VIM VA Beach: A Productive Week

"You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven."  Matthew 5:14-16  CEB

We've come to the end of a very productive week, happy with all we have managed to accomplish.  But weariness has definitely set in and I write this as we are on the road, heading for home.  It has been a rewarding experience for everyone, VIM veterans and first timers both.  With the week coming to a close, we took time off on Thursday evening for a well earned break and took a drive to the actual beach of Virginia Beach and spent 45 minutes walking the boardwalk at sunset. Afterward we then returned to St. Luke's for a dinner of leftovers then turned in early after devotions, clean-up and discussing logistics for Friday.

Pastor David, Robin, Anita and Jim finished their painting at the 2nd home. There is still work to be done there but the homeowner is very pleased.  He wished they could stay longer and begin work on the other portions of his home that have yet to be done.  He planned on recommending them to everyone until he was gently reminded that they are not professionals!

Since they finished on Thursday and we only planned on working a half day on Friday, Michelle then asked them if they would take on a small project at a 3rd home.  So today David, Jim, Robin and Dennis repaired, patched and painted a cracked ceiling and began painting the kitchen.  This is the home of a retired pastor and his wife, both facing health challenges and recently moved back into their home after 10 months.  UMCOR and the Virginia Annual Conference had made arrangements for folks displaced by the flooding to be housed in hotel rooms and unused time shares.  Unfortunately this meant that they were forced to relocate every 5-7 days, carrying limited clothing and personal items.  They were very grateful to be back in their home and for the brief work our team was able to do for them on our last day.

Anita and Carol stayed behind at St. Luke's to paint a few doors and to get a jump on packing, cleaning up after ourselves and preparing the place for the next team coming in behind us a few weeks.


Doug took Steve, Martin, Bonnie, Norm and me back to the house we have been working on all week.  Yesterday Steve and Dennis dug more roots and stumps out of the yard while Doug and Martin cut and placed baseboard in 4 rooms.  Norm and I followed behind caulking while Bonnie trailed the two of us and began painting trim around closets.  By quitting time today, all baseboards and trim were caulked and painted.  The powder room has a base coat of primer and Doug and Martin began sanding the main bathroom that up until today had been left untouched.  We then swept, vacuumed, tidied up the work site and sorted and packed tools to bring back to the supply and tool closets at St. Luke's.  Then finally packed up, we took group pictures and bid a fond farewell to Michelle and Janet, who we met on Thursday.  Janet is training with Michelle in order to be backup liaison and custodian at St. Luke's.

We stopped for a final dinner together as a team at Pierce's Pitt BBQ in Williamsburg.  This is a local favorite in the area.  When Norm and I lived in Hampton, the restaurant was little more than a trailer on the side of the road and people drove from miles around on Friday nights to pick up takeout for dinner.  The place is a little bigger now, with a few fixed fast food style tables but it is still doing a booming business.  A steady stream of customers came in the entire time we were there.  We parted with Jim here since he drove separately and has farther to go to get home to Towson but we are grateful for his presence and hard work all this week.

As we slowly make our way home, negotiating the inevitable stop and go traffic on I-95, we are all thankful for the wonderful week we've had.  The weather was perfect, the rain only coming in the evenings or overnight.  We were blessed with cooler temperatures later in the week and comfortable and pleasant ocean breezes.


To God be the glory!  With Him all things are possible.

VIM VA Beach: The Gift of Labor and Laughter

"Peter said (to the crippled beggar),'I don't have any money, but I will give you what I do have.  In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk!'"   Acts 3: 6. CEB

At our evening devotions tonight, Pastor David used the passage above to remind us that money is not the only way to help those in need.  This week the individuals on our team are giving of their time and labor as well as paying their own way to be here.  And even though this is only Wednesday and we have only one full day tomorrow and a half day on Friday, we have made great progress.

At our primary work site, Steve, Jim and Bonnie have finished as much as possible in the front, side and backyards.  Although the worst portion of the overgrowth and fallen limbs were removed before we got here, they have raked the remaining debris, pulled weeds and vines, cut roots and mowed the sparce grass.  Yesterday Michelle's supervisor, Bob came and hauled away over 30 bags of yard waste and the remains of a rusted children's play set.  By the end of the day they had filled another 5-6 bags.  With that taken care of and the threat of rain in the forecast, today Bonnie and Steve have joined the rest of us inside while Jim went with David, Robin and Anita to work on the second home.  

Inside the house is also really starting to look good.  All day long this place echoes with the sounds of industrious work and occasional laughter. Team members call to each other for help or to offer advice.  The sounds of hammers and saws ring thru a home which is slowly being made whole once again.  People shift from room to room, trading tools and paint, working on tasks each feels most comfortable at doing, a complicated ballet playing out in cramped spaces but somehow executed with amazing grace and efficiency.

By the end of today, the 3 upstairs bedrooms and closets have been completely primed and painted and ready for baseboards and trim.  Doug and Martin began framing one of the closets which Carol then primed.  Carol and Dennis have completed painting in the living room and it also is ready for the trim work.  Bonnie, Carol and Doug have also finished painting the 4th bedroom on the lower level, Martin has finished repairing the baseboard in the utility/HVAC room and has mudded the seams, and Doug and Steve then began measuring and cutting baseboard for the small family room.  Tomorrow we hope to get baseboards cut and installed, finish framing the rest of the closets and to start painting and caulking the baseboards.

At the second home, David, Robin, Anita and Jim have been busy painting the living room, a bedroom and hallway.  The homeowner has been so pleased that although no work was planned for tomorrow because he needed to be away for a funeral, he has asked them to come back and continue working and they hope to be finished by the end of the day.

