Medellin - Zoom

Lots-o-fun. I set off for Medellin 10pm Friday night on bus. The trip was smooth

except for when a car rear-ended us. Everyone was fin…as far as I knew. I slept through all of the waiting and well, through the entire night. So as I arrived to the terminal there was some scattered phone tag going on as the phone number I had for Rev. Ernesto was incorrect and the one he had for me was also incorrect. So between Lucho and Deacon Edgar Everyone got hold of the right person in time to be picked upfrom the transportation terminal by Rev. Ernesto at 10:15 am. My stay was short but rewarding. I had the opportunity to attend the Sunday service, participate in the children’s catechumenate and teach the bible study. I had such a lovely time at Rev. Ernesto’s home getting to have lively discussions with family members including Luz Elena, his wife and Yovanni, his son. It was a wonderful time for me to have fun and catch up on some reading, I even got in three days of running and a day at the gym. Sunday night a big group of us went to walk River Medellin where there was at least two or three miles of lights and fountains. Lot’s of pictures:

Monday Alejandro, a friend I had met during the convention, took me out to get the best out of Medellin. We road the Metro to both extremes of the city, this included the tele-cable carts that took us up down and around the mountainsides. Our day was rounded out with amazing strawberry juice. The next day we met up at 10:30am to catch the planetarium show. We then had hours of fun in the

discovery zone. We walked through the aquarium and spent hours hoping, jumping, pulling and squealing in the interactive center. Theday carried into evening when we walked through the botanical gardens to watch the lighting of the Christmas decorations as it became dark. We rounded off the day with some much-anticipated cappuccinos in the bare-foot park. The intention of this park, as its name suggests, is to go about bare-foot between foot pampering textures including a segment of pebbles (like a foot massage) and water. Hey, anywhere I am encouraged to go around bare-foot becomes a favorite. I was exhausted and totally satisfied with the day.

A little about Medellin. First if you haven’t seen the episode check out Anthony Bordain’s food show in Colombia on Youtube. Less than ten years ago Medellin was considered the most dangerous city in the world….IN THE WORLD, with some 3500 murder at the height of the Medellin Cartel reign. This city was the epicenter of the South American drug cartels, with its oh so infamous Medellin Cartel ring-leader Pablo Escabar. Now, Medellin is known for having some of the happiest people on the earth and is called the land of the eternal spring because the weather rarely changes and is always a perfect 65-78. Although the irony is that the locals always seem to be complaining about the heat or the cold. Just have to laugh that one off. This is a culture, like all of the Colombian cities, distinct with a flavor of it’s own. The main food of choice is pork, principly the fattiest portions. People are simply very pleasant. Generous and not afraid to be children at heart….well, my view of Medellin was built around the discovery play zone, hehehe. The metro is clean and efficient. The metro alone made me think about moving there.

what a great weekend

Saturday the girls, Kate’s father and I went to Usme to work on the side lot and visit a couple family members who’s children were graduating from their Catechumenate class. This also marks the time for their first communion. Yep, like the Roman Catholics, the Episcopal Church in Latin America practices this tradition. The interviews with the families were enlightening and delightful. Even getting caught in the rain as we made our way up, around and through slipper, hedgy trails to get to their houses, our spirits were not dampened. As I sat down and spoke with Sandra, 25 year old, oldest daughter of 7, I was very conscious and felt very blessed to have acquired the language capability I now manage. Sandra and I spoke; well, I listened and asked questions as she spoke.

The story of Sandra’s family

7 siblings ages 9 – 25. Father died a year ago from a heart attack while up in the mountains. The father was a control freak and very closed minded to the point where he didn’t allow the children to go to school for many years, he only wanted them to say in the house! Their mother, through arguments, finally won her children the right to attend school. For Sandra and the boys this came too late. By the time their father died the sons had to give up on the hope of formal education in order to obtain work and help support the family and Sandra was Married (by age 15). This meant that they had to go through a gov. program that completes all 12 years of school in one year. The end result is you get a piece of paper that you must have in order to obtain work and a lousy education (Sandra’s sentiments). All of the younger one’s began to go to school three to four years ago. That means that the 14 year old is in 4^th grade. She is discouraged by the age difference. They all struggle to get by yet they have a wonderful working relationship. Sandra, who has a 6-year-old daughter, also takes care of her four youngest siblings plus three children down the street. She is a very busy lady with a huge heart. We got along splendidly. I really hope to spend some time with her. Thanks be to God, the mother has recently acquired work at a bakery and so their will be a bit more money to help ease the stress. The children, perhaps the mother, attend Divino Salvador, the church we work at in Usme, every Sunday. The four youngest children have been attending the catechumenate lessons and are now preparing for their first communion. It is great to see such community participation.

