The Christmas season was a busy one for us! We've said good-bye to Scotty's parents, but before they went we had the opportunity to introduce them to pretty much everyone we know in the neighborhood and everyone on our church plant team. One day that was particularly special for us was the Sunday before Christmas. We invited Edgar, our pastor, and his family over for lunch and to hang out in the house before we did the evangelistic, Christmas drama that was planned for the community center. We enjoyed spending a full day with them, eating lunch, playing Phase 10 and talking about life. They are a neat family that we are enjoying more and more as we get to know them better- their passion for the Lord, their great sense of humor, their fantastic kids. Then came the big night that we had put a lot of concentrated effort into. We went to the community building and opened the doors to find the pungent, over-powering smell of alcohol greeting us. There was a baptismal celebration the night before and probably a lot of pouring out of beer onto the ground in honor of the Pacha Mama (god mother)- I'm not sure how those two things mix, but they often do around here. We opened the few tiny windows and prayed no one would mind the stench. The next couple of hours was spent setting up and praying that God would bring many from town and speak to them during the comic sketch that our good friend Marcelo had written several years ago. Close to 300 people showed up! It was a fun and encouraging night for us as a church- having been an activity that really bonded many different members and also led us to believe that there is much openness in the community to outreach efforts. 
Scotty sporting his Burger King crown and chatting with neighbors- he played one of the Magi
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