We're Back. (Now give me a salad!)

We made it back yesterday about noon. Many were torn as to if we wanted to leave or not, but once we got to the airport and on the plane, we were all grateful to be headed back. It was a very long flight. And our four hour layover in Chicago didn't help. Once you're in the same time zone, you're really anxious to get a move on. However, our flight ended up being delayed in Chicago.

Everyone had big smiles once we hit the Chicago airport though. I heard many comments about the blessings we have by living in America; Not the least of which was that we didn't have to use Purell on our hands every few minutes, the toilets all take toilet paper, it doesn't smell bad here, and everything just looks cleaner. The best probably was that we got to have ice in our TAP water, we could brush our teeth without using bottled water, and soap and water meant our hands were clean, not just that we had knocked the dirt off and we still had to sanitize. We all went out for breakfast at Wolfgang Pucks in the airport and posed with our ice water glasses. We're happy to be home.

I have never been so happy to see salad in my life. Over there, if you can't peel it you can't eat it raw. So other than the occasional orange the only raw fruits and veggies I've eaten has been bananas – lots of bananas. So last night rather than the steak I thought I would crave, I went and had soup and salad. Lots of salad. Today for lunch I also had salad. Tonight, I may just have more raw veggies or fruits or both – probably with more salad. And come to think of it, I might have to throw in some Haggen Daz - black raspberry chip. Mmmmmm. My trainer is probably glad to hear all of that (except the Haggen Daz!)

I've also never been so happy to see my own bed in my life. the three inch thick matress pads on top of a board didn't do much for me when I was gone. I did not sleep that well while I over there (until sheer exhaustion took over), so my first night home I slept somewhere between 12-14 hours. Six hours later, I'm already yawning. I also had my first shower without wearing flip flops in more than two weeks. With LOTS of hot water. And I had a real cup of coffee today at my local Dunn Bros. It wasn't instant coffee and it was delicious. It's funny the things you miss and the things you appreciate when you're gone!

We all made it back safe and sound. Thank God for that one. We're all happy to be back and I'm sure you'll hear all the stories in person. And since I think the group took a total of some 20+ Gigabytes worth of images, I'm sure you'll be seeing lots of photos, too.

Thanks for all the prayers and support! And God Bless.

-smc

Last Chance for Posting Here

Hey everyone, sorry about the long time no posting, but as you can imagine, internet access has been limited while we're here. This is the first chance and the first computer I've made it to in awhile. I'm at a public PC, so I'm taking extra precautions, so please read between the lines where appropriate.

We've had a busy week. We spent lots of time traveling between the various towns, some by train, some by jeep. Mom probably wouldn't have approved of the luggage rack ride on top of one of the jeeps on what is considered a two-lane road here. The roads are really more like one lane with shoulders to dive off on when you meet a vehicle larger than you, like the many trucks on the road. Oh well, it was fun, and suprisingly the best cure for motion sickness. One of our days was spent entirely driving up the mountain. We've had a few cases of what would be considered "tourista" if we were in Mexico, so the Immodium and Pepto have been passed around liberally. However, everyone has been pretty healthy, so we praise the big guy for that.

Today we're back in a mountain town. It's sort of a transition day between towns where we get to a litle shopping and a little debriefing. Earlier this week we got to spend some time at one of the other schools and played games with the kids. They were much less disciplined than the first school, but just as enthusiastic and bright. It was a wonderful time. My co-"instructor" and I, felt like we didn't do very well at first, but we warmed up the second day. All in all it was a great time, and we got to see many interesting things, including a place where they make wool handicrafts. It might be a litle itchy, but don't be suprised if you get handmade wool gloves, hats, or socks. We spent little, but helped the local economy and the local outreach here much, by the few things that we bought. It was well worth it.

The hardest part about the trip to a local village was the walk. You feel like you need to be part mountain goat to live here. There was what must have been a 40-45% grade that went up one of he the hills to an area we visited. It was so steep, and these people commonly walk it with large HEAVY objects strapped to their backs or their heads. It's amazing! I actually laughed when I saw a sign for a local gym. Who needs it here? There is no stairmaster required, beleive me!

We did spend Sunday afternoon taking an "easy" hike up to one of the mountain lakes here. It was a beautiful trip and we had wonderful views of the mountains, but since we were at 8,000-9,000 feet, this "prairie girl" had a little trouble adjusting to the altitude. I wouldn't have missed it for the world though. Beautiful flowering trees throughout the forest, and stunning views of snow-capped mountain peaks.

We'll spend the next few days traveling back down to the city for our flight out. The roads up at higher elevations can be as time consuming to traverse as the city roads. The mountain roads have hairpin turns. If you see a green sign similar to a U-turn sign, (but not really), they aren't kidding, you better be going slow and honking your horn around the turn because you're about to head back the other direction. In the city, the traffic is just clogged and as I've mentioned in a previous post, lanes are really just a suggestion in this "conversational driving" style. I'm really going to have to work to keep my hand off the horn when I get back home!

