Life in the Deep End

The team has safely arrived….all 17 of them!  This is an answer to prayer. They made the connection in Miami with a gracious pilot holding for a moment for the last one to take his seat.  Isn’t grace in a moment of need so nice?  I was glad to see them all arrive.

We have the hospitality of two Guatemalan cooks with us for this time: Felipe and Aurora. Felipe is a regular cook for many teams and this will be our first experience with her. Aurora is the wife of Pastor Felix and a friend.  So we will be eating Guatemalan food cooked the way it would be in any local home. The hope is that our interactions and experiences will teach us more about the people here.  As relationships form, we anticipate discovering what God is doing here and how we can support and join that movement.

Tonight we will have “orientation” and the leaders of the VIM (Volunteers in Mission) of the Metodista Iglesia will speak with the team.  And I suspect we will all fall asleep with thankfulness and a touch of exhaustion. This always makes for a good sleep:)

We had a good visit with Beatriz earlier in the day.  Her family is doing very well. She took us by the John Wesley School and we were able to see the preparations for an upcoming feria (fair/festival) in June.  The teachers and children were making all of their decorations out of recyclable materials…plastic bottles, paper, etc.  Creativity in motion. It was good.  The principal and Beatriz are going to come meet the team next week.

We also received news from Pastor Felix today that his dear friend, and the friend of many in the USA, Andres, died 15 days ago. He was very sick when I was here in March. I am so thankful for that visit, and knew at the time that it would likely be the last.  Andres has been a partner and friend for Pastor Felix in this community as they did many projects together.  The two of them, along with Norris Allen of Dickson, TN,  have led projects that changed communities forever. Andres lived an incredible life; we were all blessed to know him.

There is a part of me that still wants assess the worth of day by the tangible accomplishments of production. I am aware (a little painfully so) that “production” does not always include what Jesus did with his 3 years of ministry. He planted seeds with his teaching. He healed those who were sick. He took time to hear the stories of those who had been forgotten. He made time for prayer and fed the hungry. Pray that we will be able to follow that way of “production”, in whatever ways it comes. And give thanks along with us, for the safe arrival of the team and the privilege of being here. May we be something of the Light and Love that Christ is to us.

Yesterday I wrote about friendship and today that story continues…though it is through a different relationship. Howard (a Guatemala mission team member of many years) emailed me this morning and asked that I visit someone here in Guatemala whose mother had just died.  Beatriz is known to many who have been coming here for so long.  Howard’s request changed the course of the day and the experience has left me with my heart wide open and my spirit full of gratitude.

We went to the community where Beatriz lives and asked in the neighborhood. The first man we asked knew exactly where to go so he hoped in the car with us. We pulled up to a house with a large black bow fixed to the front – a clear sign of mourning.  There are two periods of specific mourning and ritual in the Catholic tradition and as it turns out this is the day before the first period of “9 days” are complete.  Since her mother’s death, 8 days ago, Beatriz and her sister, father and other family have been in much grief.  The funeral and cemetery services are complete. An altar has been set up in the home and today everyone will come (300-400 people) to pay their respects and to eat a traditional meal.  After the 9 days are complete, another 40 day period of mourning is observed with prayer, wearing black and reflecting.  This is the tradition.

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Beatriz was glad to see us and I shared the greetings, love and prayers of Howard.  She shared stories of her mom and life.  She talked about the friendships and sponsorships of people in the USA who have come with mission teams for years; people who have sponsored her education and the education of her sister’s children.  These ties run deep and wide.  It is humbling to hear her speak of the people who have so deeply touched her life.

Friends have come to cook the food which will be served at 1pm and then again a special meal (not left-overs) will be served in the evening. The love and care of friends and family when someone transitions from earth is beautiful.

I was not expecting what happened next.  As Beatriz was telling the stories of the past 8 days she also shared that her cousin died unexpectedly yesterday.  He was 17. A fever…an illness…a death.  As she was showing me around and introducing us to the friends cooking the meal, she asked if I wanted to go see her cousin.  I said yes.

The home was just down the path and when we arrived the area was full. Many children and youth were standing shoulder to shoulder in the crowd. People were spilling out everywhere and then I noticed the casket in a room. We went in.  In a matter of seconds I found myself standing at the casket of a 17 year old Guatemalan teenager and his mother was at my side crying tears that pierced my heart.  It was only a few more seconds until I could feel that same sense of grief as we once stood over my brother’s casket crying giant tears…when he was 16 years old.  Death strikes – hearts break open and all the love in the world seems unable to console.  But it does.  Somehow in that horrific pain of ripping away – there is grace enough just to breath until the next moment. And really, that is what it is …just getting from this breath to the next breath…and repeat until you can find space for something else.

I don’t know why God would allow me the privilege to visit Beatriz today – to give her love from friends far away. I don’t know why I would be allowed to stand with a grieving mother at her son’s casket in a foreign country where the only language I could offer her was tears.   But after some moments passed I remembered that I did have something to say.  (Thank God for translators).  “When my brother was 16 he died in an accident. It broke my mother’s heart. It broke my heart too.  What I want to tell you is that you are going to be able to live and even have joy again…but for now, let the strength of your family and friends carry you for as long as you need them.”

