JOYFUL REUNION!

The Church.   How central it is for those of us who believe.  How it keeps us grounded and uplifted at the same time. It is at the core of what we do in Chiapas. All the projects, the ministries, the reason we are here is because of our faith and  our desire to share that faith with others.  We come to give, to offer our skills, to donate some time and talent, but we leave with oh so much more.  It is hard to explain unless you have been here. 

So on Sunday morning, the first rule of the day, after arriving late the night before, is to attend services at the little mission church in Ocosingo.  It is Pablo and Jan's city church.  Pablo is the full pastor in Sibal at his church in the mountain village, but in Ocosingo this little mission church is home.

So the group treks off down the steep road heading into the town of Ocosongo.  We attract attention, as there are no tourists, no gringos in Ocosingo except us.    Everyone knows we are the medicos from the Christian clinic outside town.  We are witnesses just by walking the streets!  Some of us have been here many times and look forward to worship there and reuniting with friends.  Some who are new, do not know what to expect.  

We clambor inside the little storefront church and decide how to sit..on the men's or women's side?  All together as a group? or mixed in with the locals?  There are hugs and kisses and recognition of each other.  There is such joy in this reunion.  

The service is meaningful to some, but most do not understand much of the prayers, sermon, etc.  The service is decidedly "Presbyterian", so it is easy to recognize the order of worship and the components. This day there were familiar hymns, like "Santo, Santo, Santo" (Holy, Holy, Holy). But It is difficult to stay focused when you do not comprehend much.  We are asked to stand and introduce ourselves, in Spanish.  It is painful for some, but the congregation loves to hear our short stories.  Jim Heneveld did the sermon today, on the meaning of "eternal".   Jim is a long time missionary in CHIAPAS, and helped to translate the Bible into Tzeltal.  He is a board member of Hebron. This day, it was doubly difficult to listen to the sermon, as there was a parade celebrating some saint.  These celebrations get rather elaborate and boisterous.   Down the steep, cobblestone street came throngs of people carrying giant saint forms and flowers, people in giant animal paper mâché costumes, trucks with platforms built to carry bands of tuba, trumpet, drum, and other horn players, and HUNDREDS of caballeros on horseback.  The parade went on for a loooong time, and remember the open doors of the church are right there, on the street.   Poor Jim had to stop numerous times and we all had trouble not watching the spectacle!  

And so, worship ended and we milled around, every one of us, shaking the hand of every one of them. It is impossible not to be touched, figuratively, as well as literally.  

Thank you Lord, for bringing us to this place.  For each of us it may be for a different reason.  That is what we hope to discover.

Peace,      Carolyn

XPUJIL, BELIZE, and other parts unknown....

Well, this is the 3 rd time I am writing this post...   I have been known to be persistent. It WILL get posted!   A beautiful, spirit filled journey was slightly marred, at the beginning with Carolyn missing the Tuxtla connection.  And ending with my IPad being stolen at a bathroom stop on an overnight bus, with much of my hard thought out work being lost.  I had spent lovely, peaceful, thoughtful time writing stories of travels outside Chiapas, and of some thoughts about our presence at church...  Only to have those long descriptive missels lost somewhere in cyber space.  Ah well...   It truly could be worse.  It only cost some money, time, and inconvenience.  

So,  this segment begins with Jan  and I taking off after the grueling 2 medical weeks for a little road trip, a girls' getaway.   We planned to go to Xpujil, and other parts unknown.  Xpujil, Campeche is 2 states away from Chiapas, and is the reason that I ended up working with Pastor Pablo and Jan, and being a part of the clinic development in Chiapas.  We made many trips to Xpujil in the 90's.  We put down missionary roots, and even began to build an out patient clinic to provide sorely needed medical care. In time, permission from the health department was rescinded.  The ministry there this day  is vibrant, with church building, community project development, and cistern construction.

 Todd Luke, our friend from the Village Church is actively involved.  Our high school youth group will make a mission trip there this week.  I had not been back there for many years.  It was really fun to renew old acquaintances,

see the children all grown, and the town enlarged and urbanized!  We stayed on site at the dorm rooms we built,

and attended services at the church we constructed so many years ago.

We observed a new cistern being built in a new village.

We visited with a man who extracts the sap of the chicle trees, which is cooked in a large pot outside until it is thick and gummy.  It is then put into heavy, gummy blocks to be sold to the companies who make gum, as we know it.  It is hard work, but can be lucrative for a subsistence farmer.

  We visited the beautiful ruins of

Becan,

and were again amazed at the nightly exit of millions of bats from caves in the woods outside Xpujil.  

We spent 2 days in Chetumal, and went over the border into Belize for 2 days.

  Again, reminiscencing, both Jan and I.  Her friend, Dorothy, has been a teacher at a Presbyterian school in a little village there, for 35 years.  She and Jan went to high school together.  Ironically, this was the same village and same Presbyterian ministry, which included a clinic, where I also worked several summers, long ago.  One summer I received a desparate plea from the Lacey's (missionaries there), asking if I could possibly come to run the clinic, or it would have to close that year, as no doctors were available. I thought and prayed for about 2 days..., put my new job on hold, and spent the summer there with a med student, manning the clinic.  What could I possibly offer?, but myself.  I grew that summer, learning medicine, learning about myself, and growing by leaps and bounds in my faith.  I never felt God's presence so strongly, as I did that summer. 

Anyway...what a great time we had.

Until we boarded that fateful bus back to Ocosingo!  

Well, we arrived safely home, just in time for me to get ready to come home. As always, the 7 weeks was but a moment in time.  A deep breath, a lot of good byes and when will you be back?   God willing, it will be soon!  

As ever,   

Carolyn