Central America Revisited – Day Eleven

I now think we are definitely on Central American time. We were supposed to be picked up around 8:30 this morning and our dialogue start at 9:00. Juan’s father picked me up this morning at 9:15 and our session started around 10:00. It was understandable though because several Salvadoran pastors were driving in from different locations. It was good to finally get started on the dialogue. We shared in an ice breaker where we had to pair up with someone from the other country and share our name, where we are from, something about our church, and then something we have in common. Since we had more pastors from Virginia than El Salvador, some of us were in groups of three. Craig and I talked with Armando (or Armandito as some of the other pastors referred to him). It was interesting that all three of us have two children.

Our topic today was homosexuality. Today we focused on our personal experience with homosexuals and then later we were given specific Biblical texts to discuss in small groups. After lunch, we had the opportunity to meet Brian Dubberly, Director of the Salvadoran Mission Project and the GBGM representative to Central America, Alena (I didn’t hear her last name). They both shared brief introductions and then they left because they had work to do.

We shared our discussion with the larger group. Tomorrow we will be focusing on membership, marriage, and ordination for homosexuals. I think we all found this to be a difficult topic in that we all have hearts that desire to share the love of God and yet we come from backgrounds that have been very judgmental and rule oriented, especially in regards to homosexuality. The objective of our dialogue is not to come to conclusions, but rather to gain an understanding of one another’s perspectives. One thing we all shared was the conflict between our heads and our hearts.

It is interesting that despite our different cultural contexts, we all share a passion for sharing the love of God with everyone. The “rules” to live by cause tension and division within our churches and exclude many people because of the lack of love shown when the “rules” are enforced. I know we won’t come to any earth shaking conclusions in our discussions, but it is good to at least have an openness to discuss difficult topics within the church.

After returning home, I have spent most of the evening in my room. Dinner was ready around 7:00p.m., but after I was served, everyone retreated to their rooms. I decided it best to return to my room as well. Tomorrow should be an interesting day.

(Posted after return home because of no internet access)

Central America Revisited – Day Ten

This morning much to my surprise, I sleep in till 7:30. This was a huge shock since I have slept that long in quite a while. As soon as I cleaned up and dressed, I went to the dining room for breakfast. Rosarita had breakfast ready. I had a tamale (very large) and a piece of bread. Juan’s father picked me up around 8:45 and after picking up Kerry, we headed to the church. When the others arrived, we headed off to Ataco. Several of us went into a small craft shop and after shopping, sat in the café and had coffee. It is a very pleasant garden café with lots of flowers and a fountain. I happened to see a hummingbird while we were there.

We then went to another small town, Juaya, and had lunch at R&R Restaurant. I am friends on Facebook with this restaurant and I think they are going to post our picture. Great lunch – I had beef with mushrooms, rice, and a side dish of potatoes covered with cheese. We then spent the afternoon at an open air festival/market that takes place every Saturday and Sunday in this town. I purchased several items and then sat in the Catholic church for awhile and prayed. I went back out to the park and listened to the music and chatted with several of the team members until it was time to leave.

We went back to iglesia nueva jerusalen for worship. The band is fantastic. I bought one of their CD’s. Craig preached and had a great sermon. Victor translated for him. The people are always so welcoming and hospitable. It appears as though the average age of this congregation is around 16. It is a very young congregation. They had a lot of leadership in worship by their young adults. After the service, we all returned home. I laid down for a few minutes and was startled by a knock on the door for dinner. We had bean soup with sour cream, cheese, and jalepeño peppers, along with fresh hot tortillas. During dinner we watched a show broadcast from Mexico called “Gigante Pequeño”. It is a talent show for children. We didn’t talk much through dinner since they were watching the show. Tonight will be an early night. I am still trying to recover from all of our traveling and lack of sleep.

Today has been an interesting day spiritually for me. I am truly struggling with the direction of my ministry and where God is leading. I have always felt that God reveals direction in God’s time. I am beginning to see a pattern developing in my reading and my experiences, but still am not sure. I would covet your prayers.

