One of the best parts of my mission trips to Bolivia was experiencing church the way the locals do. I remember trying to understand the sermon in Spanish, but technically only catching every third word and being a little frustrated at first. Once I stopped trying to translate and just listened for God, I was able to comprehend what Pastor Dilmar was preaching.
And if the sermon reminded me that we’re all in the same boat, from Bolivia to NYC, worshipping God together brought me to my knees in awe. We were singing different words to the same song, but all to the same wonderful person. Since that first trip, it’s always been important to me to attend church when traveling if I possibly can. Now that I’m traveling around the world, I’ll be writing about the various churches I visit. Whether you’re a Christian or not, I hope you enjoy!
I met a couple at The Fiji Orchid who had just returned from Nukubati, and they were raving about the church service they’d attended in the village. Up until that point I wasn’t quite sure if I’d be able to get to church, since I was on a private island and all, but since several of Nukubati’s staff members boat over to the village every Sunday for church, I got to tag along. Hurray for the first church service of my RTW trip!
I tagged along with Kalisi and a few of the other gals from Nukubati for the Assemblies of God service in the village
As always, the kids in church love to check out the random visitor among them, and the little church on Vanua Levu was no exception. Those precious little Fijians stared at me the entire service and you should have seen the looks on their faces when I started singing one of the songs I knew. They just couldn’t believe a gal from the resort knew the same songs they sang in their church.
All in the all, the service was very nice. The pastor spoke in Fijian most of the time, but every once in a while, perhaps for my benefit, he would say something in English like, “It is God’s will that you walk in his purposes!” Right on!
Next up… Raindrops (and Coconuts) Keep Falling On My Head
