Mission Trip to Dungannon/Appalachia - Day 5

Mission Trip to Dungannon/Appalachia
Audio Blog/Update - Day 5

Today's blog features Colin Jones. He will discuss his experiences on the jobsite, the ride into Kingsport and all the hump day experiences.

Audio Blog

Wednesday was a beautiful day in Scott County. The weather was a bright and sunny, just like the mood of many of the missioners. Today was hump day. We had a shortened work day to make time for the trip to Kingsport, TN.
The trip into Tennessee serves multiple purposes. The teens are able to 'power shop' at the Walmart to replace supplies and purchase small gifts for their buddy bags. Then, entire group goes out to the Warpath Bowing Lanes to bowl a couple of games. The setting is full of energy, music and lights but it was still a great place to relax. Many teens posted bowling scores in the low 100s. The last stop on the evening was Pizza Hut for a dinner of pizza and soda. This year, we ordered and consumed 29 pizzas and many gallons of soda.
Back in the Phoenix Center it seemed no one was ready for bed. Lights out was at 11:30 p.m., making Wednesday one of the latest evenings during the mission trip. Teens finished out the day playing game and snacking in the main meeting area. There was a group of artists working on the mural in the hallway. A likeness of the mural will be featured on the back of the mission t-shirt.

Mission Trip to Dungannon/Appalachia - Day 1/2

Mission Trip to Dungannon/Appalachia
Audio Blog/Update - Day 1/2

Today's audio blog features Connor Poole from St Anne's.  His interview covers his call to mission, the trip to Dungannon, the Carter Family Fold experience, the Sunday service and compline.

Audio Blog: http://outreach.stannes-reston.org/Dungannon/Day%201%262%20Connor%20Poole.mp3

The missioners, all 70 of us, completed our first two days.  It is absolutely a blessing to be back in Scott County to minister to the people and one another.  If you were wondering, the Region V of the Virginia Diocese actually sent 64 missioner from five churches (St Anne, St Francis, St Thomas, St Timothy and Holy Cross) to Scott County.  A local youth group from the First Baptist Church of
Dungannon has joined the mission.  The youth leader, his wife and 4 teens, are working alongside us on the jobsite and joined us in fellowship.

On Sunday, we all joined at their church for an ole time social and dinner.  Afterwards, the teens played kickball and shared stories of like and dislikes of their respective home lives and local custom and cultures.  This is my 9th year and the first time I have seen a local youth group join to support our mission.  I have been very excited about the possibilities and opportunities for the future.

The work starts on Monday, but we have enjoyed a relaxed couple of days getting to know one another through sports, table games, songs, and sharing walks to the store.  The highlight so far is the filling [and emptying] of buddy bags.  The bags are full of good (and not so good) treats that are share between a secret buddy and a newly met friend.

DR 2015 - Day 7

 

When we arrived on July 4th it seemed like we had all the time in the world to accomplish what we'd planned. And then, all of a sudden, it was Friday!

Our intended work had been to construct a stairway. Instead, we had painted classrooms, hallways and the school front; we had sanded lots of tables and conducted an energetic vacation Bible school. Imagine our delight when we entered the school on Friday morning to find an iron stairway headed up to the roof! Juan and Julian had taken delivery of the stairway Thursday afternoon - following our departure. They had worked the rest of the afternoon and evening to put it in place as a surprise. And surprised we were!! Access to the roof will allow maintenance on the water cistern and drains. Some day we might help fence in the roof to make a play area for the school.

While some of the team finished the last of the painting details, others headed to the upstairs room in the church and assembled goodie bags. We had about 240 bags, all hand decorated, to fill with pencils, erasers, stickers (thanks, Sheila!), toys, pipe cleaner bumble bees, candies and cookies. Each was folded shut and stapled, ready for distribution at the end of our VBS session.

 

More than 200 children arrived for our final VBS session.

We sang favorite songs; we reviewed.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

He made the sun and the moon and the stars.

He made the oceans and the rivers and the dry land. 

On that dry land, we created a garden with water cans and shovels.

We planted corn and watermelon, flowers and fruit and trees.

We considered the birds and insects, especially butterflies.

