The Bluff Park UMC Youth Band kicked off their summer tour on May 31st in Henagar, AL (a rural community on Sand Mountain.) In addition to a great night of worship, there were also some great finds at Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro. [Read more…]
Costa Rica 2014 – Part 3
May 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment
One thing that has struck me during this time in Costa Rica is something that strikes me every time I travel in the developing world. When I travel in the developing world I’m always reminded of how high our expectations are as residents of the U. S. We expect to have our own room. We expect to have meat at every meal if we want it. We expect that the electricity will always be on unless there is an emergency. We expect to have these and many other needs met as a natural and ongoing part of our lives and if they aren’t for some reason we feel as if we’ve been shortchanged. Most of us are blessed because our expectations are almost always fulfilled.
But having these (and our many other expectations) met doesn’t necessarily make us happy. Many people who have most if not all of their expectations met just aren’t happy. It’s been shown over and over again that material prosperity, convenience and comfort don’t automatically translate into happiness.
The expectations of people in Costa Rica are much more modest than they are for most of us. Rooms are shared. Meat is a luxury that must be stretched when it’s available. Rarely, is meat the centerpiece of the meal. Electricity is almost always available but it can go out most any time and sometimes it just does. It went out for no apparent reason for about an hour or so while we were here. But even though expectations are a good bit lower here than in the U. S. life goes on. And it goes on with faith and hope and joy.
I have learned a great deal from those whose expectations are lower than mine. One thing that I’ve learned from these friends is that I don’t need nearly as much as I think I do. I can tone down my expectations a good bit and it will be fine. I don’t need as much room or as much meat (food) or constant electricity to be happy and fulfilled.
Happiness and fulfillment come from having a deep and meaningful relationship with God and from having deep and meaningful relationships with other people. That can be done most anywhere or any time with far fewer resources than I sometimes think that I have to have. I’m learning to redirect my expectations toward maximizing my relationship with God and with others.
That is one of the wonderful gifts that I’ve received from my time in Costa Rica, Chile and the other places I’ve been privileged to visit. May God bless us all to find out what really matters rather than settling for that which looks good but turns out to be hollow and unfulfilling.
Costa Rica 2014 – Part 2
May 23, 2014 By Leave a Comment
The Kairos weekend got off to a great start on Thursday evening (May 22). Today (May 23) was the first full day of the weekend. As we’ve been spending time in the prison I’ve been noticing some things . There are definitely some differences and similarities between our prison culture and the prison culture here.
First the differences. Here the men wear their own clothes. There are no uniforms as there are in Alabama. Here men can choose how they want to wear their hair, beards, etc. There are men with long hair, short hair and mohawks. However, I haven’t seen a mullet yet. There are all sorts of beard styles as well. Here the prison is staffed at full capacity. There are corrections officers everywhere. At home our facilities are chronically understaffed. Here, the families of the inmates can bring them food. At home that is tightly restricted.
Now the similarities. The inmate population is achingly young. At the communion service on Wednesday night I was struck by just how young the inmates are. That is also true of the Kairos participants. Just like at home there are many teenagers in the prison system. Drugs and alcohol are a major factor in criminal activity here just as they are at home. There are several participants in the weekend who don’t know how to read or write. Lack of education is a major factor in criminal activity here just as it is at home.
There is one other similarity that I noticed right away. The men here respond positively to our presence in the prison. When they are shown the love of God in real, tangible ways they are very receptive to it. That reminds me once again that God’s love is the greatest power in all the world. It doesn’t matter whether that that love is shown in Costa Rica or Alabama. It doesn’t matter where it happens. It does matter greatly that it does happen. I am thankful for a church like Bluff Park UMC that prays for and looks for ways to show God’s love to the world whether that happens at home or in a country far removed from home.
Costa Rica 2014 – Part 1
May 21, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Tom Duley and John Gates arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica last night, a little tired from travel but none the worse for wear. We have settled into the Hotel Franco which is a bed and breakfast in the heart of San Jose. San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica with a population of 2 million. It is a busy and bustling place. Hotel Franco is an urban version of the Hostal at El Vergel we stay in when we go to Chile.
There are eight members on the team. All of us are from Alabama. We come from Birmingham, Huntsville and Demopolis. We all have extensive experience in Kairos prison ministry. We are here to work on a Kairos team with the Costa Rican Kairos community. The Kairos weekend begins on Thursday.
