Resurrection Day

When I woke up this morning at 6:30 it was just beginning to get light outside. I opened the blinds and watched the lake as the shadows began to dissipate. I couldn't see the sun at all but it's light began to spread over the water and the trees and the azaleas and the dogwoods. It changed the world. It took the world from dark to light. Where once I couldn't see anything at all now I could see the beauty surrounding me. The colors were vivid; the green of the grass and the trees were a stark contrast to the white and pink blossoms of the dogwoods and the red of the azaleas.

And that's exactly what Jesus did on this resurrection morning so long ago. He rose from the dead and His light began to spread. It covered the world and did away with the shadows. His life and His death and His resurrection showed us how beautiful our world can be. What a gift! What a marvelous, life-giving gift!

Working At Sager Brown

When we arrived at Sager Brown I knew we would be working but I had no idea what we would be doing. It didn't matter to me because I knew there was work to be done and that it would be serving people who needed help. I never dreamed there was a warehouse the size of a football field filled with box after box of items donated by Methodist churches all over the United States destined for those in disaster areas who were sometimes without anything.
Those boxes were filled with health kits, school kits, baby layettes, sewing kits, and flood buckets packed by those churches who wanted to be part of the effort of sending help world wide. Each of the boxes had to be brought to the work tables to be sorted and counted and repacked.
There were several work stations - tall tables with stools - where any and all volunteers were welcomed and given something to do.

Each health kit had to be checked individually to be sure that every item was present. Sometimes the person putting the kit together originally might not have one item and they would include money to buy it. However, in disaster areas there's no place to buy anything so the kit would be repacked with the item from a box of extras and the money was used to buy those extras. Of course the same thing was true of all the kits. Each one is checked individually so that no person gets a kit that's missing an item and then all are repacked into large boxes and covered with shrink wrap ready to be shipped.

Most of our volunteers spent their time here in the warehouse packing, unpacking, moving boxes, or counting items. It's easy work, but so incredibly needed. Without volunteers these kits would never get to their destination.

The work wasn't hard, the comraderie was incredible, and we were amazed that what our hands were doing was going to touch someone on the other side of the world. Don't you know that God was happy with our work!

In the next post I'll show the sewing room where I worked - it was right up my alley since I love to sew.

UMCOR Sager Brown

For several years I saw in our church newsletter notices that some of our members were going to UMCOR. I had a vague idea of what it was - very vague. Vague as in, it's a mission trip, but no concept really of where exactly that was or what exactly they would be doing there. I even had a good friend at church who told me multiple times that Jerry and I needed to go - we'd love it she was sure. So finally, last year, when I saw the advertisement for UMCOR I thought - why not? We loved Mexico and serving the people there so we'll probably love this too. And we did. It will take me several posts to show all the pictures that I want (certainly not all that I have!) so this is the first installment.

We traveled south in the church van with other members of the church - all the way to Baldwin, Louisiana which is about an hour south of Lafayette. The first building we saw when we arrived was this one. This is the dormitory of Sager Brown. Originally this campus was built after the Civil War as an orphanage and school for black boys who were orphaned during that conflict. Over the years it was several different kinds of schools and was bought by the United Methodist Women. It was empty and for sale for 14 years before Hurricane Andrew when it was used as a depot for sending out supplies to those affected by that storm. When UMCOR realized what a perfect place it was for distributing disaster supplies they remodeled the buildings and built a large warehouse and it has served in this capacity since then.

This is the second building where we spent a lot of time - the cafeteria. And let me tell you, they fed us well. The ladies who did the cooking were wonderful! We even had a shrimp boil for lunch one day - that was a big hit. As were the sweet potato pancakes we had for breakfast one morning. Of course you can't beat biscuits, gravy, and grits. Our group sure liked them anyway. There were only 3 groups there during the week we went and each group took turns cleaning up the cafeteria and washing dishes after meals. I'll show you some pictures of that later. This is a picture of the inside of the cafeteria.

Bayou Teche runs behind the dormitory building. If you've ever read James Lee Burke's books about a detective named Dave Robicheaux then you've heard of this Bayou. There's no swimming in this water - it has alligators! We didn't see any during our stay but there was a picture on the bulletin board in the cafeteria that proved that point!

They do have this beautiful gazebo that goes out over the bayou where you can fish, or look for alligators, or just spend some quiet time.

This is just another view of the bayou. You can see why this was such a peaceful place to spend some time.

