Arizona Team 6/24/15

Arizona 6/24/15

Team Arizona at revival meeting on Tuesday evening. 

Worship at revival.

Sunset from last night's revival

Approaching rainstorm at close of work on Wednesday.

The hogan team made good progress and they know the construction work is greatly appreciated. By far, though, it's the development of friendship with the homeowner and his brother that carries deep satisfaction and meaning for their team. 

Master Craftsmanship

At Al's house, Pastor JR showed us how to make mortar and lay concrete block. We continued the hard work of leveling the site for the steps that will come after we leave. Small steps, but important ones toward Al having a new room on his house.  

Desert flowers

Scene from the worksite.

Sheep and goats

We're feasting in ways that are  very different from our Guatemala team!  

Pastor JR handing out tamales that he and his wife, Mary Lou, made specially for us.  They fixed the meat on Tuesday and were up at 4AM Wednesday wrapping them in corn husks and preparing them for us.

Hand made tamale.

Chef Emily sampling Wednesday evening's hot dogs.  Kayler (on right) is the mission concierge.
Hamburgers last night, hot dogs tonight...but  Navajo tacos tomorrow!
And darn it, the  generic Oreo cookies lacked blackberry sauce.

Love to all. 

Day 3 in Guatemala

News from Renee after Day 3 in Guatemala:

This day was full!  Some of our group delivered food and cleaning supplies to very needy families.  Others of us continued the construction on the 3 houses while Children's Bible School and the Women's Health Education Class launched this afternoon.  Fuego, the active volcano, even gave a little display this afternoon.  

The presence of God going before us was very real.  The contrasts of poverty and abundance are still very hard to assimilate in any meaningful way.  We are trying!  

Our kids are so impressive as they interact with each other, with the culture and with the families.  Our adults are equally showing leadership, deep faith and flexibility as we continue the hard work of communicating God's love through acts of kindness and help.  

The food delivery today was quite unsettling.  The extreme poverty of each household was upsetting enough, but the $1,000,000 view they have which overlooks one of the most exclusive high schools in the region highlights the chasm between those who have an opportunity to do something about their economic situation and those who never will.  Each recipient was so gracious and grateful.  Each one prayed that God would bless us...Honestly, that was a lot to take in!!!  

The home construction is coming along.  All three homes poured the floors today.  Remember that all that concrete is mixed by hand and carried in buckets to the house.  This is labor intensive and it is all done with smiles and laughter.  

The Bible School was on the move today.  It left the Kairos school patio for the local park some blocks away and there we found some children.  We are confident we will see more in the coming days!

The Women's Health Class was slow in coming together, but once it did...Wow!  It was so well received.  Kathy Robie and Joanna Dotts Askins were so pleased with this first group.  They, too, are hopeful that tomorrow will bring more women as the word gets out.

Preparing lunches for the teams

As usual, we feasted like royalty.  Chef Sergio is just amazing and everyone is enjoying his creations.  Even our "picky" eaters say they are at least tasting every thing...Couldn't ask for more!  

We pray for you and for Team Arizona everyday.  We told our team today, "We are blessed by God in order to be a blessing to others."  The reality of this just became so much more apparent today.  

God bless you...Team Guatemala sends its love. 

More updates from Arizona!

Here is a message from Carol Sherman:

Travel here went smoothly and the drive north from Phoenix took us through some beautiful changing desert vegetation. The crew had a good meal waiting for us at 7 when we arrived and we managed to barely stay awake during the orientation talks. 

The back part of the sanctuary is our team's bunk area and we have comfortable mats to sleep on. Days are 100 degrees plus, but nights cool off enough for comfortable sleeping. We're getting to know the team of 16 from Crystal River, Florida and last night's group discussion on the beginning of Romans 12 was rich. At Denny's invitation, 7 or 8 of them joined us for morning worship today.

Team sleeping and living area

Bob, Rick, Brian and Jim are replacing a water-damaged ceiling in a hogan (a eight-sided traditional Navajo home 35 miles from the church; Jim has made a couple of runs to Tuba City for supplies.  

Working with the homeowner on the hogan ceiling

Rick Kirkpatrick cutting insulation at the hogan

Bob, Rick and Brian at the hogan

Black Mesa Church---also used for team meals

Mixing concrete for church basement

Carol, Maddie, Abby and Denny are doing hard manual labor in the hot sun at the home of Pastor JR's son, Al, who lives 100 yards from the church with his 18 month old and 4 year old sons. A team 3 weeks ago poured the foundation for a one room addition. We're stripping the forms, digging out big rocks embedded in sun-baked soil, and pounding soil into the empty trenches left behind. We've joked about it being good incentive to avoid being on a chain gang! We're going to a tent revival after dinner tonight. 