(Posted after my return since there was no internet access)

Central America Revisited – Day Nine

The sun was not even beginning to think about shedding any light on an unusually quiet city. On the streets, the only sound to be heard was that of the wheels striking the edge of each cobblestone as I broke the silence with my labored attempt to arrive at the school on time. I am not one to get concerned about getting up early, but walking to the school at 4:20 a.m. is not something that I had planned or cherished. I arose this morning at 4:00 and completed a modified morning routine only to find myself ready to leave well before I needed to depart. I decided that I should get an early start since I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to walk a mile pulling my suitcase, carry-on bag, and computer. I encountered a few people on the way and found myself surprised that they were out so early. I arrived at the school around 4:40 and realized that I was much too early.

We departed around 5:15 and took the western route back to Guatemala City. Our driver, Adolpho, was the driver from the Methodist Church. He took a detour because he needed to exchange buses. We went through Mazatenango. There, he had a school bus and so we transferred all of the luggage to the other bus. He was staying overnight in the city so that he could bring a medical mission group back tomorrow. After exchanging buses, we stopped a little later to have breakfast. These two things put us behind in our schedule and we arrived at the airport around 45 minutes behind schedule. Hopefully, Janice and Anna were able to make their flights without any problem.

(Posted after my return since I didn't have internet in El Salvador)

The other members of our team were there and Juan de Dios Peña arrived a few minutes later. We quickly loaded everything into the bus and after a brief stop at Dos Lunas, we began the second phase of the journey. Since everyone was hungry, we stopped at Pizza Hut for lunch. We arrived in Ahuachapan around 4:00. After unloading all of our luggage and placing it in the church, New Jerusalem, we grabbed our luggage and headed for our homes.

I am staying with the same family as last year. Rosarita, welcomed me with her usual greeting and immediately called her granddaughter, Natalie out to greet me as well. Rosarita’s daughter, Rosa, also came out to greet me. My gecko friend is still here and greeted me as well. I settled in and then waited for my ride to dinner. We returned to the papusaria, only this time I knew what to order and had a great dinner. Three papusas with cheese and jalepeño peppers. After dinner, we returned to our homes. I didn’t chat with my family because it had been a long day. I read for a few minutes and then off to bed. Tomorrow should be a good day! I love worship here.

Central America Revisited – Day Eight

“I have the impression that the passion of Christ is being relived everywhere. Are we willing to share in this passion? Are we willing to share people’s sufferings, not only in poor countries but all over the world? It seems to me that this great poverty of suffering in the West is much harder to solve. When I pick up some starving person off the street and offer him a bowl of rice or a piece of bread, I can satisfy his hunger. But a person that has been beaten or feels unwanted or unloved or fearful or rejected by society experiences a kind of poverty that is much more painful and deep. The cure is much more difficult to find. People are hungry for God. People are hungry for love. Are we aware of that? Do we know that? Do we see that? Do we have eyes to see? Quite often we look but we don’t see. We are all just passing through this world. We need to open our eyes and see.” – Mother Teresa No Greater Love

As I come to the close of week one, I find myself once again becoming very emotional about leaving the people here in Guatemala. Not because I have anything to offer them, but because they have offered me so much. Everyone has opened their arms and their hearts. My teacher was amazing as he patiently listened to my struggle with the Spanish language. The people of the Methodist Church here were so gracious in welcoming us as though we were doing something special for them, when in reality, we only came to learn. Even the workers in the glass factory that I visited today, in the midst of their work – which could not be delayed once the glass was hot – were hospitable and courteous.

Tonight we had our parting celebration. We spent a few hours preparing the food and then we shared in the graduation celebration. Olga became emotional once again because our group coming helped the school to go from no students to 18 students in one week. She said that it was an answer to prayer. I would agree with her but in a different way. Olga has been an answer to many people’s prayers, especially the people here in Quetzaltenango. I presented Olga with one of the prayer shawls that the women of our church had made and shared how important this experience was for me because I was finally able to connect with the Methodist Church in Guatemala. I will always be grateful for this experience even if for some reason I don’t have a chance to return.