Although everyone is pretty tired by the time we return to St. Luke's each evening, our spirits remain high.  We've grown closer as a team which makes a big difference.  And after dinner we relaxed and sang old songs from a songbook collection Jim has put together then played a hilarious few rounds of good old fashioned Charades.  We are giving of our time and labor to brothers and sisters in need of help to repair the damage to their home.  And we have given each other the gift of laughter and fellowship, to lighten our spirits and our weariness at the end of a long but rewarding day.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  

Philippians 4:13.  NKJV

VIM VA Beach: Everyone Has a Story

"Carry each other's burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.  Let's not get tired of doing good, because in time we will have a harvest if you don't give up."   Galatians 6: 2, 9  CEB

Everyone has a story.  At our devotions and reflections this evening at the end of our second day of work, we shared why each of us felt called to join this team and give up a week to come here and be in service to others.  Some of us are veterans of other mission trips, while for others this is their first mission experience.  For many of us, although this week is far from over, we are already feeling called to look ahead to Houston and Louisiana, still reeling from Hurricane Harvey's catastrophic flooding.  Each of us came here for different reasons but all are united in spirit and purpose - to do all the good we can while we are here.

Likewise the people we are serving each have their own story.  The elderly lady whose house we have been working on, locked her home last October and fled to safety ahead of the storm.  Unfortunately after the flood waters receded, the water damage led to a bad case of black mold, which in turn resulted in the house being entirely gutted before any reconstruction work could begin.  We learned today that the lady has been widowed for 20 years and has been struggling to care for her home since that time.  She's currently living with her daughter in Richmond and we will not get an opportunity to meet her.

While this woman and her daughter work with UMCOR to repair her home so she can return, her neighbors for the most part have completely recovered.  Her home still needs a lot of work and stands out in the neighborhood of similar homes that are already complete and once again whole.  The neighbors in the house directly behind her's managed to keep the flood at bay by staying awake for over 19 hours, using a shop vacuum to suck up the water as it was running into their home and then dumping it back outside - an almost unfathomable achievement.  

And yet, just 2 houses down and across the street, lies an empty cement slab sitting at the end of a concrete driveway, on a lovely well cared for corner lot.  The lawn is being meticulously mowed and tended, the trees trimmed and mulched.  But the home that once stood here was condemned and demolished.  While the rest of the neighborhood looks completely normal and representative of suburbia anywhere in the U.S., this empty lot is a sad reminder of what happened here.  For Norm and me, it brings back heartbreaking memories of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans after the levees broke after Hurricane Katrina.  There, entire neighborhoods were razed after the disaster.  We drove thru empty streets, seeing lots similar to this one, empty intersections surrounded by fields of grass, cement pilings and steps leading to nowhere where row after row of houses once stood, a sad testimony to the breadth and scope of the tragedy.  While the physical extent of the damage here in Virginia Beach pales in comparison to New Orleans and Houston, the toll on the lives affected cannot be compared or measured.

And finally, 3 of our team worked for the first time at the 2nd site we have been assigned this week.  The gentleman here is caring for his aging mother who is recovering from a stroke.  They are living in their home, moving furniture from room to room to accommodate the volunteers coming in to repair and paint.  In a brief conversation Pastor David had with the homeowner, it is apparent that the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew is hardly the worst thing this man has had to deal with over the last decade, it is only the most recent.

Everyone has a story and hardships to bear.  But a joy shared is doubled and a grief shared is halved.  We are blessed to be a blessing.  How blessed and much better off are we all when we follow Christ's command to love one another and St. Paul's advice to carry each other's burdens.

VIM VA Beach: Labor Day Labors

"If I your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other's feet.  I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you must also do."   John 13:14-15 CEB

Our Volunteers in Mission team of 11 departed church Sunday afternoon and caravaned down to Virginia Beach, VA to begin 4 and 1/2 days of reconstruction work after Hurricane Matthew struck the area in October last fall.  Returning to this area is a bit of a homecoming for Norm and I.  We lived here in the Hampton, VA when we were first married nearly 32 years ago and haven't visited since 2012.  As we drove thru Hampton and Newport News, we both got a little nostalgic, recalling many happy memories and noting how things have changed over the years.  The region is rich in history, with Yorktown, Wiiliamsburg and Jamestown forming the historic colonial triangle.  The famous Battle of the Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack took place in Hampton Roads, not far from where we once lived and the Monitor is now being restored at the Mariner's Museum in Newport News after sinking off Cape Hatteras and being recovered from the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" about 15 years ago.  We got to see 3 aircraft carriers in port at Norfolk Naval Base as we crossed the Roads via the bridge-tunnel from the Peninsula cities of Hampton, Newport News and Poquoson to the Southtowns of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.

We met our 12th team member, Jim from Towson, once we arrived at St. Luke's UMC, our home away from home for the next few days.  Jim is a friend of Pastor David and his wife, Robin and this is his 2nd trip to VA Beach on a VIM team. Michelle, our Virginia Annual Conference/UMCOR liaison and project coordinator was waiting for us and gave us a tour of the facilities and restaurant suggestions for dinner.  So after quickly unpacking, we headed off to Cracker Barrel.  Spirits were high as we shared laughter and hopes for the week ahead over a delicious dinner.

St. Luke's congregation was in the process of merging with another church nearby when Matthew struck.  Afterwards the sanctuary, classrooms and community hall were turned into a dormitory to house the many VIM teams that have come to help the area recover.  Matthew hit Forida as a hurricane but raked the Atlantic coastline as it came north and was only a tropical depression by the time it reached VA Beach.  However the area had already endured several severe thrunderstorms in the few weeks prior and by the time Matthew moved on, VA Beach had received 51 inches of rain.  Many neighborhoods were flooded and houses were inundated with anywhere from 6 inches to 3 feet of water.

In the aftermath, a number of faith based organizations came to help the area recover from the damages.  And while some demolition work began shortly after the storm, most of the work began in earnest early this year.  Approximately 17 homes have been finished with another 30 or more still in various stages of completion.  Michelle says that elderly, young single mothers with children and handicapped residents have been given priority in the reconstruction efforts.

Since Monday was Labor Day and technically a holiday, Michelle arrived early to give us some basic instructions and then took us to our work site.  Today the entire team worked on a single house that is currently empty, its elderly owner is still living with her daughter in Richmond until she can move back in.  But 3-4 of us will break off tomorrow and go to a 2nd site that is closer to being finished and is presently occupied by a gentleman and his mother.  Michelle says that the house today had to be completely gutted inside and teams have been working on it all summer.  It is a cozy split level home and sits in a modest neighborhood of similar homes that were built in the 1960s.

