We arrived in Placetas in the late afternoon and our host took us by the church to meet some of his leadership team who wanted to welcome us. He showed us the renovations that had been underway at the church, then we went to his house to get settled.
My friend Darcy had visited the church a few years ago before the current pastor started working at the church. The renovations under the previous leader had been pretty slow. She was astounded by how much had been done since her last visit. It was not clear to me if the slow progress was due to lack of funds or a difficulty in finding materials, or both, but the new pastor was working wonders.
Sanctuary. The congregation had been worshipping across the street in a smaller building while construction was underway. Now that the larger space is available, the congregation has continued to grow. About 50-70 people worship each Sunday.
In the evening, the pastor had planned to hold a Taize service, but since it was raining and members mostly walked or rode their bikes, he decided to cancel it. He was working his phone to let people know. Then about 10 mins after announcing he was cancelling, he told us he was going to the church because there were a lot of people who had already shown up. We assumed we were not going alone. Then about 10 mins later, his wife said to Darcy and I "Chicas! Vamanos!" A car had come by to pick us up and take us 3 blocks up the street to the church in the rain. Plans for this whole trip were very fluid, but this 30 minute period was the most evident example.
I'm very glad the pastor decided to hold the Taize service in the end. It was quite lovely. The sanctuary was filled with candles and definitely had his decorator wife's touch. He played several Taize chants on the sound system interspersed with prayers lifted up by the participants. We all at in a circle on the floor around the fabric.
This was the 'fellowship hall' / Courtyard that ran the length of the sanctuary. On the other side were a small kitchen, bathroom and the pastor's study. It was open at the end to a large green space inside the walls of the property. It was shaded with a nice breeze. Probably perfect in the summer for socializing. I had to laugh at the picture above- part 'car park' part fellowship hall. Everyone brought their bikes and scooters inside.
These are members of the church leadership team. The next day we went back and they shared details about the different ministries that the church carries out. Two of the members were retired doctors and ran their pharmacy (that they couldn't call a clinic because of the govn't). Several others had training with disabilities and worked with children with speech impediments and some who were visually impaired. Darcy and I had brought letters from members of our congregation and we wanted to share these with these leaders so they knew that we were partners with them in their ministries. It was fun to watch them open and read them. One member had written in Spanish and they especially appreciated this touch.
I had been told by several people at the camp that I had a twin at the church in Placetas. This is mi hermana, Lisette. She is a retired physician and works in their clinic.
Darcy and I had brought some funds to share with the church and had tried to give these to the pastor in his home earlier. He said no. We needed to give them to this group of leaders for transparency. I appreciated the care that he took with financial propriety. 
The furnishing were simple, but the pastor's wife had done a lovely job making the space welcoming and pleasant, not just functional. They provided meals to people in the community 4-5 days of the week. They had several different programs that targeted different populations.
The doctors were very glad to receive the medicines we brought with us. We learned that one need they had was for colostomy bags. They kept a roster of people in the community who needed these and would call them whenever supplies became available. I would never have thought about this need, but we can certainly support this in a future visit. They didn't run a pharmacy daily, the just provided for people on their list as medicines were available.
Kitchen where meals are prepared.
When they had more people to cook for than the kitchen would allow for, they would use these raised grills in the back garden.
On our last morning before we headed to the airport, we got to visit the church and see the children ministry in action. They usually had between 20 and 40 kids attend. They would tell bible stories, sing, have snacks, and do crafts. We had brought a lot of chocolates with us and those became the snack for the morning - quite a treat! They were practicing for Christmas even and singing several different songs. There was one that we actually recognized: This little light of mine.
This boy was invited to play percussion for one of the songs. He was shy as the pastor showed him how to tap out a rhythm, but perked up when this girl came over during break and asked him to show her. Some things are the same everywhere :)
Most of the song lyrics were printed out on half sheets of paper that they carefully passed out and collected afterwards. We were told that paper and office supplies were often hard to come by. There was one song that we sang from a hymn book. These were paper back and carefully covered with plastic on the outside to protect them.
Darcy and I had brought a suitcase full of small toys for the kids for Christmas. The pastor's wife suggested that the children's ministry people sort them and gift them to the kids on Christmas eve, so we didn't get to see these distributed. But they did break out one of the two soccer balls that we brought and the kids were excited to get to play with a new soccer ball.
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