Guatemala Team Update

Things continue to go incredibly well for the Guatemala mission team; we are making excellent progress with our work projects and developing incredibly tight bonds with the families, and especially the children in El Recuerdo, the community built on the former city dump in which we're working in Guatemala City.

The conditions in El Recuerdo are beyond description -- pollution, litter, open burning, dust and despicable living conditions. Many residents "work" in the nearby dump, which is only a few blocks away; these "guajeros" spend all day collecting recycables to sell on the secondary market. Amidst all of the hopelessness, poverty, drug abuse, domestic violence and despair in this community , the smiles, the affection and resolve of these children are heart-warming.

Our construction projects consist of rebuilding a house (approximately 12x16) for a family of four, working in a compost farm at the national farmer's market and pouring a concrete floor for a family of eight (same dimensions as above). Brady Greene and his Young Life staff continue to work in incredible ways in the lives of these youngsters, and we are blessed to be working with him for the second year in a row.

On Thursday nite, we attended Young Life "Club" in El Recuerdo, where 20+ neighborhood kids congregated and participated in skits, songs, dancing and games.

There are many of you, especially our families, who have made incredible sacrifices for the 19 of us to be here this week. Your sacrifice, prayers, financial support and well-wishes are sincerely appreciated.

1 Thessalonians 5:16

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Video of the Costa Rica team on Facebook

follow this link to the video that Wil Bailey put together.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=358502465519&ref=nf

the music is Santa Cena (literally Holy Dinner or Holy Communion) written by David Dyer when he went on his first mission trip to Costa Rica in 2007. It is sung here by David, with Felipe Salazar on acoustic and Doug Walter singing backup.

The team returns Sat evening.

Costa Rica Team 2010

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33

We had hoped to have internet access our first night in Costa Rica, but did not. We've been keeping track of our days and are excited to update everyone at home.

Saturday
The 2010 team has arrived! Our flights were smooth with the only tension being a medical emergency (not one of us) on our flight from Miami to San Jose, which made us more mindful of and thankful for Ned Nutt's presence in our group. We have enjoyed sharing the details of our travels with others along the way and one passenger even felt moved to give Nancy a donation for the mission at the end of the flight after hearing her describe our trip.

From the airport we boarded a bus (for those of you who have been here before, we are in Daniel’s capable hands again) for the several hour trip through the Costa Rican mountains to San Isidro. We were re-energized by the views along the way - it was impossible not to see God in the clouds, mountains and beautiful sunset that greeted us (our trusty photographer Michael and others in the group have already captured some amazing pictures that we will post when we get back).
We met Wil Bailey (our missionary contact down here) and others familiar to those returning members of our group at the Methodist Church in San Isidro and had a group meal at a nearby restaurant before getting some much-needed sleep at the Church (located just yards away from the Pan-American Highway - many thanks to Nancy for supplying us all with earplugs!).

We have laughed, bonded, prayed, eaten well, happily peeled off fleece layers (it is in the 80s!), reconnected with old friends, and yes, some of us have already climbed on top of the bus to better take in the gorgeous view (I should probably mention that it was not moving at the time) . Today we will worship at the Church here before boarding the bus for a few more hours. We will travel to La Bonita de Changuena where we will be working on a Sunday School classroom.

We are all so grateful for the opportunity to be here and want to thank Hayes Barton and our extended families and friends for the prayers, the fundraising, the beautiful commissioning, the early morning gathering (complete with biscuits, coffee and encouragement), the ride to the airport and all of the other ways that you have blessed us and made this possible. We feel God's presence and are filled with joy and love!

Sunday
We began our day by worshiping at the Methodist Church in San Isidro. It was a wonderful reminder that we truly are one body of Christ, as the similarties between our two worship services abound. Two of the songs that we sang are regular LightHouse songs and they even have an Allison - a woman whose Spirit-filled prayers transcended the differences in language. Doug and David were quickly invited to join the worship band and radiated joy when they were up there making music with their old friends. Wil reminded us through a wonderful Sunday School lesson of the real reason that we are here: to commune with our Costa Rican brothers and sisters through work, worship, music, and relationship. We are building much more than an educational building, and are looking forward to getting started.

