by Pastor Carolyn

It has been quite a while since I posted on this blog. Many things have changed in the past year, and now I am serving as the Senior Pastor for our English-language congregation. That move made me decide to make use of the Senior Pastor’s office in the church for my studies and other work. I’m at the church building most days now and it’s amazing to see the hive of activity it is!

I get here shortly after the schoolkids arrive. This morning, I heard them practicing Christmas carols! They soon break for breakfast, always a hot meal provided by our generous congregation. These kids are part of our school for children who can’t afford Mexican public schools, where they must pay for things like uniforms and books. Without our school they’d grow up without learning to read or write. I also watch these kids play during their physical education time. They have a blast. Shout out to Victoria for all her hard work!

I’m thrilled that we can afford to hire talented people in our community to help teach these kids and to cook for them. I’m so pleased we can hire others to help administer our church and to maintain our building for all our ministries. Providing employment is one important way we can give back to Ajijic and Chapala.

This morning (it’s Wednesday) I also heard our choir practice the songs we’ll be singing at our Sunday morning service. It’s nice to get a head start on worship. 

I saw a friend using our narthex this morning, using the opportunity to connect to the internet and help us with the church’s bookkeeping. 

Yesterday afternoon the local community choir, Las Voces del Lago, was here to practice for their holiday concert. What a joy it is to host them! (Full disclosure: I’m a member of the choir. I love it partly because I met my husband in this group a year and a half ago! Fuller disclosure: He’s the President of the choir and reminds me to suggest that you reserve your tickets for one of the concerts on either December 12, 13 or 14 at 3 p.m. It’s $350 per ticket and you can reserve at LasVocesTickets@gmail.com. End of commercial.)

On Saturdays, the Lake Chapala Orchestra rehearses here. Another wonderful cultural jewel in our community. We’re grateful for their musical gifts. 

We’re even open a few evenings for our Mexican congregation. There’s a prayer meeting on Wednesday nights. Spanish-language classes for the Lakeside Institute of Theology are held in the evening, so our working congregation can attend. And on Friday nights, Ricardo leads a Celebrate Recovery group. 

We’re happy to see our numbers going up again for our Sunday morning service–now at 10 a.m. (Thank you, returning Canadians and new visitors!)

I thank God every day for the blessing He has given us in this active church. If you’re in the neighborhood, you should drop by sometime to see what He is doing every day at Lakeside Presbyterian. Be sure to peek into my office to say hi.