Monday, September 20, 2010
God of the sparrow, God of the whale
Welcome back to the real world! At least that's what I was saying on my walk this morning . . . after 10 days of beautiful Tahiti (humpback whales in the ocean, schools of amazing stingrays, fish of every shape and color) I'm spending a week at Selah Lodge in Mt Vernon, Texas . . . a retreat center designed especially for clergy who need to rest and reconnect with God! And what did I see and hear all around me as I walked through the beauty of East Texas . . . sparrows (or at least some non-descript bird) flitting their wings and rustling the leaves of the trees around me! And I was reminded, once again, that God's love and grace comes in a million different ways! What a privilege to be "at home" with God whevever we are. Stay tuned for some blips from the wonderful reading I plan to do this week . . .
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
More news from Casa Hogar
The children of Casa Hogar La Familia are having a great summer, which included three mission team visits and a six-week visit from Joe Lupo who served as a volunteer.
Pictured below is a classroom at the children's school. The children of La Familia volunteered to clean the classrooms to get them ready for the new school year. Note the size of the desks. Two children sit at each desk.
Below is a photograph showing concrete block being delivered to begin work on the second floor of the present building at La Familia. Thanks go to Lighthouse Fellowship UMC in Fort Worth for a $6,300 donation to fund the beginning of completion of a portion the second floor. When completed, this addition will enable La Familia to care for an additional 15 orphaned and/or abandoned children.
Below, is Alfredo (center) with his siblings, Angelica (Left) and Artury (Right) following his graduation from primary school and into secondary school.
Pictured below is Damaly following her graduation from secondary school and into high school.
And finally, below is pictured Abigail in her graduation ceremony from kindergarten and into first grade in primary school.
Watch your email for another letter from Muriel, a 20-year-old volunteer from Upstate New York.
Please also note that we have set dates for a six-day mission trip to La Familia beginning October 7, 2010. We would love to have you be a member of this mission team.
Pictured below is a classroom at the children's school. The children of La Familia volunteered to clean the classrooms to get them ready for the new school year. Note the size of the desks. Two children sit at each desk.
Below is a photograph showing concrete block being delivered to begin work on the second floor of the present building at La Familia. Thanks go to Lighthouse Fellowship UMC in Fort Worth for a $6,300 donation to fund the beginning of completion of a portion the second floor. When completed, this addition will enable La Familia to care for an additional 15 orphaned and/or abandoned children.
Below, is Alfredo (center) with his siblings, Angelica (Left) and Artury (Right) following his graduation from primary school and into secondary school.
Pictured below is Damaly following her graduation from secondary school and into high school.
And finally, below is pictured Abigail in her graduation ceremony from kindergarten and into first grade in primary school.
Watch your email for another letter from Muriel, a 20-year-old volunteer from Upstate New York.
Please also note that we have set dates for a six-day mission trip to La Familia beginning October 7, 2010. We would love to have you be a member of this mission team.
Casa Hogar Mi Familia
The following comes from a volunteer at Casa Hogar la Familia in southern Mexico . . . a home for orphaned or abandoned children that we have supported for many years . . . if you have interest in this type of ministry AUMC will be taking a mission team there in the Spring of 2011:
First of all its been great to have Joe Lupo here from Church of the Redeemer in Greenville, SC, for the last few weeks. He has become our official grandpa and the kids love having him here and sure will miss him a lot.
Each of the weeks Joe was here, he made all the kids sandwiches for school every morning. One morning he noticed that we had peanut butter and jam and offered to make the sandwiches out of this. I agreed -- not wanting to say no -- but secretly I dragged my feet knowing that it was something new and thinking the kids wouldn’t like it. When the kids were heading out the door, they asked what the sandwiches were made of that day. When I told them that Joe had made a special surprise of peanut butter and jelly, I was either responded by silence or a wrinkled up nose. But later when the kids arrived home from school, I have never heard such excitement over sandwiches. They couldn´t stop exclaiming how good the sandwiches were and when could we make them again. They became an immediate hit and we nicknamed them “grandpa Joe´s sandwiches”.
Another thing we were able to do while Joe was here is go to the water park. We got the kids up early Monday morning and I´ve never seen the kids do their chores and make their beds as fast as this morning. Meanwhile in the kitchen we prepared a large pot of beans. By the time the beans were ready, the kids were antsy and ready to leave.