After worship we boarded the bus and began the two-hour journey to La Bonita. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful spot overlooking a river and began adjusting to the slower pace (lunch took three hours, but the fish was delicious). Our home for the next week will be the sanctuary of the Methodist Church. We sleep on mattresses on the floor, shower in the attached bathrooms and eat amazing typical Costa Rican meals prepared by Yolanda and Fanny, wives of Wil Bailey and Hugo (the contractor in charge of the project). We quickly learned that our sleeping arrangements were comfortable compared to some of our Costa Rican friends. Each night we end with a devotion prepared by a member of the group, which provide wonderful opportunities to reflect on our day and all the ways that we have seen God moving around us.

Monday
Our days begin early - we are up around 5:30 and start working at 6 am to get a good start before the heat moves in. Hugo is up at 5:00 to perculate the coffee - we are very thankful for Hugo's ability to make coffee! We work until 8 am and then break for breakfast and Holy Communion. It is hard to put into words what we all feel during Communion, but it is safe to say that many of the "God moments" that we take back with us will be from these services. This morning Laura annointed and prayed over each of our hands, which is surely one of the most powerful moments we will experience. After Communion, we work until noon and break again for lunch and siesta/quiet time/reading/music making/showers in the nearby waterfall - in other words, whatever moves us. We pick up working again around 2 and work for several hours more before breaking for the day. Monday night, John led us in a rousing game of Scrabble Apple before we ended the evening with a devotion outside by a bonfire overlooking the mountains; again, words just seem insufficient to capture what we are seeing and feeling about the beauty of the country, the people here, each other, and God.

Music is a common bond that we share with our Costa Rican friends. We have so much talent on this team, from David's songwriting and guitar-playing to Doug's singing and strumming, to Ned, Dick, Andy and Sherry's harmonious voices. Doug and David play each time we come together to worship and are constantly making music with their good friend Filipe (who plays a piano that HBUMC helped purchase). Watching the love that these three men share has been such a blessing to us all.

Tuesday
Today took the same form as yesterday. So far the types of projects that we are working on include priming (Laura, Kelly, Lori and Andy were deemed "Laura and the Primettes" for the amount of priming they have done), painting benches and pews, sanding, grinding, painting, electrical work, installing toilets, digging trenches, painting, routing, making frames for benches and tables, and (more) painting. The food continues to be some of the best we have ever tasted, and we are starting to worry about fitting into our clothes upon our return. Today's pace was good, with us remembering to turn aside from our work and see those opportunities in front of us that do not center around building projects. At one point as I was rushing off to work on the educational building, Hugo pulled me aside and pointed to a beautiful toucan sitting on a nearby tree. The people here seem to take more time to pay attention to those small but extraordinary things in our midst, and I think we are all hoping to take some of that ability home with us. Those of you that know Lori and Nancy will not be surprised to learn that they have quickly become attached to some of the four-legged friends here, and have reminded us to see God in all the creatures that we encounter. During siesta today, several of us explored La Bonita by foot only to find a 20 foot waterfall enclosed by the lucious green jungle. While the trek to the waterfall was not the most stable, we were safe and enjoyed nature's massage (courtesy of the pounding waterfall).

Wednesday
On Monday, Hugo told us that the first day we Americans arrive and all we want to do is work, but that by the third or fourth day, we will have settled down and things would be better. This morning he came in to find a kitchen full of us kicking back and having coffee instead of gearing up for work, and he smiled and said "See, I told you so." We all noticed the more relaxed pace and more frequent breaks today. After lunch we took two field trips. The first was a hike down a steep mountain via cowpath, through a forest-covered river area to an eighty-foot waterfall. The hike out was straight uphill and by the end, as Nancy so well put it, we had experienced every bit of that mountain (and some of us more than others). We then traveled to a nearby house where we were shown how to ring out the juice from newly picked sugercane. We were also able to drink some of the juice, which Wil likened to drinking several Red Bulls. The countryside is beautiful here, and many of the people make their living by harvesting various things including coffee and cashews.

It has been a blessing to serve not only the church through building but also to connect with and help the community surrounding the church. Henry is a local farmer and new brother in Christ that attends the church we are working on. We all found his story compelling. We learned that he was taken advantage of by local buyers and that one fourth of his annual income was in essence stolen. He lives in a tin shanty with a dirt floor and no windows, yet still displays a constant grin of joy. Laura and Wil visited his home and after reporting the conditions to us, we felt moved to take a collection to enable him to purchase necessary farming materials and to fund the construction of a new home for him. We plan to continue our fundraising efforts when we get back to the United States. We can't wait to share his story.

