In Quibdo

Well, I am now in Quibdo for the next two weeks to visit with Father Edison. As I write this his 12 year old daughter is being entertained by my computer and the foreignness of the language. Audra and I arrived yesterday around 2pm after a one hour flight from Bogotá. After a lunch of bean soup (one of my favorite foods in the world), fried fish, rice and salad we changed our cloths and Edison took us on a world-wind tour of Quibdo on foot. One of the stops included a university where we met with an anthropologist/lenguist and talked with him for about an hour. A this university he and his team are compiling anthropological records of the history of Choco and Quibdo which include books, poetry, singers, athletes, musicians, etc. This information will be shared with V.... University and is funded through England. It has been a long time that I have had to concentrate so hard to understand a conversation. I caught about two-thirds. I started to pick up more when the conversation turned to linguistics and the Pelenque (which means walled city). I was investigating Choco, Quibdo just the other day to investigate the local music. The professor has invited us to join him in a visit to Pelenque which is the last remaining slave settlment. Here, half of the citizens speak a spanish-franco creole that can not be understood by spanish speakers. This city has preserved its native african roots for hundreds of years. It would make my trip if I got to visit this city. After this meeting I was exhausted. Yet we did keep going at least for a few more hours. I think we got back to the house around 8pm. We will be staying with Edison and his family for the duration of our stay here. Along our visit we were inundated with students and professors clamoring to practice there English with us. Others might handle such a situation better than I do. However for me, it just gets overwhelming. Especially when I am already tiered and there are intense personalities demanding of your attention. A group of university students just dropped by wanting an impromptu English class. We will have to talk to Father Edison to help us organize something so that Audra and I can help but we are not taxed.
The life style here is very humble. Maybe half or better of the streets are paved. The houses are sturdily constructed and many are colorful. I am reminded that the very same resources are more comfortable in a cooler climate. Audra and I went to bed last night sticky from the heat and humidity. The humidity is what takes the cake here. It is almost always at 100% and it rains practically every day. Then the heavens opened up. All that evening as we were walking around we got to enjoy the distant lightning and thunderclaps that I have missed so much from Alabama thunderstorms. Around 6:30 Edison took us to Rio Calive and Rio Quito that merged together to form Rio Atrato. Because of the storm forming we were blessed with a fresh cool breeze. The river smells alive and fresh. With the constant breeze and the scent my mind was transported to the beach fishing with my dad. ( It made me miss my dad and the beach back home, but in the good memory way.) Thankfully the rain held off yesterday until we were back in the house. It poured even as we were going settling down to sleep, sticky and all. However I did sleep very well and much needed.
After having lunch with Edison this morning we were told that we would be teaching English to a school group in the morning and at a government college in the afternoons. I´ll be sure to let you know how that goes.

