On Wednesday the guys spent a long, hot day working on the roof while the rest of us prepared for MBS which was held at a very poor, nearby village. The children responded positively to the songs, puppet show, Bible story and craft. They were such a joy with their big brown eyes and eager grins. Cindy took a photo of one little guy and then showed him the digital image on the back of the camera. The boy was unresponsive so Cindy took a picture of the boy with his mother and showed him the new image. His little face erupted with a smile when he realized he was the boy in the picture. We assumed he has never really seen himself before.
On Thursday we welcomed cooler temperatures and a little rain. The guys finished the big roof project which seemed much less strenuous in 60 degree weather than it did in 90 degree weather. We returned to the poor village for the second day of MBS. The children streamed down the dirt road behind the van and we discovered a large group of little ones waiting for us at the gate when we arrived. After the lesson, we distributed 70 sandwiches, drinks, crafts and gift bags.
Our girls are having a wonderful time. Yesterday, Humberto and Myrtha's seven year-old granddaughter, Joseline, spent the day with us. They played hard all day, worked a little, and even discovered a litter of newborn kittens. This week Sophia is one of the puppeteers and sometimes shoots video. Olivia is one of the song leaders and helps me hoist buckets of sand with the homemade pulley. They're both excellent helpers when it comes to prepping and crafts. They are holding up well despite the long hours, and the experience is priceless! The team is being so sweet with them. It's such a blessing.
Friday Humberto has promised tamales for lunch and John (Morrow) has promised to make flan for dessert--so we are calling him "Flan Juan" now. We'll try to finish by 7:00 pm tonight as we are scheduled to have dinner at Humberto's church with the Seminary students (and maybe the Bishop too, I'm not sure). We will see you soon! Stephanie
Friday, October 17, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Monterrey, Mexico Update October 13, 2008
We are feeling fine! We are tired and a little sunburned, but it’s the good kind of tired! The kind you get when you’ve worked hard all day, in the fresh air with good friends. It’s the kind of tired that makes your appetite voracious, and makes everything seem funny.
We started by filling buckets of sand and hoisting them up to the roof of a third story building via the “human conveyor belt.” We estimate we moved between 2000 and 3000 pounds of sand (all before lunch). Then some people filled buckets with gravel (probably another 2000 pounds worth) and lifted those onto the second story with a homemade pulley system. At the same time, others were clipping wire and twisting it into pig-ties, while others were tying rebar. Then the guys got to carry four 130 pound bags of cement around the building and up a flight of stairs. Since we had a lot of material to move and only four fellows to do it—we had to put “all hands on deck.” Men, women and children contributed their labor, the Lord provided strength and stamina--and the day’s work was super productive.
We had a great turn-out for MBS, and the crafts were a big hit. The children were precious, and such a joy. Again, everyone contributed and the Lord provided to make the first day of MBS a successful one. We worked out some kinks later in the evening and we expect tomorrow’s MBS to go even better.
We are being well cared-for by our hosts, we are eating like kings, and the team is functioning like the body of Christ. It’s a real team effort with everyone working hard, doing their part and having lots of fun.
This is a great team, and a great place to be! Stephanie
We started by filling buckets of sand and hoisting them up to the roof of a third story building via the “human conveyor belt.” We estimate we moved between 2000 and 3000 pounds of sand (all before lunch). Then some people filled buckets with gravel (probably another 2000 pounds worth) and lifted those onto the second story with a homemade pulley system. At the same time, others were clipping wire and twisting it into pig-ties, while others were tying rebar. Then the guys got to carry four 130 pound bags of cement around the building and up a flight of stairs. Since we had a lot of material to move and only four fellows to do it—we had to put “all hands on deck.” Men, women and children contributed their labor, the Lord provided strength and stamina--and the day’s work was super productive.
We had a great turn-out for MBS, and the crafts were a big hit. The children were precious, and such a joy. Again, everyone contributed and the Lord provided to make the first day of MBS a successful one. We worked out some kinks later in the evening and we expect tomorrow’s MBS to go even better.
We are being well cared-for by our hosts, we are eating like kings, and the team is functioning like the body of Christ. It’s a real team effort with everyone working hard, doing their part and having lots of fun.
This is a great team, and a great place to be! Stephanie
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Monterrey, Mexico Update October 12, 2008
Hola!
The first thing we saw as we neared Monterrey was the top of a mountain peaking through the heavy cloud cover. As we dropped below the clouds on our approach we observed a huge, industrious city surrounded by mountains on every side, with housing additions creeping up the steep slopes--the only space left for growth. The travel was easy and even customs was a breeze.