Tomorrow we are to meet at the school at 5:00 a.m. I don’t think anyone on the team is excited about the time, but we have to do what is necessary. We have about a four hour drive to La Aurora Airport and then we will meet the other team members that are arriving tomorrow. Unfortunately, Norma is not able to come as planned and I will really miss her not being here. Juan de Dios Peña is picking us up at the airport and it is on to phase two. Next week should definitely be a challenge.

Central America Revisited – Day Seven

Why do bad things happen to good people? Today I was really challenged when my teacher began asking me my understanding of why God allows bad things to happen to good people and good things to bad people. This is a challenge to discuss in English, but in Spanish it became a monumental task. Out of a five hour class, we only spent about 15 minutes on the lesson plan and another 45 minutes on my reading a story and answering his questions, which led to the question of bad things happening to good people. The balance of our time was spent on this topic. I shared with my teacher that I believe our perspective is much too limited because we focus only on our time here on earth and God is focused on eternity. Our time in relation to eternity doesn’t really amount to much. God is calling us to connect with God’s vision and God’s presence every second of every day. Whether our time is difficult or easy, short or long, it really is just a blink of an eye in God’s sight. The example I shared was as follows: If I took my fist and smashed your hand on the desk, next week it would only be a faint memory (provided I didn’t break any bones). From the perspective of your entire lifetime, the pain you may have experienced in that brief moment really becomes meaningless outside of the moment it occurred. The struggles we experience in this life are the same. In light of eternity, they are meaningless. What is truly important is to cherish each moment and to recognize God’s presence in each moment. Class went by faster today than any class I have encountered during my trips here to Guatemala.

After class, I made a quick trip home for lunch and to grab my laundry and take it to the lavaderia. The group then traveled to la clinica medica methodista. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to see the work of the Methodist Church in Guatemala. The clinic provides medical, dental, and visual care (for those of you from Ramsey, does this sound familiar?). This particular clinic is open one day a week and sees approximately 100 people between the various services. We had an opportunity to see the examination rooms and storage rooms for the medicine. On the second floor of the building is the Volunteer in Mission Office and the meeting room for the Methodist Executive Committee. There are representatives from three different regions that serve on the executive committee, along with the President of the Church. The Methodist Church in Guatemala does not have a Bishop, but a President. In the VIM office, the Director of Construction also has an office. The VIM office is only involved in construction. Doris, the Director of VIM gave us the tour of the offices, the fellowship hall/kitchen where many groups eat and the newly constructed facility for groups to be housed. Right now they are constructing more rooms, so teams live on the site, eat on site and are working to provide more housing for other teams. They are also trying to develop a facility that is large enough to accommodate the annual meeting of all of the church representatives in Guatemala. There are approximately 80 Methodist Churches in Guatemala. La iglesia Peniel is the only Methodist church in Quetzaltenango. Most of the Methodist Churches are in the rural areas. There is one church in Chichicastenango. They are not sure why the church has only been able to grow in the rural areas, but they think it may be because of the cost of starting a church in the urban areas and the medical services have been a primary ministry of the Methodist Church in Guatemala. The rural areas have a greater need for these services.

The independence of team members is showing through and creating a few challenges for me along the way. It isn’t anything that cannot be resolved, but always a challenge. As always, I pray that everything will work itself out in due time and the experience will be a positive one for everybody. Tomorrow will be a new day with new challenges! For those that have chosen to be part of the team, I feel that there is a positive relationship growing among the members. I will certainly hate to see Janice and Anna head back to the States on Saturday, because they have provided a lot of energy to the team. This really has been a great team to work with and I appreciate everyone’s patience with me. Most of the group had dinner in La Taqueria Restaurant tonight. I joined the group but didn’t eat because I wanted to have dinner with my family since it would be the last night I would share dinner with them.

I had a great time with my family at dinner. Several jokes were shared. I asked if I could take pictures of the family and we had a good conversation. I really wish I had more time to get to know them. I am sure that Robert will know them very well when he leaves after 5 weeks.

