Photos from last few days

We brought cards and pictures from the children at Foundry for the kids at Hialeah - and they made cards for us to take back to the kids at Foundry. Here they are showing off their cards.

Lucian with a Hialeah church member, leading the kids in song.

This is the area surrounding Hialeah church.

Stephen and Rebecca talking with the kids before we left.

One of the kids showing off his puppet handiwork.

Here we are after the Bible school in front of Hialeah. Lots of people had left by this time - we estimated that we must have had at least 150 kids coming and going.

Our interpreter Jimmy, and Catalina who organized much of our trip are on the far left. The rest are the team with some of the Methodist pastors in Nicaragua. We had dinner with them one night. There are 13 Methodist churches total in Nicaragua - all quite small and in poor communities.

I believe these monkeys are native to Nicaragua - but not to where we saw them. We took a boat tour on our last day around these small volcanic islands near Granada. Some are just big enough for a house and a small yard. Most have been bought by wealthy folks - and there are some beautiful homes. One island was only occupied by trees...and three or four of these monkeys. They were brought there by someone on one of the neighboring islands. We were told that they are fed by that neighbor (I think I heard that he's a veterinarian), passing tourists - and the mango trees on the island.

Our team with Pastor Elmer at the volcanic lake. Lucian, Rebecca and I went swimming. From left to right: Sarah, Stephen, Yadira, Fred, Elmer, Lynn, Rebecca, Jana, Lucian.

Closing comments

Saturday, November 17, 2007

I’m writing here on the plane home and am just starting to process. I am a person who needs time alone and space before I can really think and feel. Luckily, there’s nobody sitting next to me.

This morning, one team member was sharing about how the poverty of all the children in Hialeah affected him – and how hard it was then to enjoy our luxurious day and meal at the volcanic lake the next day. I then wondered why it hadn’t really bothered me when we were there or at the lake the next day. I dug into my nutritious and delicious meal of fish, rice, french fries and vegetables, with bottled water and beer and enjoyed it. And I didn’t think at all of the desperation of the food distribution at the church the day before. I honestly didn’t think of the little girl that was trying to get some water for her little brother – and who I didn’t give any to because we didn’t have any cups and I didn’t want her to drink out of my water bottle and start a stampede with all the other kids who were thirsty and most likely had no source of clean drinking water. All after we had just had Bible school and done an activity and skit about the Good Samaritan and that when people are thirsty, we should give them water.

I thought of a few reasons why I wasn't bothered:

1) My natural instinct when I am overwhelmed or when I have not had any time to myself, is to withdraw or avoid.

2) I suspect that I’m a little burned out in general. I sometimes find Washington overwhelming in need…and causes…and feel “cause fatigue”. Just at our church – we have so many ministries for so many things – all very important and all very needed. And I just have to remind myself of all the wonderful people in the world, and all they are doing on behalf of those in need. I don’t have to, nor can I, nor should I, try to do it all myself. As we’ve kept saying on this trip – we each have different gifts.

3) Through different living and traveling experiences abroad and in the U.S., I’ve seen different kinds and levels of poverty. Upon reflection, I think that has led me to become a bit cavalier (or sometimes fatigued) to the point of losing some capacity for compassion. Sad but true that I wasn't shocked at all seeing the conditions people were living in.

This trip and those kids have really humbled me. I'm comforted in knowing that I do have respect for and think of those living in poverty as my equals. But it’s easy for me to confuse pity with compassion. Pity for those in poverty (I'm thinking of material, but I suppose it applies to emotional or spiritual poverty as well) feels paternalistic to me. I don’t want to “feel sorry” for people – because that is taking away their power. But it is something else entirely to be compassionate and empathetic.

[Disclaimer: I'm not saying that one shouldn't be shocked, angry or depressed by poverty or feel bad for people - people just experience things differently. I'm left wondering if my sense of justice isn't jaded because I wasn't more emotionally affected.]

Today, Monday, November 19

Going back to work this morning. I want to post some last photos. I'm not sure how long I'll keep this blog up - but at least for a little while. We plan to do a short presentation in church and a longer one after. I hope to post our presentation/photos from that, so those of you not in Washington can share with us.

