Quick Post

It is not my turn, but I just logged on to get it ready for the next person. We now have a laptop b, borrowed from the clinic since it is open for business today. They have seen their first patient - Chris Bartley - since he got an earplug stuck in his ert last night - Dr. Hurst took care of getting out, Dr. Castillo check it and it's just irritated. Love to all, thank you for your prayers, they are being heard and answered.

Sunday June 26

Hello. This is Tonya. San Jose is so beautiful the mountains all around and the trees with such colorful flowers. There is so much vegetation here. We are near the top of one of the mountains. It sort of feels like we are right next to heaven!

Alisa lost her luggage on the way here. We were all loaning her clothes and and stuff. But Medardo took her to the airport yesterday, and there it was! Our prayers are answered!

Yesterday we made a lot of progress on the labyrinth. We got the land mostly level and cleared off the rocks. The bricks are all buried on the outside perimeter. And we started on the inside bricks. Then there was a big heavy rain while we were eating lunch. It showed us where our low spots were. Also the water routed itself straight towards the bathroom at the clinic. Chris figured out the problem, and we dug a trench to make it go down the hill. Thanks God it rained so much! If not they might have had a big problem when we left.

Today we will go to church at 9am. Then work on. The labyrinth in the afternoon and show the interpreters what we plan to teach at for education this week. At 4:00 the adults will come to learn about the labyrinth, hand-washing, and watershed models. Then at 7:00 is church again (a different church).

Last night some of us went to a concert at one of the churches. And guess what we saw on the way back? A tarantula! It was right in the middle of the road. How awesome!

I miss Joe and the kids so much! Tell Delaney they have beautiful umbrellas here. Some people carry them when it is sunny to keep the sun off them.

Safe arrival!

Hello everyone this is solange.
I don't have too much to say because I am typing this from Hurst's cellular. Haha. Anyways, we are SAFE! We arrived in san Jose after a couple plane flights and a long ride up the mountain the back of medardo's truck. The view was incredible. On the way there we had to stop because cows kept getting in the middle of the road. It made me laugh because it made me think about how at home we have to worry about deer, not cows! Once we got to san Jose we realized that Alisa lost her bag. We are still trying to figure out where it is. Even if it was left at Pittsburgh. It is very weird.

One week before take off

We're leaving....on a jet plane! But, we know when we'll be back again. 11 days. Tomorrow night we pack up our supplies and weigh/mark the luggage. We've done all of our planning, raised all the funds, prayed and prayed and prayed. Now, it's in God's hands. Well, it always was. Here's a quote I found on a friend's facebook page today who has lived with ALS for 18 yrs; "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." - John Wesley (Founder of the Methodist Church). This describes how our week will go - it'll be intense and exhausting - but it will be exactly this quote - early mornings, long days, late nights in intense heat - but it is one of the best experiences you can ever have. I'm looking forward to working with the team and getting to know them and our interpretors and meeting some new friends in San Jose. Here we go!

Another surprise blessing

I have said this before, I am constantly amazed at how God works through me. Here I am on vacation in another country on the treadmill checking emails (when I can get a connection) while everyone else is sleeping in. And Jibbigo (a company that produced a phenominal translating tool) offers a poetry contest to win their Spanish/English app. I am completely in love with this technology because I don't speak Spanish and I am always frustrated when I want to ask questions in bible studies, for example, during mission trips. These kinds of questions are not in common traveler's phrase books or dictionaries. I don't need to know how to order a beer in a hotel restaurant - there isn't one for miles - a two hour drive away! I want to know their theological beliefs! Even our intrepretors that have grown up in bi-lingual schools sometimes can't translate things for us because they are not versed in bible terminology. I don't even own a mac or an i-anything, but I have seen doctors use it with their patients and it's incredible. So the contest is announced on facebook and I'm already 15 hours behind the posting and it's to go to the first person who writes a short poem including the word Jibbigo. I don't consider myself a great poet, but I couldn't let this opportunity go. So I quickly submit one anyway to take a chance at it, just in case all 365 of their followers missed the posting. Here it is:

Jibbigo will help me so
I studied German instead of Espanol
To be able to speak to friends I've made on mission trips
Would be the greatest joy and oh so hip
To bring hope and health to the people I meet
Is the mission I'm on, it can't be beat
Thank you Jibbigo for such an invention
It's the answer to prayer for a Word intervention

A week later, I get a message from them that they had already given away the prize, but that they liked my poem so much, they decided to have two winners. Praise God! He always fills my needs - it's truly amazing. And on facebook I mentioned to Jibbigo how desperately the doctors need a Creole to English translation for the work they are doing in Haiti. Since that language is so specific to that location, they needed someone who spoke the language and I just happen to know someone who is working on that already with teaching CDs - and we might be able to get Jibbigo together with them to work on it! What a blessing...Thank you God and thank you Jibbigo. So now I am praying someone on the team has an i-anything that they can bring on the trip!!

God works in mysterious ways...

I am so amazed at how God works in my life. This is truly incredible. I'm looking on Craig's list for an item for Christmas and I end up talking to a guy that is also a methodist from the Southside that works in the town next to where I live. He plays guitar and it ends up he has 20 guitars that he purchased for a school that didn't end up needing them and after I tell him about the mission, he says - Can you take a couple of these down with you? Awesome, just awesome. Just so happens we have three guitar players on the team this year. What a blessing. Praise God. Merry Christmas Everyone and here's to an incredible New YEAR! If you are in the area and can make it, save the date of February 11th - we are having a Fashion Show FUNdraiser - it's going to be great.

Back in the Saddle Again

I'm baaack! It's been too long since I've visited this blog. At last night's team meeting I shared a theological statement from my UMVIM (United Methodist Volunteers in Missions) training manual that helped me refocus on the upcoming mission. Our team is shaping up and our fundraising plans are underway. We have a great mix of new people and returning San Jose Alumni for our next adventure to the rain forest in June 2011. I feel so blessed to have such a talented group willing to give of their time and energy for such a great cause. It's great to start forming our plans for ministry in the village. Among other details, we were trying to describe the experience of taking an ice cold shower to one our new team members. Hard to imagine temperatures so hot that a cold shower is actually a relief. I can't wait to go back. What does the Lord have in store for us this time? Bringing a science fair and music ministry to the people is thrilling. Praise God for His word that can bring hope and inspiration to so many. It's my honor to fulfill this calling and I pray for the Lord's guidance and strength to get through these next 8 busy months. It's exhausting, but so worth it in the end. God's gifts, priceless.