After we received our "marching orders" from Michelle we paired off and picked various tasks.  The front and back yards have been mostly neglected so Steve and Jim set to work raking, mowing the sparce lawn and pulling down vines and weeds, later joined by Bonnie.  The rest of us divided up inside to mud and sand drywall, prep and paint.  There is plenty of work to be done but by the end of the day one room downstairs has gotten a 2nd coat of paint on both walls and ceiling and will be ready to install baseboard and quarter round before the end of the week.  Two rooms upstairs will get painted with primer and will be ready to paint by mid-week.  Doug and Martin tackled a little demolition work in the utility room while the rest of us did some sanding, spackle and plaster mud repair work to touch up a few spots missed or needing to be touched up after previous teams.

Carol, Robin and I left the site a bit early to do some additional grocery shopping for the rest of the week and to prepare dinner for the team.  Then after a delicious meal of turkey BBQ, fresh garden green beans, watermelon and cantaloupe and both lemon zucchini cake and banana cake with caramel frosting, we shared in a few moments of reflection and devotions, led by Pastor David.  Praying on the passage above from John 13, we look forward to a night of rest, renewed energy and servant hearts reinvigorated for the work in the days ahead.

Hopi VIM 2015: Blessing & Being Blessed

"Dwell in possibilities"  - Emily Dickenson

A large part of going on a mission trip is emptying oneself before the journey and leaving yourself open to experience everything that happens.  I have found that when I do, I invariably find myself filled to overflowing before the trip is over.  God has a way of moving between the empty spaces and filling them with unexpected joys and blessings I can never anticipate.

Early in the week Bill and Joyce found out from our friend, Kevin, that the HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention Center was about to lose their lease on their current facility.  They are being forced to move by the end of this month.  Since land ownership is a complicated affair in Hopi, requiring complex land use agreements between clans and villages that often take months or years to finalize, we were dismayed by the thought that such a vital program might be forced to shutter its doors.  Kevin assured us however that temporary space had already been located and that discussions were also underway to give the program long-term land use rights to a piece of property behind the Hopi Cultural Center on Second Mesa.  But Kevin also told us that the piece of land in question had a very sad and troublesome history.

The property had once been the site of a small trailer park and the residents of the community gradually fell victim to serious drug and alcohol abuse.  Eventually the site was abandoned and no one knows exactly why.  People simply left and moved on, leaving behind their homes and in most cases, all their earthly belongings.  The trailers eventually succumbed to the elements and collapsed, many of them looking like they had been flattened by a great wind, and were left to rust and crumble away.  Before the HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention program can build on the land, it will have to be cleared of the debris and remnants of the trailer park.  Troubled by the sad history of the place and having known and worked with us for several years now, Kevin asked us if we would help him cleanse, bless and anoint the property while we were here.

So early Friday morning, not long after sunrise, we gathered with Kevin on the site.  Bill led us all in prayer in an United Methodist ceremony and then distributed bowls of water to each team member.  Silently adding our own prayers, we wandered through the remains of what was once a community of family homes and sprinkled water over the place while Kevin in turn blessed it in Hopi fashion.  It was a moving and humbling experience.  We felt blessed to be asked to be a part of the healing process both for the land on which it will eventually sit and for the new wellness center that will be a place of sanctuary and healing to many in need.  Kevin hopes that by this time next year the land will be cleared and made ready and our team may be part of the building process as well.

On Saturday morning the team rose well before dawn and drove up to a village on Second Mesa to see the first portion of a day-long Home Dance.  This is the time of year when the Hopi katsinas prepare to leave the Mesas and return to their home on the San Francisco Peaks, north of Flagstaff.   They will remain there until late January or February.  Out of respect for my Hopi friends I can't say any more about what we saw.  No photography, video or audio recordings, or sketching is allowed.  The Home Dances are religious ceremonies and I feel honored, privileged and humbled to have been allowed to witness it.  It was a very spiritual experience for us all.

I write this as I am flying home, reflecting on all we were given and experienced.  It's been a full and fulfilling week.  Every mission trip has its own set of challenges and bumps along the way but this was indeed a week full of blessings.  We had an awesome team, each person bringing their own unique gifts to make a glorious whole.  We were fortunate to have rain several times while we were there, which kept the temperatures cooler and more comfortable for us all.  We shared our dinner table every evening with friends new and old, each meal filled with joy and laughter.  For me, this is the real reason why we are here; to make those connections, to listen and to learn as well as to serve.

It was very hard for me personally to drive away from the Mesas yesterday but I leave with a full heart and overflowing with the Spirit.  For those members on the team for the first time, they have only seen a glimpse of what Hopi VIM is all about.  I hope and pray they will feel called to return and continue the work they became a part of this week.  For those of us who began this journey in 2006, this week is just a small slice of that journey.  We've added but another few stones to the path that only God knows where it will ultimately lead.
 

Lomatalangva!  (It's a beautiful day!)

Hopi VIM 2015: Going Fishing & Pulling Weeds

 

After taking it easy the first few days in order to acclimate to the altitude and heat, the team got down to business early on Monday morning with all hands on deck in order to set up for VBS.  Thankfully the three members of the team who caught some sort of stomach bug right after we arrived in Arizona are now feeling much better and are back to normal. Thane, the school's principal, Annie the new assistant principal and all of the teachers are away taking recertification training so in their absence, our liaisons this week are Paige and Katie, two young ladies interning here at Hopi Mission School as well as at the Hopi Health Care Center in Polacca and the Hopi Wellness Center here in Kykotsmovi.  Both are in health science programs at Furman University in Greenville, SC and are here for the summer.  They are both delightful and fun and we've more or less adopted them into the team.

Our VBS theme this year is "Going Fishing", focusing on a different "fish themed" Scripture story each day.  Monday revolved around God's promise to Noah and the story of the ark.  Tuesday was about trusting and obeying God through the lesson of Jonah and the whale.

