For the Love of the Lord

I have traveled to Spain a few times for missions trips, and along with those trips we have attended many many church services. Though, one of the churches we traveled to in Spain was Baptist (like me), it was totally different from anything I have experienced before.

At my home church, our services are right at an hour. My pastor says his sermon in about 25 minutes or so, we sing a couple of hymns, and then its over until next week. This particular church service was at a church called La Iglesia Evangelica Bautista. It is a tiny church in the town of Denía, Spain, located on the Mediterranean Sea. Most of Spain considers themselves un-practicing Catholics with a few muslims spread out here or there. This church is very unique because they are one of the only baptist churches in Spain. 

Going into the service, I expected it to be very similar to my experiences at home because they were baptist and part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, just like my home church. Was I wrong. The air inside the building was so different than anything I had felt before. The service began with announcements and the celebrations of birthdays and anniversaries. EVERYONE in the church participated. Then we began singing, people were weeping, and putting their hands in the air, while my little group just looked on in wonder. Not only did we have a language barrier, but an experience barrier as well. People became more and more emotional throughout the service and by the end, they even had us feeling the love and presence of the Lord there with us. I was so in awe and so in love with this little church. They had helped me learn something and experience something totally separate from anything I have ever learned.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my church, but I think that experiencing other denominations, churches, and religious services is extremely important to the development of a person. It helps us to better understand the world around us and to understand who we are in relation to these other people. When we truly see and understand, less prejudice and discrimination will happen and our lives can become more peaceful. Harshness usually comes from things we don’t understand. I hope that others get the chance to experience a totally different religious service because it is truly inspiring.