We also interviewed a single mother and her son. She is separated from her husband and has 6 children, two of whom live with her; actually, she and the younger boy live with the elder brother. She, like the great majority of the community, she has had no steady work in a long time and the rest of her children are in as difficult situation as she is, so cannot help her, the tragic and unjust cycle of poverty. She also, by the grace of God, has recently obtained a tiny bit of work in the church helping to clean. It is not enough to live off, but it is better than nothing. What was interesting about this interview was the change of energy that took place. I entered the home goofing with the young son and the mother seemed quite stand-offish. I was already in such a good mood from talking with Sandra (although at this point quite chilly). I think it was around the third question as I helped Kate with a bit of the questioning that the ice was broken. I guess to see us make mistakes and be really human brought us down to the ground level for her. She opened up and told us about her relationship with the church, smiled and I think I even remember a bit of laughter. We also discussed how her son could get extra help for math and English. Schools here do not have the same resources I was BLESSED to have in my school system…I am now much more grateful for the Homewood school system.

Sunday was lovely as I volunteered to teach the bible study to the 10-13 year-olds. I love this group of kids; we click well. This time I spoke about ‘el camino de Dios’… something like the God’s life path for each of us. In this we discussed the characteristics of God which translated into the characteristics of this ‘path’. I really felt the Holy Spirit lead me in this discussion. Again the gospel lesson was obtuse…at least to translate to this age group. It was a marvelous experience as I was in front of the kids with my – oh so well - drawn-out lesson plan only to have the Spirit push me into the psalms. I got to touch on the Trinity again and how Christ is 100% man AND 100% God. I know this is a deep topic, but if I include a bit at a time each class, it might start making some sense, in that acceptance of the mystery way, hehehehe.

Thanksgiving Blog - Part 2 the remembering

Colombian Thanksgiving Blog – Part 2: the remembering

THANKS BE TO GOD!!! Our Colombian Thanksgiving was a huge success! Once again God proves to me that He is listening to prayers….continual praying for this event started when we bought the turkey, with the frequency of prayers steadily increasing as the Friday night dinner approached. So, the Turkey did de-thaw in time. By Thursday night it was in a pot of salty-sugary water. I think Martha Stewart and Norman Rockwell would have been equally impressed between the fresh herbs, garlic and oranges and a bird that came out of the oven dark golden brown and juicy. No surprise that there is none left. Kate, Brittany and I had a full afternoon of chopping, stirring and dressing up – all pretty. The gusts started to arrive 15 till 7pm, just in time for us to send them out on errands to come back with more plates and plastic utensils. The group ended up numbering 15. Kate had the brilliant idea of inviting a couple extra friends from the Cathedral that was the cherry on top of the whole event. The three of us put on our dresses, pretty shoes and made ourselves up.

Hey, I will find anyexcuse to where heals, hehehe =.).

Once everyone was gathered we all stood around the table to share what we are thankful for and/or give a prayer. It was a humbling experience as many expressed thanks for our presence and work. The highlight was Sara, an 8 year old who is so very smart and well spoken who gave thanks for us, the generosity of the cathedral and the goodness in her life. Even before we had sat downfor the salads tears were welling up for many. What I was so very proud of, besides the Turkey and brownies (high altitude baking can be tricky), was that the menu involved more vegies than Colombians normally eat at any given meal…yah vegies! By the time everyone cleared out we were left with one dinner plate and a little extra mashed potatoes. Between Brittany’s confidence that we had enough and more than a fewprayers about the feeding of the 5,000, we fed everyone well and weren’t stuck with a tone of leftovers.

First Corse Green Salad and Fruite Salad

The main course

Turkey dressing greenbeens and then some

And this is the beautiful turkey!