We’ve eaten like kings since we arrived: For lunch we had fresh guacamole, Mexican queso, homemade tortillas, grilled steak and spicy salsa! Later we enjoyed HUGE scoops of mango, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream. We did some sightseeing, first from a high spot in the center of the city, where they fly a huge flag, and later from the SAMS Club, where the team bought supplies of food and water. We unpacked and hit the sack around 10:00 PM.
Sunday morning we savored another wonderful meal, had a devotional then headed off to a worship service at Vina del Rey (Vine of the King) Christian Community. The congregation sang songs for over an hour, then prayed, then sang some more, then prayed some more, then sang some more, then people from the congregation shared testimonies (including a few from our team), then they sang and prayed some more! We recognized many of the songs (such as How Great Thou Art, and several Chris Tomlin songs) and even though we didn’t know the Spanish words--we knew the tunes.
The Mexican people are so demonstrative and hospitable; they greeted us warmly with hugs and kisses, and small gifts. They’re also animated and passionate when they worship. The WHOLE congregation sings at the same volume and intensity as Chris Cleveland does when he leads worship at the Venue. The people clapped, and danced, and wept. It was wonderful to participate with them! At one point, Pastor Guzman went straight from praying into a song, and he was dancing around and clapping! (I want to ask Pastor Tom why he never does that.)
We stayed for a pot luck lunch at the church afterward, and then we visited this wonderful park where a huge artistic event was in progress. Hundreds of artists were recreating classic works of art with sidewalk chalk. It was amazing to see. After that we toured the Juan Wesley Seminary which is housed in a beautiful 100 year-old building. It was clean and modestly furnished, with a well stocked library, classrooms, chapel, offices and dorm rooms. We look forward to joining the seminary students for a meal on Friday night.
We spent the evening preparing for tomorrow’s MBS. This included practicing the puppet show, and the songs, and gluing stuff together. It’s after 10:00 PM now and everyone has retired to their rooms. The windows are open, and the fans are blowing. Outside, some insects are chirping. Before bed my daughters prayed, “Thank you Lord for this WONDERFUL day!”
Yes, thank you Lord for this wonderful day! Stephanie Hurd
The first thing we saw as we neared Monterrey was the top of a mountain peaking through the heavy cloud cover. As we dropped below the clouds on our approach we observed a huge, industrious city surrounded by mountains on every side, with housing additions creeping up the steep slopes--the only space left for growth. The travel was easy and even customs was a breeze.
We’ve eaten like kings since we arrived: For lunch we had fresh guacamole, Mexican queso, homemade tortillas, grilled steak and spicy salsa! Later we enjoyed HUGE scoops of mango, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream. We did some sightseeing, first from a high spot in the center of the city, where they fly a huge flag, and later from the SAMS Club, where the team bought supplies of food and water. We unpacked and hit the sack around 10:00 PM.
Sunday morning we savored another wonderful meal, had a devotional then headed off to a worship service at Vina del Rey (Vine of the King) Christian Community. The congregation sang songs for over an hour, then prayed, then sang some more, then prayed some more, then sang some more, then people from the congregation shared testimonies (including a few from our team), then they sang and prayed some more! We recognized many of the songs (such as How Great Thou Art, and several Chris Tomlin songs) and even though we didn’t know the Spanish words--we knew the tunes.
The Mexican people are so demonstrative and hospitable; they greeted us warmly with hugs and kisses, and small gifts. They’re also animated and passionate when they worship. The WHOLE congregation sings at the same volume and intensity as Chris Cleveland does when he leads worship at the Venue. The people clapped, and danced, and wept. It was wonderful to participate with them! At one point, Pastor Guzman went straight from praying into a song, and he was dancing around and clapping! (I want to ask Pastor Tom why he never does that.)
We stayed for a pot luck lunch at the church afterward, and then we visited this wonderful park where a huge artistic event was in progress. Hundreds of artists were recreating classic works of art with sidewalk chalk. It was amazing to see. After that we toured the Juan Wesley Seminary which is housed in a beautiful 100 year-old building. It was clean and modestly furnished, with a well stocked library, classrooms, chapel, offices and dorm rooms. We look forward to joining the seminary students for a meal on Friday night.
We spent the evening preparing for tomorrow’s MBS. This included practicing the puppet show, and the songs, and gluing stuff together. It’s after 10:00 PM now and everyone has retired to their rooms. The windows are open, and the fans are blowing. Outside, some insects are chirping. Before bed my daughters prayed, “Thank you Lord for this WONDERFUL day!”
