Una Iglesia

My day began at two o’clock in the morning. As I struggled to pull my thoughts into reality, my heart began to skip a beat as I realized that today was the day. Off we were going to be to El Salvador. I didn’t really feel anything but an upset stomach as we boarded our first plane. I couldn’t believe that it was only eight when we landed at the Houston airport and rushed to our connecting flight taking us to San Salvador.

When I wobble off a plane, the first thing I do is smell the air. And El Salvador reminded me of Florida. Fresh, warm, and tropical. We went through customs with few difficulties and blinked into the sunlight to find Milton smiling at us.

Left to right: Andria, Rene, Milton

Milton is a native El Salvadorian through and through. Always smiling, and greeting everyone with a firm handshake, Milton is the one planning our work down here. Our luggage was loaded onto an old school bus as we took a few deep breaths to appreciate the warm weather. From San Salvador, Chalchuapa was about three hours away. We all took lovely naps as the warm breeze washed over us.

At this point in the whole fiasco of life, I was very unsure that I wanted to be here. I felt like we had left home days ago, and all I wanted was to crawl into bed. Not to mention I was still feeling very sick at this point.

 

When we arrived at our hotel, thirteen hours after we had crawled out of bed, I was just so overwhelmed.

We got to the church, and Bailey and I sat down in the middle section. As the locals wandered in, saying hi to all the old timers of our group, I was feeling pretty left out. I just couldn’t help wondering why I was sitting there. What was the point of all this?

I was introduced as my father’s daughter. Hugs all around. Names tossed at me like potatoes. The pastor went up front and asked us to stand. Music began, and we all immediately recognized the song. Hearing the Spanish translation was a huge wake up call. I began singing along (in English, of course), and clapped to the off beat with everyone else.

 

And that was it. We were one. We are one.

One church.

In those few minutes, I went from being an outsider to a part of the family. What I didn’t realize when I walked into the church was that I already was a part of the family. If we can’t be united, then there’s nothing fight for. We are the body of Christ.

Jackie put it best during our devotional time. She said that through our worship tonight she saw a glimpse of heaven. Everyone praising God, singing “holy, holy, holy.” Two languages with one purpose.

Unity.