A sea of Children

November 21 and 22 was quite the learning experience and event as the Cathedral hosted a workshop on Saturday and all of the participating community members were coming to the 11am service wich would include a bible study time for the children. The prior Thursday and Friday I was in the office trying to figure out what a children’s communication workshop and bible study for some 60-75 children was to look like. I have never taught a workshop nor bible school before especially not with a range of children from 1years old to 12 years old. It was a dynamic learning experience and I was so motivated I actually stayed focused in the office those two days, a small miracle. Well, as things go in Latin Amercia, even with a 2.5 hour meeting on Friday night the communication workshop on Saturday didn’t have a set plan, not as I would consider it. Working in such a fashion really highlights my US upbringing with deadlines, high expectations and solid planning and agendas...this is so not the case here. So as the folks were filling the pews on Saturday afternoon, I sit down with Father Diego and ask him (yet again) ‘ok, what is the plan? How do you see this coming about?’....Well the workshop ended up being with Father Diego in the sanctuary with all the adults and children older than 12 giving his communication discussion while Kate, Brittany and I took all of the some 75 children and split them into three teams. Kate got the little ones, Brittany the middle ones and I took charge of the older group. So I was bound and determined to use some of the work I had done to lead children into a communication workshop. After playing a full round of charades I lead the kids in communication skits. They were great! All through charades and then they blossomed during the skits, especially the group that was being the most difficult. They were dynamically involved whether performing the skits or as the audience, which included a bad communication example followed by a good example. Each of the mini skits was intermingled with the children who were watching answering questions about the situation. It kept them on their toes and made them feel apart of the skit. Unfortunately I didn’t time it well and we only were able to perform one skit, but a good start. The bummer and highlight was when the trouble group transformed into the most energetic and eager team as they came up with their own skit theme, family violence, with it’s bad and good examples only to run out of time. But I was so very proud of them. The bible study went very similarly as all the children went into the salon and I separated the oldest to discuss the gospel lesson. Despite having to share the room with 60+ other children under 10 the discussion was still successful. Most of the children didn’t have a real concept or understanding of Christ (10-14 year olds). I am not even sure if I had a concept of Christ at that age….Dad fill me in on that please. So the discussion was more about making the connections between Christ as God, Christ as human and what it mean to choose Christ as your Lord. The gospel lesson was Pilot asking Christ if he was king of the Jews. I concentrated the kids on “’y kingdom is not of this world’”. I personally had a lot of fun with it. We defined kingdom, king and we also discussed that the kingdom of Christ is in Heaven and earth. I look forward to this coming Sunday and Hope I have the opportunity to teach the Bible study again.

Thanksgiving Blog - Part 1 the preperation

The three things I am grateful for: 1) The supreme grace and love of the Lord who has mercifully called me to His service!! 2) My dear loved ones, friends around the world and family. 3) (inspired by my dad) The supreme beauty of the creation, the natural world, people and experiences, that inspires my soul and surprises my heart.

So far I have received eight emails for the ‘What are you grateful for?’ – 3 blessings request. Thank you very much for those responses….now being that my email list is over 100, I am still missing quite a few. If that is you, please go ahead and write up those 3 things you are grateful for and send them on.

Also I was thinking about all the many traditions that families have as the girls and I are making our own Colombian traditions. I want to share in your traditions. So for you guys Thanksgiving has come and gone and now many of you are feasting on leftovers, while for us, the turkey was put in the oven at 10am and we are preparing for a 7pm celebration with some of our comrades. Devoting times for such requests may seem trivial, however it is important to me. In the Spirit of the season, indulge me. Write me about your Thanksgiving, where did you go, who were (are) you with, etc., ALONG WITH the three things you are most grateful for.

So this is the first time I am cooking a turkey, which involves a cookie sheet and a tinfoil boat….Yikes. So far my day has been blessed with a turkey that did successfully de-thaw, what (after an hour of cooking) appears to be a tinfoil boat that has not sprung a leek and a lovely time getting to chat with Brittany. Thanks be to God!

Next on the agenda: stuffing, mashed potatoes and a number of salads.

Prayers are much appreciated as the turkey roasts and the meal finalized.

Be blessed, in the peace of the Lord and full of joy!!

LauraCatherine

a reflection

So I have often had an issue with how I have heard the parable of the raven preached. Luke 12: 24-25 “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!” - I kept hearing about how God will not let us go hungry or without shelter, basic needs stuff. At least that is what my ears took in. Yet I was acutely aware of the very real suffering and hunger in the world. Now I know that is not God’s will. So up until the other day I would respond defensively to this passage.

While listening to the Daily Audio Bible reading (Luke 12) I finally heard another understanding of this passage. It was revealed to me within the Chapter as a whole. For me, the key was in the passages preceding and following the raven. 12: 16-21First there is a parable about a rich man who had a wealth of a harvest and was storing it up for himself. God renounces this by saying “‘you fool!” pretty harsh. It says that you have all this stuff stored up, but guess what, you will die this very night and what do you think will happen to all of it? This is saying that those of us who are blessed may be focusing on what we are gaining and the amount in our savings accounts or portfolios not remembering the needs of the poor and forgetting that we are not promised even tomorrow. Those who only think of what they can gain for themselves and put greater values in such things are not preparing themselves for eternity with God. It is shortsightedness.