It's been a fun trip, and there are too many stories to post here. I'll be sure and tell you all about them when I get home, or I'll post more. I've taken tons of photos, so beware those of you who ask me to see them.(It might take awhile!) This has been the trip of a lifetime and I've been truly blessed to be able to come. Thank you to all of you who made that possible. You have my sincere appreciation.

See you back on the other side of the world in a few days! Keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers.

-smc

Day 7

It's hard to believe that we've been here a week. The last few days have been intense and we've all dropped into bed exhausted at the end of the day. It's a "good" tired though. We've met so many fabulous people and have seen how hard all of these people work, and their amazing faith in the Lord.

Two days ago was probably one of the highlights of my life, let alone my trip. It was our first day of teaching at a one of the schools here. Our team of 15 was greeted by 150+ children all telling us “good morning” and clapping upon our arrival. While my partner for the day and I thought we were prepared for class, we got a slow start as neither one of us is a teacher. It gives me a new appreciation for what my mom does, walking into a class cold and having to go with the flow. It's much harder than you think it would be.

The kids here are really well behaved – they stand up when you enter a room – and they say "sir" and "Ma'am" to EVERYTHING. I've never been called "ma'am" so many times in such a short span of time. I was teaching 5th grade, and all of our kids were great. They were conversational in English and actually were much further along than we prepared for. Oh well, we've learned to roll with such things. The kids worked hard and performed an entire program for us at the end of the school day. They sang songs, recited verses, performed skits and danced local dances. They were fantastic!

After the school day ended, we then went on a "safari" of all the other amazing ministries that are going on here in this area. It is incredible how hard the people here work to help make other's lives better. Our first stop of the day was at a settlement of what is essentially the rejects of society here in this country. There were a massive amount of stick huts that these people had constructed to live in. The huts were made of sticks lashed together, sometimes with black plastic or tarps to help keep out the rain.

They welcomed us, but were a little hesistant at first. We thanked them for allowing us to visit and told them how wonderful we thought it was, and they warmed up. We saw two of the outreach programs there, one is teaching basic health, things like not setting dishes on the ground inside their huts, and basic hygene principles. the other is a "nursery" school.

The term "nursery" is used very lightly here, because there are children in this school up to 10 years of age. However, they have nowhere else to go and learn, so the kids stay in “nursery” as they have no where else to learn. The people here have been working for years to help this class of people, and slowly they are making progress.

The contrasts here are incredible. The settlement is next to a dry riverbed where the people pick up rocks and break them by hand for other uses. This is their meager existence. Across the dry riverbed are beautiful buildings and entire development that looks out over this vast poverty. Such are the way things are here. Poverty is not defined neatly by neighborhood like it is in the U.S. Here, they coexist and people turn a blind eye to it as neatly as they would a homeless person on the bus in the U.S.

The people were amazing and kind. And never has my digital camera made me so many friends. I quickly discovered that kids LOVE to see their picture taken. And as these children live without the benefit of any electronics save maybe an occasional cell phone, a camera with a screen where they can see themselves was a big hit.

Our second stop was an amazing micro-business program supported here. One of the ladies helps others learn skills to help support themselves. The woman is handicapped and the ladies sew beautiful pillowcovers, make wall art, macrame hangers and bags. We bought the few items they had there. Once it was all said and done, after we left, we realized that between all of the stuff that we had purchased (around $60 worth) we handed over more money than the teachers at the school make in a month. It's heartbreaking and yet enlightening how much these people do on so little. They are all amazing, happy and grateful for what they have. This mirco-loan program is touching lots of lives and making it possible for these women to make a living. It was incredibly touching.

Our third stop of the day was to a Gypsy church. This fellowship of people were amazing. it's hard to describe the area where they live. It's a bunch of buildings, yet many of them don't really have all four walls, or are fairly open to the outside. We rounded a corner and were overwhelmed with color. The awning for the church was in bright pink and green, and everyone was sitting in a red plastic chair. The women all wear brightly colored outfits and head scarves, so it is a swirl of color.

One of my teammates made faces at a young boy, probably 2-3 years old, for most of the service. She taught him to make eyes at people, and then he spent the rest of the service honing the skills on others. It was precious. The women were all very beautiful. It was incredible. The more I looked at them the more amazed I was, dark eyes piercing through you surrounded by brightly colored scarves.

After the service was over, we were able to spend a little time with the people there. One woman made a beeline for me, grabbed my arm and didn't let go until she had taken me to her home and showed me her children. She didn't speak a word of English, but we seemed to communicate just fine. The children here were very funny. I also made a lot of friends with them. They would rush to get into a photo and then wait for me to turn my camera around so that they could see their faces. They would actually fight for a spot near the camera. One mother asked me if I could giver her a picture of her child. I assured her that I would give a CD of my images to someone here so that hopefully they could give her some photos. There is more to tell, but they day was just too much.

Besides this, we've seen amazing places of pagan strongholds here. Places where children beg as a way of life, and places where people feel they have to come and take a dip in the river to have their sins cleansed and must come back to honor their dead and come again if they have sinned. The idol worship here is intense. People worship statues. Most of their "gods" are worshiped because they are afraid that they will do bad things to them. It's a different way of thinking, and we're all trying hard to get our head wrapped around it.

