mud pies and holidays at sea
as i mentioned before, we've been hosting a group of students from Taylor University (Ft. Wayne, Indiana).
one part of the group experience with makarios is having devo's and highs & lows on the roof each night. since there has been so much rain, we've had to produce atmosphere with candles in the living room. but my favorite part of these evenings is hearing the different persecptives of each of the people who has come.
one of the guys in the group was telling about his experience of how he viewed the villages compared to the states. he said that, at first, he figured that the US would be like heaven for the people who lived there. yet that day he had partcipated in an interview with one of the residents of Pancho Mateo who said she likes living there.
he came to realize that, for all of us, earth is our pancho mateo. we don't really understand what we're missing. we love this broken, dirty world, with it's broken, dirty people, and we don't know that we're broken and dirty.
we are all "like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea." (C.S. Lewis)
and for a moment, i forget
on wednesday evening we enjoyed a multi-lingual worship service in Villa Ascencion. it was led by Josh Davis and Royce Morris of Proskuneo ministries. there were americans, dominicans and haitians singing in english, spanish and haitian kreyol.
in the half hour remaining before the service began i had a chance to catch up with Miguel's sisters, who i had not seen since before Christmas. although we were was speaking in spanish, it was as comfortable as catching up with old friends.
after we entered the church i found a seat next to a very sleepy 3 year old haitian girl. so i sat her in my lap and let her sleep soundly throughout the whole service. we had no electricty, so i couldn't see her very well, but i later found out she had some sort of fungi on her head. i'm sure it touched some part of my skin or clothes, but i am glad i was unware.
this service was at the end of the teaching day for camille, the group and i, and because of travel time, we did not go home in between. as a result, i was very tired and very dirty - more so than usual.
yet as i conversed with ana and maria, and as i held that sweet little girl, i forgot about the fatigue. i forgot about the mud and dirt. i forgot about the germs. for a moment, it's seems as if the world isn't broken. like it isn't in need of a savior. but only for a moment.
highs & lows
lows:
- a group of french canadian men came into chichigua today just to take pictures (and succeeded in disrupting my class in the process).
- the constant fighting among the kids
- the rain and the mud it produces (and the constant feeling of being wet)
- the lack of men in the lives of these kids
- lint
- our need for more permanent teachers
highs:
- ruben spoke to me in spanish. it doesn't matter what he said. just that he spoke to me in SPANISH. i have arrived.
- one of the residents of chichigua is interested in helping us with our classes. this is great because 1) it's a man, and 2) he speaks both spanish and kreyol. if it works out, he will also be a great example to others in chichigua of how they can all help each other.
- we have started a library time with the kids where they can come and read or be read to. the kids are super excited about getting to read so it has been going wonderfully.
- i have some wonderful young haitian girls in my english class.
- we have 13 wonderful helpers from taylor university.
- we were able to get medicine for a little girl who has thousands of worms in her stomach.
- i can drive a standard. in a foreign country. through rocky, muddy roads.
taylor, ft. wayne
on saturday morning, a group of students from Taylor University, in Ft. Wayne, Indiana arrived and will be staying with us for a total of about 3 weeks. they will be helping us with our classes, as well as taking their own notes for a class project they are working on for Makarios.
they are a very fun group of kids. we're looking forward to having their help over the next several weeks.
this is our first real group to host and we're learning a lot. grocery shopping for 18 is a lot different than grocery shopping for 3. how many tomatoes does it take to make spaghetti sauce for 18? i'll let ya know... the trade off is that dividing meal and clean-up duties between 18 people lightens the load for us all.
we also have a few others joining us in the middle of next week. one of those will be hosting a multi-lingual worship service. it will involve worship in english, spanish and kreyol.
so, after you donate more money to feed the kiddos (wink, wink), also pray for this group as they encounter new experiences every day, that these experiences will be a blessing in their lives, and that the Lord will bless their work with and for Makarios; and pray that Dominicans and Haitians will open their minds and hearts to worshipping our Lord together.
happy new year
so it's another new year. a lot has happened in the past 365 days. i began last year by posting about such things as HEB creamy creations and showing the movie Groundhog Day to my 7th grade students in Austin. i ended the year by posting about such things as little boys dying from machete accidents & getting hurt on motorcycles, and feeding hundreds of people with relatively little money in the Dominican Republic. and a lot happened in between. some good, some bad. thankfully more good than bad.
in 2006 i was:
very clean and oh so very dirty
stuffed and hungry
energized and tired
lonely and social
selfish and giving
bored and busy
excited and scared
cold and hotter than heck
and more...
in 2006 the Lord:
guided me
protected me
cried with me
laughed with me
fed me
sheltered me
befriended me
comforted me
taught me
opened my eyes
opened my heart
and more...
and He did these things through YOU - my faithful readers, supporters,
friends.
