I'm Lovin' It!

On Friday I told you about the challenges that would be facing us on Sunday at Flamingo Road Church in Lima, such as how there was going to be a film festival in the cinema complex where we hold services, and how we would be prohibited from having any lobby presence (where we usually have our Information Table, Small Groups Table, Youth Service Table, plus other promotional banners and materials), and how we also would not have use of the cinema where we always have our pre-school and children's ministry on Sunday mornings.

I was talking to another pastor in Lima on Saturday about all this. He said, "I'd just cancel the services for the weekend!"

I didn't take his advice.

Instead, as a team we rose to the challenge. We placed a smaller-scale version of our Information Table inside the passageway which leads into the cinema where we hold our worship service. It was smaller than what we usually have on Sundays, and did not feature as many items as usual, but did include all of the essential items, such as bulletins, promotional cards, and sign-up sheets for newcomers and for those wishing to be part of our baptism in two weeks. It worked.

And then there were the children.

Ah, the children.

An angel in the form of a red-wigged clown came up to me and said, "Steve, you deserve a break today!"

And so we rented out the 2nd floor play area of the McDonald's next to the cinema complex, and turned it into our pre-school and children's ministry home on Sunday! Happy Meals and all!

The kids had a ball. In fact, I have a feeling they'd rather have us rent out Mickey D's every Sunday for them!

Our First Impressions team (ushers and greeters), led by Xenia, did a great job handling the crowds at the mini-Information Table, and our Pre-School and Children's Ministry team, led by Mariana, did a 5-star job shuttling kids back and forth between the cinema and McDonald's, and teaching them and feeding them.

It was a big challenge and a lot of extra running around yesterday to pull everything off, but we coached our team about adaptability and flexibility in the days leading up to Sunday, and so when Sunday's curveballs and knuckleballs came floating up to the plate, they whacked them all right out of the park.

Adaptability + Flexibility = Success in International Ministry