The kingdom of God is rich. It is rich in our sorrow as well as our celebration. It is rich in our weakness as well as our strength.  I am blessed to encounter many riches of the Spirit, and usually in the most ordinary of days.  And with every encounter something changes deep within my soul.  It is a good change; it is a change that transforms me.   Let it be.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”  –  Matthew 5:4

I love the sounds of early morning wherever I am. I love the first views of the day, the songs of birds and the movements of life. In Guatemala there are some distinct greetings that the day is beginning. When I hear them in my sleep I know exactly where I am and even something about the day. But it varies from place to place.
In the rural area it is the rooster crowing. I have heard him several times since I arrived. Here at the Bambu it is the loud pulling of trucks as they scale the hill driving past the hotel. And everywhere birds sing: “buenos dias!” and everywhere in the very early morning there are firecrackers to celebrate the birthday of someone who is loved.  That’s right…loud, obnoxious firecrackers ususally at 4 or 5 in the morning.  I have finally come to appreciate even this. Buenos Dias – it is a new day!

There are volumes written on “friendship” and I dare not attempt to add insight to such wisdom already present. But I want to share this one moment of grace.  Today during our “home visits” with Pastor Felix, we stopped by the house of  Andres. I have noted him in earlier posts (April 2011 visit). Andres is the dear friend of Norris – the man who is responsible for all of us being in Guatemala in the first place.

Norris , Andres and Pastor Felix worked with the school, government and church to build the school at La Toma.  What we see today is a beautiful collaboration of several leaders who were able to bring their unique gifts and perspectives to provide a good place for the education of children.  When I see Andres I am humbled just to have conversation with him. This man has changed the world with his life.  It began with friends that came together in the context of meeting a need.  Andres is sick and it broke my heart to see him not well. Please pray for him.

When humble people come together in true friendship (amistad), life changes forever.  Have you ever had that kind of friend?  What about the world will never be the same because of your meeting?

Doris and I traveled 14 hours on Tuesday. She picked me up from the airport on Monday and we drove to Chichicastatenango and slept.  Tuesday morning we left out at 6:30am and began the journey to Pastor Fabian’s home in Palqui.  Several students sponsored by people in our church had gathered in his home for the visit.  The road there is very difficult and the journey made it clear to me why people do not come here often. Horseback would be the best mode of getting around in that community. Pastor Fabian had his tied up behind the house…saddled and ready.

The drive was slow, curvy and finally BUMPY!  I suppose you can say that about most journeys in Guatemala but this was by far, my most intense experience.  Our top speed was 30mph…with 15 mph being the average.  So much for speeding up the pace – might as well enjoy the journey; and so we did.

Guatemala is a beautiful country.  The mountains are with you because the roads curve one hair pin after another all the way through the “los montanos”.  If you missed the breath-taking view on one glance, you will catch it on the next.  Every hillside is planted and the fields are home to the people.  There are occasionally horses, never a tractor… mostly just people with hands and feet deep in the tending of land. It is surreal. My grandfather was a farmer so this practice is known to me but I am overwhelmed by the reality of ancient practices of farming – most without machinery or chemicals.

So…why? Why travel 14 hours in one day? Why travel for only a few?  There is one reason. Because these youth need to know someone believes in them!  They have hopes and dreams just like anyone else.  And this group from Palqui are able to imagine a different future.  We believe in them. Every single one of them. The boys were playing in a soccer tournament and could not come for this visit but several of their moms came on their behalf.  A great visit, indeed.   What about you? Was there a time when someone did something that let you know without a shadow of a doubt that they believed in you and your dreams?   (Is that near what  Jesus was saying in John 15?)

Although it is not  the same I am suddenly reminded of the woman who randomly came to where Jesus was visiting and anointed him with oil. (Mark 14). She did something out of the ordinary to speak something that no one else could (or would) speak. She did it with oil. How will you do it? How will you say, “I believe in you?”

Today we embarked on home visits with Pastor Felix.  It is a special day here .. the National Day of the Woman.  That means no school – and also an opportunity to wish each lady a “feliz dia de la mujer”!  We walked house to house and listened to the thoughts of the women and youth.  We also ran into a few men!

As I listend to the ladies speak and watched the joy of their children hustling about – I caught a glimpse of what may be missing.  The joy in the children is certain.  Children play from their heart whether they play in the sewer or the playground.  They squeal with delight as they play with a chicken, the same as if it is a pure bred canine.  The spark in their eyes is alive!

But there is a different look in the eyes of the older youth and the adults.  The light is a bit dimmer…the questions show through more than the bliss of not knowing.  I think what they are wondering about is hope.  Will there be better nutrition for their families? Will there come a day when they do not walk for water or travel long distances for medical care?  Will there be a time when their children’s education results in consistent work that does not always mean the sugar cane field?  And the question no one wants to ask…”Does anyone even care?”    The women I met today were courageous and full of grace.  They welcomed us and welcomed our prayers.  They are eager to learn and poised for change.