In closing - I'd like to say it was a challenging and very rich experience. These type of short-term mission trips are as much or even more about helping us grow and learn, as it is about helping the people in whatever country. Growing and learning is a worthy goal, and I think my team members would agree with me in saying that God stretched and grew all of us. Our hosts did a fantastic job of setting up meetings with many organizations, to give us a good overall view of the work being done in many areas. So many thanks to all of them.

Our specific trip was meant to help build longer term relationships - and I think we have accomplished that. I'm excited to see the fruits of this trip!

Some quick parting photos and thoughts

Well, we are getting ready to leave for the airport. It has been a very intense and busy week. The stress of dealing with 130 children in poverty is something we reflected on this morning - and that we'll all continue to process. I have to go now - but will write more later. I had hoped to upload some pictures - but it's not working. Hope to finish up in Miami - if not, when we get home.

Photos from Volcano Masaya and Shopping

These pictures are from yesterday. The sign is from an organization we visited - the Consumer Protection Association of Masaya. I found it fascinating. Most of the complaints they work on seem to be focused on the major utilities - and most of the problems seem to be related to corruption, both high and low level. That was our one meeting, then we went shopping. We bought several things to sell in the Foundry auction - one of the major fundraisers for Volunteers in Mission. Foundry members - we've got some great stuff!! We went to the "new" market and the "old" market. One geared more towards locals, one more towards higher-end tourists. I didn't read the history of the "old" market - but in the mural picture - it's on the far right, inside the castle looking building.

After that we went to the Volcano Masaya - which is actively steaming. The last eruption was in 2001 I think - and the warnings we got on park information said that if it erupts...you should get under your car. I was thinking molten lava - and that I wouldn't want to be on the ground - but I guess the problem really would be rocks and ash flying through the air. It was really incredible - I'd never been to an active volcano before. And it was really nice to get a little hike in - I've been missing my workouts and walking.

Bible School Day 1

Photos finally! We moved hotels today and are staying the one we had originally planned for (before we had to cancel our trip to San Francisco Libre) and behold the wireless connection!

The first is of the group this morning before heading out. The second is of Lucian with the kids at Hialeah United Methodist Church. It was a total madhouse - but really fun. Hialeah is a community church - and the community definitely showed up for the American show. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see everything else that was going on. Stephen planned all these activities (God bless him) and there were 4 activities going on simultaneously. Lucian and I had the "making a wooden toy" station. They were little kits - so the kids went home with a toy. Lynn and Yadira led a "tooth brush demo" - along the lines of when you're at the dentist and they ask you how you brush your teeth. Fred and Jana had a game going with kids outside - involving a big, blow up globe/ball...geography and throwing a large object all in one game. And they also did coloring/prayer/scripture lesson with Rebecca and Stephen. I understand that the toothbrush and scripture got combined...as we didn't have space to split those groups. Holy toothbrush!

All in all it was a really busy and hectic day and I think we're all exhausted. We could certainly use your prayers for continued patience with each other, with our hosts, the children and situations beyond our control.

Right after the Bible school - we met with Hialeah church members. Pastor Elmer suggested that as a next step that both our congreations form a committee to stay in touch. They've already identified 4 people, representative of their congregation. One woman, one man, and two youth - one girl and one boy. Their church has a lot of programs - they offered 8 scholarships to high school/university students of $50-$80 dollars each.

[We're right now practicing for tomorrow's bead activity with women...Lynn sends a shout out to her sister Lahn - who has been good at commenting on the blog!]

I'd like to end with a thank you for the life of my Aunt Kathleen, my Dad's sister. She passed away last week of pancreatic cancer. She was such a lovely person with such a lovely laugh. Her memorial service was today in Denver. I'm sorry that I won't get to hear all the stories and the memories of her at her service. But I felt okay about traveling this week as she and my Uncle Sid traveled a lot in their retirement all around the world - and I know she found a lot of joy in that. I've been thinking about my family and our group has been praying for them.