 

As in past years, the week starts out slow with only a few kids attending at first but this usually gets better as the week progresses and the word gets out.  This year we are feeding the kids a light breakfast of a hard boiled egg and fruit before the fun and games of VBS begins in earnest and each day features crafts, games and songs, skits and snacks.  Monday's snack was an ark made out of half a banana and animal crackers, arranged two by two of course.  :-)

 

While most of the team are helping at VBS some of the rest of us divided up to work on other projects.  Steve, Andie and I began tackling the weeds that have taken over the playground.  In that respect the rainfall has been a mixed blessing.  The crops are doing well this year but the weeds are also flourishing and are pulled up in order to discourage any snakes, poisonous or otherwise, from getting too close to the school.  Reinette, Ann and Lynn went to work in the school library, cataloging the schools books and adding them to an online database/card catalog.

 

Since VBS is only held in the morning and it's too hot to work outdoors in the afternoon, we usually reserve the time between lunch and dinner to rest, recoup, reflect, prepare for the next day's activities and partake of various cultural experiences.  On Monday a small group drove up to Hotevilla on Third Mesa to visit our friend Bob who runs the Hopi School or Hopitutuqaiki.

 

Bob is a pahana (non-Hopi) educator and music teacher who came to Hopi to do his post graduate work on Hopi music and essentially never left.  He has lived in Hopi for over 40 years and the Hopi School has been in existence for 11 of them.  It is primarily an arts and crafts summer program but Bob hopes the school will eventually be able to hold classes year-round.  Their teaching philosophy is based on the traditional way Hopis have always learned things, in a master/apprentice relationship rather than in a more modern classroom setting, so classes are limited to between 3-6 students.  In addition to teaching traditional Hopi crafts such as kilt weaving, sash and belt making, basket weaving, etc., they also offer classes in glass blowing and stained glass, cooking, quilt making and acrylic painting.

 

We make it a point to eat dinner at 6 PM every evening and Bill always prepares plenty of food.  Our table is open for anyone to drop in and have dinner and we are constantly encouraging everyone we meet to come down and "come eat!" That evening we shared dinner with Keith and his mother, Mary who both work at the school and who brought piki bread and hohoysi for everyone.  Felicia, one of our oldest friends, also came down from Shungopovi on Second Mesa with her daughter, Janice and her son, Darion who is just about 9 months old.  Needless to say there was much laughter and catching up and with the team being mostly of the female persuasion, Darion became the center of attention.

Before bed last night, the skies cleared enough for us to see the stars and finally get a good view of Jupiter and Venus in conjunction in the west.  Living so close to Baltimore and DC there is far too much light pollution to truly appreciate the glory of the heavens above us at night.  Out here it is dark enough to see thousands of stars and the Milky Way.  It's a spectacle that once witnessed will not soon be forgotten.  All of our youth members were thrilled.

 

A few more kids showed for VBS this morning and Steve, Andie and I were joined by Amanda on the weed pulling brigade.  We're making real progress and it shows.  We're hoping to have the playground in good shape by week-end. 

Thankfully weather has been cooperating with us.  Some morning cloudiness kept temperatures in the mid to high 80s with no humidity to speak of, of course.  Rain falling all around the Mesas has also helped as it rapidly evaporates which cools the air.  All in all, it has been quite comfortable so far.   Reinette, Lynn and Ann went back to assist Paige in the library, while Bill and Joyce went over to the HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention center to visit another of our friends, Kevin, who is the director of the program which operates under the guidance of The Hopi Foundation.

After lunch, I drove a small group of first time team members up to the public radio station, KUYI (88.1 FM / kuyi.net) to meet Richard, Thomas and Trina and to help out for a few hours by cataloging CDs and sorting and filing some of the station's vast and eclectic music collection.  It was especially heartwarming for me to find out that they are still using an Excel database that Norm and I created for them back in 2011.  At Richard's request because no one at the station had the necessary technological skills, we consolidated multiple Word tables into a single Excel workbook, adding filters and search functions to make it easier for them to catalog and document their collection which is growing all the time. Part of KUYI's mission is working to preserve the Hopi language (lavaye) and music (tatawi) by recording native speakers and traditional Hopi ceremonial and social songs. While we were there a lady picked up a set of 40 year old recordings to take back to the kiva because over the years some had forgotten the proper way to sing them.

By coincidence, Richard is heading to DC tomorrow in order to advocate for continued funding for public radio in general and for non-profit Native public radio in particular.  Stations like KUYI provide an invaluable service to remote areas like Hopi.  KUYI itself serves not only Hopi but a large portion of the Navajo reservation as well and at times can be heard as far away as Flagstaff.  There have been times when heavy snowstorms have crippled the radio stations in Flag and KUYI has been the only station in the area able to continue broadcasting and providing much needed news and public service updates to this corner of Arizona.  Before we left Richard had us record another "shout out", identifying ourselves and our Hopi VIM team along with repeating the station's call sign and frequency info which is used between programs and required by law.

Paige and Katie joined us for dinner tonight along with Kevin.  My friend Leon also came down with his family and I got to meet Roni and their two children, Mamie and Percival for the first time.  This is the part of the day that I enjoy the most and find the most meaningful - sharing a meal with friends new and old and just relaxing at the end of the day in fellowship and friendship.

 

 

Hopi VIM 2015: Homecoming

For many of us, once you have been to Hopi, this place forever captures a place in your heart.  And for those of us returning, our arrival yesterday evening was like coming home again.  There is a unique scent to the dry, high desert air and a feeling of joy that comes with reveling in the cool evening breeze laced with the freshness of rain carried on the winds from a storm blessing the low lands south of the Mesas.
 

The rainy season has come early this year and Hopiland is greener than I have ever seen it in all my years coming here.  This is a great blessing; the crops seem to be doing well, the corn so lovingly tended and nurtured, is green and getting tall.  The desert weeds and brush have burst forth with a profusion of delicate blooms tossing their heads in the light wind.  The thunderstorm that followed us on our long journey from Flagstaff, finally came to the Mesas overnight as a gentle rain and we woke this morning to find the ground and cars wet from its passing.  We greeted the cloudy dawn and found a welcome, cool breeze kissing the land all around us.  Life is good.