It seems like each day that I am in Bosa I grow closer to God and fall more and more in love with this mission. Everyone has a gift that God intends to use for a specific purpose if we are only willing to take the time to listen. My time in Bucaramanga was that very time of meditation and quite that I needed to discern God's voice. In the short two weeks in Bosa I have gotten to know most of the in's and out's of the children, business side, personalities, needs and pains of this place.
I have found myself serving more as a fellow companion in this mission along side Father Alberto and Mauricio and not just someone to teach English. Although this is still a rocky transition that is going to take patience and time. Monday, Sandra, who is to be the cook while I am away was there. This gave me time to take inventory on what food stuffs we have and make a list of what the mission will need per-month, week and day. I was also able to make out a menu from Monday to Saturday that is nutritionally complete. This included teaching Sandra about how to combine whole grains and legumes to create a complete protein. I was sure to include many of their local favorites. Sandra seems willing to follow the menu and make sure that everyone eats all of their vegetables.
Father Alberto is a bit overly cautious about my work schedule and we are now discussing the fact that when I am there I want to be the one to cook, clean and care for the children so that he doesn't have to pay someone to help. The discussion is still more of him letting me talk and then going ahead with the ideas he previously had in his mind. I am reminded constantly that I must rely upon God for patience. My friend Lucho and I are energized to help Alberto get the mission organized and supplied with the needed resources. While Alberto and Mauricio have the heart and are endearingly idealistic, it will take experience, organization and a dose of reality to see this program to sustainable success. I am really learning what it takes to make a mission successful from the ground up. This is an invaluable experience. I am going to be taking advantage of the resources around me to learn the basics of business that can be applied to missions, such as accounting, negotiation, etc.
Along with the parrish and mission where I work, Alberto is also working with an elderly care home located under his apartment, he has a service mission in another location at 4pm on Saturdays and another location at 7pm on Mondays. The very little time I thought he might have had to at least take a nap and see his family he has covered up in travel and even move work. Mauricio, his brother-in-law, who is Alberto's right hand man has thoughts of moving away to start his own mission. I am trying earnestly to convince the both of them that God calls us to rest one day out of the week. My tactic is just to repeat myself time and again until I am blue in the face and then keep repeating it until they take a day off each week. A sick or burned out priest seven days a week is of no use to anyone but a healthy energized priest six days a week is a recipe for spiritual growth and a prosperous community.
As I get to speak to some of the members of the parish, neighborhood and friends of the mission I am now charging them with homework to help me convince him to rest. Along with the issue of rest is the issue of spreading oneself too thin. With so many other fledgling missions in the work Father Alberto can not put the energy into the mission and parish of Bosa that is needed and if Mauricio decides to jet we would be down an extra pair of eyes and hands. In my opinion both are detrimental to the success of this mission. I am hoping that we can come to an agreement to focus on getting Bosa to be self sustaining before moving on to another project, with the understanding that this will take years.
Monday I was made even more acutely aware of the needs of this area. There is a tiny three/four year old boy who lives in the same building as most of my kids and is beloved by many. Roland absolutely adores him. They were playing and laughing for a good half-hour or hour until all of a sudden the little boy went very quiet and long in the face. Roland brought him over to me and I sat him in my lap and hugged on him. The kids told me that both his parents were working and had left him and his older sister in the street with no lunch. Roland at one point was kind-of playing a game asking him if his father hit him often and hard; it is just so a part of the life here. He had such a despondent look on his face. The kids also told me that he was sick. I carried him into the house with a group of the kids trailing behind to give him a bit of lunch. It is so funny that even when a child is hungary he still doesn't like carrots or tomatoes. After a bit of food and drink and time to warm up to me he started to show off his strong personality leading us into laughter.
This is why this mission is here. If we could get the money we could provide scholarships for such children. No child should be neglected or wonder if anyone in the world cares about him or her. Our eyes have been opened now the responsibility is upon us to act.
Again if you feel called to support a child in this mission or what ever means of financial support, including donating computers (we need at least four), cloths, reading books in Spanish,etc. please write me. There is an official bank account being set up for Bosa through the Episcopal church where 100% will get to where it needs to go.

Hit the ground running. It's what feeds me.

  

So since writing the blog about Bosa I was supercharged to take full advantage of the experiences and memories that the mission could offer.  I returned from Bucaramanga early thursday morning having slept through most of an eight hour bus ride.  Thursday night I lucked up being in the office at just the right time to be invited to a private Eucharist that was held in the little chapel of the Cathedral.  In attendance were all but one of the priest of the Bogota area.  This included Facatativa and Bosa.  Also in attendance were two Episcopal Franciscan Monks.  One from NY and the other from San Francisco who I had actually met just a few days earlier in Bucaramanga.  It was the intimate parting ceremony in honor of Rt. Rev. Luis Fernando.  Who as of Sunday August 2nd is officially the Bishop of the Northern Provence of Ecuador.  It was a lovely ceremony in its warmth and tenderness.  It is always a special moment when you can look around a room and every face is a friend and a dear soul. 

I had planned on attending the ceremony.  Unfortunately plans were changing from a car ride that would cost next to nothing, to a bus ride that cost a couple hundred to a plane ticket that would cost a few to many hundreds.  I elected to sit tight in Bogota. 

In the mean time I was able to devote myself to work.  Since beginning I have learned had to manage the mission, some of the economics, many of the psychological and emotional issues that plague the children and I can now rock a kitchen that is equipped with four gas burning eyes  and a humble selection of pots, a couple of pans and one decent knife.   One of my greatest joy is when they ask for seconds. I have discovered that handling the cooking and the kids is too much for just one person.  