We gave our garden love and care as God loves and cares for us.

We colored baskets to carry the harvest.

And then, we said goodbye to the VBS class of 2015.

It seems so appropriate that the Spanish word for goodbye is adios.

A - Dios…To God

And with the grace of God, we'll see you next year!

 

DR Team 2015 - Day 6

Meeting Baby Emma

This year marks St. Anne's 15th mission trip to the Dominican Republic. In 2000, we had teams in Jarabacoa and San Francisco de Macoris. Our first trip to Santiago was in 2001 when we were at  San Lucas with Father Hipólito. Our first trip to Cristo Salvador, following Father Hipólito from San Lucas, was in 2004.  During that these years, more than 100 members of St. Anne's, and several people from other congregations, have traveled here with DR Mission Teams. 

Learning a new game

One of Father Jim's lessons in mission work is that we are building more than a construction site, we're building a relationship. As I looked around on Thursday, I saw evidence of that relationship. Lazarus (owner of the Santiago hotel where we stay) and his staff know us well; they ask about our families with genuine interest. We miss Victor this year, Lazarus' father is visiting grandchildren. But we do get to see Lazarus' son who is a teenager now. The St. Anne's teens who are part of our team this year are working with teens from Cristo Salvador who were in elementary school when the first of them attended VBS with us. Ercilia, who stopped by to see us on Monday, was not even in seminary when we first met her in 2001. She is now the priest in Haina, in charge of two congregations and a big school. Our percussionists at VBS this afternoon included Bob's godchildren and Esmeralda's 3-year-old son Elian, big brother of 10-day-old Emma. 

The Percussion Section

Butterflies

More butterflies!

Our day ended with a trip to the Monument. With us were Pamela and Laura, Ana's daughters who we met as children, now confident young women who were delighted to be our tour guides.

The buildings stand: San Lucas, the school at Cristo Salvador, the houses we helped rebuild and probably the footing on the fence that we installed in 2000 at the Campamento in Jarabacoa. The relationships are strengthened year by year.

We miss Poly and Lilian and Lilian Maria and Rosanna and Gabriel. With their teaching over the years, VBS carries on and we know our Dominican family stays with us, thanks to the Holy Spirit.

View from the Monumento

DR 2015 - Day 5

There were many successes yesterday. The tables have all received their first sanding. The painting is almost finished - just a final coat and some touch up is needed. The bracelets were made by the VBS kids with minimum difficulty. Transportation was smooth. Food was great. People are happy.

So, what I'd like to do in this post is introduce you to a new friend: Padre German.

Padre German and Rev. Laura

First, know that his name is pronounced Hair MAWN.

When Poly, Lilian and the kids went to Florida I knew the big hole in our VBS program would be the music. Padre Hipólito came up with a solution, a delightful solution. He introduced us to Padre German, the current vicar at Iglesia San Lucas, the very same church that St. Anne's missioners helped construct in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Padre German was born in Washington, DC, and lived both there and Boston. Since then he's lived in more places that I can remember, become a doctor with specialties in OB/Gyn and radiology. He has practiced medicine and taught medicine. Even today he works in the mornings at a radiology clinic and continues his day as priest in the afternoon. On top of all that, he has a beautiful singing voice, plays the guitar and loves Barry Manilow.

On Monday our singing was led and supported by Charlie, Ercilia and Padre German. Tuesday and Wednesday we have been singing with Padre German and we are very grateful!

Our new team member.

While we love his help with the music, Padre German is fascinated by our vacation Bible school. He loves all its chaos, all the energy and he sees with fresh eyes the love that flows between the mission team and the kids. He colors with the kids. He plays background music during craft time. He tapes vegetables into the garden. And he's even taken to driving some of us "home" in the afternoon.

So, today, we sincerely thank Padre German. He has the mind of a scholar doctor priest and the heart of child. Gracias a Dios!

Busy coloring mangoes and bananas.

DR Mission 2015 - Day 4

 Tuesday - Martes - the day in which we sense our routine.

Bob and Juan, Katrina and Lexie

Breakfast in the hotel dining room - gather between 8 and 8:15.
The van and Padre Hipólito arrive to take us to Cristo Salvador - 9:15.
Review the day's plan and get busy - 9:30.

