Inauguration Day

It’s a national holiday today in the Philippines. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino took office. At noon everyone was to clap for him, and out of respect, the Chapelwood mission team stopped eating lunch and clapped and cheered. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea today would be a holiday until I was told about it when we arrived on Sunday. Aquino won the election on May 10th by a landslide campaigning on a strong anti-corruption platform, promising to investigate the alleged wrongdoing of outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. I’ve added a picture of the new president in today’s blog.

The holiday actually turned out to be a gain for the mission team as students, who would normally be in school, joined the mission team helping to dig out the foundation. Chapelwood members can certainly relate to building programs as it wasn’t so long ago our church property had a giant hole. Now that’s been filled by the very beautiful youth building, so it’s always important to remember buildings like Christians need solid foundations.

There is no question the Philippine people are so happy we are here especially missionary Janet McCarty who is the acting president of the Southern Philippine Methodist Colleges. In the blog yesterday I mentioned Kidapawan is a city of about 80,000 people. Today I leaned Janet is the only American living in the area. “I was told once there was another American here but I’ve never seen him.” Janet says. “When I was here once before and there were security problems, my driver said to me, ‘Well we can’t hide you, you’re too white!’ so yes, I do stick out. But the Filipino people are so friendly and so kind and so willing to help there is a lot of support.”

There are a lot of smiles and a lot of camaraderie especially working together in the rainy wet pits. Today team member Warren Castagnetta had a number of kids hanging on him as he pushed, or rather slid, a wheelbarrow full of dirt away from the job site. Let’s face it, digging foundation trenches is not the most glamourous job, but even in dripping sweat, the task has its moments. “I think it’s important for our students to see that people from another country care about them,” says Janet. “And one way they can show they care is that they actually come.”

In fact team member B.J. Castagnetta was moved to tears. “To have the opportunity to work side by side with Brothers and Sisters in Christ there are no words for that. To be able to share in the work and sweat and the fellowship and the worship and spend the time it takes to get here that’s something that words and your heart can’t express.”

Carleton Cole

Working Hard

We awoke early in Davao to make the morning drive to Kidapawan and to the Southern Philippines Methodist Colleges. The views are spectacular. For perspective, Manila is on one of the northern Philippine islands, Davao is about 500 miles southeast on the island called Mindanao. Where we are working is Kidapawan a city of roughly 80,000 people in the hills some 70 miles due west of Davao. To get there, it is about a two and a half hour trip on a road which twists and turns around inlets and rivers fitted between luscious green meadows lined by banana and coconut palm trees. Just as soon as we hit the outskirts of Kidapawan, we made a right turn immediately after a bridge over a small brook that outlines the property.

After a short lunch, we were welcomed to the Colleges in song. A music class was waiting for us and students were very happy to see the visitors from Texas. Dr. Ed Lynch set up a make shift medical clinic to administer physicals to the students in one of the dormitories. He was to see the women first, but when the nurse assigned to help him had another responsibility, he began examining some of the men. In only a few hours, Dr. Ed had seen 13 patients finding several medical issues which will need further attention.

Most of the team started digging. It is hoped the school can add a two story facility on the site in nine months to a year. But the finished product has to start with a foundation, and that means taking a shovel and moving a lot of dirt. There are already cries from the mission team to rent a backhoe, but in this situation, as with so many third world construction projects, the cost for renting heavy equipment is far more expensive than manual labor; especially when the labor is volunteered by a team from Chapelwood. The soil is thick, pasty and heavy, especially after a good soaking which comes regularly in the early afternoon. In fact as I am writing this, a thunder cloud has just sounded, a not so gentle reminder that any time you are working in a tropical climate, rain can be moments away.

I have to admit I didn’t get my hands dirty today, as I spent most of the time taking pictures and producing a short video which will be shown this Sunday at the special July 4th service at Chapelwood. Even in the hills of Kidipawan, the world wide web works, so the video has been sent to the communications department at Chapelwood and we hope you will enjoy it on Sunday.

