Another Good Sunday In Cayman

Wow! Two posts in one day and no pictures! Can you believe that??

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I always look forward to Sunday's here at our Church in Cayman!! I'd like to let you in on a secret ~ our Church here is not dead!!! It is lively and on the move :o)) We have two awesome Sunday School teachers whose class I love to sit in and enjoy. The other's in the class participate and make it very special. I've never been in a Sunday School class that I enjoy better then here!! After that time of sharing is over we go into our Morning Worship service. Like I said before, the Premier of our Island (he'd be like our President in the States) leads the singing. Now let me tell you that he doesn't drag out the music!!! This congregation gets into their singing and you hear lots of clapping during the songs. I think that someone somewhere in the Sanctuary is clapping on every beat of every song!! I just love it. They will sing anywhere from six to eight or nine Congregational songs. I don't ever want to go back to a dead, lifeless Church!! After the singing, usually they take the offering. And again, this is no ordinary offering!! They have six usher's and by the time they are finished the offering plates are full and overflowing. LITERALLY!! More than once I've seen the money falling out on the floor because the plates were so full!! It gives me goose bumps :o) They are a very giving Church. And to think that at one time they had Missionaries here ministering. They've come a long, long way! Now they support Missionaries in other countries. Oh, yes! I forgot to mention that it's not unusual to have two or three or maybe even four special songs during this service. Have you figured out yet that they like to sing? (On Sunday night's, they'll sing for an hour or more sometimes.) After everything else is finished, Dennis usually brings the message. What an awesome Church we're Pastoring!! We just love the people and we feel that love reciprocated back to us!! Now for more exciting news. If you remember my blog about my birthday, you'll remember that since we moved here that Dennis and I have become very, very good friends with a young man 33 years old who owns a little restaurant here in our little town. Dennis began frequenting his business for breakfast sometime after we came here when he's on his way to visit in the hospital. Then we started going for dinner. Man, can he and his chefs ever cook!! He is from India and they serve some awesome food. Ask my sister, Charlotte and her husband as we took them there! Anyway, after Dennis got to know him pretty good he invited him to our Church, but he wasn't quite ready to take that step. He invited Dennis to go very early to meet him at the restaurant to talk about religion. Being he's from India he is Hindu! Finally, a few weeks ago he came to Church one evening when someone else was here speaking! Again, he had more questions. Dennis has spent many, many hours with him. Last Sunday morning he came to Church and I invited him to sit with me. The first time he sat on the back seat and Dennis sat with him because we had the other speaker. So, last Sunday I talked to him before Church and asked him if he wanted to sit with me. I figured when I told him where I sit (on the third pew from the front of our huge Sanctuary) he probably wouldn't want to sit there. I had already made my mind up that wherever he sat I was sitting with him. I didn't want him to feel lost in the masses of people :o) Well, he ended up leaving service early for some pretty good reasons! Yes, we were disappointed. Then we were so busy this week that we didn't even get to stop in to say hi to him! Lo and behold, after I went up to the piano this morning and the service had started, I looked out in the Congregation and there he sat in my pew!! I was totally shocked!! I couldn't wait to finish playing the piano to go sit with him. Dennis announced the text he was using for his message and I noticed that our friend had his own Bible. As I was turning to the Scripture in my Bible, I was watching out the corner of my eye :o) Well, he had NO idea where to look for the book of Romans. I saw him trying to find the table of contents in the front but he was fumbling and didn't succeed, so he just closed the Bible and laid it on the seat beside him. I nudged him with my elbow and pointed to his Bible. He gave it to me and I found the Scripture. He just smiled :o) I told Dennis later that during the message I noticed he'd take a deep breath and exhale and take another deep breath a little later then exhale pretty loudly! Then he'd nod in agreement different times as the message went on. After Dennis finished, he had the organist and I play a song. Several people knelt at the altar for prayer! After bit I looked down and there went our friend, the Hindu ~ but not Hindu for long!!!! As you see, he gave his life to Jesus Christ this morning. It was sooooooo awesome. When I saw him going to the altar, I began to cry! I was sooooooooooooooo happy!! When I finished playing, I went to pray with him along with Dennis and several other men of the Church. After he was finished, he still had his head bowed and Dennis was talking to him a bit. Then Dennis asked me to go over to him and welcome him into the Family of God! I knelt down beside him and put my arm around him. Through my tears I said, "Welcome into the Family. Now you're my brother!" As soon as I said that he put his hands over his eyes and wept more!! The only words I know to describe this is just awesome!!!!!! Dennis is going tomorrow morning to have breakfast at his restaurant. I'm sure our new "brother" will have more questions for Dennis. He acted a little disappointed when I told him I couldn't come to eat because I had to work. He asked me if I work everyday and I told him every school day! But don't worry ~ I'm sure we'll be going there for dinner this week just to cheer him on!! Now you know why we had another good Sunday in Cayman!!

P.S. Dennis and I were talking at dinner today and I told him about our friend having a Bible.

He just smiled and said, "Yes, I know. I gave it to him!"" I had no idea!!