June Trip Update 3

Here are a couple of stories from our team members . . .

We began the day by attending Church in Montellano. The service was beautiful, with the Pastor reading from Matthew 10:5-7 and his sermon calling the congregation to serve missionally, to go out and glorify God. They also translated the message in English for us, which was amazing. The Austin Stone group was able to contribute during worship and sing two songs for the congregation, Holy is The Lord and Mighty to Save. It was a great experience for us to see how their community worships the Lord.

After lunch we went to the village of Chi Chi Gua, where we spent time with the people of the village. Some of us spent time making bracelets with the little kids, while others were playing sports and learning Creole. Someone even served as a human jungle gym. It was nice for us to spend time with and love the kids of the village. It was a good outlet for them and allowed them to clear their minds from anything else. I think we’re all looking forward to visiting and spending time with them again.

Jason Rottinger


Our experience worshiping at Templo Biblico this morning was such a blessing. I was truly humbled by the time and effort that the members of the church put into making our group feel welcome and included. The service started with a welcome and worship music. It was a really unique experience to be a part of worship in a different language. Part of their effort to include us was having a little projector with the song lyrics on the wall so that we could follow along. So we stumbled through a couple of beautiful worship songs in Spanish. The most special moment for me was when their worship leaders started playing my favorite Easter morning song – Christ the Lord is Risen Today…in Spanish. But the Alleluia part…exactly the same in both languages! The world instantly felt smaller for me. I love to think that for the past 2 decades, as I’ve been singing that song in church with my family, the wonderful members of this special little church across an ocean from me was singing to the exact same tune.

Ashby Christian