This past Sunday we had our traditional Christmas Convivio and, it was an enormous blessing!!!! Praise God! There are a couple of things that we did differently for this occasion, but that proved to be good. First, we had the convivio on Sunday and included in it our worship time. We weren't sure how people would respond to this, but everyone seemed to expect something along these lines, and so it was well received. We had the party at the same place that we meet on Sundays. Not only did our friend give us a good deal on the location, but it allowed us to invite people back to the same place next week for our celebration and worship time. We also had all the food prepared by the people at the facility, so we paid a price per person rather than a general cost for everything. This made us really pay attention to who we had invited and have a better grasp on how many we were expecting. As we asked the church members who all they had invited, and who all had confirmed they would come (two very different numbers), it was amazing and a little scary all at the same time. Our neighbors alone, Jose Luis and Adriana, invited 90 people!! And most of those were family members. So, we geared up for a lot of people.
The event started at 2:00, and by 2:30, we already had 70 people there. Now that is a true Mexican miracle to have so many there so early! By the end of the day, we had over 150 people, which included some 30 kids. We started out with fun and games orchestrated by Jose Luis and Adriana, followed by a yummy lunch (yes, we at lunch at 4:00 pm). We then had a "drama" that had undergone many changes before the final product, worship time and a time in the word. Sam shared with us about the true meaning of Christmas and the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. We concluded this time by taking the Lord Supper. Even those that were new to our group received this time well, which was a sigh of relief for us. We topped off the evening with dessert and coffee, while prizes and candy were delivered by the one and only Santa Clause. Larisa was our Santa Clause this year and did a great job!
It's hard to say what the highlight of the day was, but here are a few things were are especially grateful for. First, our church family rose to the challenge, as usual, and was ready to help, serve and welcome new comers. Second, we had a whole new crowd of people at this party. It was not the usual family members and friends that have come in times past. Some of these people included many of Jose Luis' family that we have had contact with in recent months, Miguel (Morelia's husband) and several of his extended family members, Salvador and Stacey who traveled two hours to be with us, and several visitors that we have had in our cell groups.
We came home tired and overwhelmingly joyful! It is always amazing to see what God is doing here, and this has been no exception. Pray with us that the fruit from this event will be plentiful and long lasting. Thank you to so many of you that are praying for us and that make these kinds of things possible for us here in Mexico. Blessings to each of you.