I will be digging tomorrow, and I hope I can lose some weight. You see I had a battle during dinner tonight with an avocado colored green resin chair, something you might find in white at Lowe’s or the Home Depot. Let’s just say the chair lost. It’s now lying wounded in the corner in about five pieces. Falling to the floor, the only thing I injured was my pride, which can always be humbled. I am now sitting in a much sturdier wooden chair.

Carleton Cole

A Slight Detour

The first rule for any international mission team is to be flexible. So is the second rule as well as the third. I was first reminded of that 10 years ago when Chapelwood member Colin Wilkinson led a mission team to Kenya. What was true back then is still true today.

When we arrived to the Manila Airport for our domestic flight to Davao, we learned Philippine Airlines had made a schedule change in their daily departures, but without notifying us. You would think after booking the flight three months in advance, the airline would contact the group, but not so. The surprise came when we checked in, although there was some good news, we still had seats on the plane. With the departure now being pushed back until 3:00 p.m. we now had a narrow window to drive to Kidipawan in daylight. Our host Missionary, Janet McCarty gave us a 5:30 deadline to meet her or we would be forced to spend the night in Davao. With the flight only an hour and 30 minutes, the plan was still a go, but when it took 40 minutes to corral all the luggage, are plans changed and we were forced to spend a night in a hotel in Davao. Driving by day in the Philippines is an adventure, and at night it’s just not safe. Kidipawan is not only a three hour trip during the day, at night the conditions are pitch black, far too risky for even the safest of drivers.

So instead of bouncing through a rural road at night, we got to experience rush hour driving through Davao at dusk. They say Rome has the worst drivers in the world; Davao can’t be that far behind. Traffic lights are mere ornaments, and pedestrians are obstacles much like the pot holes which the motorists try to avoid by keeping one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake. When we did arrive at the hotel, we all felt like we had just been through the spin cycle of a Maytag washer. There was even a little rain to dampen the walk from the mini vans to the hotel lobby.

While on the subject of wash, all of the pictures of the team are with our red mission t-shirts. This is not a fashion statement, but it does make the stops through the various security checks along the way much faster. We breezed through customs in Manila, and today we got a discount on the luggage charge since the agent saw that we are doing mission work. Of course now that we’ve had them on our backs since early Saturday morning, the shirts are way past the “rank” state, so tomorrow we’ll break out some fresh clothes as we continue on to Kidipawan.

Carleton Cole

We have made it to the Philippines!

Any kind of travel can be difficult, but international travel is especially different. Not only are the security concerns stricter, but there are certain to be some bumps along the way. Please don’t take this is a complaint, but rather something which always make for good storytelling.

After Doug Cheeves dropped us off at Intercontinental Airport, the fun started to begin. It’s obvious the person running the Delta Airlines gate Saturday morning, didn’t have much experience or much of a sense of humor. When we checked our luggage, we were told we would have to get our seat assignments from the attendant at the gate. While it seemed like a minor inconvenience it turned out to be a bigger pain. I can now tell you there are 67 rows on a Boeing 747-400, seven of the eight member teams ended up on the last two. Ed Lynch, whom the gate attendant finally ran his ticket , was isolated from our group getting to sit in the 23rd row. Of course all of us were happy to have seats to begin with, but we are still puzzled why Delta couldn’t seat us when we first arrived to the airport and then couldn’t keep us together.

Dr. Ed at least got to view whatever movies the air carrier was offering, those of us in the back didn’t. After we pulled out of the gate, the flight attendants realized the large screen to view the safety video, and later the movies didn’t work. We could see the small video monitors which were about 50 feet in front of us, but it was very difficult to make out what was on the tiny screens. About the best way to describe the situation is to imagine back in the 60s when there were Drive-In movie theaters. When you passed them on a road at night you might get a glimpse of the screen, but there was no way you could make out what was happening in the film. Delta graciously announced to those who were sitting in the rear 25 rows, we would be getting a “voucher” of some sort to be used in a later flight. When we got to the service desk in Nagoya, Japan the voucher was for a “complimentary” beer or glass of wine. Being good Methodists, we passed on their generosity.