Wednesday night we came together to worship with the people in the church here at La Bonita. It's difficult to describe the peace and joy on the faces of the people here. David was joined on instruments by Doug and Filipe and on vocals, and by our team and the whole Costa Rican congregation for a song written about communion called Santa Cena, an event he described as a high point in his musical endeavors. Laura preached a beautiful sermon translated by Wil. We all felt that this combined worship was what brought us here and what will keep us coming back; it is just the way God intended worship to be.

Thursday
Today was our last workday and we finsihed up some but not all of the projects that we began. Another team from North Carolina arrives on Sunday to pick up where we left off. The weather has been beautiful. It has rained a little bit every day, which is rare here this time of year. We had another beautiful and "highly particpatory" (as coined by Laura) Communion service this morning overlooking the mountains. We have all taken part in the prayers, devotions, and worship services in a way that has been meaningful to each of us individually and appreciated by all.

Before lunch we were blessed by a visit by seventeen children that live and attend school in the area. Each of the children is beautiful and we loved interacting with them even across the language barrier (chocolate appears to be universally acceptable). We enjoyed sharing with them the snacks and toys we brought with us from the United States and watching them play soccer behind the church. They reminded many of us of the children we left behind in the U.S. and were yet another reminder that there are more similarties than differences between us.

As we pack to go back to San Isidro tonight and say goodbyes to fast friends that we have made here, we all hope to carry with us many things in addition to our wonderful memories. There is a stillness and a peace amoung the people here that is contagious, as well as a passionate, no holds barred love and worship of God. It's difficult to explain, but we plan to try, so that many of you will want to travel here and be touched by these people as well. It's also hard to visually capture the beauty here with a camera - the overlapping mountains, Henry's smile, the faces of the Costa Ricans as our whole group sang to them, the beautiful blue bird that seemed to be constantly perched in a tree outside the sanctuary - but we look forward to sharing the pictures that we have taken with you upon our return.
Tonight after dinner we head back to San Isidro where we hope to post these blog entries. Tomorrow we have a free day and will visit Manuel Antonio National Park, which includes beaches, restaurants and shops. Saturday we board an early flight to Miami. We could not have had a better trip here, and have been constantly grateful for all of those that made it possible (here we want to give a special shout out to Mike for all his work), but we do miss our families and friends (including four-legged ones!) at home and can't wait to share this experience with you all.

The 2010 HBUMC Costa Rica Team:
Sherry "John Deere Green" Abernethy
Shanaz "Please No Bugs!" Carper
Doug "David, I Love You Man" Walter
David "Doug, I Love You Man" Dyer
Ned "Sock Face" Nutt
Nancy "I Really Am Having Fun" Nutt
Lori "Do You See A Scrap For The Dogs?" Constantino
Michael "Smile For The Picture" Stanziale
Dene "Spirit-Filled" Dawson
Andy "Men - Get In The Kitchen!" Fowler
Dick "Andy, I Am Fine" Fowler
John "Scrabble Apple" Cates
Laura " I'm Aliven With The Spirit" Fine Ledford
Kelly "I'll Be Asleep" Furr

Some of our favorite group member quotes (which shall remain anonymous):
"This is the dirtiest I have ever been in my entire life."
"I'm so glad I came down here. I've never seen a waterfall before." (read with sarcasm)
"I'm wounded...everywhere."
"Are we at the Hotel California?"
"Michael, got any more of that Benadryl man?"

Guatemala Team Day 1 and Day 2 Update

Monday February 22nd

We arrived in Guatemala City Sunday night about 2 hours later than scheduled. The plane from Miami was delayed, teaching us early in this journey the #1 lesson of mission work -- to let go of our agendas and to “be flexible”! Many know it as ‘Guatemalan time’ or “Costa Rican time’. It is when we step away from the comforts of our home and family and we surrender to the realities of the mission journey.