The few times I have found myself juggling this alone I realize there just isn't enough of one person to care for the kids as they need to be cared for.    Not to mention the little tricks of life that occur.  Today, for example, just as Esefania had to run out to deal with a responsibility my name began to be called out emphatically; it was something about the upstairs commode overflowing.  After getting to a moment I could step away from the kitchen I climbed the stairs and turned the corner to see a small flood of back-up water.  It's little things like this that make the job a bit more interesting and defiantly unpredictable. 

I moved myself into a leadership position with Father Alberto to the extent I kicked him out of the mission two days out of every week I am in Bogota.  I got a solid taste of what his life had been like over the past three weeks.  Seven days a week at the mission, six days with the kids from 7:30am to 5:30pm.  On top of that he gives services tuesday through saturday at 7pm.  Last week I slipped my feet into his shoes for three days, this included celebrating holy eucharist.  By Wednesday night I entered the apartment and straight into bed.  My mission is now to help Father Alberto get consistent reliable help from the diocese, especially when I will be out traveling.  He's on the fast track to burning out if he doesn't get some balance into his life. 

I really don't know exactly what it is about Bosa that makes me so content.  It must be the dynamics the kids and I have.  They feed me and energize me.  I end up looking forward to spending time with them even as I am waking up at 5am.  That says something I think.  

Be Blessed

May God´s will, not my own be done

One of the memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life from my time in Bucaramanga began when Fr. Jorge invited me to be present during a spiritual ministry meeting. Fr. Jorge invited me so that I could have an experience in spiritual counseling and get a clearer view of his work. A young man, 18 years old, had come in with his mother, family and friends. After excusing everyone else from the room the young man explained his situation to me and the father. Since 11 years-old he had been bumming around the streets to escape his parent´s bickering and fighting. On the street he started using marijuana, then got into snuffing and progressed into the other drugs (not mentioned specifically). He found himself in street fights and one night was responsible for a terrible act. This act was told in confession and will not be spoken of outside of the father, myself and the young man. In this session of spiritual counseling the young man expressed that he had experienced the presence of Christ and a desire to be freed of this life style. His intentions seemed sincere as tears streamed down when the Father brought up the act on that unfortunate night.
Father Jorge put the young man in contact with Jaime who gives painting classes in the church building. Jaime offered him a grant to attend the classes free of charge on the condition that he is truly striving to turn his life around. Jaime himself as a youth had been caught on the streets into drugs and it was art and the Lord Christ that pulled him out. Jaime´s son also fell into the same pit as well as a number of other young men who have been freed of this life style through the ministry of Jaime in the name of Christ and the healing nature of art. Father Jorge also got the young man in touch with a fellow, Luis Fernando, who once worked in a young men`s half-way house, where he counseled hundreds of young men in the same condition. So the father offered this young man an arsenal of tools to help him along his way. One can only pray that he will use them. The father discovered that the young man had never received his first communion and so the date was set for the following Sunday to officially bring him into the shared communion. Along with Father Jorge, Jaime and Luis Fernando the young man´s family and friends were brought in to help keep him accountable to his new direction. I would never wish for such a responsibility, it is one that gets thrust upon you.
The days past and we had not heard news, good or bad, about the young man. However Saturday night the father received a call at 3am. It was the young man. He said that he had fallen back into drugs and was cold and hungry on the streets. This was a situation that the father felt could not be brought into his home because he fears the young man is capable, in his present condition, of doing some kind of harm if given the opportunity. The following day, Sunday, our hope was dim that the young man would come to the church. A lovely surprise was that a girl, one of his friends, showed up wanting to take her first communion. It struck me how generous God is, that even if this young man chose to not take advantage of the resources the father offered, the Lord was presenting another soul who was drawn in through the ministering of her friend. As I spoke to this girl about the church, Christ and what the Holy Communion means I continued to pray that the young man would still show up. Blessed is the Lord that he did come, just before the Holy Communion. The young man and girl were presented to the congregation and received their first communion, brining them into the community of the church. It is up to them if they choose to enter into the body of Christ. After communion Father Jorge offered a healing service. He laid his hands on the young man and the girl.
If I have not mentioned before, Father Jorge has the gift of healing. Once a month he goes to Cucuta for a massive healing ceremony where people come from all around wait for hours to have Father Jorge pray over them. Cancers have been cured, tumors have healed, demons have been cast out all in the name of the Lord Christ. If you doubt, I invite you to follow the Father around for a couple of months and read in Scripture of the very real truth of such events that passed by Christ and his disciples.
I was so very grateful that the young man showed up. I took that to be a sign that God was really at work in him and that though it was going to be a long and bumpy road to recovery, he was willing and determined. Well, in the course of life and miracles some things are not so cut and dry. The bumpy road analogy just doesn´t express it fully. Over the preceding days up through this past Sunday this boy was turning his world, and the world of those around him, upside down. Father Jorge and Luis Fernando were more and more skeptical that the young man was seeking transformation more than manipulatively seeking sanctuary from those who are trying to kill him. I was struggling with wondering if his tears and please for help had been sincere or manipulation. He was calling the father at all hours or attempting to rob from his own father, even making moves to kill his father. He was out of the house and on the street and then finally back in the house. He says he found a job and staid in the house an entire week and came to church Sunday. This young man is seethed in rage, drugs and pride and he is a skillful manipulator. If he does truly want to fight on, he has a long hard battle ahead of him. Only God knows how this young man´s story will play out. I pray that he has been touch with the healing power of the Spirit to be transformed.