Tomorrow I will be visiting the glass factory with my teacher and then in the afternoon we will be cooking for the school dinner in the evening. This is much too short, but it has been a great week. My closing thought for tonight is the passage that I shared with my teacher today in the midst of our discussion “all things work together for good for those who love the Lord”. Isn’t that the truth! Just a quick note – this may be the last post for this trip because I don’t know if I will have internet access in El Salvador.

Central America Revisited – Day Six

For two years now I have had teachers that were frustrated with the church. Both of them had a deep faith, but the practices they encountered within the life of the church made them not want to participate. I am so grateful to be able to have these conversations. It is not often at home that I get to have lengthy conversations with persons outside of the church. The majority of my time is spent trying to meet the needs of the members. This experience reminds me that there are more people outside of the church than are within the active congregation and there are reasons why people are so disillusioned with the church.

Today I spent almost an hour discussing the practices of Christians with my teacher. He was obviously frustrated with friends and family that would act as though attending a worship service covered all of their misconduct throughout the week. He shared frustration with abusing our bodies with alcohol and engaging in sexual promiscuity, and then having people get upset with him when he would call attention to the behavior. He shared many things, even something as minor as a preacher that lived in the same building with him that would always have prayer meetings and other church functions in his apartment and yet he wouldn’t demonstrate even the simplest courtesy of not blocking him in his parking space. Even after speaking with the pastor several times, the pastor continued to park his car in a way that would prevent him from getting out of the driveway. My teacher felt that the pastor may have preached about loving his neighbor, but his actions demonstrated something far different. I can’t help but think how often my actions are observed by others and how many times my actions may have caused someone to have a negative view of the church. I tried to share with my teacher that our responsibility is to live out the love of God as revealed through Jesus Christ regardless of how others receive what we share and in spite of the fact that we will always come up short in our witness. The best we can do is to persevere and leave the rest to God.

Following a little more conjugation work, we walked around Parque Central because my back was bothering me sitting at the desk for such a long time. It is nice engaging in conversation and using that as a tool for learning another language. My teacher is very encouraging and very complimentary. It certainly makes me want to try a little harder. Fortunately for me he has decided that I need to practice using the language more now than sitting and conjugating verbs.

After lunch, we walked over to the chocolate factory for what I thought was going to be a tour. It turned out that we watched a video on the history of chocolate and then had samples – chocolate fondue, chocolate on a sherbert type of ice cream, and finally, hot chocolate. It was good, but not what I expected. When we returned to the school, we finally met for a team meeting. This was the first time we have had everybody together since our first night here in Guatemala. It was good to hear feedback on the experience. People really seem to be enjoying their time with their families and I think everyone is pleased with their teachers. The only comment of concern was that some felt we needed to be here longer.

Dinner tonight was great. Fried egg on toasted bread and refried beans. The conversation returned to normal – the family was talking so fast that neither Robert nor I could keep up with it. It’s hard to believe that we only have two more days here in Xela. Tomorrow should be interesting in that we will visit the Methodist Medical Clinic. I am looking forward to sharing time with the folks there. Well, I have put it off long enough – time to go write my essay for class tomorrow. I asked my teacher if I could write it in English – he smiled but I don’t think he would find it amusing if I actually did! Oh well, I may have to do it in English anyway!

Central America Revisited – Day Five

“Why does your news talk so much about the weather?” An interesting question posed to me by my teacher this morning. I had never thought about what a preoccupation our news stations had with weather until he mentioned it. This question was one of many that we discussed this morning. It was a very challenging day for me because I am getting into the mid-week mental burnout and it’s only Tuesday. I told my teacher that my body was still in the classroom, but my mind had long since left. Five hours of class is a lot to deal with when it is just you and the teacher. There is no one else to interject ideas, field questions, or just provide a diversion so that you can hide in the background. Class was interrupted by the Director today though. It seems one of the families a member of our group is staying with, stole from a former student. Olga called me out of class to explain the circumstance and then for me to talk with the team member to see if he wanted to stay in that home for the remainder of the week or move to another home.(This is another challenge since Olga doesn’t speak English) Since he is not leaving anything of value (except his Bible) in the house while he is gone, he decided to stay. He said that if the family wanted the Bible, they were more than welcome to take it.