Brady and Laura welcomed us at the airport. With introductions of new team members and hugs for those returning we loaded two vans and headed to Seteca Seminary – our home base for the week. Our accommodations are very nice with dormitory style/ shared room setting and a special apartment area for the single ladies including a kitchen for breakfast, and a living area for our devotional, and worship space. We settled into these accommodations around midnight.

Gathering for breakfast this morning Brady talked with us about the changes in our plan. Various Vida Joven (Young Life) staff will not be with us regularly during the week, because they are attended classes or need to be present with their family members who are ill and literally on their death bed. As a result the entire team is working on one home, a bit smaller in size than the homes we built last year. We also have a couple of small ‘sub’ teams that will meet with some of the young mothers to cook and share some of their baking skills; while another group helps a few boys with some composting .

We celebrate a special joy with dear Estella today as she became a grandmother early this morning; her daughter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, named Samantha! She is beaming with excitement. Daughter and grand-daughter are doing well.

We spent our first day in El Recuerdo welcomed by the community leadership with a display of firecrackers and greetings. Claudia, Jeanette, Connie invited us into the salon and introduced us to Leonsa, the owner of the home we are rebuilding. She has moved her belongings -- including bed, stove, refrigerator, etc. -- into a portion of the community room and will reside there until we complete her home.

In the salon is the cross last year’s team gave to the community after having it as their worship focus during its mission time. It is placed on a special shelf high upon the wall of the salon. Today the work consists of clearing out the pile of dirt dug for the footings of the home, mixing cement and beginning to set some of the 600+ cinder blocks that will make up the home.

Some of us visited Don Eduardo, whose home we built last year. He lives with his daughter who works all day and his granddaughter. He is not well at all—he is blind now, his legs hurt from his amputations and he otherwise is not well. His personal situation makes living in this impoverished community even more difficult that for most people. He was very grateful we took time to come visit him.

The women who make tortillas have improved their business by making a better stove vent pipe and a little larger cooking surface, so they don’t have to smell the fumes of the wood burning while they spend all day making tortillas… which sell for only 60 cents/dozen! They also added another gas stove inside and now use a small hand press machine to help form the tortillas. Some simple changes, yet these allow the women to work in healthier conditions and produce more. Little Kimberley was also there with her sweet smile and ever eager to play. Some of the other younger children with whom we played last year were eager for us to play with them.

The beautiful faces and smiles of these children are priceless. Their innocence shines through and yet they are not blind to the harsh realities of life in this community. The young men who ‘sniff’ paint thinner walk by these children every day; they are so ‘wasted’ and oblivious to the permanent damage to their brains. The 5 & under children [as well as the older children] watch these people and are seemingly unaffected by such behavior. I wonder how they stay immune to this activity all around them. Some of these children remember us from our previous visit eager to have their photo or video taken and then see the image back in their faces. It’s such a simple way to engage with them and yet very important in building our relationships.

The leadership women of the community offer us a meal of guacamole on fried tortillas sprinkled with cheese and sliced onion – a very tasty treat supplemented by the standard lunch menu of P,B & J sandwiches, cokes (or coke lights) and water. After a brief respite the team returns to the home site only a few doors away, eager to shovel and mix the cement for the foundation block. Others gather with some of the young mothers to cook and play with their babies.

After work we return to Seteca Seminary to shower and gather for our dinner at the food court at the local mall. Then we meet in the apt living room so Brady can share more about the Vida Joven program and our work for tomorrow.

It is good to be in this place with these people as we engage with them and with one another. So many sights, sounds, and smells to take in and to process this day. Our team is finding its way on this the first day of our journey. Stay tuned for another chapter of mission work in El Recuerdo.

Tuesday, February 23^rd

After breakfast & morning worship we hopped into the vans for a short ride to El Recuerdo to begin our second day building the home… approximately 12’x16’!! Instead of putting in a foundation of 4 rows of block upon which to set wood siding walls, this home will be all block.

It is a challenge to have 8-10 people working inside this space putting up block on all 4 sides of the home. Other team members are outside the home in the alley mixing sand and mortar that has been brought in with wheelbarrows from just outside the walls of this community. Once the mortar is prepared, it is brought into the home by the shovel load and placed on flat boards, then used to set each block upon the other.