The water park is only about 15 minutes away. It is a gorgeous place with various pools including a shallow pool for little kids, an indoor pool, a water slide, etc. There are picnic tables and chairs and plenty of shade. They even have basketball, soccer and volleyball courts.
Once at the water park, we gave out quick safety instructions and then let the kids loose. The day was bright, but a fresh breeze kept the air cool. However, within ten minutes, the youngest ones were in the water, climbing all over the large play boat, standing under the water sprinklers or riding the artificial alligators and hippos, completely immersed and happy. The older ones started and intense game of soccer. I don´t think we´ve ever had such a heated game as this one. We finished physically very tired from all the running and shouting. In another corner in the shade, we had set up the coffee maker and the adults were in a heated game of Sequence, a board game we all enjoy. Awhile later, when the water slide was turned on, we were all there, even the youngest ones, forming trains of five or six of us -- each one on his belly and grabbing the feet of the next. On the way down, the water tube was FULL of screams as we whipped down the curves, then as we came out into the pool at the bottom, a large jumble of flailing legs and arms.
By the time lunch time came, everyone was ravenous. We had bought fried chicken and rice to go with the beans. The kids couldn´t stop eating! After lunch, they had to wait for an hour to go back into the water. I think it was the longest hour of the day because every five or ten minutes they would ask if it was time yet to go back in. A few of the younger ones sprawled out in the sun on their towels and the rest on the swing sets. Finally after 45 minutes we let them wade up to their ankles and later swim. The rest of the afternoon they spent in the water. We let them spend some time in the indoor heated pool and they loved practicing to swim, jumping off our shoulders or just enjoying the warmth of the water.
At 5:00pm they were still swimming, purple lips and their little bodies trembling with cold, but they wouldn´t leave the water until it was time to go. At 5:30, we called everyone out to shower and change and then we headed home. All slept well that night.
Well, I´ll say goodbye greetings especially to Joe and we miss him lots and thanks for that five weeks.
Love,
Muriel
First of all its been great to have Joe Lupo here from Church of the Redeemer in Greenville, SC, for the last few weeks. He has become our official grandpa and the kids love having him here and sure will miss him a lot.
Each of the weeks Joe was here, he made all the kids sandwiches for school every morning. One morning he noticed that we had peanut butter and jam and offered to make the sandwiches out of this. I agreed -- not wanting to say no -- but secretly I dragged my feet knowing that it was something new and thinking the kids wouldn’t like it. When the kids were heading out the door, they asked what the sandwiches were made of that day. When I told them that Joe had made a special surprise of peanut butter and jelly, I was either responded by silence or a wrinkled up nose. But later when the kids arrived home from school, I have never heard such excitement over sandwiches. They couldn´t stop exclaiming how good the sandwiches were and when could we make them again. They became an immediate hit and we nicknamed them “grandpa Joe´s sandwiches”.
Another thing we were able to do while Joe was here is go to the water park. We got the kids up early Monday morning and I´ve never seen the kids do their chores and make their beds as fast as this morning. Meanwhile in the kitchen we prepared a large pot of beans. By the time the beans were ready, the kids were antsy and ready to leave.
The water park is only about 15 minutes away. It is a gorgeous place with various pools including a shallow pool for little kids, an indoor pool, a water slide, etc. There are picnic tables and chairs and plenty of shade. They even have basketball, soccer and volleyball courts.
Once at the water park, we gave out quick safety instructions and then let the kids loose. The day was bright, but a fresh breeze kept the air cool. However, within ten minutes, the youngest ones were in the water, climbing all over the large play boat, standing under the water sprinklers or riding the artificial alligators and hippos, completely immersed and happy. The older ones started and intense game of soccer. I don´t think we´ve ever had such a heated game as this one. We finished physically very tired from all the running and shouting. In another corner in the shade, we had set up the coffee maker and the adults were in a heated game of Sequence, a board game we all enjoy. Awhile later, when the water slide was turned on, we were all there, even the youngest ones, forming trains of five or six of us -- each one on his belly and grabbing the feet of the next. On the way down, the water tube was FULL of screams as we whipped down the curves, then as we came out into the pool at the bottom, a large jumble of flailing legs and arms.