As for the trans pacific flight, the pilots warned us it would be bumpy as there is a lot of turbulent air between Detroit and Nagoya, Japan. The flight plan took us over Canada, a little north of Anchorage, Alaska, and then down the Aleutian Islands on the way. But we learned from one of the veteran flight attendants, after the merger between Northwest and Delta, the pilots had been instructed to fly through the turbulence as much as possible to keep on course to save on fuel and money.

The 3 1/2 flight from Nagoya to Manila was pretty much uneventful. No the video monitor still wasn’t working, but by now most everyone was tired and trying to do their best to catch a few winks. Sunday June 27th will go down as the shortest day of our lives as we lost most of it when we crossed the international dateline. Manila is 13 hours ahead of Houston, so now as I am posting this, it is early Monday morning in the Philippines, but early Sunday afternoon back home.

Carleton Cole

Heading Out!

Hello and Farewell!

The Chapelwood Mission team to the Philippines got up early, arriving at the Church at 5 a.m. to meet Doug Cheeves who drove the Turtle Top to the airport. Even on a Saturday morning, Intercontinental was buzzing with travelers going far and wide.

Our team is made up of eight pilgrims, all who have been on international missions previously. We are led by Dave Luther and Chris Archer the Associate Director of Serving Ministries. Other members include Kathie Luther, Ed Lynch, M.D., Bob Lassalle, Warren and BJ Castagnetta, and Carleton Cole. Our project is to assist the Southern Philippines Methodist Colleges in Kidapawan, and to get there it is quite an event. We are flying to Detroit, Michigan, where we will pick up a plane to Nagoya, Japan, but we won't see much there. The stop is only for refueling and to add a few more passengers. We'll continue southward to Manila where we'll go through customs and reclaim our luggage. Kidipawan in located on one of the southern islands, so we'll spend a night in Manila before taking a plane to Davao, hoping to arrive before the sun goes down. From there it's a 70 mile drive to Kidipawan which could take as long as three hours driving through the hills.

Chile Mission Trip: A Day to Enjoy Chile

Chile Mission Trip

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Buenas Dias one final time from Villarrica!
We were able to spend one final day enjoying the sites of this most lovely part of God's creation. While making a visit to the tourism office yesterday, Kay Kelley and Julie Bailey inquired if we could hire an english speaking guide to go with us around the area. The woman at the counter said she could and in moments we hired Veronica. She agreed to meet us at our hotel this morning and from there she guided us to several places today.

Our driver Raphael, who stayed with us after the long travel from San Fernando Thursday, drove us first to the Mapuche Center which turned out to be a hotel operated by the Catholic church, which I am sure provides income during the tourist season. But more than that, the property is a working farm, and there is a huge conference center and a very large kitchen where cooking classes in the Mapuche style are held. We were concerned because although it wasn't raining, the weather wasn't cooperating, and the mountain air was foggy which prevented us from seeing some of the more spectacluar views of the morning.

Our next stop came about an hour later where we visited Pucan, the "rival" town to Villarrica. In yesterday's blog I noted Villarrica reminded me of Tacoma, Washington, Pucan(pronounced pew-cone) looks a lot like Colorado. With the mountains all around and the outdoor shops all along the main street, this is a place where Chileans like to come and play. There were plenty of places to find trinkets to bring home, and Veronica steered us to a wonderful restaurant to eat. There is always an advantage to coming to third world countries, as the exchange rate is favorable. Lunch for me was "Duo Piscado" two fishes, as in both sea bass and salmon. The bill coming to about $12.00 US. The atmosphere was wonderful and the service was excellent as the owner was fluent in english. While we were dining the fog burned off, and it turned out to be yet another outstanding day.

After lunch we then headed a bit to the north, on the back side of the lake to see some waterfalls rushing down one of the many mountains that make this place such a glorious place. It is interesting to note the waterfalls were found in a private park which was crowded by tourists enjoying the Saturday. There was an entrance fee, 300 Chilean Pesos per person, or a little more than 50 cents a piece. Let me say it may have been one of the best 50 cents I've ever paid as the sites were something to behold. The only downside is we didn't have long to enjoy the rushing water. Now about an hour away from Villarrica, we had to drive back to the hotel and prepare for the long day back to Texas.