Ethel (Sally Martin) and Lucy (Ann Benson) held two cooking classes today as follow up to yesterday’s class for the young mothers and their children. Leonsa’s oven/stove is used for the class since it is already in the salon, relocated while we reconstruct their home. The special cooking was grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies. Others on the team helped pass out the food to the mothers and their children. The afternoon class didn’t have as many participants so the team enjoyed a mid afternoon snack of cookies… a tasty treat!

The team accomplished lots of work today. Cinder block is 4+ feet high when we have to stop to allow the cement to set up overnight. We are enjoying this work, and especially having Leonsa and her husband, Rolando, present while we are working and helping us. Some of the younger children have also been very helpful today… loading block on a dolly and moving it down the alley with guidance. They want to help so much! Spending time with these children today has been a blessing. Their desire to be present with us is intentional. We ‘gringos’ are special and they so enjoy playing with us, being held by us...

We enjoy a special dinner at Brady and Cindy’s home tonight. Staff member, Fito, shares his witness for Christ. Fito is now attending law school; Sondra is attending college now and studying psychology. The team presented each with a small laptop computer for them to use for their school work. They are required to use computers for much of their school work and so have had to use internet cafes, which cost them a lot, so they are most grateful for their gifts. More to come as soon as Internet access deems possible.

Thank you, Hayes Barton, for your support and prayers.....

Stacy Grove

Servant Ministry

This Saturday and Sunday, two mission teams from Hayes Barton will travel to La Bonita, Costa Rica and Guatemala City, Guatemala for a week of service ministry. The Costa Rica team will work under the leadership of Wil Bailey, a Rocky Mount, NC native who is currently the United Methodist missionary in the Southern District of Costa Rica; the Guatemala team will work with Brady Greene and his Vida Joven (Young Life) staff. Brady is married to Cindy Donaldson Greene, daughter of Joe and Pat Donaldson, sister of Kelly, HBUMC members.

This is HBUMC’s fifth trip to Costa Rica, where the team of 14 will spend next week building a parsonage and church classrooms in a mountainous region of southern Costa Rica. Our second year Guatemala team of 19 will be repairing and reconstructing homes in a poor, urban section of Guatemala City called El Recuerdo, built on the former city dump. For both teams, typical daily activities include interacting and sharing the love of Christ with community members & children, welding, roofing, painting, pouring concrete floors, building walls and foundations, woodwork, landscaping, etc.

We hope you'll be present at the 7pm Ash Wednesday service, where our two teams will be commissioned. Additionally, please sign up in the narthex to be a Prayer Partner for one or more of our 33 team members, who are listed below. Our Internet access will most likely be sporadic, but we’ll try our best to update the Central America Missions team blog and invite you to follow along.

Kevin Anderson, who went on last years' Guatemala trip, recently shared the following with me, written by Dr. James Howell at Myers Park UMC in Charlotte. He said he thought it did an excellent job of summing up the journey that we're about to embark on and I agree.

“Servant ministry is not the haves doling out to the have nots. When we serve, we are served, and with the person in need we discover our shared poverty of soul. Often when we think we are about to help someone in need, we are surprised by an immense, joyful faith in the other person, something we’d been missing staying at home. We serve, not to pad our resume, relieve guilt, or feel good about ourselves – or even to change the world. We do it to honor God, to love Christ, to discover spiritual truths about ourselves in the mirror of the other person, and to witness to God’s goodness. This frees us to be more generous, and we are not too disturbed by failure or the slowness of results: we do it for God, we know our own failures, God has been patient with us, we do what we do to love Christ, so the labor is never wasted, and we grow in our faith.”

Thank you, Hayes Barton, for your prayers, financial support and for the opportunity to grow in our faith with the people of Central America.

Guatemala Team: Ann Benson, Gene Bowers, Nelson Brugh, Tom Brugh, Sara Bryant, Beau Cates, Rick Clayton, Perry Currin, Stacy Grove, Sally Martin, Joe Parker, Jim and Cathy Pierce, David Potter, Tim Price, Trevor Spear, Dickie and Angie Thompson, Andy Wright

Costa Rica Team: Sherry Abernethy, Shanaz Carper, John Cates, Lori Constantino, Dene Dawson, David Dyer, Dick and Andy Fowler, Kelly Furr, Laura Fine Ledford, Ned and Nancy Nutt, Michael Stanziale, Doug Walter