Sager Brown is a beautiful campus. There are benches and chairs scattered in several places. There are large shade trees and even the first of December when we were there the roses were blooming.

This building is called The Lodge. I'm not sure why because it doesn't look like any lodge I've ever seen! But it is a large mobile home which had several rooms added and where an entire church group can stay together while there. Our church has stayed here before and has it reserved for a week this fall. On our trip we stayed in the dorm where two people were assigned to a room - I'll show you pictures of our rooms in the next post. But wouldn't it be fun to stay with a big group here?

This was one of my favorite spots. It's on the trail we walked to get from the dormitory to the warehouse. You can drive it if you prefer but the weather was nice so we walked. This was a wonderful place to stop and rest and to talk with the Lord for a moment before continuing on.

It's quiet, you can hear the birds singing, and they seem to welcome you to their home.

In my next post I'll show you our rooms and the warehouse where we worked. And I'll try to explain a little about the work that's done at Sager Brown. I hope that when you see what a fun time this is, and what a blessing it is, that you'll think about going back with us when it's time for our next trip.

The Third Mexico Trip That Never Happened

During my second trip to Mexico - the medical one - I was sitting at the desk one day taking someone's blood pressure when the front door opened and in walked a woman about the age of 50 carrying a child. The poor woman was drenched with sweat. It was over 90° that day. I'm not sure just how hot but, trust me on this, it was hot and the humidity was awful. The child she carried was about 10 years old and had cerebral palsy. There's no telling how far this grandmother walked carrying this child so she could see the doctor. If you want to see love, then I can point to someone you need to meet.

This child was the second child with CP that we saw that day. The first was younger, maybe six, and could scoot around on the floor on her knees using her hands and arms to pull herself along. And scoot she did! That kid had callouses on her knees! She was the happiest little thing, chattering to whoever would listen and sitting at our feet watching every little thing.

But this new child wasn't that way at all. She had no control of her body at all. She didn't talk, she didn't focus her eyes, she didn't smile. She simple lay wherever she was put.

When we left Mexico that day I vowed that I would return with a wheelchair for that grandmother - and with more wheelchairs for others. Of course as with any such vow I knew I would need help - lots of help! I went to Brother Jim and asked him if we drove the truck for the next trip could we load it up with wheelchairs. He agreed and he even advertised it in the church newsletter. Everywhere I went I asked if anyone had wheelchairs to give away - my beautician, the post office, the doctor's office. And others at church did the same. Pretty soon we had not just wheelchairs, but also walkers and canes! It is just amazing at how generous people are when they know there's a need.

I was so excited that I commandeered my sister, who lives in Missouri and is a Physician's Assistant, and she agreed to join us for our next journey. She joined the slate of doctors on the medical team and would drive to Arkansas to ride with Jerry and I to Mexico. She and I would have a whole week to spend together and we would get to serve God together - a dream we'd had for a long time. Can't you just imagine how excited we were?

And then it happened. I had a little medical problem. Just a small one, truly. But it happened one week before we were to leave and the doctors were just sticks-in-the-mud. They told me not to go. Now I want to tell you right up front that on the first two Mexico trips I heard a clear call from God to go. The urging wouldn't leave my heart either time. I tried to talk God out of it but He wouldn't listen. So I went. This third trip, I didn't hear that call. I didn't feel that urge. But I did feel the absolute call to get those wheelchairs. I thought that meant I was to take them. Myself. It was all about me. I would collect them. I would take them. I would give them out. God had other ideas. He wanted it to be about Him...can you imagine that? :) He wanted this to be about Him and not about me. And so, I stayed home. My husband went. My sister went. They went together (and this was the first time my husband knew that my sister wanted her McDonalds Iced Vanilla Coffee with extra ice, extra vanilla, and extra cream - he thought I was bad when I wanted a diet coke with extra ice!). I thought about that when they left, the fun they would have, the blessing they would receive, the good they would do. But I learned so much from that trip. I learned that those of us who stay home can do as much good as those who go - just in a different way. We can pray, we can buy vitamins to send, we can pray, we can give money, we can pray, we can collect wheelchairs. We serve God where He wants us to serve. And how he wants us to serve. His way. The best way.

I don't know how God might be calling you to serve Him but I do know that he's calling. It might be within your own family or your own church that He needs you. It might be that He wants you right up front teaching, or in the back washing dishes. He might need you to clean the bathrooms or pour the soup or lead Vacation Bible School. But I know He needs you. He might want you to go to Mexico, or he might want you to go to Baldwin, Lousiana to UMCOR Sager Brown. Next time I'll tell you about that place - that's a mighty work going on there. Listen to your heart - the call is there. I'd love to know how He's calling you - and how you're answering.

