A very good sign

Hello from Beth, to my Kits Church family and any others reading this. This is my first time writing as part of this blog. For the last month, I've been spending twenty or so hours of my week helping to water and nurture this recently-planted-in-a-park, yet-to-be-named church plant. I have been delighted, challenged, and generally overwhelmed with all sorts of new thoughts and emotions. So many times over the last few months I've wanted to share these new experiences with you, to tell you stories about our little community. Here is my first attempt to do so.

I want to tell you about one of the most exciting Sundays we've had together so far, a Sunday only a few weeks after our church was born, early in May. That was the Sunday when Julio and Lisa Hernandez visited from Washington, DC.

Many of you know that Julio and Lisa are really the roots of our new church. They worked both in Strathcona and at Kits, building bridges of relationship. Most of the church plant people were originally introduced to us through Julio and Lisa, before they moved to Washington.

So when we heard they were coming to visit, along with their newborn baby, Dinita, we spread the word and prepared for a party. By 2:00 that Sunday, there were about 30 people gathered at our site in the park, many of whom we had never met before, including plenty of kids who knew and loved Julio and Lisa. But the guests of honour were late. Finally we saw them coming from far away, and a bunch of kids ran to meet them. There were hugs all around, and even some tears of joy in the kids' eyes. Everyone wanted to look at the new baby, an incredible blessing in the Hernandez's lives after many miscarriages.

We started the service. I played the guitar, as the kids accompanied on maracas and hand drums, and we sang songs of thanksgiving: "every good and perfect gift comes from You." Jodi told us some stories about "Nobodies" who God turned into "Somebodies" in order to set His people free... from Moses, to Gideon, to Julio & Lisa. The highlight of the service was the end, when Eunice, an elder, gave gifts to Julio and Lisa, then sang and played her drum to bless baby Dinita, as some of the other First Nations women joined in, arms outstretched, hands cupped, in a gently swaying dance.

After the service, we all headed down the alley to Jodi's house for a BBQ. In a matter of minutes, the house was full of people - our numbers doubled to about 60 (food does have that effect!). Terry assumed the important role of hamburger-barbecuer on the back porch, and Jodi boiled hot dogs on the stove. Kids were everywhere, running in a steady stream from the back door through the house and out the front door, then around back again. I passed out punch and tried to learn everyone's names. Baby Dinita was making her rounds, being held by everyone in attendance.

Later, as the crowd thinned, I wandered to the sun room in the back. Eunice was sitting there with some other women, her drum beside her. I commented on the beautiful patterns on the surface of the drum. She picked it up and played another song, one that the women seemed to know well. As she finished, we heard a clap of thunder, a rare occurrence in Vancouver. Moving quickly from a ceremonious seriousness to characteristic tongue-in-cheek First Nations humour, Eunice quipped that she had perhaps drummed a little too hard. Our laughter was interrupted by a shout from outside: "It's an eagle!" Everyone rushed out to watch the huge bird circle, silhouetted on the dark clouds. We stood in hushed awe. Eagle sightings are especially significant in the First Nations community, a good sign - a very good sign.

The whole day seemed like a very good sign, a sign of God's grace to all of us, a sign of the legacy Julio and Lisa left for us, a sign of something new being birthed among us.