By the time lunch time came, everyone was ravenous. We had bought fried chicken and rice to go with the beans. The kids couldn´t stop eating! After lunch, they had to wait for an hour to go back into the water. I think it was the longest hour of the day because every five or ten minutes they would ask if it was time yet to go back in. A few of the younger ones sprawled out in the sun on their towels and the rest on the swing sets. Finally after 45 minutes we let them wade up to their ankles and later swim. The rest of the afternoon they spent in the water. We let them spend some time in the indoor heated pool and they loved practicing to swim, jumping off our shoulders or just enjoying the warmth of the water.
At 5:00pm they were still swimming, purple lips and their little bodies trembling with cold, but they wouldn´t leave the water until it was time to go. At 5:30, we called everyone out to shower and change and then we headed home. All slept well that night.
Well, I´ll say goodbye greetings especially to Joe and we miss him lots and thanks for that five weeks.
Love,
Muriel
Sunday, August 8, 2010
God created . . .and it was ALL GOOD!
Thursday our Rancho Brazos kiddos had the amazing opportunity to go to Fossil Rim for a full day of summer camp courtesy of Fossil Rim. We loaded in our bus early on Thursday morning and headed for Glen Rose, where we had a nature hike, opportunities to feed the animals, tye-died shirts with natural dye and learned how to shoot a bow and arrow. Our summer interns, Rachel and Erica were amazing! Our God is a wonderful God who created a world as diverse as all the animals and even as diverse as all of us . . . and yet loves us all and created us with all we need to live in community with one another. Thanks to Fossil Rim for an amazing experience.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Worship Wonders
What happens when church ministries work together to teach children to love the world in the name of Jesus? At Acton United Methodist Church in Granbury, Texas MAD (Music, Art and Drama) for Mission happens every summer! This year children who have completed grades K-6, led by staff from the music department and the Minister of Outreach combined with United Methodist Women, the adult Outreach Team and members of Soundwave Youth Choir to learn about life and worship for children in Sudan. In response to the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes with five loaves of bread and four fish, the children made 250 backpack meals for children in need in their own neighborhood. While learning about health and education needs in Sudan, they made 100 health kits and 200 school kits to send to Sudan through UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief). In art, they made prayer pinwheels voicing their own personal prayers for Sudanese children. “Red Hand” posters illustrating Philippians 4:15 (“Let your gentleness be known . . . the Lord is near”) were sent to the United Nations in solidarity with peacemakers around the world against the use of children as soldiers. United Methodist Women shared pictures and stories about Sudan from Response magazine and made snacks that children in Sudan might eat . . . pita bread with honey and toast with cream cheese and dates. In story time, they heard that “it takes two hands to clap” and shared how their hands can help children around the world who have needs so big their families cannot meet them. As an offering, they brought nickels and dimes and pennies and quarters to help build a fishpond in Sudan stocked with fish through Heifer International that will feed children and families for generations. In worship on Sunday, they led the congregation to “go and do likewise” by singing Sudanese songs of praise and community. . . . and the congregation added $400 to their $67 of nickles and dimes and quarters to build the tank! Thanks be to God for the privilege of teaching children to join their brothers and sisters around the world in their struggle and in their hope. "Who will build the church now? We will, yes we will!"
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Fish Ponds for Love
What an amazing week we had at MAD for Mission. Today we learned that most people in Sudan are not Christian . . .they either have no religion or they are Muslim. We talked about how important it is for us to love every person in the world, even if they are not Christian, because God wil use our love to help them understand God's love. Wow! Isn't it amazing how God works even in our differences. We made lunches for children in our local community who might not have lunch during the summer and we prepared to sing in worship THIS Sunday at 9:45 and ll:00. We are so excited for the adults to hear us praise God in the Sudanese languages. A wonderful praise is that the children raised $67.90 to start a fund to build a fish pond in the Sudan so that a whole village can have fish to eat. You can help us by sending your contribution to AUMC and marking it "fish pond". We're so proud of our kids for loving the WHOLE world in the name of Jesus.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Red Hand Campaign
Today we learned about schools in the Sudan and made school kits to be shipped through UMCOR around the world to help children learn. Surely God is at work in that effort! We also made our contribution to the Red Hand Campaign . . . an efort of the United Nations to abolish the use of children under the age of 18 as soldiers in war. do you know that the United Nations estimates that as many as 250,000 children are still being used as soldiers in some way in armed conflicts? Our messages for peace will be sent to our United Nations representatives to voice our hope that every child will have the privilege of growing up without war. We learned that a part of our responsibility as Christians is to be a voice that speaks up for other people who don't have the blessings we know! Thank you God, for giving us courage!
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