We will spend the day today touring two prisons. Rev. Carlos Cunningham is the leader of the Kairos community in Costa Rica. He is also chaplain to several prisons in Costa Rica and the pastor of a small church. Through his efforts the Costa Rican government has dedicated one prison as a faith-based prison. The first prison we will visit is this faith-based prison.
The second prison we will visit is San Sebastian prison in the heart of the city. This is the prison where the Kairos weekend will be held. There are eight cell blocks in the prison. Each cell block has an inmate pastor who has been trained by Rev. Cunningham. These pastors care for the men in their cell block in much the same way that all pastors do. They teach, counsel, visit, lead worship, preach, etc. As a part of our time there today we will worship and celebrate communion led by the inmate pastor in one of the prison’s cell blocks.
It promises to be an enlightening and inspiring day.
weekender backpacks mission effort
April 16, 2014 By Leave a Comment
A group of ladies, chaperoned by Jay Burns, did a wonderful job working at the Community Food Bank on Monday. Eight people worked for 2 hours and packed 305 backpacks.
We will have future opportunities for others to participate.
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Chile Update – Part 5
April 2, 2014 By Leave a Comment
The region around Angol, Chile is a heavily agriculture region. It is the breadbasket of Chile in which crops are grown for domestic use and for export. Sometimes at home, if you arrive at the grocery store while stock is being put out in the produce section of the supermarket you can see fruit packed in boxes labelled as an import from Chile. I have seen grapes from Chile where I shop. Gala apples are also grown here and exported to the U.S. Chile also produces world class wines, some of which are available in our stores in the U.S.
As we have walked and travelled around this region we have seen many crops being grown. These include apples, cherries, sugar beets, grapes and ornamental plants. There is a large dairy farm within a mile of the El Vergel campus. There is also a thriving timber industry in the region centered on Eucalyptis trees.
El Vergel Methodist Agricultural High School (El Vergel) is a Christian high school which provides an education in a Christian environment for children who will most likely work in some part the agricultural industry that is so prevalent in this region. The children take regular academic classes in subjects such as language, math and science. They also take religion classes and attend chapel twice per month. There is a Methodist Pastor who serves as chaplain for the high school. He is appointed to this position by the Methodist Chruch of Chile.
In addition to the academic and religious education that the children receive they also receive instruction in agriculture related subjects. As a part of this instruction they are responsible for hands-on agricultural projects. The pigs in the accompanying picture are part of that as are the pepper plants which are being grown in one of the school’s greenhouses. They are in the other picture. The greenhouses have a variety of plants. There is a flock of sheep to tend and additional work to do on the El Vergel farm which is a large commercial farm that is part of the mission here. When the students graduate from high school they are certified to work in the agricultural industry within Chile.
It has been very interesting to be here and witness first-hand how the mission works to help the children of this region. El Vergel is an old mission in terms of its age (approaching 100 years in existence). On the other hand it is a very young mission in terms of the young people that are being trained in a skill that will allow them to make their way in the world and in the Christian faith which will provide their spiritual grounding for a lifetime.
Chile Update – Part 4.5
April 2, 2014 By Leave a Comment
While we pray for those affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami, our Chile Mission Team was far from the epicenter of that event.
Our team continues to be hard at work at the El Vergel school. We received this picture that shows the entrance to the school itself.
We remain thankful for our team and their dedication to the work of the United Methodist Church in spreading the gospel and the kingdom of God.
Chile Update – Part 4
March 31, 2014 By 1 Comment
I am convinced that the best way to learn about a place is to walk around it. We have had the opportunity to do that several times sinice we’ve been in Chile.
The Saturday we arrived we took a walk in Santiago while we were waiting for our bus to Angol. Santiago is the capitol of Chile. It is a huge city with a population of 7 million. The total population of Chile is 14 million so fully one-half of the population lives in Santiago. Our walk took place downtown along a pedestrian walkway. It was a warm Saturday afternoon so there were many people walking around. We were the only North Americans to be seen. That’s one thing you quickly realize here. There aren’t too many North Americans around.
Another thing you realize quickly is how friendly and helpful the people are. One of our group members was having trouble getting his phone to work. As we walked we came upon a kiosk selling cell phones so he stopped to see if they could help. The young man in the kiosk was very welcoming. He immediately went to work trying to discover the problem and fix it. He tried his best but couldn’t get it to work. But what was so impressive was his welcoming spirit and his desire to do his best to help. Everyone we’ve met has had the same attitude. Chileans are very welcoming and friendly people.
