Something of interest

Note:
The following entry was part of an exercise, and I thought it would give readers a look into the past few months of my life. It includes important information, but not all details are conveyed. Enjoy.

The wind blows everywhere 

Part 1:

            The summer of 2013 was nice, clear, and full of fireflies. The streams in the local park were full of water and life; nothing was missing from this beautiful piece of land. The wind swept through the wheat fields while the birds sung their regular mating calls. Grass dwellers hopped from lawn to lawn without fear, and I was tiptoeing through life with a half empty bottle.

            I was working for a wonderful employer doing HVAC work that I wasn't fully committed, but I did enjoy spending several hours per week having wonderful conversations with my Mike. The days and weeks were long though, I worked evenings for my parent’s commercial cleaning company, and then after work I would have long conversations with a good friend. We eventually became a little more than friends, and at the same time I started to feel the call to devoting my life to Jesus. I wanted to finish my undergrad degree before committing myself to His work because I had already come too far in school to quit. I thought this was the logical step, so I took it, yet in the depths of my soul I knew His work was more important than school. My plan was to graduate with a geography degree, pay off my loans by using a higher paying job than I would have had without the degree, THEN commit myself to voluntary poverty and God’s work.

            I had some idea of what His work looked like; maybe I would join a Catholic Worker’s House for a year or two, maybe I do an overseas mission trip, I didn't know then and I really don’t know now. I think a healthy amount of doubt is always needed for strong faith. I talked this over with my “more than friend, friend”, and she helped me a bit, and she partially understood my thoughts. The summer ended, work for Mike ended, work for my parents ended, my relationship with the girl I thought was perfect for me…ended. I still had Jesus, and His word was/is sacred. I packed my belongings and went back to Manhattan.

Part 2:

            The warm air filled the yellow sky, and doubt of my decision to finish school filled my thoughts. I wanted to live like Christ, I wanted to be in voluntary poverty, and I didn't know how school fit into my Christ focused life. I wanted to drop out of school and pay of my loans. Why was I getting more loans if I didn't want to work in my major? Educational is useful, but loans are a dread. Why is school so expensive?

            At the same time I was having down I was getting invested in my spiritual life. I was attending Daily Mass practically every day it was offered, and it helped me immensely. I decided to take the Rite of Christian Initiative for Adults to become a member of the Roman Catholic Church. The class ended up stressing me out due to several parts of the class that bothered my peace and nonviolence theology. I eventually stopped going, but I still went to Daily Mass on occasion. I also held an hour of adoration at an adoration chapel in town.  

            After my frustrations with Catholic ideology I decided to seek out a new place of worship. During the past couple years I read books on non-violence and Christian Anarchy. Community seemed to be an important aspect that was noted in all of my readings. I had friends that had the same anarchic impulse, but they were not located in the same town. Mennonites were mentioned has being nonviolent and peacemakers, so I did an internet search and found a single Mennonite church in a town filled with military people.

            The first service I went to at Manhattan Mennonite Church was beautiful; the youth group had prepared music featuring classical instruments. I immediately fell in love with this small group of people, and they were very welcoming. During the next week my might began floating back to the calling that God was giving. I did an internet search for Mennonite mission opportunities. The first link was Mennonite Central Committee, and I began looking at the service opportunities. The next Sunday I was sitting in church, and a member mentioned MCC and the missions they were doing. I also noticed that MCC was in bulletin, and the church gave part of their tithe money to MCC.

            I looked on the website the next week, on Wednesday, and I noticed that Bolivia SEED as a service opportunity. I was immediately interested, but the due date for the application was too soon, and I didn't have enough time.

            The following Saturday I was drinking a beer and the urge to look at MCC’s website came over me again. I noticed the Bolivia Seed was still in the listings. I read through some of the others, and I qualified for a few, but I didn't want to raise money. I saw that Seed had extended the due date for applying; I immediately began working on the application.

            After two interviews and 2.5 weeks of waiting I received word that I was not chosen for the project. I wasn't upset, I had already started working 60 some hours for a homeless shelter and a plant pathology laboratory, and I was enjoying my new church community. I went back to my original plan.

Part 3:

            The light was shining through the greenhouses on Denison Street, the trees were bare and patches of snow rested on the dormant grass. Students walked back and forth on the sidewalk, but no one could see me mixing soil due to the reflective white chemical that is applied to the greenhouses yearly. My phone rang, the caller ID was blank. Jean S. from MCC was on the line, and she wanted to offer me a position on Bolivia Seed. I told I was quite positive that I would take the position, but I told her I wanted a few days to sleep on it.

            The date she called was on December 6, 2013, and on December 9, 2013 I officially accepted the position, finals for school began. The weeks passed, forms were submitted, and my life in Manhattan was coming to a close. I was excited, my decision was coming to life, and my thoughts were somewhat focused.

I am alive, He is alive. 

Hello my friends,

I am going to share with you a very short story That I wrote at 2am in Lima, Peru. I do not know what the whole meaning of the story is, but some of it is quite obvious.

