Last week the kingdom of heaven was like the annual Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church (MPPC) employee luncheon held to celebrate the hard working staff at our Children's Home. It is always lovely, something the staff looks forward to.
This year, however, was different. The morning started with a disaster as I learned that there had been a misunderstanding about the date and almost none of the staff was there. I was in a panic, wondering how I would tell the team. In a moment of lucidity, I prayed, "Lord, please redeem this day." Staff members, Samuel and Oneyda, got on the phone to call the local staff members to return for lunch. I found Mengui and asked him to go with me to invite our neighbors to join us. We went door to door up the dirt road next to our property inviting them (at the last minute) to lunch. We had no idea if they would come or how many people would attend the lunch. Shelley, the team leader, was so gracious when I finally confessed the mix-up. "The right number of people will be here."
At noon, the church porch was set up and we waited. The on-duty staff appeared. One by one the local staff returned. Just as I was about to give up on the neighbors I looked out and saw the family who live by the gate approaching, all dressed up! Pretty soon, all the neighbors were there and we had to get an extra table! (Thanks Debbie and Steve!) As always, it was a great event with good food (thanks, Judith!,) good service (thanks MPPC servers!,) lots of fun (thanks Mengui, Georgia, and Dawn for dancing!,) fellowship (thanks Solo Por Hoy band!,) and,worship (thanks, Holy Spirit!) My prayer for redemption had been answered! |
| The right number of people were there! |
What made this year special was the inclusion of our neighbors. What started out as a last minute effort to fill the tables has become the beginning of a new tradition. My favorite part of the lunch was seeing how happy the neighbors were to be included in the LAMB family and how happy everyone was to be together:
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When you get a group of Hondurans together, for what ever purpose, inevitably, worship breaks out. Mengui and Angel took charge and led the impromptu but beautiful worship.
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Mengui invited people to come up and receive prayer. Bienvenido's (who died about a month ago) mother came up along with "Abuelita," the grandmother who lives next to our gate. Abuelita got down on her knees to receive our laying on of hands and prayer. 
And it sounds like this as American voices from Holy Spirit, two weeks ago, mingled with Honduran voices:
As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’
Matthew 10:7
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