Let me back up for a moment. Once again the day started early(4:30) and breakfast was served at 7:00. I immediately left after breakfast to try and upload my blog before class at 8. When I finally arrived at school, the coffee was not ready, so I had to tough it out until I could conveniently tell my teacher my mind wasn’t functioning without coffee. He already knew that!

After class, Kerry, John and I went to a Guatemalan restaurant named U’tz Hut just off of Parque Central. It was a restaurant recommended by my teacher. I had asked about the typical food in Guatemala and he suggested this restaurant and to order the pepian or quichom. I ordered the pepian con pollo (chicken covered with a spicy brown sauce). It was served with soup, rice, and a radish salad. I think I could get used to Guatemalan food if any other dishes are anything like this. We had to eat quickly and get back to the school for our trip to Fuentes Georgianas or Aguas Caliente. This is a hot spring where the water is heated from a volcano. The water was too hot for anyone to get into, although a couple of folks in our group did get into the auxiliary pool that was a little more tolerable. Soon after departing from the school, the driver (Martin) and I began a conversation that was quite remarkable for me once again. After I told him about our group and what we were doing here, he asked me if I knew Pastor German Ramirez with the Methodist Church here in Guatemala. I couldn’t believe it. On every other trip, people have said they did not know about the Methodist Church and on this experience it seems everyone knows about the church. Martin even knew the location of the church. On the way he and I had an extensive conversation regarding the agricultural practices of the Guatemalan people in the mountain region. It was very interesting. I must admit I have never seen radishes or carrots as large as they are in this region.

Dinner tonight was chopped greens on rice with tortillas. The conversation this evening was a little more interactive. I think the family is finally getting used to having “extranjeros” in their home. We engaged in a little more conversation, although I think they are still unsure how to talk to us. We had a few laughs, especially when Luchie asked me if I liked cerdo (pork). She grunted like a pig, so I couldn’t help but ask her to repeat the sound once again. Diego asked me, “ If a Mexican, Guatemalan, Honduran, and Salvadoran were all riding in a car, who was driving? ----- the response ----- the U.S. Border Patrol”. I wish I could be here for at least two weeks because I think it takes that long or longer to make any significant progress.

I’m pleased that our group is as independent as it is in that several people are taking advantage of opportunities to engage the culture and interact with the people more so than any group I have been associated with in the past. I do miss the days when we didn’t have all of the electronics though. It seems several members of the group (including me!!) have been taking every opportunity to get online. I think it does detract somewhat from the experience although it is good to be able to communicate with home. It is good to hear from others that are preparing or have just gone on mission trips and their comments regarding how this blog is relating to their experience. Once again I am reminded of how great our God truly is.

This morning in my devotional time I read a wonderful quote by Brother Lawrence in “Practice of the Presence of God”: “..in the beginning of the spiritual life, we ought to be faithful in doing our duty and denying ourselves; but after that unspeakable pleasures followed: that in difficulties we need only have recourse to Jesus Christ, and beg His grace, with which everything became easy.” Being here in a place that has so little, the people having to deal with corruption and poverty, the spirit and the faith reminds me of the fact that God is all we need. All the rest can too easily become a distraction from what is truly important.

Central America Revisited – Day Four

Well the fun began today. First day of classes and as I expected, my mind began to shut down after 4 hours of class. I found myself, when my teacher was asking me a question, staring at him with that deer in the headlights look. My teacher is great and I think we will have a good week, but it is hard to get started again after such a long period of time of not using the language. But I am getting ahead of myself, so I think I will back up.