         

Bubble Suit man

          Ripples in his thin polyester jacket started an earthquake in Lima, Peru, but only the microscopic insects Were disturbed by the jacket's ruffling. Did anybody care about These Microscopic Insects? The bigger predatory insects have a Relationship with the Microscopic Insects.

          The Microscopic Insects did not like the relationship, but They Also Recognized The Importance of the relationship. The MIs was willing to accept it, but maybe the bigger insects Could find a different kind of food. There are plenty of polyester strands That would suffice as a nutritional substitute for the bigger insects to eat.

          The Possibility of this type of relationship Might be narrow, but at Least the MIs Were willing to come up with solutions. Death is unavoidable for the some MIs Because the some of the bigger insects just will not listen, and it has Become a hard position for the all of the MIs to uphold.

          The Bubble Suit Man shook his jacket Extra hard this time. The Microscopic Insects and the larger insects all died.

...

          Our connection from Lima, Peru to Santa Cruz was delayed at Least 3 hours, and the wait was emotional and spiritually awakening. We arrived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia at 6:00 am and found our way through customs 30 minutes later. The drive to the center of Santa Cruz was rough due to the condition of the roads and the manual transmission truck carrying That was us.

          The weather in Santa Cruz is much warmer than Bogota, and the vegetation includes a variety Greater partly due to the elevation differences.  Mennonite Central Committee The office is located in a small compound near the center of Santa Cruz.

          The red brick walls break up into three entrances closed off with iron gates. A bunny, turtle, and dog inhabit the space confines MCCs ¼ block. There are three buildings Within This special place, one building functions as an office and the other two are used as living spaces. There are many types of vegetation throughout the property: lime tree, mandarin tree, two mango trees, a coffee bush, and an old avocado tree. The turtle has many options to choose from for its daily meals. The mandarin and lime tree are in season, so I have Already had a fair share of mandarins. The mandarins distract me from the thin layer of sweat encompassing my entire body, or maybe it's the Coca tea.

          The hands of the groundskeeper at MCC are rough and strong, and I hope mine will Become as his in the coming months. The next few days will be spent in orienting ourselves with MCC Bolivia's history and expectations Along with getting to know our group better. Tomorrow we will be visiting one of the many Low German Mennonite colonies in the Santa Cruz area with a couple working for MCC. The couple is from the Buhler, Kansas area and They are finishing up a four year term. They have three boys and one girl few month old; They definitely bring life to this beautiful space.

          Hopefully the space is in our group will enable us intellectually stimulating conversations To Have That will help us grow spiritually, and give us strength to do the work God is calling us That to do. I should not worry about the next two years, but it Tends to be a lingering thought. I am super excited to start language study, and maybe That will soothe some of my worries. I will probably post a few pictures in the next couple days. Good Morning!

¿Que esta pasando a mis hermanos y hermanas?

          I didn’t know cheese and hot chocolate went together, but they do when you eat at La Florida. Although the quesillo is served with French bread, it might as well be one of the seven deadly sins to eat them together. I conformed, surrendered, defected, whatever, and I put the cheese in my Florida Chocolate drink. It was good, especially since my cheese eating days were a thing of the past before I came to Colombia.

          Before we found at the delicious cheese and hot chocolate combo, we took a trip to Monserrate, a church built on the top of a mountain. The motto for Bogota is “2,600 meters closer to the stars”, but when visiting Monserrate one is 3,152 meters closer to the stars. The history of Monserrate is on Wikipedia, so I am not going to go into detail. The Monserrate features a path with statues picturing the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, most commonly known as the Stations of the Cross. We could see almost the whole city from the top of the mountain.

          The next day a couple of us went back to Monserrate to climb the stairway to the top of the mountain. During Easter many Catholics climb the stairway using only their knees; this is recognized as penance for one’s sins. The trek was arduous enough going by foot, but I can somewhat see the worth of that mode of travel. Mass was being conducted in the church when I reached the summit; I have always enjoyed the calmness of Mass.

          We had to descend the mountain quickly because we were running out of time, so we ended up jogging down. Although the descent was little easier than the ascent, our legs were only trembling when we reached the bottom. There was fresh pineapple waiting for us at the bottom, and a taxi ride back to the hotel was uneventful.

          The rest of the day would be spent in the far north part of the city. Although the trip seemed like we stayed in the district of Bogota, we actually entered into a new municipality, Soacha. The town we visited is called San Nicolas, and it is one of the poorest villages on the outskirts of Bogota. We were visiting a Mennonite Church that has a MCC Seed participant currently working and living in San Nicolas. The village has been subject to violence, but the church is currently working on peace programs with the help of MCC. The people of the village are also cleaning up the river that is located directly south of the village, we were told that river was heavily polluted and had a horrible stench until the community spoke up about the problem. The church has a soup kitchen and a volunteer conducts English lessons a few times a week. Our stay in San Nicolas ended with the children conducting some traditional Colombian dances and a delicious lunch!