 

It also rained in Flag before we left yesterday.  The San Francisco Peaks, sacred to the Hopis as the home of the katsinas for half of the year, were still shrouded in pregnant rain clouds when we left for the Museum of Northern Arizona and the Hopi cultural and arts festival.  The festival has become an important part of our annual trips because it provides a fun and informative introduction to Hopi culture for those members of the team who are visiting Hopi for the first time.  For those of us who have been here before, it is a chance to greet old friends.  I spent most of our time there running from gallery to gallery looking for and reuniting with many of the friends we've made over the years and meeting some that I have only known through Facebook.  The festival is also a place to see tradional Hopi social dancing and to sample some traditional Hopi foods: piki bread, hohoysi which is Hopi tea brewed from a plant that grows wild on the Mesas, noquivi, a stew, traditionally made with white hominy corn and either mutton or pork, frybread, and the very popular Hopi taco.

 

After leaving the museum after lunch, the team split up in order to complete the necessary shopping for the food and other supplies we will need for VBS and our other projects throughout the coming week before making the nearly 2 hour trek up to Kykotsmovi. However, in spite of today's GPS technology and its mobile app brethren, sometimes there is no substitute for a good old fashioned map.  Combine that with the challenge of trying to keep 5 SUVs in sight of one another as we caravan from place to place and you end up with plenty of wrong turns, about-faces and missed exits.  These comical "F Troop Maneuvers" have led to much laughter.  We missed the exit of our planned route to "K Town" by way of the Leupp road and ended up going all the way to Winslow before turning north toward Second Mesa.  The accidental error actually ended up getting us there faster in spite of adding extra miles to the trip.

Once we arrived at the Hopi Mission School, our welcoming committe consisted of Kristen, one of the teachers and our 2 canine "Rez dog" buddies, Piki and Duma who came running as soon as they heard us pull up.  There was much tail wagging, whining and begging for belly rubs and Andie quickly became our "dog whisperer" on this trip.  She's following in the footsteps of her husband, Brett, who came out on the first 2 trips and had all of the local dogs following him wherever he went before the week was half over.

After a hearty dinner that night and the traditional blue corn pancake breakfast the next morning at the "Center of the Universe", the Hopi Cultural Center restaurant, we drove to First Mesa Baptist Church to worship with Pastor Lim and Pastor Choi of the Korean Methodist Church and their congregation.  The new sanctuary has been completed since our first visit last year and is beautiful in its simplicity with its custom made stained glass windows which incorporate Christian, Hopi and Korean symbolism.  

 

 

It was a joy to worship here again.  We sang hymns in English, Hopi and Navajo/Din'eh.  Pastor Lim graciously asked Jill's husband, Bill to give the message today and to help during the altar call portion of the service and it had more than one member of the team moved to tears.  And after a Spirit-filled morning of worship, we shared over an hour of laughter, conversation and fellowship over a delicious lunch in the church hall before parting.  What a blessing to come together in worship as children of God in English, Hopi, Tewa, Korean and Navajo/Din'eh!

 

The remainder of the day was spent preparing for the work of the coming week, resting and reflecting on the tremendous gifts we have received on the trip so far.  God is good!

 

 

 

 

Hopi VIM 2015: The Adventure Begins

Seventeen souls strong, representing six different UMC churches of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, the Hopi Volunteers In Mission team of 2015 arrived safely in Phoenix on Thursday.  To say we received a "warm" welcome is a bit of an understatement... it was already over 90 degrees at 9:00 in the morning when we arrived and reached a high of 107 before the day was over.  We've been told this is unusual even for Phoenix (??) and this entire area of the southwest is having a heat wave!

 

We didn't waste any time lingering in the Basin however but quickly collected our rental cars and headed for higher altitudes and hopefully cooler temperatures.  Our first stop was Camp Verde, about halfway to Flagstaff where we met for lunch with one of our Hopi friends, Gerry and his mother, Frances.  Gerry is a katsina carver and artisan who lives in the area who has been friends with Reinette for a number of years.  They met in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian and have kept in touch ever since but the rest of us were meeting him for the first time. 

 

After lunch, Gerry guided us to Montezuma's Well, a large, unique natural spring, situated in a limestone sink hole that was used by the ancient Sinagua and Hohokam peoples to irrigate their crops in years past.  It's continuously fed by waters flowing through the porous rock strata from the higher elevations of the Mogollon Rim.  Because the water flows through limestone, the Well waters are actually carbonated and support only 5 forms of life, including a type of shrimp-like creature and a water scorpion, but no fish. 

 

On our way back to the hotel, we visited Gerry's studio shop where he showed us some of his beautiful carvings and talked about his various projects, including a commissioned carving of a huge twisted and gnarled cottonwood root.  Frances is an extremely talented painter and the sister of one of our other friends who owns a gift shop on Second Mesa.

 

Our adventures began before we even left home when we received word last week that the restaurant we planned to eat dinner at that evening had been run into by a car!  Fortunately the young driver was not seriously injured but the restaurant was damaged to the point where it could not open for business.  After a few emergency calls, Kathy, the owner offered to prepare the food and deliver it to the hotel and the hotel graciously offered us the use of one of their conference rooms in which to gather and eat.  Gerry and his wife, Debbie joined us and we enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship and gratitude for the safe travels, the great food and great friends.

 

Most everyone enjoyed a night of welcome and restful sleep but we woke this morning to find out that 3 members of the team have caught some sort of stomach bug and were up most of the night.  We lingered at the hotel a bit longer this morning and after a team meeting decided to split the team.  The 3 sick members stayed back at the hotel and eventually made their way directly to Flagstaff on their own in one of the cars.  The rest of the team continued on as planned, visiting Montezuma's Castle, an ancient Sinaguan cliff dwelling, then stopping for lunch in Sedona.  But due to the late start, we had to skip a few other planned stops along the way and went straight to Flag to reunite the team at the hotel. 

After a visit to downtown Flagstaff to taste a bit of the music and arts festival going on this weekend, the arrival of an evening thunderstorm curtailed any further sightseeing and sent us back to the hotel.  I only hope that some of this beautiful rainfall is also reaching Hopi where it is truly needed.

 

There is a good reason why Gumby has become Hopi VIM's unofficial mascot, last year's challenges in air travel being only one example.  And although we have only just begun our adventure this year, we are already being constantly reminded of our need to remain flexible and open to whatever comes our way.  We're praying for our sick team mates and for God's healing and grace but rest easy tonight, confident that the strength of the Holy Spirit will lift us all and see us through whatever new adventures and challenges await us in the week ahead.