I woke up at 4:30 this morning. At 5:30 I took my shower and then read and prayed until 7:00. Today was a busy morning for Luchie, because she isn’t accustomed to preparing breakfast for five people. She was definitely rushing around trying to get everything accomplished so that everyone could leave on time. Robert and I walked to the school together and shortly after we arrived, students were introduced to their teachers. My teacher is named Aparicio. I have never heard that name before. He is a relatively young guy and very personable. We started off with a brief quiz so he could evaluate me. He said I was a level 3 – I didn’t ask how many levels there are because I’m sure there must be at least 100. As usual, we started off conjugating verbs. This quickly led into a conversation on life in the United States and specifically about the life of immigrants in the United States. We talked for around 45 minutes to an hour before I (tongue in cheek) reminded Aparicio that I had written that I was interested in learning more about the culture and history of Guatemala, not the United States. He said that at the end of the week he would have to pay me and I could give him a diploma.

After class, it was a quick trip back to the house for lunch and then immediately back to the school to get my passport and money so I could exchange some currency. I didn’t exchange at the airport like I told everyone else to do because I didn’t like the rate. It was 6.4 Q per dollar at the airport and I was able to get 7.5 Q at the bank here in Quetzaltenango. I then spent a few minutes at Pollo Campero to upload a few things and check email, then it was off to the school for our afternoon activity. Today we toured the buildings around Parque Central. It wasn’t anything that I hadn’t heard before. After the tour, several of our team returned to Pollo Campero but the WiFi was out.

Back home for dinner – a tuna fish sandwich – and then a brief review of today’s lessons. I am turning in early tonight – 9:00. I still am not adjusted to the time change. It is 11:00 back in Virginia. I’m sure that tomorrow will bring great things because God is truly blessing me on this experience.

Central America Revisited – Day Three

Today was what I would like for every Sunday to be -- a true blessing and demonstration of God’s hand at work! I wasn’t really sure how the day would turn out, given the concerns I had at the beginning. After rising early, I got up at 5:30, I was able to get a shower and have devotions before any of the family woke up. Breakfast was served at 7:30 – eggs, refried beans, and bread (am I detecting a pattern here?). I left for the school immediately after breakfast because I wasn’t sure how long the walk would take. Since I arrived at the school a little early, I went on to Pollo Campero and ordered a cup of coffee and was able to connect with their WiFi on my phone. When I got back to the school, several others had arrived and we went to the bus stop to catch a bus to the church. Unfortunately, none of the buses went that far, so Olga and her daughter provided a shuttle for us. I was able to talk with Olga about the concerns one of the team members had regarding his family and she agreed to move him to another home. When we arrived at church, iglesia evangelica nacional metodista peniel, they were starting their Sunday School. Several people welcomed us and I was surprised by the welcome I received from one woman seated behind me. Her name is Doris and she informed me that she had communicated with me through email. She is the Director of the Volunteer in Mission for the Methodist Church in Guatemala. Then the pastor of the church, Pastor Juan Pablo Ajanel, told everyone that this was like Pentecost, because there were people of many different languages, English, Spanish, and Xiche. He then asked that Doris come forward to translate the service so that everyone could hear the Gospel in their own language. They immediately asked if we wanted to share anything and naturally, the group elected me to speak. Sunday School was from 9:00 till 10:00. We took a 5 minute break and then worship began. The message was delivered by Rene De Leon who is the representative for Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala. He told me after the service that he had worked very closely with the Universities in Virginia. The benediction for the service was given by Pastor German Ramirez Lopez, from the Nacional church office. It was as though we had come upon a bonanza of contacts with the Methodist Church in Guatemala. As we were leaving, I asked Doris for directions to the bus stop. At the same time, Marie came out of the church with a gentleman who said he was the driver for mission groups and if we could wait a few minutes, he would go home and bring his bus to take us back to the school. God is truly good and amazing!

The children did a presentation at the conclusion of the worship service and were truly adorable. The adult leaders had the children process up the aisle and then they gave their presentation. To close the service, the pastor changed the last two hymns, which he changed so that we could hear the historical hymns of the Methodist church in Guatemala. Que Bella Historia and Cantare La Bella Historia were the two hymns. I was really pleased with those hymns and asked if it would be possible for me to purchase one of their hymnals. Doris and another woman informed me that the hymnals were no longer available, but they wanted me to have one as a gift. I will truly cherish that hymnal!