          The next day we visited a church that Kelly, Colombian Seeder, is providing her services at. We sang some praise music, introduced ourselves, and heard a very good sermon on the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings. We also sang a hymn in Spanish for the congregation to enjoy. The church was full of beautiful people willing to build a community in the face of big city challenges, i.e., poverty, violence, apathy, hopelessness, natural disasters, and displacement. The work being done at the church gave our group hope in our upcoming projects. I talked to a few of the church members, but it was hard to fully communicate due to my lack of Spanish vocabulary. We shared a very good lunch with the Seeder’s host family, and were able to discuss some the obstacles and barriers she is experiencing.

          The following evening we shared a nice dinner with the Nathan, the Colombian Seed facilitator, and learned more about Colombian culture. I feel like our group is beginning to have a since of identity every day we are together, and this is only the 5^th full day together! I can feel God’s presence in our group, and it gives me great joy. Adios! 

“I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle dove, and am still on their trail. Many are the travelers I have spoken concerning them, describing their tracks and what calls they answered to. I have met one or two who had heard the hound, and the tramp of the horse, and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud, and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden
  

Hola hermanos y hermanas,

          Don’t worry I won’t be writing in Spanish, at least not yet. The last 36 hours or so have left an emotional stain on my body. Saying goodbye to loving family and flying over the equator have contributed to my lack of sleep and unwillingness to be fully engaged in first impression conversations, but I know my fellow services workers understand.

          I will be spending the next nine days in Bogota, Colombia with members of Mennonite Central Committee and fellow SEED participants. The following days will consist of building friendships and learning more Spanish. We will also visit several landmarks around Bogota, and maybe see a film.

….

          The walls to the entrance of Independence Park in downtown Bogota are scribbled with discernible graffiti that could be read if one were to stop and read, but no one does because it is everywhere. The medians between a couple lanes of traffic are speckled with anti-authoritarian blurbs, and one wonders if that stray sentence is attracting more onlookers than myself. Unfortunately, I have little to say about the authoritarians in Colombia, but the words do leave a resonate feeling. I can empathize with the frustrations of anti-authoritarian Colombians; I am sure anyone that recognizes the inequalities that government creates could empathize. Thankfully, my mission in Colombia is not to change the social conceptions of Colombians.

          While walking down the busy sidewalks of Carrera 12 I noticed the increased about of young adults, and I remembered that Colombia has a population demographic very different than the USA. Instead of an hourglass shape that characterizes developed countries, Colombia has a demographic similar to the shape of a pyramid. This means Colombia has significantly more youth in the population than the USA. All of the bright young faces put me in a happy mood; it is a different feeling than walking around the campus of a university.

          Bogota is about 8,500 feet above sea level and the skies seem to be partly cloudy all day. The mercury rises about to 65 degrees midday and the walk to a small café might require a light jacket if you are thin skinned. The irises are blooming and the sidewalks are littered and cracked, but each supplements out the other. The diesel exhaust is noticeable when passing an idle bus and it only caused a burning sensation in my eyes for a moment.

          Our little afternoon outing was a not only good time to familiarize ourselves with a small section of Bogota, but it also gave us the opportunity to start building our friendships. The afternoon group consisted of two Americans (Liz and I) and one Guatemalan (Glenda). Glenda knows very little English and Liz and I know very little Spanish, so there were several breaks in conversation and definitely some mispronunciations. I know my Spanish skills went up a notch over those few hours. My feet were very sore after our outing because I wore my huaraches for the first time, and the cord between by toes was probably fastened too tight.

          The following evening we ate a nice dinner, which consisted of vegetables, rice, fruit, and chicken covered in mushroom sauce. I decided to try a little of the chicken even though my diet in America contains no animal products, but I can’t control what the hotel serves, I also dislike wasting food and I need to acquaint my body with eating animal products again. I will try to consume the least amount of animal products, but it is almost impossible in this type of situation. This isn’t a true complaint; I am truly happy to eat the food that is served, I just don’t want to get sick.

          The next morning the rest of our group arrived in Bogota, and we began the orientation process. The orientation consists mainly of introductions into Mennonite Central Committee and all of the work the organization does. We also were introduced into the South American projects and more specifically MCC Colombia’s projects. In the afternoon, a representative from the Mennonite World Conference gave a presentation on peace and restorative justice. Cesar Garcia gave a very informed view of what peace and justice look like through the eyes of a peacemaking Christian. Mennonites practice non-violence in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Cesar mentioned this passage but he based his lecture on Luke 4:16-30. Cesar and I believe that being a follower of Christ means following His words that were spoke throughout the New Testament. Cesar also mentioned the prevalence of violence within the Old Testament, but I don’t think I can word his explanation well enough. Cesar spoke from experience on following Christ and his radical ideas of non-violent solutions to evil acts, and fully showing God’s love to people that are the hardest to show it to. I know I didn’t give Cesar’s lecture a good summarization, but information about restorative peace can be found on Mennonite World Conference webpage.

          I am trying my best at learning Spanish from fellow SEED workers, but I am really excited for the intense Spanish classes that are awaiting some of us in Cochabamba, Bolivia.  The next week will consist of listening to presentations in Spanish being translated into English, which is really exhausting. I will try to post consistently, but I foresee some time gaps in my posts. Buenos Dia!