For us, those who do not have all the answers, definitely me, the world we live in seems much more real than the Spiritual world. Yet the truth is that the world we walk in is only a reflected shadow in comparison to the reality of the Spiritual world / the heavenly kingdom. So to us, who are blessed to have, it is so very difficult to see beyond the grocery list, the shopping, the car and house. We feel a since that we deserve this comfort because we have worked so hard for it. We do not have perspective to understand true suffering in comparison to the bounty of our riches.

So who are we as Christians? Who are our neighbors, our brothers and sisters? I say that these are every member of the human race, Christian or non-Christian. Our neighbors, whom we are to love as we love ourselves, are those who are poor of spirit, of basic physical needs, of love, etc. How many of us have felt the Spirit of the Lord tugging at our heart when we see suffering and think to ourselves “I am going to do something,” but never do anything because we forget about it, don’t have time or latter decide it isn’t that big of a problem. Why do we hesitate? Believe me when I say that I am speaking to myself as much as to anyone else.

What will we say to God when he asks how we lived? We are being asked that very question within this passage. How are we living? For whom are we living? What we are promised is not food and comfort in this world. What we are promised is that if we acknowledge Christ before others in our hearts and in our lives we will be given the Kingdom of God. God knows that we all need food and basic needs, but he has given us charge over the recourses to supply these needs to everyone. To spread our blessings to those who lack. I know that I am very blessed. I am comfortable, even too comfortable. God calls us to make ourselves a little uncomfortable to relieve the great suffering of the mass majority of the world.

James 2: 15-17 “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

This was such an important revelation for me. It filled my heart with great conviction and turned me to God, as I had become distracted recently. I propose that you also read through Luke 12, and give James 2 a look. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on these passages.

Los Llanos, Yopal...and a Wedding

Los Llanos is the planes region of Colombia.

It is as distict in culture and environment as the Amazons or the Coast.

I was invited as a guest to attend a family wedding this past weekend.

Los Llanos is marked with its own accent, music, cultural flare,

warm hearted and inviting people and lots and lots of Meat.

I loved it all. Thanks to all for the kindness and

enormous generasoty I was shown.

A halmark of this great family.

YOPAL

Bride and Groom

It was a wedding to confirm the

long comited relationship they have been sharring

over the past couple of decades

HOROPO

It is the distinct music of los Llanos

I like it even better than Vallanato

It has a feeling of bluegrass meats folk, but different

Hehehe

Some family Pics

A beautiful visit to a beautiful river.

This is the season for the river to be low.

The Llanos is marked with a

traditional cowboy culture. With its

proficent horse handling, enormous numbers of cows.

The land of a Man's Man

This is a cousin, Oscar, 14 years old

I was very impressed with his riding

It inspired me to get back on a horse.

So, its been ten years +/- since I've last been on a horse.

I now am on the hunt for a way to ride before

I get started with ECHO when I am back in the States.

I loved it

A trip to the Farm

Four Days in the Farm

Orchids

Me in front of the House

Some Chickens..The little one in the center

has a bit of a Napoleon Complex

I'm milking a cow...not the first time

Akwardly Poseing

Wood burning Oven

The Hands of the Grandmother

They are beautiful, soft and she never uses

pot holder. Her hands are a marvel of having

a life of cooking for 9 children and all their family.

The look of love after some 50 years

How beautiful

This is the families daily routine

Milking the cows

Grandfather taking a rest

Everyone freaks out when I pick-up a lizard or

worm. It made me a bit of a legend, even in Farm Country

Some beautiful views

Reminds me of Dr.Seuss' "the lorax"

Bit by bit I'm getting better at light control with my camera

Hope you enjoyed the trip....

a smattering of random photos...Yah Photos!!

Trip to the Hot Springs

I have now got four or five times

and have to return a couple more times

Set in beautiful countryside

All the pools are quite warm to very very hot

Its simply delicous

with a cold water fountain to dunk yourself under

when you need to cool off. It also serves as a nice

hot cold therapy

The walk down to the park

You can be there just for the day

Stay over in a room in this house

or camp

I've done it all

A beautiful surprise hike around the Property

A new friend

Dad I still want a parrot

(but maybe one not so large)

A Trip to a huge market

So far only have pics of the flowers

but I do go there every so often so

there is a good chance I will have more shots latter on

MERCADO PALO QUEMAU

Flower market at 6am

I always think of my grandmother when I see SunFlowers

Night sceens from the rooftop

A good photo is a mix of luck and patience

MORE FROM QUIBDO....

somehow I misplaced these in my camera,

how I'm not sure

Here the kids are studying a Bible verse

preparing to answer a fe