 

A Gift of Shadows and Light

After a week of below-freezing temperatures thanks to the latest "polar vortex", when it barely rose above 20 degrees for days, I was greeted on this late November morning with an unexpected gift... an unseasonably warm, positively balmy day.  The National Weather Service had forecast it so it wasn't completely unexpected but I was struck nonetheless when I stepped outside not long after dawn.

The warm breeze filled the air with the sweet, fresh scent of grass, wet from an overnight rain.  The sun was shining brightly as ragged and tattered remnants of rain clouds raced low and furiously across the sky like they had somewhere important to be and were already horribly late.  On my way to work, I frequently curse the fact that my daily commute often has me driving into the rising or setting sun, especially at this time of year when the sun is low in the sky.  But I didn't mind it today.  With the speeding clouds outpacing me as I drove along, I watched the splendorous play of light and shadow rolling over the sprawling countryside of recently harvested fields and lush green grass not yet gone brown and dormant for the coming winter.  Occasionally the sun illuminated the wet road in such a way that it appeared as a golden ribbon unwinding before me.

But for all of that, the unexpected blessing I received today was not the warmth, the sun or the rain... It was the gift of a momentary feeling of peace.  It is something I often find very elusive and in short supply at this time of year, when darkness reigns over light.

It took me years to realize that I suffer from seasonal depression. When everyone around me is reveling in the glorious spectacle of Autumn, my only thoughts are of the waning hours of daylight and the colder weather ahead.  In the midst of this frenetic season, I frequently find myself stressed beyond belief, overwhelmed by obligations at work and home, struggling to decide where to turn first and wondering how and when it will all get done. Moving to a milder clime has helped me to better deal with this annual challenge. Making an effort to celebrate Yule, the Winter Solstice has also helped.  It's the literal and proverbial light at the end of my long, dark tunnel.

So perhaps that is why the bright sun, the dark racing clouds and the battle between shadows and light so captured my attention today.  It reminded me of my own struggle caught between dark and light and helped me move beyond it for a little while.

But even as I rejoiced at this unanticipated offering, I knew it was only a brief respite. Obligations still demand attention.  The days continue to wane, at least for a few more weeks or so. The warm breeze will quickly surrender to the next cold blast of winter; snow is already forecast the day after tomorrow.  Like the constantly shifting weather, my fleeting feeling of peace is both ephemeral and eternal, ever changing and elusory yet still renewing.  It's easy to lose sight of that at times and I am grateful for today's reminder to pause, to take a deep breath and to simply...be. 

And perhaps at the end of the day, that is the most precious gift of all.

Hopi VIM - Embracing Our Inner Gumby...

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."

For a number of years now, Hopi VIM's unofficial mascot has been Gumby, that distinctive green, perennially optimistic, rubbery fellow most of us of a certain age remember fondly and vividly from childhood.  

Gumby is a reminder to all of us that no matter how much planning goes into a mission trip, no matter what happens (or doesn't happen), this is God's mission trip, not ours and we are in His hands.  Many times we have no idea what projects we will be working on until we get here.  Things can change day by day, hour by hour and sometimes even minute by minute.  The agenda is usually a moving target.  Gumby reminds us to be flexible, to go with the flow, to accept what comes, even if it was not what we had planned and invariably we will be blessed with unexpected joys we couldn't have planned if we tried.

Every trip has had its ups and downs but if ever we needed to embrace our inner Gumby, it is today.

Because of the 2 hour drive from Hopi to Flagstaff, everyone was up before the sun again this morning. There were no wandering sheep or alpacas to delay us this time and we made it to Flag safely and with plenty of time to spare.  The first "wrinkle" developed once we were all checked in and through TSA security.  

Shortly before boarding our little commuter plane for Phoenix, the airline announced it was looking for approximately 16 folks to voluntarily give up their seats in exchange for a travel voucher good for a discount on future travel. Asking that large a number of people to willingly give up their seats is highly unusual and although there were a few raised eyebrows and questioning looks exchanged, we did not volunteer and the airline did not explain the reason for their request.  It hardly seemed possible that our flight was overbooked considering there is only one airline flying about a dozen flights into and out of Flag daily and it is very easy to catch the next flight if need be.

Apparently there were not enough volunteers.  Not long after, an airline employee approached and told us our group was being bumped from the flight because of "weather" which seemed ludicrous considering it was a gorgeous day and the flight was taking off anyway.  The flight to Phoenix is barely 30 minutes long but we did barely get out of Phoenix last week before a huge dust storm came up after we left for Flag.  

It turned out that "weather" was the short explanation.  The longer, geeky reason was that due to a complicated combination of heat, altitude, barometric pressure and weight restrictions, the 50 seat airplane could not take off with its full compliment of passengers.

However the airline employee assured us they would shuttle all of us down to Phoenix in plenty of time to make our connection to BWI and we would each get a voucher.  Since we had a rather long layover in Phoenix and they were hardly giving us a choice anyway, we agreed.  But things figuratively and literally started going south from there.

The airline reassured us our baggage would go onto Phoenix without us and be checked through to BWI but we had to exit the gate area and go back to the ticket counter.  It took them a while to figure out how to process the vouchers since most of us had been booked as a group and then we learned that the 20 person shuttle was broken.  The team and the 6 other people who were bumped or voluntarily left the scheduled flight were divided between a small taxi van and 2 taxi cabs.  

Thankfully the road to Phoenix is all downhill and the trip down takes less time than the trip in the opposite direction.  We made good time although the 2 hour trip was uncomfortable for the 3 of us crammed into the back seat of the taxi and the driver kept turning off the A/C on the few uphill inclines along the way to keep the taxi engine from overheating in the 100+ degree heat!

Once we arrived at the Phoenix airport and successfully checked through security again, we found our departure gate and took turns looking for lunch.  When it came time for boarding, the 2nd hiccup occurred.  