After we got back to the school, the team members went to their homes for lunch, with the exception of one that needed the change of homestay and me. We went to get his luggage and Olga had the new family meet him at the school to take him to their house. Later after lunch I was informed that the new setting seems much more conducive to the experience needed and so I think the problem is solved! The team met up in Central Park and then dispersed again. A few of us went over to Pollo Campero to get connected once again. I left around 5:00 and returned home to rest for a little bit before dinner. It is 7:00 now and I think dinner will be a little later. It is a little difficult changing your internal clock since there is a two hour time difference here (they do not observe daylight savings time).

I need to add a little additional note. I was really impressed with the way the church immediately welcomed us into their midst. I shared with the group that couldn’t help but wonder what we would do if the situation was reversed. If we had a group from another country that showed up at our worship service and we had someone in the congregation that could translate, would we alter our service immediately to accommodate the visitors? Maybe we have a lot to learn from the church in Central America, especially when it comes to hospitality.

Tomorrow the classes begin! I am looking forward to what God will do with another day. I don’t know how God can do better than this one!

Ok, now God is piling on! When I went down for dinner at 8:00, another student from Sakribal arrived to live with this family for the next five weeks. When I asked where he was from, he said he was a student at Duke Divinity School. His name is Robert Flowers and he is from Georgia. There are several students from Duke that are here for an internship. They will be spending 5 weeks studying at Sakribal and then going to El Salvador to work with Juan de Dios Peña for five weeks. What a blessing to be joined by other Methodists that are here for the same purpose! When you see how God is at work in so many places, it is a reminder that we are a part of something that is much greater than anything we can imagine and that God’s hand stretches across the world. How do you say it – God is good, all the time!!

Central America Revisited – Day Two

Today started a little later than I have been experiencing over the last week. I didn’t get out of bed until 6:30! I heard a couple of the team members moving about and decided I would join them. We sat in the entrance to the hotel and talked until breakfast. Water was finally delivered this morning and we were able to get showers beginning at 7:15. For breakfast we were served eggs, bread, refried beans, watermelon, and coffee. After we finished eating, Bob shared a devotion focusing on mutuality in mission. It was very appropriate for the beginning of our experience. Especially, since we have come to learn from the people of Guatemala and El Salvador – not to teach. Around 9:10 the minivan arrived to drive us to Quetzaltenango. It took us around 40 minutes to gather all of our belonging and load it all on top of the minivan. I was told the drive was approximately 3 hours but it took us 4. Part of that was due to a police stop where they pulled us over and our driver had to pay the police so we could continue on. It made me a little uncomfortable when they motioned for us to pull over, because I know that many of the police are corrupt. Fortunately we were back on our way in just a few minutes.

When we arrived in Quetzaltenango, our families were waiting for us at the school. They thought we were arriving at 1 and we didn’t get there until 2. We each went with our families to our homes to have lunch. I had a bean dish that I didn’t recognize (lima beans and some other items in a mole sauce), potato cakes, and a couple of tortillas. It was very good. Luchie and Pepe (the mother and 13 year old son) shared lunch with me. After lunch I returned to the school for our orientation. It was quite a hike since my home is about a mile away from the school. Hopefully I’ll get a little exercise this week. I will at least walk around 4 miles a day to and from school. When Olga began the orientation, she was very emotional because she has not had any students and with 13 of us coming this week, she felt that this was an answer to prayer. Olga went over our schedule (class from 8 till 1 each day and activities in the afternoon). Monday we will tour places of interest in Quetzaltenango. Tuesday we will visit the chocolate factory. Wednesday we will go to Aguas Caliente, although I wasn’t aware of this side trip and didn’t tell anyone to bring a bathing suit. Thursday we hope to visit a Methodist medical clinic and Friday we will be cooking for the celebration that evening.