still in Bucaramanga...at least untill 10pm

I extended my Bucaramanga visit by a day to take advantage of generous hospitality. This has been a socially, culturally and spiritually fulfilling trip. As of last Thursday the house was filled with visitors. At one point there were six guests for Esmeralda and Fr. Jorge. Now our numbers are down to four visitors and I will be leaving tonight on the night bus to take me to Bogota. The other five visitors are family and friends of Jorge and Esmeralda. They are down to earth, zesty and full of coastal flair. This brings with it a coastal accent that left me befuddled a number of times as to the theme on the discussion block. I am not sure if I have made any progress in my Spanish skills or if I´ve regressed. The generosity of my host and their friends revealed to me Christ`s face of generosity. I found myself meditating on scriptures that command us to give generously and to serve the stranger in the land. I found my joy in washing dishes to serve a need and hopefully express my sincere gratitude for all that they have done to make my stay so pleasant and enjoyable.
So far my plans once I arrive back in Bogota are up in the air. There was a plan to ride down to Quito with friends from the cathedral to attend the ordination of Bishop Luis Fernando. Unfortunately my friends had come down with the flue about three weeks ago and I haven´t heard from them yet. The plus side of canceling this car trip is that I get to delve into a super veggie diet for a while. After two weeks of local food I am going crazy to get a steady supply of greens and oats into my body. I am considering, seriously, a return to vegetarianism when I get back to the states. However, I would not trade the opportunity to share in the culture through their food. It has served me well in every home I have entered.
This past Sunday I had the opportunity to visit one of the missions in Bucaramanga. Out of a strata 0-6 this is somewhere between 1 and 2. They have electricity, but no water and the houses seem well constructed out of brinks and or cement blocks. It is set up a large hill, perhaps it is actually a small mountain. It looks as though the top of a mountain had been cut off revealing a rocky dirt environment. Father Ernesto took me with him in his car. This looks like a rinky-dink of a car but man it bumped, swayed and danced its way up through the stony dusty hills and chugged up some steep terrain. Everyone was impressed that the car made it up. As soon as I get into Bogota I will have the ability to post the pictures.
This is a very humble mission. It is attended by an ordained priest every other week. They are already in the building faze of their program where they have intentions of building a sanctuary, a school and apartments to house serving missionaries. They have great expectations that our missionary team will reside in the community. This is a fledgling community lead by one driven man who was named the president. It is through his ingenuity and drive that they have electricity, school desks, the plans for the school and that the Episcopal Church is their spiritual leadership. That morning the children gathered under a tin roof held up with pilings as the priests wife lead them in studying the days Gospel lesson. She is a skilled teacher by trade and her gift showed through as she interacted with the children. I was certainly inspired to take back her energy and knowhow to the children I work with. As the service began, it was clear that the community sees the churches present as a thing for the kids as the child to adult ratio something like three to one.
As I prepare to leave I am evaluating how Young Adult Service Corp missionaries could serve this community. I have greatly enjoyed my time here. I could invision myself serving here for a while. There are a lot of open possibilities. All of us will have to pray and discern on our own part where God is leading us. I have a lot to think about… Bosa, the mission in the South, all of the other parishes I still have not visited, etc.
Unfortunately, due to the Latinness of Latin America I was never able to make it back to the Elderly mission house. That is a hard lesson for me to never go anywhere without my camera, if at all possible.