Yes, thank you Lord for this wonderful day! Stephanie Hurd
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Central Asia Update Oct. 9, 2008
Salam(Hello),
Today has been such a nice day. We started our morning at the Vo-tech with some history of CARD and a tour. We heard such great stories of children who had no future before CARD and now they have a trade and are able to have confidence in their future. The children are such a delight to see. They are excited to have the opportunity to learn. Some of the team helped create Wheel of Fortune for the English students to practice spelling. It was properly called Wheel of G-town. Our special treat was the cooking class. We made homemade fudge brownies and started the Hobo Stew. It was great to laugh and continue to build relationships. There is a special young girl whom the team has seen the last couple of years. Seeing her is a sweet reunion. Our guys finished the baby’s gate and went to hang it at the baby’s home this afternoon. This will be great help when trying to separate the children from the toy room.
This afternoon was probably the highlight of the day. We returned to the psychiatric hospital to pass out the photo albums to the women and watch an art class. The ladies were so grateful for the photo albums. It was thrilling to see their faces light such a dark place with some joy. One woman said that “we make her heart beat faster with joy”. She had tears filling her eyes and it was a bitter-sweet moment. The art is quite amazing. They are ALL far better artist then we could think of being. We were honored enough to be able to purchase some and help them feel special for their ability.
The men had a chance to pick up a basketball game with some of the young men at the Vo-tech. It quickly turned into young-vs-old (American-vs-Central Asia). It was funny, one young man kept telling Matt to “take it easy”. It has been a blessing and has brought joy to our hearts to be able to share in their lives.
Today has been such a nice day. We started our morning at the Vo-tech with some history of CARD and a tour. We heard such great stories of children who had no future before CARD and now they have a trade and are able to have confidence in their future. The children are such a delight to see. They are excited to have the opportunity to learn. Some of the team helped create Wheel of Fortune for the English students to practice spelling. It was properly called Wheel of G-town. Our special treat was the cooking class. We made homemade fudge brownies and started the Hobo Stew. It was great to laugh and continue to build relationships. There is a special young girl whom the team has seen the last couple of years. Seeing her is a sweet reunion. Our guys finished the baby’s gate and went to hang it at the baby’s home this afternoon. This will be great help when trying to separate the children from the toy room.
This afternoon was probably the highlight of the day. We returned to the psychiatric hospital to pass out the photo albums to the women and watch an art class. The ladies were so grateful for the photo albums. It was thrilling to see their faces light such a dark place with some joy. One woman said that “we make her heart beat faster with joy”. She had tears filling her eyes and it was a bitter-sweet moment. The art is quite amazing. They are ALL far better artist then we could think of being. We were honored enough to be able to purchase some and help them feel special for their ability.
The men had a chance to pick up a basketball game with some of the young men at the Vo-tech. It quickly turned into young-vs-old (American-vs-Central Asia). It was funny, one young man kept telling Matt to “take it easy”. It has been a blessing and has brought joy to our hearts to be able to share in their lives.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Central Asia Oct. 7, 2008
Hi everyone, we had a looonnng but uneventful trip from Tulsa to Chicago to Frankfort to B-town to G-town. We left Saturday morning and arrived in B-town Sunday night, getting into the hotel around midnight. Sleep? No. We had a good night's sleep and then did some walking Monday morning into the old part of the city, where the rug sellers are. We walked along the seawall, and had a wonderful lunch on the 16th floor of our hotel, overlooking the city and the sea. They served fresh tomatos and cucumbers, plus coriander (cilantro) and dill and onions...call all of that salad. Then we had a dish served in a flat dish over a coal, of chicken, eggplant, potatoes and onion that was delicious. After that, into cars for the hair-raising trip to G-town. Oh my. Not for the faint of heart. Nor was the potty on the stop we made...frightening. Who knew a two lane road could really have 3 lanes? Evidently our driver knew. We made the trip in about 6 hours. We followed for about 2 hours of the trip, then headed further west into the high desert area. G-town is in the more northwest area of the country. We saw people along the road selling fresh pomegranets, apples and fish. We arrived in G-town around 7:30 and had tea and supper, and a lovely visit with our hosts Neil and Lucy. We got to bed around 11ish. Today (Tuesday) we were late risers, but ready to go by 9:30. We visited the baby orphanage, and held babies, played with toddlers, and did some cleaning of toys in one room. Right now they have 11 babies and several toddlers. Not all are orphans...just can't live at home right now. Precious children all. Then we visited long-time friend Sevinche at her home and had cake and tea. She is a delight, and enjoyed hearing about the people she has met over the years. Tonight we are having supper, prepared by Sevinche...and it looks wonderful. The men worked on the toddler gate for the orphanage today, then took a little tour of the town. They also sat in on an English class. I'm still feeling a bit jet-lagged...or a lot...so some of these sentences may not make sense. I can see pomegranets having heavy on the tree outside the window right now. The temperature is perfect, and the humidity is low. The sun is beginning to get low, but the temp is still warm. It was chilly in the room last night but we had thick comforters and slept very well. All is well, and we will bring home stories! We send lots of love--Cindy Read
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