The best lunch ever - 12:30.
Cross the street from school to sanctuary for VBS set-up - 1:30.
Kids arrive, sing, story, craft, tape more stuff on the walls, sing, say see you tomorrow - 3:15 ish.
Load vehicles for trip back to hotel - 3:30.
Walk to La Sirena ("Target") or Ochoa (Home Depot), hang out, card game, dinner, evening meeting, prepare for tomorrow.

We grew corn and watermelon in our garden.

"Lather, rinse, repeat."

It all sounds routine, doesn't it? And some of it is. But the work plan changes. And the kids are more attentive during the lesson and it needs to go longer... or the opposite happens. Sometimes a visitor shows up and we spend time with Charlie. Sometimes we sit and enjoy the breeze while we listen to Padre Hipólito share stories of days gone by. If we stick so closely to our routine, we might miss those moments when the Holy Spirit fills spaces in between us with love and hope and friendship and joy.


Peace to you today. We will be sanding tables and making bracelets and finding for the joy.

Dominican Republic - Day 3

Decorating bags for Friday

Day 1 is spent traveling. Day 2 is spent in worship and preparation. Day 3 is always a blur!

Lexie

Sometime on Sunday afternoon, Father Hipólito told me that the stairs we had planned to help construct would NOT be our project for the mornings this week. Instead, we would be refinishing tables and benches in the school dining room and repainting walls in the classrooms and passageway. What's a missioner to do? Roll with the flow.



The masking tape we had brought to hang the VBS artwork was quickly put to use in preparation for painting. Scraping and Spackle occupied the rest of us. Juan is our job foreman. Clifton and Bob encouraged the rest of us with paint brushes in their own hands. The children will return to fresh classrooms when school begins again in August.
 

Lunch!

Lunch. Maybe we should call it "the noon meal." Maria Perez is running the kitchen this year. Amazing food comes from that kitchen. We were joined by Charlie, Ercilia and Father German. Soon enough, it was time to head across the street for VBS.

















We surely miss Poly, Lilian, Lilian Maria, Rosanna and Gabriel who were our music leaders for so many years. They are in Florida now. In their honor, we began the afternoon singing Hello! - ¡Hola! Charlie, Ercilia and Father German led us in several songs before we launched into a quick version of the creation story as an introduction to our garden theme. Watering cans and shovels were colored and taped to the walls. The final song was sung, the children left. We'll do it again on Tuesday!

Showers and La Sirena, dinner with Lazaro, an evening meeting (with amazing sunset) and rest.

It was night, it will be morning, a new day.

 

¡Llegamos! We're here!

Welcome! Yes, indeed.

"You have arrived at your destination." How many times have you heard that, or some similar phrase, from your GPS? If the DR 2015 team had been using a maps program, we'd have cheered. As it was, some of us applauded when our plane touched down in Santiago. The applause was not because the flight had been turbulent, or that we had been delayed; in fact, our flights had been on time and smooth. The applause was for the sense of homecoming.
We are HERE.

Ten of the St. Anne's family will spend about 10 days with our extended family at Cristo Salvador. On the agenda: building a stairway at the shelter, vacation Bible school with the neighborhood children, worshiping with and enjoying the company of the people of Cristo Salvador.

Clifton and Bob with Padre Hipólito

Today, following the service, we were treated to performances by the children of the preschool and then given the honor of passing out the portfolios of accumulated classwork and projects that the students have made through the year. This preschool receives funds from our Outreach Committee which pay for about 3 months of breakfast and lunch for the children. Mission teams in past years helped remodel the house which formed the base of the current school. It was certainly a joyful morning!

We spent the afternoon at Padre Hipólito's home. A delicious meal was prepared by Dulcina, Natty, Yanibel and several others. We were treated to the company of Padre German, the current vicar of San Lucas Church, Glennys, Antonio and Julita. Music and laughter made us all feel right at home.

This evening we will gather in one of our rooms at the Colonial to watch the Women's World Cup final. We will prepare for tomorrow. And we will give profound thanks for today.

One of the preschool classes sings following the service on July 5.