a need for encouragment

The other day I had the opportunity to have a lengthy conversation with Eduin, one of the deacons who serves in this area. Eduin is in his 70s. He does not look nor act his age as he emotes an air of charm and gentility. We had apparently met during the diocesan convention. I have to take his word on that. I met a lot of folks that weekend. Thanks to this earlier encounter Eduin greeted me with the enthusiasm and energy of coming across a long lost friend. I hope I was equally welcoming.
The conversation that followed, though at first an awkward negotiation of what subject could be broached, shifted into two similar minds feeding off of the others ideas and energy. The greater focus was on the subject of the diocese, its strengths and more to its weaknesses. We each carry the same concern and drive to see the church (the greater body of Christ in general as well as the Episcopal diocese of Colombia) grow and prosper.
Eduin gives thanksgiving for the present congregation but also recognizes a greater need to reach out to serve the immediate surrounding community. At present the congregation is primarily comprised of commuters. The obvious issue here is that the surrounding neighborhood is not being served by the presence of the church as it should or could be. Another issue is the inconsistency of attendance due to the inconvenience of busses, traffic and weather (e.g. the folks just don´t show up when it is raining).
During the conversation I expressed my humble opinions I have formed over my past six months. One of my greater desires is to see the Cathedral (in Bogota) prosper. As I have mentioned before, I believe the Cathedral has almost limitless opportunities to grow into something amazing. It is centrally located along the western mountain range in a middle income neighborhood between the higher economic area and the poorer – poor neighborhoods with easy accessibility to transportation by way of bus or Transmelinio. The only thing missing are church leaders to devote their energies full-time. I have observed Father Rafael in Cartagena, Father Jose Romero in Bogota´s southern mission and Father Jorge. All of whom are sustained by their congregations in areas with fewer resources.
Talking with Eduin I was able to digest my experiences over the past couple of months. He in turn was feeding off my energy. Our conversation became an excited and dynamic back and forth exchange of ideas, convictions, revelations and decision making. One decision is that I plan on talking with the Bishop to share with him my observations and hopes for the diocese. A friend suggested that my mission and gift to the diocese might be as a communicator and observer between the people (congregations and communities) and the church leadership (the bishop and priests). This idea has a taste of public health as it would focus on groups of people on a broader scale.
Such a conversation is just what I needed. At times I have found myself feeling isolated from developing real relationships with the leaders of the diocese. I am not sure how or why this occurse. I feed off of such interaction and exchanges. It is nice to feel a kindred connection with those whom I share this church home with.

