The Presbyterian church here has little/no tolerance for drunkedness. Presbyterians here do not drink, even a little, and they expect the same from other Christians. So if a "visitor" to worship happens to have an air of alcohol or a slur in his voice, the typical response has been to escort the visitor outside. Instead of seeing an opportunity to show the love of Christ, the churches here have tended to cast out those whose behavior is inconsistent with the values of the church.
Our tiny mission is trying hard to encourage our members to think differently about the "burracho" who wanders in off the street. Today in worship, we had 2 men in worship who might fit the description. I suspect that the events of a few weeks ago influenced the collective decision to welcome them into our worship service today.
A few weeks ago, a man showed up for an evening worship service, obviously under the influence. The schedule for the evening included the evening worship, a meal and an evening of fun-and-games at the home of one of our members. Well.... he participated in the evening worship service without being too disruptive then joined the group as we walked on to the family's home. Sure enough, he stayed throughout the evening....shared in the meal, watched with some degree of amusement as we played Bible trivia games, and joined in our singing and praying. As the night went on, he sobered up pretty well and seemed to appreciate being welcomed for the evening. I'm ashamed to say that he left without my ever knowing his name, but he left with the knowledge that there was an alcoholism counselor at this church if he ever decided that he wanted help.
The truth is that we never know how our responses to people will or will not affect their lives. This gentleman may never return to worship with us again. He may never accept Christ into his heart. He may continue to drink himself to death or turn to the church for help recovering. We just don't know. What we do know is that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, taught us all to welcome and care for the least of these just as we would for Jesus (Matthew 25: 40). It's hard to receive the outcast when we're focused on our agenda, and yet we're clearly called by Jesus to do this. God, help us to embrace the outcast instead of casting them out even further.
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What a great story. Sometimes it's hard to continually humble yourself and realize that Christ meant it when he said that the sick are who is in need of a physician, not those who think they have already earned God's perfect score.
This summer, I think in July, friends and I will be flying into Morelia to stay with some family in San Lorenzo. I've read about Chiapas mostly through "Voice of the Martyrs" publications, and I would really like to check it out while we're within driving distance.
I'm not sure how our trip will turn out, but if your group has any work they need done, we would be glad to come and help (actually I know I would be glad, I guess I should check with the others.) Many churches in countries I've been to have been encouraged simply by christians of another nationality worshiping with them.
It's a while off but I thought I would try to make some contact and see if you needed any help. May God bless everything you guys are doing!
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