Lakeside Presbyterian Church – Ajijic Chapala, Mexico

You may have already heard that the Jalisco government has begun lifting restrictions on churches. While we may legally open our church for worship, we must still make some significant preparations, so we’re not ready yet. And we also have to consider carefully whether this is the right time to reopen, if we’re going to keep our congregation healthy and well. In this situation, we must be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

We want your opinion! We have created another very brief survey for you. It should take you five minutes or less to complete. You can find it here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZP9F8GT 

In case it helps you to answer our questions, we want you to know that when we reopen, we will put in place several key processes – either required by the government or by common sense. These will very likely include:

• Limited numbers, i.e., <50 people per service
• Requiring masks for everyone
• Sanitizing mats for feet
• Hand sanitizer
• Temperature check
• No hugs. No handshakes
• No handouts (bulletins, prayer request cards)
• No nametags
• No choir
• Offering basket at exit(s)
• No communion (or a changed process)
• Shortened service
• No coffee hour
• We will register everyone entering a meeting, recording their name, contact information, and where they are sitting.
• The English congregation will meet at 10 a.m. in the sanctuary. The Spanish service will meet at noon, possibly in the courtyard, depending on weather.

Thank you so much for responding to our survey. God bless you and may he keep you well during this extraordinary titme! We are praying for you.

Our video devotional today is from Tom Emmerson. See what he has to say about an issue that sneaks up on us. Watch it here.

Wayne’s video devotional for us today comes from John 13:35. You can watch it here.

All of us have been concerned about how our neighbors are surviving the economic impact of closing businesses during the past several weeks. You should know that Lakeside Presbyterian Church has stepped up our feeding ministry in response to this need.

Even though our doors have closed, our kitchen has been open! With just two people, they have cooked hundreds of meals for local people — including for the families of the kids in our literacy program and for the men and women in two local drug rehab centers.

Plus, with financial help of the Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club, we have more than tripled the number of despensas we normally provide. In the past, we have given out about 60 despensas each month. In the past four weeks that number has gone above 200! The support the Club has given helped us to deliver 155 new despensas in communities from San Antonio Tlayacapan to Santa Cruz de la Soledad and beyond. Praise God!

Some of the money the Club donated came from Clubs in the U.S. — so Lakeside Presbyterian Church is part of an international effort.

Please continue to pray for the health and safety of Martin our Ministry Outreach Director, for Ricardo our driver who makes the deliveries, for our cooks, and for the volunteers who package the despensas.

In today’s devotional, Carolyn Hansen addresses how we as a church can begin to deal with the sin of racism. It all begins with humility. You can watch the video here.