World Communion Sunday

On World Communion day I will be traveling.  First I will drive my car one hour north to Curicó, the city where the Pentecostal Church of Chile has its “cathedral” and central offices.  I will ask the Bishop, Ulises Muñoz, to bless me for my journey.  It is customary to ask the Bishop for his special blessing, with laying on of hands, for when one is traveling especially outside the country.  This custom has become an important part of my personal ritual as I prepare myself to be a vessel of blessing wherever it is that God is sending me. 

Then I will board a bus for the three hour trip from Curicó to the Santiago airport.  Next will be an all day plane odyssey to Bolivia.  It is amazing to me that I will have four planes and four layovers just to get to this neighboring country!  One stop in Antofagasta, another in Iquique (both Chilean cities), one more in La Paz (Bolivia’s capital), and the final to Santa Cruz, Bolivia which is near the border with Paraguay.

I am going to Bolivia to lead a retreat with the staff of the Mennonite Central Committee.  So this is my story of World Communion Sunday:  A member of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ in Los Fresnos, Texas, representing Global Ministries of the United Church of Christ and Christian Church Disciples of Christ in ministry with the Pentecostal Church of Chile, facilitating a spiritual retreat with the Mennonites in Bolivia.  It is ecumenical sharing at its best!

Christ indeed extends an open invitation to the table! ¡Gloria a Dios!  (Glory be to God!)