By The Way

We arrive every Sunday morning @ 7:00 AM @ the cinema where we have FRC-Lima in order to set everything up & to have everything ready for the first service which starts @ 9:00 AM.

When we arrive @ 7:00 AM, there are always one or two members of the cinema cleaning crew there w/ us. They clean the cinemas for us as we set up.

We have services @ 9:00 AM & @ 10:30 AM in the cinema. Usually the second service is done prior to 12:00 PM. The cinema management, however, generously gives us another hour or two to tear down & store all of our items & equipment, & also to use the cinemas for any after-service meetings, band rehearsals, or auditions that we may have. We're usually out of the cinema entirely by 2:00 PM.

Yesterday, well after the end of the English service, one of the cinema workers came up to me & casually informed me that, by the way, the cinema had booked a movie in the cinema where we have our worship services, & that the movie was scheduled to start right away @ 1:00 PM.

The cinema worker told me this @ 12:55 PM.

Incredibly, the cinema worker had been w/ us since 7:00 AM! He had been w/ us for 6 hours, & had never said a word to us about a 1:00 PM movie.

I asked him how this was possible.

He just shrugged his shoulders.

I told him that we need much more than another five minutes for tear-down & storage, & that I needed to speak to his manager right away. At this point he became a little nervous.

I went back inside the cinema & told our team to do the tear-down & storage as quickly as possible, & I also informed the cinema manager about how we had just received the news of the 1:00 PM movie @ 12:55 PM. The manager was very apologetic, & our team worked @ a lightning-like speed, & the movie started only about 10-15 minutes late.

What's the lesson for today, everyone?

C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.

And be sure to do it w/ more than 5 minutes to go before a deadline!