After the orientation, some of our group went to their homes, some went to Parque Central, and Marie and I went with Olga to look for the Methodist Church here in Quetzaltenango. We were not only blessed in finding it, Pastor German Ramirez Lopez from the Iglesia Evangelica Nacional Metodista Primitia de Guatemala was at the church. He is not the pastor of this church, but he was able to tell the worship times and offered to assist us in visiting the medical clinic on Thursday. I got his business card and email address, so now I have a contact with a Methodist pastor in Guatemala. Tomorrow we will be taking a “chicken bus” (the Guatemalan public transportation) to the church for worship.

I then walked back to my home where the family was preparing for a birthday celebration. I met the rest of the family as they all celebrated Diego’s birthday. He was 24 today. There were 8 people all total at dinner. This was definitely a new twist to the immersion experience. Luchie said that she was Catholic, but at dinner when she asked if anyone wanted to say a prayer, you could tell that this sounded like a very strange request to the rest of the family. I felt bad for Luchie because she seemed to be embarrassed by the behavior of her sons. I think she was concerned about the fact that I am a minister and the boys were getting a little carried away with their jokes. Diego was doing an impersonation of a man in drag. Fortunately, I did not understand most of their conversation, but they were certainly enjoying themselves. This should be an interesting week and definitely a change from previous trips.

I believe that God is working in ways that I hadn’t expected already. I’m just looking forward to what is ahead.

Central America Revisited – Day One

Today started at 3:20 and it began in a manner consistent with the rest of my week. When I opened my carry on bag to get my shaving kit, the 3oz. bottle of shampoo only had 1oz. remaining and the rest was in my shaving kit and in my suitcase. But the good news was that once I cleaned everything up, the rest of the day went extremely well. Everyone on the team arrived in Guatemala without incident, we had good conversations about ministry, the difficulties confronting our church, and a lot of laughter. The only down side is that water has been cut off throughout the city while they clean pipes. I do hope we get to take showers before we climb into a mini-bus and drive to Quetzaltenango. I am a little too tired tonight to do a lot of writing, but hopefully tomorrow I will have more energy. The only question is whether I will have the ability to upload the blog, given that I will have to go to a public location to do so. Tomorrow we will have breakfast around 8:00 and then get on the road again. We had a brief thunderstorm and I am hoping that it continues throughout the night to enhance my sleep. God has definitely been good and I am looking forward to all that I can learn from this team, the Guatemalan people and the people of El Salvador.

Central America Revisited – The Day of Preparation

This is not the way I wanted to begin my journey, but then I rarely get started the way I have pictured it in my mind. If one more thing could have been added to my week, I’m sure that it would have found room. Whenever I leave for a few days I always have to put in a few more hours to prepare. Preparing to leave for two weeks, I had two days of training to attend, a funeral to prepare and conduct, and then last night my computer wouldn’t work. I went to bed frustrated, overwhelmed, exhausted, and anxious that I might not be able to complete all of my tasks before beginning my journey today. I awoke at 3:00 a.m. and finally decided to get out of bed at 3:30. I feel blessed that my computer is now up and running – even though the battery will only charge to 7% and the new battery I ordered (twice) is the wrong size. I completed the bulletin, dealt with some email, and finished my laundry. Now I jump into the meat of the day, hoping to have a couple of minutes to pack before driving to DC this evening. Surely the rest of this journey will go more smoothly than the preparation! In the midst of it all I am reminded that God is already out in front of me. All I need to do is to take a deep breath and look for God’s presence in the midst of the chaos my life seems to attract. Let the journey begin!

No Greater Love by Mother Teresa

Do not allow yourselves to be disheartened by any failure as long as you have done your best. Neither glory in your success, but refer all to God in deepest thankfulness.

If you are discouraged, it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people’s opinions. Be humble and you will never be disturbed. The Lord has willed me here where I am. He will offer a solution.

When we handle the sick and the needy we touch the suffering body of Christ and this touch will make us heroic; it will make us forget the repugnance and the natural tendencies in us. We need the eyes of deep faith to see Christ in the broken body and dirty clothes under which the most beautiful one among the sons of men hides. We shall need the hands of Christ to touch these bodies wounded by pain and suffering. Intense love does not measure – it just gives.

Excerpt from “No Greater Love” by Mother Teresa