Worship in Chiguayante

On Sunday night, we went to Iglesia Vida Nueva en Chiguayante. I gasped as our van pulled up and out side of the van I saw Pr. Oscar, his son and Ximena, all of whom I have had the opportunity to get to know on other occassions in the United States and Mexico. What a privilege it was to be able to see them in their own congregation! After a series of warm hugs and greetings, we entered Lucy´s home. Lucy is the president of this congregation and one of its founders 13 years ago. The six of us along with 7 members of the congregation filled the small living room. Over iced coffee and "calsoncitos rotos" a kind of fry-bread, Lucy, Pr. Oscar and other members of the congregation shared the story of how they began worship in this very living room until with an attendance of 40 people, they began to look for a piece of property to build a church and last year, began construction on a church building just down the block. The congregation has sold "calsoncitos rotos" at local fairs and undertaken all kinds of projects in order to raise money for the construction. We worshipped in that very building that evening. Although it has no heat and provisional doors, the warmth of the congregation, the inspired singing of its members including a solo by Lucy herself, a wonderful sermon by Pr. Oscar and the feeling of community that we experienced made me want to come back! I want to see the finished building, but more than that I want to return to worship again with my old friends, Pr. Oscar, Gabriel and Ximena and my new friends, Lucy, Benjamin, Jaime and all the rest.

Mary Campbell