At no point in this comedy of errors did the airline tell us we had to check in again at the gate.  In fact, the agent back in Flag specifically told us all we had to do was go through security again and get to the gate in time for departure.  Since we already had boarding passes for the next leg and most of us were assigned boarding in the final "zone" we didn't realize we had a problem until it was too late.  Because we were not physically "on" the flight from Flag and because we had failed to check in once we got to the gate in Phoenix, our seats had been given away to standby passengers!

Three of our team members made it onto the flight to BWI, also as standby.  The rest of us watched incredulously as they closed the gate while the harried gate agent frantically tried to sort out what had happened.  The next thing we knew the plane had taken off without most of us, leaving us to wonder what would happen next.

After about 20 minutes and several frantic calls home to relatives, the frazzled and very apologetic gate agent came over and reluctantly spelled out our fate.  The next and last flight on our airline to BWI doesn't leave until 11:30 this evening and is also booked solid.  The best they could do for us was to get us a flight to Atlanta on another airline with a connection to BWI.  However the flight to Atlanta itself doesn't depart until 11:45 at night with a 2 1/2 layover there before our final flight to BWI.  We will be arriving home 12 hours later than expected.  

They gave each of us $10 vouchers to purchase food although we had to choose a vendor within the airline's assigned concourses.  After the shock and frustration wore off there was plenty of hilarity over dinner.  Don't tell anyone but Gumby thoroughly enjoyed a well deserved margarita because even Gumby has his limits.  We also had to find our way out of one terminal and to another by shuttle, check in with the other airline and go through security yet again.  

So here we sit, waiting at our new gate for an agent to show up and assign us seats on their flight to Atlanta.  Once in Atlanta we will have to take our chances and will hopefully also be assigned seats to BWI. 

The sun has gone down in Phoenix.  Things at the airport here are winding down, the concourses are emptying, the food stalls and newsstands are closing, a quiet hush is settling over all.  Thoughts of a certain YouTube video, of a guy dancing around an empty airport in the middle of the night to the tune of "All By Myself", have come to mind more than once.  By this time the rest of the team has hopefully touched down safely in Baltimore and are on their way home and to a well earned rest.  

In the grand scheme of things this is no more than a speed bump, a very frustrating inconvenience but still only an inconvenience nonetheless.   Today's adventures in airline travel will not matter a week or even a day from now once we are safely home.  But if there is something to be learned in this, perhaps it is a lesson in humility and how much of our lives is beyond our control.  Patience is a virtue, there is strength to be found in facing adversity and a willow survives the storm by bending in the wind.  

It's been a long day but the adventure isn't quite over just yet as we wait quietly and patiently while trying to find and embrace our inner Gumby...

Hopi VIM: Labors of Love

"Do all the good you can.  By all the means you can.  In all the ways you can. In all the places you can.  At all the times you can.  To all the people you can.  As long as ever you can."  

- John Wesley

You can tell the end of our week is near.  The team is starting to feel more of their aches and pains and although enthusiasm has not waned, energy levels are flagging a bit.  I think almost everyone tried to catch a nap after lunch.

VBS is turning out to be a great hit with the kids and we have received a lot of compliments and positive feedback from their parents.  Although some children have not attended VBS every day, we have 34 children of various ages registered and have averaged 26-29 kids attending the last 2 days.  Today "God Loves Oceans" and activities included making and decorating crosses with sea shells and making and eating Gummy/Swedish fish in "oceans" of bright blue Jell-O, capped with whipped cream "waves".  The whipped cream was especially a hit and there were plenty of calls for more all around when the "waves" mysteriously disappeared.  Of course the whipped cream mustaches many of the children were sporting gave us a clue as to where the "waves" disappeared to!

With Dion's help, 3/4s of the primary school building has been painted and we're not sure we will get to finish with only one day left.  In spite of a promising and cloudy sunrise, the clouds quickly disappeared and we enjoyed the warmest day so far during our stay here in Hopi.  There was still a light breeze most of the morning but it made painting a bit more difficult and tiring.  The VBS team is likewise feeling the heat and exhaustion that goes with it.  

Remaining mindful of the team's dwindling energy levels, there was no real work planned for this afternoon so a few folks went back to the Hopi Cultural Center to visit the small museum there while a few others rode back out to KUYI to visit and say our goodbyes.  Before we left, Richard asked us to record a "drop in" - the 4 of us reciting the obligatory message required by law where a radio station broadcasts its call sign and frequency and we also got to include a "shout out" to the kids attending VBS - Hopi VIM's 15 seconds of fame!

Rain came briefly to the Mesas in a few spot showers as we rode back and once we returned to HMS, we enjoyed a wonderful evening of fellowship, conversation and a delicious meal of Hopi tacos, provided by our friends, Garyth and his wife and mother-in-law.  We met Garyth for the first time last year and it is always so good to reunite with friends when we return to Hopi. Garyth shared with us his Christian walk of faith and how he personally tries to incorporate his traditional Hopi and Tewa values with his love of Jesus Christ.

The Tewa people are distinct from Hopi people and came to the First Mesa area in the 1600s during the Pueblo Revolts.  They fought alongside the Hopi and were welcomed for their support.  Generally the Tewa live in one of the villages on First Mesa and have their own language but many Hopi now trace their ancestry to both Hopi and Tewa.

On our final day in Hopi, Norm, Dion and I along with Kuwon who volunteered to help us, managed to get within squeaking distance of finishing the painting of the primary building of the school.  Norm and I had to quit at lunchtime in order to go pack and then help prepare for the final community dinner but Dion finished it shortly after.  Thane, his wife Michelle, son Giovanni and Kristen, one of the teachers, left for a conference and recertification shortly after we arrived last Saturday so they will be surprised when they get back but we're sorry we won't get a chance to see them again and say goodbye before we leave.

The rest of the team wrapped up a week of VBS with "God Loves All of Us" and prepared the kids for the presentation for their parents and families at dinner tonight.  It was obvious that we have made an impression based on the multitude of hugs and love all around.  Jill was even presented with a beautiful hand written note from one little lady that moved the whole team to tears later.

Before we setup and prepared for dinner, we shared lunch with our friend, Rowena, who we met in 2010 at the Hopi Foundation.  Rowena is Navajo (Din'eh) and although she no longer works at HF, she always tries to meet up with us in Hopi or in Flagstaff while we're here. It was great to see her again and discuss possibilities of extending part of our annual mission to White Cone, the Navajo community in which she lives.  There is a small Senior Center there that could use volunteer help, perhaps even remotely by setting up a web site or Facebook page.