Mexico - Dos!

When the call came for another Mexican mission trip I knew I wouldn't be needed this time - it was medical only, no construction. :) However, one night as we were relaxing in front of the television - watching NCSI I'm sure - our phone rang and it was the leader of our mission group. He desperately needed help, warm bodies really, and I knew I was being called....again! I tried not to go, really I did. I'm not medical and I don't do blood, or guts, or anything yucky. He really, really needed someone to triage since he didn't have enough nurses to go and assured me that he could teach a monkey to triage. Hmmmm, wonder what he meant by that? And they needed help in the pharmacy so he needed Jerry too. Jerry - pharmacy? What was that about? Oh well, he asked nicely, said please and all, so we were in. And there you see me, along with a bona fide nurse to help me when I had an emergency question and an interpreter, the guy in the middle there, to help us both be understood!

And you can see why they needed help in the clinic. It stayed full all day for the three days we had it open. These wonderful people came in with all kinds of problems, and sometimes not with a problem but just needing their monthly medications, or in the case of some of the mothers, wanting well baby check. And the babies - beautiful every one!

This is a picture of the little pharmacy there in the clinic. We take, or buy there, medications in bulk and then count them out and sort them and put them on the shelves for the "pharmacist" to hand out.

These two unlikely looking fellows are the drug dealers. Bless their hearts they sat and counted pills for days, putting them in small sandwich bags and labeling them for the pharmacist. We give out lots of vitamins, ibuprofen, Tylenol, cold medicine, etc. The people we serve cannot go to WalMart like you and I and buy vitamins for their children. They don't have the money to do so.

Aren't these two of the cutest kids you ever saw?

The line at the pharmacy got kind of long sometimes - not because our pharmacists weren't working as hard as they could go! But the language was a barrier and sometimes so was the doctor's writing. :)

This handsome young man was one of our interpreters. He's a college student working on a degree in engineering. The young ladies sure did like him!

Another shot of the pharmacy, this time with one of the doctors trying to interpret his writing for the pharmacist.








While we don't go in to present the gospel (they have several Methodist churches in this town and one of the pastors works with us at the mission) there are certainly signs everywhere of who we serve.

Can't you just see this little guy saying, "uh oh, what's she doing?"

And just like those young girls I mentioned earlier I wanted my picture taken with this handsome young man!

Another of our doctors, this time with one of the younger patients who looked really happy that his exam was over!

You know it's the strangest thing - even when you know, absolutely know that you cannot help with a particular project at church when they've asked for help, you're often wrong! The Mexico mission trips are that way. There are small things that need doing - like counting pills and putting them into sandwich bags, or sitting and playing with children bored with waiting in the reception area, or weighing everyone and putting it on a chart, or taking nails or water to the folks working on a house. And if you can't go you can still help. $10 buys a lot of vitamins when you're buying them in bulk so a donation, even if small, helps! And if you can't do that then you can pray for the team. I can't tell you how uplifting it is when someone says I'm going to pray for you every day that you're gone at 12:00 noon. Believe you me, when we sit down for lunch I remember that someone is praying for us right at that time.

The next time you hear the call for the Mexico mission trip - remember this post. Remember the children's faces and the pill counters and the prayers. There's a place for you.

Why Would God Glue My Behind To That Chair?

If you read my last post you'll understand the title of this post. If you didn't read it then you might want to go back one post so this will make sense.
See that house in the front in this first picture? That's the room one of our families was living in. It was one of the best houses on the block! See that house in the back? That's a casita one of our teams built. I can't find my pictures of the house my team built, or of the house our family was living in - they're lost somewhere on this computer. But believe me when I say it was far, far worse than this. What you don't see is that the floors are dirt, the bathrooms are outhouses, there's no running water....well you get the drift. I'm actually amazed that this house had windows. That's rare. And in the next picture you can see the electric post out in front of the house and the extension cord that runs to the house. That's their electricity - an extension cord. How dangerous is that? Way more dangerous than I'm confortable with I can assure you. Many of the houses don't have windows or doors, just blankets nailed up and tied back to let in a breeze. Which, incidentally, lets in all manner of insects as well. The yards are all dirt in the area where we worked and that narrow space there to the right of the first house is similar to but better than the are we had to walk through to transport the concrete blocks from the house to the back yard. The streets looked like this one on this picture. We mixed our mortar in the ditch there by the street. Well not this street but all the streets look like this. Riding in the van down these roads was better than a roller coaster!