Thanks be to God for Bosa

Audra and I spent Sunday July 5 and Monday the 6th in Bosa (a town in south east Bogota). This area does not have the best of reputations as reactions when we mention where we are to begin work include stuttering, incredulous gawking and some mentions of safety concerns; now it really isn´t all that. However it is a hurting population with hunger, crime, violence, delinquency and lack of family planning. You know you are only a couple blocks away from the mission when you start rocking and rolling over the dirt road (still in Bogota). The sanctuary itself is more like a MASH unit. It is constructed of a timber skeleton with green plastic construction fabric as walls. During the day as natural light filters through the green walls indiscriminately cast a sickly green hue over everything and everyone; though after a few minuets you do adjust to this Emerald Cityish experience.
Sunday was a full day event in Bosa attending all three of the services at 9am, 4pm and 7pm. I gladly participated in each service´s lecture readings. Despite the obvious delinquencies of this area the first two services were full (each with forty-something). The 7pm serves, as it was explained, is give or take.
The extraordinary part of this mission is in its leaders, Alberto Urbano and Alejandro. I had met with these gentlemen a few times before and they had shared about their mission work and I expressed my desire to work more and be more active in the community. Somehow I got the idea in my head that these guys were from some Catholic sect. I had completely convinced myself of this. My talk with Deacon Eduin helped me realize why I had resisted the idea that they might be Episcopalian. It is because their mentality is so very distinct from anyone who I had yet met. Their God-talk and God-walk are charged and refreshing. They call themselves missionaries even after having been ordained. They rely on the tithes of the communities to sustain their livelihoods. Alberto describes this as being a process of relying upon God to provide for them through the generosity and prosperity of the families they serve. Instead of praying for full offertories, they pray for the economic well being of the congregation and that they may give with generosity.
These men have devoted their lives to their ministry and faith. They hold services every day except Monday. Monday(July 6) began a program named Operation Rescue with the call to rescue the children of the community from the street and TV. It is basically the same situation in Bosa as it is in the mission in the south. Parents must leave as early as 4am to go to work and normally do not return until 6pm. This leaves children to fend for themselves in the house where the older sibling cooks and cares for the younger ones. With so much free time children are usually either glued to the television or out in the street where they are exposed to violence, drugs and alcohol. Some children go to school in the morning and others in the evening.
The Fathers have started this mission to be open from 8am to 6pm Mon – Sat. to give the children a place of safety, a hot meal, a snack and spiritual mentorship for a group that will come either in the morning before classes or in the evening after classes. Even more extraordinary is that this mission receives no outside funding for the ministry. Due to lack of economic resources the program must charge a modest free of 7,000 pesos (= $3.50) per week. This is a non inflated price to feed each child a meal and snack 6 days of the week. This might seem like small change, but in a community that may only earn one or two dollars a day it does keep some families from participating.
Monday (July 6), was the first day of Operation Rescue. Due to school being on vacation we were with 20-25 children all day. We started the day with a church service lead by Father Alberto. This was followed by English class, soccer, a snack and basketball. We also laid witness to a group brawl that included women hitting women, men hitting men and men and women yelling at each other. It was an opportunity to informally teach about a better way to conduct oneself. Audra had a conversation with a group about why at 24 she didn´t already have children. We often have to explain ourselves for this. This is reality for these children to see girls as young as 15 with their first child. It is a difficult cultural barrier to negotiate. Then we had lunch. Before calling an end to the first day Audra and I sat down with Alberto to discuss how the first day went. We expressed our concern for the anger and rage that we observed manifest in the young boys and the talk Audra had about family planning. Then I sat down with the children and helped them organize their own schedule for the following day. They included time for reading and studies, dance, art and time to play. At the end of the day Audra and I were exhausted and felt very rewarded. The difficult matter is that my travel schedule will hinder a normal work schedule, Audra leaves in September and in August she and I will be in Quibdo for a couple of weeks. Our hope and intention is to set up steady work for the incoming missionaries that will prove fulfilling.
Like the mission in the south these children are incredibly loving and in great need to be hugged and loved on. Audra and I agree that we feel as though we integrated almost immediately with this group. Perhaps it has to do with the fact they are on average a few years older than the children at the southern mission.
At this point I ask each of you to search your hearts and discern if you would like to participate in this mission by sponsoring a child. This is $3.50 a week, the equivalent (or less) of a medium Starbucks frothy something or other. This project will save lives, hopefully prevent early pregnancies and at the very least reduce under-nutrition. Take a moment to pray and ask God if you are being called to serve the poor through this program. If you would like to sponsor a child for Operation Rescue please email me and I will be happy to get you connected.
In meeting with the missionaries I became convicted of God´s call to me to be bold in my time here in Colombia. I had grown lazy and lacked motivation to press the diocese to take advantage of my energy and gifts. I now feel refreshed and ready to put forth my all to make this experience everything it can be and helping the diocese take advantage of my hands and energy.