply wonderful and a mother to all. We only worked with this church for four days, but they really took us under their wing and we became very attached.
Over the past two months I have experienced a crazy amount of church styles and locations. What is awesome about these different churches is that they are all wonderful. They are all focused on Jesus. They are all working toward a common goal. They are all our family in Christ. I’m excited to see what other churches are out there.