As we walked along we saw many kiosks with merchants selling items ranging from phones to household goods to jewelry to different types of food. We came upon a man with a street cart selling Mote con Huesillo drinks. The Mote con Huesillo (which is loosely translated “barley with apricot”) is a Chilean drink. It is quite unique. It’s served cold with the Mote (a barley type grain) on the bottom of the glass. It’s about one-third of the glass. The juice is cold apricot juice which is sweet and very tasty. Floating in the juice is one-half of an apricot which has been soaking in the juice. You eat the barley, drink the juice and finish by eating the apricot. It is very refreshing.
We have also taken walks in Angol, Capitain Pestene and the countryside around El Vergel. Each walk taught us a little bit more about the customs, people, history and geography of Chile. Taking these walks has been a great benefit of being here.
Tom
Chile Mission Team – Part 3
March 30, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Many years ago when I first became aware of teams that went from local churches to help others whether locally, nationally or internationally they were generally called “work” teams, the idea being that a group of people from a local church would go primarily to work. The focus of the experience was on getting the work done that needed to be done. Build a church, repair a school, remodel a hospital, whatever it was–the focus was narrowly placed on the work to be done.
But a change has occured in the last few years. Now these teams are called Volunteer in Mission (VIM) teams. I think that the change is significant and for the better. VIM teams have a broader focus than work teams … their focus is to be in mission where they go. That includes not only doing work but also building relationships with people as well as getting to know something about the culture and history of the place where the team is serving.
John Elmore (our covenant mission partner) does a great job of providing VIM teams with opportunities to experience this broader focus on mission. Today, he gave us a two hour tour of the El Vergel school facilities, taking time to explain something about how the school operates. We saw classroom facilities, dorm rooms and the bakery. We also saw the school’s gardens, greenhouse and other agricultural aspects of the school including the sheep and pigs that the students are responsible for.
In addition to seeing the facilities we met several of the faculty and staff members who work at the school. We had the opportunity to have conversation, ask questions and learn a bit about them and their perspective. It was very informative and helped us to understand more fully why we are here and what being in mission here means.
Tomorrow we will travel to a small village that traces its roots to the Italian immigration that occured in Chile in the 1800’s. By doing that we will learn even more about the culture and history that surrounds us in this beautiful country. On Sunday we will attend church again and in so doing we will learn more about Methodism in Chile as well as strengthening relationships with our brothers and sisters of the Emmaus Methodist church.
For some these may seem like extras, but properly understood, they are central to what it means for a team to be in mission. Mission is more than work. It is people, history and culture. What may seem like extras are, in fact, a vital part of the Volunteer in Mission experience. To be sure, a great deal of work has been done by our team with more to come, but we didn’t come here solely to work. We came here to be in mission.
Tom
Chile Mission Team – Part 2
March 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment
We arrived at our destination in Angol, Chile early on Sunday morning. We were mostly refreshed from our plane ride after sleeping on those wonderful buses. We drove to El Vergel Methodist Agricultural School which will be our home and workplace for the next two weeks.
Sunday is a day of worship in Chile just as it is in the U.S.A. We were blessed to worship with our Chilean brothers and sisters in Christ at the Emmaus Methodist Church in Angol. The church is the Methodist church for the neighborhood of Emmaus in the City of Angol. This is the church where John Elmore (our covenant mission partner) and his wife Christina are active members.
The woship service starts at noon and includes all the elements of worship that we include in our worship services at home … prayer, Scripture, the offering, music and a sermon. A meaningful time in the service for us was when we were received as missionaries. Our reception by the Emmaus church was much like our commissioining at Bluff Park church. We were called to the altar and introduced to the congregation. After the introduction we knelt at the altar while the Pastor of the church prayed a prayer of blessing over us just as Mike had prayed a prayer of blessing over us when we were commissioined at Bluff Park. We then shared the greeting from our congregation that was spoken by Mike at our commissioning.
This time of worship reminded me again of how much we have in common with our brothers and sisters around the world. The difference in language is a bit of a challenge but the smiles on the faces and the hospitable reception more than makes up for that. The Pastor preached on John chapter 4. His text was the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. It was taken from the same set of lectionary readings that we are using in our Wednesday morning Lenten service. Yet another connection with our brothers and sisters. The essence of the sermon was that Jesus didn’t discriminate against others so we shouldn’t discriminate against others. That, as they say, will preach, no matter what the country or language. Yet another connection. Being here reminds me again that in Christ we are deeply connected one with another.
We spent the rest of Sunday afternoon resting in order to get ready for the work week.