As a team we decided to have an early dinner, but before enjoying our "last supper" we packed up the nine team bags making sure they would all make weight for the flight back. Dinner was much lighter than lunch, and then we all enjoyed a treat from the Chocolataria which has deserts only team members can describe. I will say I enjoyed the creativity of the chocolate Volcan Villarrica. It was too rich for me to order, but I know several people enjoyed the creation complete with white icing on the top. It is too bad the agricultural restrictions are so tight that we cannot share the delights. Let me just say there's a good reason to come back to Villarrica. We closed the evening with a devotion which including an exercise that "binds us all together." There is no question these mission trips are life changing, and as a group all of us now share a common bond.

Tomorrow begins our trek home, and what a trek it will be. We'll leave around 7 a.m. to begin what is expected to take 12 hours back to Santiago airport. From there we'll catch a plane to Dallas and then it's on to Houston and if all goes well, we'll arive at Chapelwood around 9:30-10 a.m. Monday.

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• ▼ 2009 (10)
  • ▼ February (7)
    • A day to enjoy Chile
    • Moving on to Villarrica, Chile
    • Hard at work Wednesday February 4, 2009
    • Team Perspectives February 3, 2009
    • Workday Monday February 2, 2009
    • Church visit to Curico Sunday Night February 1
    • Sunday February 1, 2009 Part One
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Chile Mission Trip: Moving on to Villarrica, Chile

February 6, 2009

Buenas Dias from beautiful Villarrica, Chile!

We arrived very early this morning, 3:15 a.m. after a long bus ride from San Fernando. Our final day at the worksite was long and wearisome, but we completed our task which was to put a second floor/ceiling on the church. We knew it would be a long process, and as a team we decided to work up until the last possible minute before heading back to the hotel to catch the bus.

The task was successful, but more than that, by securing a new friendship with Jean Paul, he has assured us he will assist in "building on what we have started." We can really say that as a team we were the "hands and feet of Christ," and by sharing his love, Jean Paul was impressed enough to lend his considerable talent which we all believe will help the church grow.

It is interesting that when Nydia welcomed us, she spoke about parable of the mustard seed. She lived the faith not only in San Fernando but in Curico. For health reasons she was not able to continue her ministry here, and now she and her husband serve in Texas. But by having her come back as our translator, she was able to help identify needs. While our task is done, there is plenty of more work to do, not just in San Fernando, but also in Curico. Now it's up to our team to make some of these issues known even further to the entire congregation at Chapelwood, and to many of the decision makers who support mission projects for the Methodist Church at large.

We had little time to reflect about our project in San Fernando since we had about an hour to get ready for the bus to take us to Villarrica. We knew the ride would be long, but we were getting several different travel times so we really didn't know when we would reach the hotel. The bus was scheduled to leave at 5:30, but it was another hour before we hit the road. (Let's just say estimated times of departures are never exact.) Kudos to Susan Patterson and Julie Bailey for going to the supermarket and buying sandwich fixings as our dinner on the bus had to be portable. The corn Doritos never tasted so good, especally after another long workday.

We wouldn't learn how lovely a place Villarrica is until we awoke this morning. It was a short night's sleep as we arrived at 3:15 a.m. and then were up for today's breakfast at 8 a.m. The hotel sits on a site that overlooks Lago Villarrica, with a beautiful volcano on the other side of the lake. With its snowcap, it reminded me a lot like Tacoma, Washington near Mount Ranier. While the snowcap is white, it changes color with the sky, even a shimmering pinkish hue as the sunset tonight. It is very beautiful.

The team split in two general groups. One enjoyed the shopping in Central Villarrica, while 6 others, including me, took an hour long boat ride on the lake. We were guided by a couple who are from the native, Mepuche tribe. Their history predates Spanish Colonial Chile, and they sang and played a variety of instruments including a 25 string guitar. The husband of the married couple spoke very good English. When I asked him where he learned it, he told me it was self taught, only by practice and by his experience with others. I was very impressed, especially when he said he can speak Portuguese and the native Mepuche language which was taught to him by his Grand Mother and his God Mother. We also learned today the city was originally known as Villa Rica, but in time the two names were merged to one.
Some of the team gathered later and "zip lined" from one of the hills nearby. I served as the team photographer, and have some wonderful video of several team members enjoying their first experience at "Canopy" which it is called here. We all then gathered for a team meal at a local restaurant to plan our tomorrow's final day in Chile.