Yesterday we finished teaching at the first school and then were the guests of honor at a prayer room dedication service. We were able to hear amazing faith stories, and the stories of what the Lord is doing in all of these people's lives. We were able to pray and worship with an amazing fellowship of believers. These people are on the front lines. They are persecuted for their faith often. Yet they still choose to follow Jesus. It's wonderful to see how dedicated they are. And it's also difficult to realize how good we have it in the U.S.; No one would beat me up if I decide to attend church or get baptized, so their faith seems strong because it HAS to be if they want to believe.

Their worship service is the closest I've ever felt to God. We sang songs in a language I don't know, (and some in English) we prayed, we gave thanks, and we listened to each others stories. The translations were arduous at times, but everyone was so into hearing what was happening in others' lives that it was always worth the wait. At the end I was able to share a devotional about foot washing and why it is important. And we held a foot washing ceremony for their church planters. Amazingly, they turned around and did the same for us. I have new friends here now, and many new people to pray for.

We have also heard several other people's faith stories in the last few days. One of them was an amazing story of a man who came to know the Lord because his mother, who had been possessed by demons for more than 15 years, and at various times tried to kill her children and her husband, was freed from her demons. And also later, this same man was attacked by a brain tumor, given three months to live and within days was miraculously healed. He had a vision where he fought a demon in his dreams who told him he was going to kill him because too many people would become believers because of him. He called upon the Lord to heal him that night. In the morning he knew he was healed, went to the doctor and insisted upon a new brain scan. When it came back clean, his doctor was amazed and asked him how it was that he was healed. When he heard the answer, the doctor too became a believer.

These tales of demons and demon possession many times would sound ridiculous when told in the U.S. but here, they are very much a part of everyday life. The places here are strongholds for demons and mystical activity. It is not uncommon here to hear stories of this nature. Only 0.004 percent of the population of this area believe in Jesus. Most believe in other gods that they think control everything from the water to the rocks. Those are the gods they worship and they do it out of fear and appeasement. One of our guides told us that "If Satan were ever to need a vacation, this is the area where he would come - He would run into no trouble here." Not to say the people here are evil. In fact, they are wonderful and amazing. Most just don't know any other way of life. Many are trapped in a cycle of poverty, and others are just trapped in a cycle of fear, worrying about gods or demons that do hold some power here, but are nothing compared to my savior, Jesus Christ.

Today I feel blessed to be an American and even more blessed to see what God has in store for us here in our second week.

God bless and keep us in your prayers!

I hope to blog more in the next few days. We change hotels again tomorrow and it sounds like we may (fingers crossed) have internet access tomorrow.

-smc

We're Here!

We made it to the other side of the world! We actually got here yesterday and spent the night in a YWCA. The first thing you notice when you get off the plane are the smells. The cooking that you just can't quite identify, a little bit of incense thown in and exhaust. Lots of people and lots of cars.

You can hear the traffic well before you ever see the street. The cars honk almost incessantly. In fact, if the horn isn't honking, there's probably no one in the car. And let's just say traffic lanes are just a suggestion, not necessarily a rule. It looks like chaos, but our American friend who lives here assures us there is order beneath the chaos. I'm not that convinced yet. Until then, we've been advised to not cross the street, or make sure we do ONLY when locals do. It seems more of a matter of just suggestion. It appears to be a good idea for survival.

Tonight we're staying in a very nice hotel, a Hilton, near a large tourist destanation. For those of you who know where we are, you can probably guess which one I'm referring to. This will likely be the most luxurious stay of our whole trip. Hence the Internet access. We'll head up in the mountains tomorrow sometime and start going to our final destinations. So far the trip has been a whirlwind. Since we got here at night (and for once I managed to sleep on the plane) I didn't really sleep much last night. So I'm not acclimated yet, and neither are most of my traveling companions. Tomorrow we assemble at 5:45 so we can go catch the sunrise over our tourist spot before coming back for breakfast and checking out. Then we'll start with the real work of the trip.

This morning we had a few hours to do a little local shopping. Local attire was suggested wear for the ladies, so we picked up a few things to make sure that we're appropriately dressed when we get to the mountains. The food is delicious here, but already a few people are craving things like pizza, cheeseburgers and Haggen Daz. I'm sure by the end of the trip, we'll all be ready for some local TC fare.

That's all for now! It doesn't seem like we'll have much continued access, so it might be a few days before you hear from me again. We thank the Lord that everything has been going well. Please keep praying for us and I'll keep you posted. - smc

So we're "Leaving On A Jet Plane" tomorrow for the other side of the world. Posts to this blog will be specific to what our group is doing, but may be vague about where we are to protect those whom we are visiting. Please respect that we need to do this for security purposes. And names may be changed to protect the innocent. I'll see you in a few weeks, but look here for more of the amazing things that God has our group doing while we're away. And for my non-Christian friends, remember that this is a trip of believers, so you'll hear a lot about the workings of God. I still hope you'll tune in. I'll post when I can. - smc