A Blessed Day of Rest & Worship

Sept 18 – We worshipped today at IBB – Berean Baptist Church, in English. They are a small Reformed Baptist congregation of about 50, with ties to an RB church in New Jersey. Our pastor, Noble Vater, knows and has heard Ted Donnelly speak, so he wondered if we were from the same denomination (we are). It’s an extra small world among Reformed believers! Pastor Vater has pastored in this congregation for 42 years.

The pastor’s son, David, interpreted for us. He is bilingual (I’ve met more bilingual people in the last 4 days than in my whole life!), and did an excellent job. They have a head-phone system, but it doesn’t work in the evenings, only the mornings, they told us. Sure enough, it cut out in the middle of the evening service. David just sat behind us and interpreted in a whisper. What a huge blessing, as worship became much more meaningful through the translation (this experience sheds an interesting light on the discussion of tongues in I Corinthians 14). I hope that, before we leave, the Spanish will also begin to take on meaning.

We were so blessed to find people and a congregation who share similar values to us – encouraging us to keep our children with us in worship, valuing Christian education for their children, preaching that speaks to both the heart and mind, etc. There is very little cultural support for these things here, even less than at home, from what we gather.

Pastor Vater spoke from Ezekiel 37 (The Valley of Dry Bones) in the evening. Of particular note to me were two things: first, that the coming of the Spirit was an OT fore-shadowing of Pentecost, and second, the exhortation to having a vibrant, living, real relationship with the Lord, not one filled only with head-knowledge.

Does anyone know anything about a Spanish Psalter? Does one exist?

Lily made a new friend – David’s son, whose name is also David. They had a great time running around the church and playing after both services (toddlers must be the same around the world!). David is 3 1/2, and was very kind to her. Now when we recite the list of names of friends and relatives we know, David’s name is mentioned J.

The nursery has a ceramic tile floor. No rugs.

After the evening service was a “pitch-in snack”. We fellowshipped some more and enjoyed both new and familiar foods. David’s wife is the only stay-at-home mom with small children in the church – there are about 4 families with little kids (so we’re in good company), but the cost of housing is so high here that most of the women have to work. David, and his wife Karen, built a house on top of David’s parents’ house, which saved them a tremendous amount of money and allows Karen to stay home with their children. I will go with Karen to a mom’s group on Thursday, DV.