Worksite on Black Mesa for Carol, Abby, Denny and Maddie

Pray for tolerance of the hot temperatures and continued success as our Arizona team continues their work.

News from Arizona!

Here is a message received from Rick Kirkpatrick late 6/22/15:

Our flights and connections were smooth on Sunday and we all enjoyed the stunning beauty of the changing desert scenery as we drove northwest from Phoenix to the reservation at Black Mesa.

 

They had dinner waiting for us when we arrived at 7 and we all struggled to stay awake during the orientation meetings. There is a group of 16 here from Florida and we've been able to get to know a few of them today. Nice folks!

       We've moved pews around to turn the sanctuary into our bunkhouse for the week and were grateful to collapse into our beds.
Bob, Jim, Rick and Brian are putting up a ceiling in a hogan (a traditional octagonal Navajo home) about 35 miles away. Denny, Maddie, Abby and Carol are doing hard labor, "stripping forms" from a foundation poured a few weeks ago for an addition to a house 100 yards from the church. We hope it's the closest any of us come to being on a chain gang! 100 degrees in the sun ...which is where we were:)

     It's been a good first day!

Guatemala Day 2!

Here is a message reeived from Renee late 6/22/15:

We got off to a great start this morning. Even being the first actual work day with lots of start-up info to digest, we were at the work sites by 9:00 a.m. Two of our home sites are on the property of a family that received a house 2 years ago. They have had a great tragedy since we last were here. One of the daughters died just 5 months ago leaving 2 young children for the grandmother to care for. She is the recipient of one of the homes. The family members remember some of our faces and we remember theirs...as one of our team members said, "It was like greeting long lost family this morning!" One of our sites is tucked into a tiny space but the team did an amazing job coordinating their movements throughout the day. Songs, stories and lots of laughter as we tried to understand each other happened throughout the day.


  Plans are set for Children's Bible School and medical education through the rest of the week. 

All is well. 

The food is absolutely amazing (sorry Arizona! But the again...may Arizona's food is just as awesome in a Southwestern kind of way ) Tonight's dessert: cheese cake with blackberry sauce and a glazed fig for garnish. (Where are we again????)

All we can say is Thanks be to God both for the great care we are receiving and the great privilege of serving those whose need deep and real.

Yours in faith,

Team Guatemala

News from Guatemala!

Here is a message from Renee:

We all made the trip to Boston in good form. Well, some of us were in better form than others of us. The tall ones among us were pretty cramped in the bus seats. We arrived and began the boarding process. Once again, American Airlines made our transit through Logan frightening. They got the Arizona people through just fine and then the Guatemala Team was put into a separate line just for us. It seemed like a brilliant idea...and it was, but it was so slow!!!! Our last team got through the luggage check in with only 10 minutes before the boarding was to begin. Needless to say the airlines did not say, "Oh, please, come to the front of the security line so that you will not miss your flight." All teams were boarded except the one team caught in the security line. The minutes ticked away, Renee paced back and forth in front of the desk at the gate pleading for more time. The team members on the plane were praying for the last team to walk through the door. The count down was on. They had pushed the closing of the door time back..and then back again. Finally our team made it and the rest of the Guatemala travelers clapped as the tardy team entered the plane. The time in Miami was uneventful and our full flight was another opportunity to try to grab a bit of sleep. At the Guatemala City airport, we waited around a lot because we had 6 missing pieces of luggage. The people at the desk were most helpful...and finally we left the airport convinced that all would be well. In fact, this evening 5 of the 6 bags arrived with the 6th promised in the morning. Some of the team took advantage of a bit of sightseeing while others rested until dinner. The food is excellent. The weather great and the welcome most hospitable. The pictures are just sending the message of our day...Hurry up and wait! :) God took care of us throughout. Please pray for our home recipients and for the upcoming Children's Bible School....We are praying for you...

In faith,

Renee

 

 

 

Arizona team has landed!

We have not yet heard from Team Guatemala😄 but I suspect we will soon. 

Team Arizona has landed in Phoenix and are driving to Black Mesa.  All is well!

I will post info as I get it. Remember that settling in takes a bit of time, and no news is good news!

Our mission teams are in good hands as they become the hands and feet of God!