Last week we celebrated Easter at El Puente and those memories are one for the books! We started with an overnight vigil to lead up to a sunrise service. So, everyone who wanted to come came at 9pm and was there until after church the next morning around 7. We were stocked with coffee and fruit, but to my surprise, it was very easy to stay awake and the night was flawless and actually went by quickly.
We started with worship and just sang for about an hour. Here’s a video of one of the songs from that night. It’s talking about the river of God and wanting to swim in it…jump in it…run in it…yell in it…clap in it…dance in it. Nicaraguans have the joy of The Lord down and it’s so evident in the way they worship!
(Click on picture for video)
After that we read the Resurrection story and watched the Passion movie. Such a strong movie, but an incredible picture of the sacrifice Christ made for us and a really good reminder of why we celebrate Easter. From there we had a small devotional debriefing the movie and then a time of testimonies.
A typical piece of Nicaraguan vigils is a time of Specials, so earlier in the week my friend’s sister, Consuelo, asked if we would want to do a dance. Now, I’m not really a dancer. I like to, but I don’t necessarily look good when I do. : ) But Consuelo is a natural and loves to dance for the church so I agreed and offered a couple other girls here to do it with us. We started the Specials time with our dance to Perfume a Tus Pies (Perfume at Your Feet), which is my favorite Spanish worship song! It is absolutely beautiful.
We finished with a time of prayer, had the sunrise service, then finished it off with two more baptisms. : )
It was a really special and memorable time as a church celebrating our Lord, the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and the power of the living Holy Spirit that we have with us today!
Until next time…(enjoy this song and it’s lyrics – so good! Forever by Kari Jobe)
Much love!
