Church In A Cinema

Over the past several weeks at Flamingo Road Church in Lima, where we do church in a cinema, we have encountered the following Sunday-morning challenges:

1. A broken elevator.

2. A broken section of the escalator, caused by rowdy teens repeatedly jumping up and down on it.

3. A river of Coca-Cola on the carpet in the lobby where we have our information tables.

4. A blizzard of popcorn in the cinema where we have our worship services.

5. An insufficient number of cinema workers to clean it all up.

6. Corporate events and birthday party functions encroaching on the space we rent from the cinema each Sunday.

7. A Nike marathon running right outside our front door, and closing all the streets around the cinema.

8. Torn-up carpet in the lobby, where workers had begun to replace the carpet with tile, but hadn't finished the job.

9. A nearby church of another Christian denomination complaining to the parking garage that our members were taking up too many parking spaces.

10. Earthquake tremors during the worship services.

Yes, that's quite a Top 10 list!

And it serves to underscore the point that two of the most important talents that you must develop in order to have success in international ministry are adaptability and flexibility. Without them, you'll never make it.

As examples of our adaptability and flexibility, we reversed escalator paths so that everyone would at least have escalator access on the way up to the 4th floor of the cinema, where we are located. We also grabbed brooms, dustbins, towels, and anything else on hand to clean up the Coca-Cola and popcorn messes we encountered on Sunday mornings. We handed out promotional cards to those waiting to attend corporate and birthday functions in adjoining cinemas, and invited them to join us in the worship service, even if just for 5 minutes. Many did! As for the earthquake tremors, I just told the crowds that we should all sing "Shake, Rattle, and Roll."

Adaptability and flexibility. And a dose of humor. Embrace them in your international ministry. It will make all the difference in the world.