In April I led a group of high school students to the Dominican Republic for their Spring Break. There are many amazing stories from that experience, however I plan to use this entry to tell only one story.
Our group was fairly small, consisting of four adult leaders and five high school students. When we arrived “on the scene” of the orphanage where we were staying, we discovered that another high school group was there for the week as well. Their group consisted of somewhere around eighty people. So, we were severely outnumbered. We also discovered that they were a school group rather than a youth group or any other type of religious affiliation. Despite our differences we set out with the same goal of serving the people of the Dominican Republic.
On Sunday morning (our first morning there) our site leader extended an invitation to everyone to join in a Bible study and worship time. I was very excited for this opportunity to focus together as a group and prepare together for our upcoming week of service.
Our small group of nine headed to the rooftop where the service was to take place. As we arrived we discovered that only a few others had gathered, and all that had gathered were staff members with the organization. So, with our humble group of about seventeen people we spent time in prayer, sang a capella, and talked about some Bible verses. We also had communion together.
Now, here is the meat of this bog entry. I’ve always had communion in a formal church setting where there is some orderly way we all go through and partake in a seemingly fancy bread and wine or grape juice. On that rooftop, early on a Sunday morning with the Dominican Republic extending 360 degrees around us, we shared communion in the form of saltine crackers and red Kool-Aid. It blew my mind! It was an amazing, revolutionary experience that revitalized communion for me. It really brought our group together with each other as well as with the Christian leadership at the orphanage.
Sharing communion together helped me remember that despite how small we may feel in comparison to the world around us, we have the amazing and impenetrable bond of Jesus holding us together, in community.