This "canal" runs between the town and the area where we worked. When it rains this runs over and since the houses are in a sort of valley the water runs into the houses. This is a sewage canal. There was one just like this running beside the house where we worked - maybe 8 feet from their house and where the children played. When it floods like that and people walk through it they sometimes gets gangrene when they've got a cut or sore. You can imagine the diseases that run rampant. One of the pluses of the casitas is that they have concrete floors instead of the dirt they are used to and hopefully they won't be standing in the water/mud all the time.

Now I realize you don't really know me but if you did you'd know that I am southern to the core. And going anywhere without makeup is not something southern women do. Wearing scrubs and an ugly hat in public - nope, not me. Working outside in the heat of the day - are you kidding? I wouldn't be caught dead looking like I looked that week, heaven forbid! God has such a sense of humor, don't you think?

Blogger is being ugly - I can't seem to make this post come out with the words in the right places. Please forgive my techno-ignorance!

Construction Is A Piece Of Cake!

In the last "chapter" I explained how I ended up on the construction team on my first mission trip to Mexico. Well, I sort of explained. They said get up and go to the clinic if you're part of the medical team and God glued my behind to the chair so I couldn't go. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Sooooo, the first day dawns clear and warm, as in Mexico warm....upper 90s. Everyone gathers for breakfast and the laughing and chatting begins. Except for me. Me, I'm praying hard all through breakfast. "Father, give me strength." "Father, make sure I don't fall down and cut myself and get tetnus." "Father, help me not to have to go to the bathroom because there isn't one and you know I can't go in an outhouse." "Father, please help me not to embarrass myself and not be able to help at all." "Father are you sure I'm not medical?" I sounded like a panic-stricken child to myself. And I guess that's what I was! But I also knew that God gives you the strength to do what He has led you to. So my last prayer before we loaded in the van was "Father, help me to trust you."

We arrived at the current home of the family we would be building for...in a cloud of dust I might add. The street where they lived was a wide dusty expanse of potholes. Their house was a shack made of cardboard, cast off boards and tin. There were raggedy blankets tied up to serve as doors and on the back was a roof which covered one bed and one very old television with no case. That tv had a screen and "innards" and not one thing more. But it played. Oh yes, it played. To get electricity to it they had an extension cord running off the electric post out at the side of the yard. It also ran the refrigerator, the only other electrical device they had. At least two of the children slept on that bed but it could have been more, I'm not sure. Their outhouse was only a few feet from the back door and was right next to a drainage ditch running beside their house. Their only access to water was a spigot in the yard and that water was not purified. They washed dishes in a pan in the yard with flies swarming all around them and the dishes.

Our first job was to haul the concrete blocks from the street past the house and into the back yard where the concrete pad was. That's where the new house would be. The yard wasn't a nice even expanse of grass...instead it was a replica of the street. I looked at those blocks and at that yard and thought, oh yea, broken ankle coming up. We decided the best way to handle this task was with a bucket brigade. You know, what I mean? One person picked up a block and handed it to the next person and that person passed it on to the next person and it made it's way to the back yard. And ya'll I did it! I stood in that line and handed one concrete block after another one down the line. I didn't even know I could hold a concrete block....those things are heavy! Indeed God gives you strength when you need it!

Over the next three days I learned to put "butter" (I think it's really mortar) on a concrete block and how to set the next block on top of that one. Mostly I just put the butter on a trowel and handed it off to someone else to put on the block because as the walls got higher it got harder and harder to pick up a block and set it up there. I hauled boards and picked up nails and pieces of block and handed off more butter. I "talked" to the mother of the house with only hand signs and smiles and hugs. I held smelly children on my lap and a baby who insisted on using an old CD as a chew toy. And I not only survived, I had the time of my life.

Working construction is physical labor. Being the spoiled, beyond middle-aged woman that I am my confidence level going into this project was shall we say, a bit on the low side? I learned that I am capable of doing whatever God calls me to do and that He is faithful to give me what I need to do the task. I learned that His call to servanthood might involve some new and sometimes uncomfortable experiences but that I really could be in a group of people all day long with no makeup on, a nose that grew steadily redder by the hour, wearing a hat that my dog wouldn't be caught dead wearing and have a good time. And I learned that Brother Jim wasn't lying when he said they served refried beans for breakfast....but I didn't have to eat them. God is truly good!