Chile Mission Trip: Hard at Work Wednesday February 4, 2009

Buenas Dias from San Fernando, in fact this will be my last blog from this city as we leave for Villarica late tomorrow afternoon.

What a day it has been as we rose bright and early for breakfast at 7:35. We had been up late Tuesday as we held our team dinner at a local restaurant, La Trattoria Tuscano. While the name is Italian, the dinner was a traditional Chilean meal. Most of us had Salmon which was fresh from the Pacific garnished with a mushroom sauce. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we are very much in the "garden area" of Chile, so we had lots of veggies and fruits. At dinner we said our good-byes to Nydia who has to be back in Harlingen to preach with her husband at their home church. Nydia was a welcome addition to the trip. She is very proud of the ten years she served in the region, both in Curico and San Fernando along with her husband. I had the chance to interview her at length and she mentioned to me the church in Curico was a "dump" before she was able to raise funds to build what has become a beacon in the community.

We know we don't have much time left to complete our task so we didn't waste any daylight hours. In fact we worked so late this evening (9:30 p.m.) we had to take taxis back to the hotel because the bus had stopped running. But even though it was a long day we got a lot done. The most difficult task is building the frame work for the ceiling/floor boards to fit on to. By the dinner hour, we had all the fitted cross beams up except for one. While on paper it seems to be a fairly simple task, not all boards are true, so each beam and cross beam has to be custom made. The drill was to make all the measurements, cut the necessary boards, build the beams on the ground and then hoist them into the rafters. Again on paper it should work, but it seem every time we hoisted the beams, some adjustments had to be made. Kudos to Carl Sandlin and Vicki Roussel for the "Yankee Engineering" to get the job done.

After dinner we had a couple of hours of daylight, remember it's summer here and there's daylight savings, so we attached the final beam and then hoisted three sets of six ceiling/floor boards into the rafters. We believe we should be able to finish the task by the afternoon tomorrow, that is if we don't have any setbacks.

Speaking of setbacks, we had a near miss when a wind gust knocked down a section of the roof. When I write this, it sounds serious, and it could have been, but it's bascially causing us a minor inconvenience. While we were working on the beams, some wind caught the tin roofing material which is badly fastened to the top side of the building. Not the top mind you, but some siding which was poorly nailed to some, for a lack of a better term, bricks. Some of the stones fell to the ground as well as three aluminum sheets, (So I guess you could say we all were three sheets to the wind.) Fortunately no one was standing along the sidewalk when the stuff fell, and we thank God for that. One of our last task tomorrow will be to cut out a plywood surface and attach it to the side of the roof rafters. We will then nail in the aluminum sheeting and seal it, certainly improving what was there.

It is late, I will try again to attach some pictures to the blog, but if there are none, know that it is because the "file" is too large for the internet from here. Last night I spent a great deal of time trying to post pictures, but the program wouldn't let me.

Chile Mission Trip Team Perspectives February 3, 2009

Buenas Dias from San Fernando.
For pretty much a week now you have been getting the news from our trip from just one perspective, mine. So today we asked some of the team members to write their thoughts and I would publish them. The first is from Julie Bailey who was part of the Curico Sewing Project.

The sewing project with the ladies in Curico turned out to be more than we had originally envisoned. Our plan was to teach some sewing skills and the use of electric sewing machines to a group of the church women, who although had sewing machines which had come as part of a mission trip three years earlier, were not in use now.
The project evoled into a plan for a cottage industry in which three women who were skilled seamstresses, agreed to teach the other church women to sew, using the church sewing machines and supplies. All would participate the fabricating some craft items for sale with the profits realized being used to purchase materials for use in personal sewing projects for their families.
The women were excited about the vision; they chose officers and set up a schedule for meeting beginning with three times per week during the summer months. We saw it as a great time for fellowship and a natural opportunity for evangelism as the women invited non church friends to share in their sewing skills.