There was a great turnout at dinner, with parents and kids streaming in and sharing a delicious dinner cooked by Bill, of pasta salad, baked chicken, veggies and dip, with melon and brownies for dessert.  Bill has done an incredible job keeping us well fed, planning meals and cooking up enough food to feed us and our various guests throughout the week.  We had a wonderful time chatting with friends, new and old.  Our oldest friends, Felicia, Wayne and 2 of their children, Gregory and Janice, came by to share dinner, laughter and love before we must head for home.

It's hard to believe our time here is almost over.  We've experienced so much and have been so blessed every step of the way, that it is very hard to leave.  But we will leave parts of our hearts behind in Hopi when we go.

Hopi VIM: VBS, Painting & Laughter

Hopi VIM Vacation Bible School has been an unqualified success.  After a slow start on Monday with kids trickling in throughout the morning, we ended up with 19 youth covering a wide range of ages.  The Hopi Mission School has allowed us the use of their school bus and bus driver, Dave and he picks up kids at scheduled stops all along the highway from First Mesa to Third Mesa then drops them off again afterward.  Tuesday welcomed about 21 youth, not all of them the same as the day before, as the lesson focused around "God Loves Plants".  

The wide variety of ages has been a bit challenging to work with as the older kids tend to finish the various activities ahead of the younger ones.  It is also sometimes difficult to keep youthful enthusiasm in check but the day's snack project, "Worms in Dirt" (Gummy worms in chocolate pudding cups with crushed Oreo cookie "dirt") was a great hit with everyone.  The music lesson using "Boom Whackers" was also popular.  However, some misadventures in crafting led the team to convene that evening to regroup and brainstorm on alternative craft ideas using the supplies at hand.  You can tell exhaustion is setting in and folks are starting to "hit the wall" though... the brainstorming session quickly dissolved into something of a collective giggle fit.  Hilarity ensued and Norm & Bill, the only men on the team this year quickly made themselves scarce in order to escape the hysterical laughter coming from the common room.

While most of the team were wrangling gummy worms and dealing with google eyes and pom pom noses unexpectedly falling off paper bag hand puppets, Norm and I resumed our painting accompanied by 2 of the school's resident "Rez dogs", Piki and Duma.  They have both grown considerably over the last couple of years but are gentle souls, content to sit in the shade and watch us work.   The meadowlark is also still keeping us company, mainly because we have been painting under the tree where she's nesting and caring for her babies.  

After lunch, while the other half of the team went on their afternoon tour of the Mesas with our friends Becca and Merle, the rest of us drove out to Hopi public radio station KUYI to volunteer there for a few hours.  While listening to the radio station in the car on the way there, we were surprised to hear our friend Thomas interviewing 3 ladies from Japan!  One of the ladies, Aya-san, owns a new art gallery in Tokyo called "Sun and Rain" and she and a coworker came to Hopi looking to connect with various Hopi artisans with the hopes of showcasing and selling their work and introducing Hopi to the Japanese people.

We arrived after the interview concluded but while the ladies were still at KUYI getting last minute pictures and saying final goodbyes.  I got to practice my very limited and rusty Japanese as I offered to take their picture with Richard and Thomas and we chatted for a few minutes through their translator and exchanged email and Facebook information. After that, Richard and Thomas put us to work, cataloging, labeling, and filing music CDs in their extensive and rather eclectic music library.  It is always a pleasure to go out to the station, visit with everyone and do a little light work.  KUYI may seem an odd choice for a mission project but they perform an invaluable service to all of Hopiland and a good portion of the Navajo Nation (Din'eh) as well and helping out for a few hours here and there while we're here is our way of serving all of Hopi albeit indirectly.

On Wednesday, VBS hosted 29 youth.  Word is getting around and more kids trickle in every day.  We had a good laugh right off the bat this morning when Dion, the school's maintenance and facilities manager, admitted that he'd gotten our VBS theme song, "God's Amazing Love" stuck in his head thanks to the music CDs Jill sent home with the kids the first day.  His kids have been playing it constantly and he even caught himself singing it in the shower this morning!

The craft malfunctions from yesterday have led the team to regroup and the intended painted rainbow wind chimes simply became hanging painted rainbows.  Likewise, the intended craft/snack of decorating star shaped sugar cookies (for "God Loves Earth & Sky") became stars and "moons" when half of the star shaped cookies ended up as round sugar blobs in the baking process.  We flat landers forget to follow the high altitude baking instructions when we come up here!

My good friend Leon stopped by and had lunch with us after VBS wrapped up for the day.  Leon and I met on Hopi VIM's 3rd trip out when he was overseeing the HMS computer lab at the time.  A severe thunderstorm had knocked out the school's entire network a week before our arrival and this computer geek found herself serving in mission by spending the entire week in the lab with Leon, working to get things back up before the new school year started again.

No trip to Hopi is complete without a little shopping so after lunch we hit the highway and took the opportunity to visit the Hopi artists at the Hopi Cultural Center and one of our favorite shops, Tsakurshovi, better known as the "Don't Worry, Be Hopi" shop.  Then it was onto the Hopi Health Care Center for a tour by our friend and HHCC Volunteer Program Coordinator, Lisa.

The 14 year old HHCC is a thoroughly modern and incredibly beautiful facility serving Hopi for primary medical care and emergency services as well as hosting a variety of other beneficial social services.  The architecture of the building and almost every element within has been carefully considered, designed and constructed to be as welcoming and comforting as possible for the people it serves.  From the native stone walls, to the sweeping, sunlit interior, this hospital is a work of art as well as state of the art yet still remains respectful of traditional Hopi medicine practices while at the same time supplying much needed western medicine services.  Lisa is an excellent tour guide and although I have been on the tour several times, I learn something new every time.

Later that evening Lisa, her husband Troy and their eldest daughter, Lauryn joined us for dinner at our home away from home.  We had a great evening of fun, laughter and exchanging stories and it will be a night we will all treasure and remember for years to come.