After a dramatic turn-around in my life 8 years ago, some people assumed I would be headed to seminary and on to become a priestess or something. I never intended to do that, nor to be in charge of any church, so the position I've found myself in over the last month has been a bit of a shocker!

Tim and I run the church service every week here-- planning the music, selecting the readings, leading the prayers. We don't preach (thank you, God!) but we coordinate with the seminary students coming from Lima, introduce them in church, and host them every Sunday night at our house. Yesterday we went to Lima to meet with our contact at the seminary and begin discussing what the process looks like to hire a full-time pastor. We also bought books to boost the baby church library. We're doing house visits and electrical work, overseeing businesses and charity giving, planning membership and discipleship courses, administering communion (only once, and it was by accident), leading Bible studies, strategizing about a building campaign. I could go on. What don't we do?

First Tim said he thought South America Mission tricked him into this. Now he says he's pretty sure it was God. Either way, we're sticking around. The whole situation seems a little ridiculous, that Tim and I (with a combined zero hours of Bible or seminary classes) would be "in charge" around here.

I guess that's what we're learning these days-- that we're not in charge. This is God's work and God's church. He's taking care of it, and we're doing what we're told, one day at a time. It's enough to make me laugh or cry, and as long as the sun stays out, I'm going to keep laughing.

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