Blog

I hope that by the time you read this sure signs of spring – a bit of warmth in the air, perhaps, or some patches of ground appearing under melting snow, or noticeably earlier sunrises.

But I am writing this on January 27, when the high is going to be -3, and those signs of spring seem far away. This, of course, has been one of those more intense winters that makes us, on some days, think twice about going outside; that makes us all too familiar with our snowblowers and shovels, and that may lead us to declare (as I have!) – "Okay, now I’ve really had enough" (and it’s possible that now and then we’ve worded it much more strongly!).

You may have found yourself daydreaming about what you knew was waiting to emerge, what would certainly green, your yard and neighborhood transformed by new life. All the potential for that transformed reality, for that new life, was already there – it was simply waiting for the warmth to bring it forward.

Real Church: Real Value

You join a church. You attend as much as you can. You give them your money. You give them your time. You put God as your first priority – you are giving up other things to be in this place at that time. The question that comes to my mind is: What’s in it for me? What do I get from it all?

The moment she hit the floor, everyone in the back row leapt to their feet to see what would happen next.

Sue Albright, a volunteer in mission and a virtual patient for the mission's recent First Aid training class, moaned in pretend agony feigning a sprained ankle. Her daughter, Jessica Workman, walked the 20 avid listeners through the Spanish equivalents of RICE -- Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevate. She showed them how to splint with a piece of tree bark, sticks and a shredded T-shirt, all readily available in remote rural areas.

When I was in seminary I had a history professor who used the metaphor of a pendulum swinging back and forth to describe controversies in the church. When people don’t like something, they swing way to the other side, sometimes too far.

A lot of times in life, we look back at the mistakes of the past – and we do our best to avoid those mistakes in the future. This is the point of history, but sometimes we take it too far. (Think about the lesson behind Finding Nemo)

What is the point of Church?

Today, more than ever before, society challenges us in our priorities.

Sports, school, clubs, college applications, family vacations, scholarships, part time jobs, homework, church programs – our children are overwhelmed!  Oh yeah, and how about some fun thrown in there too. (They are kids after all).

The truth of the matter is that there simply are not enough hours in a day, nor days in a week, to get it all done. Something is going to get cut. We are forced to prioritize.

1. If you received a gift that you don’t like, doesn’t fit or really do not want nor need it, instead of returning or exchanging, take to the Goodwill store on Ogden Avenue and make it a donation. You can even leave the tags on it so they know it is new. This way, you are helping both the person that will purchase it, but also the folks that work there. This is a way of re-gifting that works all year long.

Advertisers want us to think of kids when we think of Christmas because they know that when it comes to our kids we will do lavish, sometimes crazy things.

The Christmas story though, invites us to look at life with adult eyes, like how do you negotiate life living in an occupied territory? It starts with a census because Rome needed money. Do the authorities care about Mary’s condition? Do they compensate Joseph for hours lost at the carpenter’s lathe? These people are living in fear, like many of us who fear everything from cancer to stewardship programs.

Last week more than 50 volunteers built 17 colossal roof trusses and put a metal roof on the new Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) Church in nearby Huacuyo Valley. This is a momentous event: it’s the first new church in this region in more than 20 years! Now that it’s roofed, it can be used. The “floor” of dirt and grass, the absence of doors and windows, and the occasional bird flying through don’t concern the members. Now that the roof is on, they consider everything else “obra fina,” fine work, minor details.

In this Thanksgiving season we are awash with gratitude. We are grateful to have the good fortune to serve here, and honored to ensure that donors’ gifts are maximally stretched and wisely invested.

What's First? That’s a question we ask ourselves, over and over, consciously or subconsciously, each day.

What's First? -- we may ask in the morning – eat breakfast, or take a few extra minutes to exercise? Work a little more on my morning’s first meeting, or...just grab my jacket and head out the door to make sure I get to work in plenty of time?

What’s First? -- we may ask during the day – write that letter or get down on the floor to really spend time with the kids? Call that person I haven’t seen in a while...or tackle that closet?

Thirteen pairs of fresh hands from Grace Church in North Augusta, South Carolina, worked with us July 22 through 25. Along with about 50 local folks, the team’s construction crew trenched and laid a new 400-meter water line connecting a mountain springhead to a church construction site in Huacuyo Valley. Others in the SC team taught vacation bible study classes to kids in Huacuyo, Copacabana, and Santa Ana, which is so remote none of the kids knew any Spanish – a local church leader translated to Aymara. They offered a sticker-art project, and a host of fun animal- based play, followed by a snack: animal crackers from the States!

One team member left us cash to replace bent, uncushioned crutches used by Paulina, a woman who’d lost one of her legs 30 years ago to a post-accident infection. After a circuitous search in La Paz last week, Jeff found a new pair of sturdy, US-made aluminum crutches; he bought extra tips and grip pads. Although we’ve never heard her complain, judging from Paulina’s blistered hands, she’ll be overjoyed to have more comfortable, workable crutches to help her get around.

Bolivia, the Lonely Planet travel guide, lists Bolivian Independence Day as one of the top ten festivals in Bolivia, and specifies it’s “best in Copacabana” and is “characterized by pilgrimages, round-the- clock music, parades, brass bands, fireworks and amazing alcohol consumption.” Copa’s 8,000 residents made room for about 30,000 visitors, mostly from elsewhere in Bolivia, or Peru. Streets were so clogged with vendors, shoppers and drinkers that taxi drivers worked only the outskirts or not at all, and tourist buses loaded and unloaded at the edge of town. Jeff caught this (below) of one of the quirkier street hawkers selling horse fat. Our middle-aged friends told us it’s meant to treat skin conditions. Their young adult offspring snickered and told us in English, presumably so their parents couldn’t track, it’s “for make hot man.”

Claire Ault, Jeff and I spent Sunday June 30 helping a team of nearly 60 indigenous volunteers build a new Iglesia Nueva Esperanza (New Hope Church). Note the saw hanging on the cross-like scaffolding in the photo above.

Located in the Huacuyo Valley, the church is about a half-hour, dusty, bumpy ride from Copa. The mixed crew of volunteers included little kids, a bevy of teenagers, the lay pastor and his wife who are in their late seventies, and a Catholic family with Methodist relatives. Valley residents are enthused about the new church and more than willing to help build it.

In return for a full day of hard work the church served a colossal lunch of chicken, rice, potatoes, and a heap of chuño, small potatoes that turn black during a three- day process of overnight freezing and day-time drying. It was an upbeat day of cheerful camaraderie. During a break a young Aymara woman chatted with her husband, who was perched in a window opening. As she headed back to haul sand bags, she playfully smacked his butt and jogged away laughing.

By mid afternoon most of the kids splintered off to play soccer or chase baby lambs in the hope of cuddling with one of them.