Almolonga

Sorry, I tend to blog in bunches.  I guess I'm not the one-blog-a-day type. :-)

Today I was talking to someone about the changes in Almolonga.  I don't know how many of you have seen the "Transformations" video that came out some years ago in the U.S.--it talked about the massive changes that town went through ten or fifteen years ago, a spiritual transformation that led to material abundance as well.  Anyway, I was googling a year or two ago and saw a website someone had set up claiming none of those changes really happened, so I decided to ask a Guatemalan I know here for her perspective.

Her response?  As a whole, the town is characterized, more than anything, by unity.  If someone in the village dies, the entire village comes to help the family.  If someone from Almolonga is in the hospital, a big percentage of the town arrives to help and visit them.  It can be a bother to the employees, all those people swarming into the place, but it's also a blessing for those who are taken care of by such a united community.

She also said the town is safer because people are more afraid to commit crimes in a place where the entire town will rise up in defense. 

They have been blessed materially, too.  This is the part that I always remembered the most from the video--the economic blessing, the abundance of vegetables of great size and quality.  The best in Central America, from what she said.  She said the majority of their vegetables are exported.  Only the small ones are kept here.

But I had always overlooked the part about unity. 

Maybe that's the materialistic American in me coming out.  When I hear of God's blessing, I automatically think of money.  Yes, the financial blessing was there.  But far more important, I think now, is the unity.

Can you imagine living in a community where, when a family member dies, the entire community comes to your aid?  Or being in the hospital and having half the village come to see how you are?

Reminds me of Psalm 133:

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes.  It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.  For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. (NIV)

Or as the song goes in Spanish:  Mira cuan bueno y delicioso es habitar los hermanos juntos... (I haven't figured out the accents when typing yet...)

Unity--Is that the true measuring stick of God's blessing? 

And if so, what that mean in other situations?  Does that mean blessing on a church doesn't always mean the biggest building with the biggest numbers?  Could a small church with loving members be closer to God's heart than a big church in disharmony with each other, each person solely looking out for his own concerns?

Almolonga has both, material and spiritual blessings, but I wonder now, in the eyes of God, which one He values more...

I have a feeling that answer is different than what I have often assumed without putting the thought into words.