From Susan Patterson: The ladies from the local church came to learn basic sewing skills. There were a lot of experience levels with the most skilled assuming the roles of "maestra" or teacher. This certainly helped with the language barrier. The project was making basic hand towels with a lace trim. Some of the ladies decorated them with bows and scraps to further embellish their towels. We suggested the ladies to make the towels and other decorative items to sell to help finance the classes. From Pastor Nydia I learned people from this area feel no one cares about them because they are so poor. We were able to show them that God cares about them by sending us to Curico to work with them. We are truly "Sisters in Christ!"

Workday Monday February 2, 2009

Monday, February 2, 2009

Buenas Dias from San Fernando!

We were back on site early this morning even though many of us were up past midnight because of our travels to Curico.

The project has moved from "deconstruction" to "construction" as we have sufficiently cleared the ceiling of the "sheetrock" boards and nails. (As well as some other things which you might find but no need to mention in an old dusty attic.) The other project of lifting the roof is done. If there was a "Missionary of the Day" award, which there isn't, it would go to Carl Sandlin. He is using his talents as an engineer very well. Carl has not only designed a plan to put up the new floor/ceiling, he is leading the process. This is "grunt" work. Carl has to position himself near the top of a ladder, but mindful of not hitting his head on the roof which has nails protruding downward. If that's not enough, the space to operate is extremely limited. Carl has had the patience and the determination to work under these most difficult conditions along with Chris Archer, Bill Bailey and Bob Lassalle. Some of the most challenging work was done today, it is hoped the "framing" work will be a little faster tomorrow.

One of the wonderful parts of mission trips is to introduce people with skills they have never known, and today was an excellent example. Team leader Beth Dudley and Ann Allen each had turns with the power saw as we had to cut the joists to their proper length. It is wonderful to see each enjoy themselves as they expanded their horizons and their skill level. Ann also hammered the joists together, considering the nails are four inches in length, and not of the highest quality, that too was a chore. Speaking of Ann she has picked up several nicknames on the trip. As the first aid person, some of the women have dubbed her "Advil Ann" for having the right pharmaceutical to easy some of our aching joints. I myself dubbed her "Alka Seltzer" Ann as it is true in Chile as with pretty much all Latin countries, "Don't drink the water!," don't even put ice cubes in your soft drink.

I was happy to note that one of the people commenting on the blog was Jean Paul, the gentleman who has pretty much adopted us while we are here. Jean Paul has been a Godsend, helping Bob this morning with money changing as two of the banks would not change our currency. He also has assisted us with supplies, like finding us drill bits and other specific needs which occur on a trip such as this. Tonight he spent some time with us at dinner telling us about his travels as a foreign exchange student in Springfield, Missouri. Jean Paul speaks perfect english telling us he works for a division of the old Sutherland Lumber chain in the USA. Sutherland has had many names including Payless Cashways which some Houstonians might remember before there were "Builders Squares" and "Home Depots." He has really come to our aid, and has enjoyed our company as well.

Three of the team members, Kay Kelley, Susan Patterson and Julie Bailey left along with Nydia to go to Curico for a sewing mission project. Their project had to start late since many of the women they will be assisting work during the day. As mentioned in a pervious blog, Curico is about 50 kilometers to the south and they haven't returned yet. When I hear from them I will pass on their impressions in tomorrow's blog.

Church Visit to Curico Sunday Night February 1

Hello again from San Fernando Chile. It is late here as we have returned back from Curico, (pronounced Cud-ee-co) where we had our church service. As I mentioned on an earlier blog, the translator for our team is Pastor Nydia. She served at the church in Curico, before she and her husband were transferred about a year ago to the Rio Grande Valley. So it was a homecoming for her tonight as many members of the church did not know she was coming back.

No question the church had a "Mercy Street" feel. Three guitar players helped lead the worship service. As you can imagine, much of the service was a nice tribute to Nydia, but of course the Chapelwood team was highlighted as the church members enjoyed hosting us. There was plenty of time for fellowship and a sharing of cultures. We enjoyed "Passing the Peace" where the entire congregation really gets involved. It might start with a handshake, but it didn't take long for the hugging to begin. Nydia's message was about Christ's love for us all, and it was expressed by everyone tonight. We were asked to sing as a group, and not to disappoint, we sang the "Chapelwood National Anthem," "Here am I Lord." After we sang, Nydia then translated the words to the congregation.

Curico is roughly 50 kilometers south of San Fernando. As you can imagine from a map of the country, Chile is a long strip on the southeast coast of South America. Ruta 5 is the "Interstate" which runs the enitre 2500 miles of the country, so travel is relatively easy. To get to Curico, we headed out to Ruta 5 which is at the east edge of San Fernando, and then took a turn southward. The Iglesia Methodista was on the corner of Curico, not far from the train tracks which run parallel to Ruta 5, but in a working class area. While Nydia mentioned in her sermon the city is a "poor town" it certainly was not run down. We saw many two wood framed home, some underconstruction which leads us to belive the city is growing. No question the congregation is made up of hard working families who share Christ's love.

The worship service which was conducted in both spanish and english included communion, and it was certainly special to break bread with our brothers and sisters here in Chile.

Tomorrow we will continue our construction project in San Fernando, and 3 members of the team will head back to Curico with Nydia for part one of a two day sewing project.

Sunday February 1, 2009 Part One

Greetings again from San Fernando Chile!

Today's blog will come in two parts as we have a split schedule for the day. Currently we have finished working for the day, and we'll head to the Methodist Church in Curico (pronounced Cude-ee-co) this evening. The custom in this part of the world is to hold Sunday service in the evening, 8:30 p.m.

Since it is the day of the big game back home I have sort of a sports report for you. Last night the "big game" here featured Curico the town where we are heading to tonight. It was a "Super Bowl" of sorts for them because their football (soccer) team had been promoted to the elite league. While we were eating dinner, we could hear the television on in the background and there was no question the family was in to it. We could hear "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOL" with all the lust from the television announcer, but we couldn't tell if that was good or bad. We did receive word the game ended in a 2-2 tie in time before the evening devotional, which was a good thing since the game did not cause an interruption.

Speaking of games, just before we broke for lunch today, Kay Kelly, Ann Allen, and I were sitting in the park waiting for the others to get ready for our short walk to the restaurant. While we were there, a middle aged man came up to us, clearly wanting to show us something. I could tell he wanted us to play a game as he made a motion like he wanted to bowl. I thought he was trying to show us bocce, which I had seen in Italy and other countries around the world, however we weren't making any headway because of the language barrier. We called for Nydia, our translator, who helped us out. The man wanted to show us his "field" where the game Tegos, (pronounced Teh-hose) is played.

The best way to describe it is to think about horseshoes and pitching pennies. The "field" is a 25 foot long alley with a wet clay quadrant at the head. The idea is to pitch a cylindrical slug, which weighs about a pound, to the quadrant. If it rests on any of the metal "lines", or falls outside the quadrant, it's a foul, but if the slug lands cleanly in the clay, it counts. You are given two tosses, and if your slug is tossed longer than your opponent you win. The man was very proud of his community center where many championship cups are on display. Nydia tells us the game has been played since Chile was a Spanish Colony, so there is a great deal of history, however unlike Curling I don't think Tegos will be an Olympic sport any time soon.

As for the work project, we have pretty much cleared the entire ceiling and have begun the process of putting up some of the new floor joists to hold the plywood planks. Vicki made a couple of sawhorses out of some of the recylcled lumber which will be a great help as we cut the planks and the new joists. Another group stay back to sort through what was left of the VBS materials. Some of the materials will be used by the Church here in San Fernando for future classes, and the others are being taken to the Church in Curico for the children there.

Break time is just about over, we'll have more on today's event tonight.

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• ▼ 2009 (10)
  • ▼ February (7)
    • A day to enjoy Chile
    • Moving on to Villarrica, Chile
    • Hard at work Wednesday February 4, 2009
    • Team Perspectives February 3, 2009
    • Workday Monday February 2, 2009
    • Church visit to Curico Sunday Night February 1
    • Sunday February 1, 2009 Part One
  • ► January (3)

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CarletonCole

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