In the mountains of Chile

14 de Agosto del 2006

Muy Buen Dia a todos

The drive from Pachica to Enquelga would take about 3 hours so spending the prior night at Kusayapu and making it the starting point for the day seemed appropriate. It was 6:30 and a breakfast of two fried eggs and fresh pan awakened us for the journey.

Minute by minute the landscape changed and the temperature dropped. We were traveling from an altitude of 1500 meters to over 4000, in this winter month. You could see in the distance stoic mountains covered in white ice and snow There were trees that are only found in this area, grasses unique in this world and created to feed llama and alpaca, the red bloom algae that feeds small fish below a water surface…much was happening under the surface of this land, as was spiraling above it.

The cassette tape playing in the car was one of Christian music…Majesty was the name of the song. No modern buildings to be seen, no overhead freeway signs, no supermarkets or malls, no distractions. Majesty.

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2nd Methodist Church - Iquique

from John Elmore, missionary in Iquique

Living in Iquique Chile, is pretty much like living anywhere else in the world. There are Shopping malls, theaters, Restaurants, Schools, vehicles of every size and shape, new and old. In the morning, along the beachfront there are people out exercising, walking and running along the beach, there is the morning traffic heading into the downtown area for work.
Morning time for me and my wife are pretty similar to that of any working couple. We wake up; I turn on the hot water heater, start the coffee pot and prepare breakfast. My wife is in the shower, and getting ready for school. We have breakfast and then join the traffic to drop her off at school. I join the joggers along the beach before I go to my duties.While I am on my power walk, I notice a lot of things that I don’t see while driving. People sleeping on the beach and just waking up with the sun in their face. People sleeping under the stairs that lead to the beach, they have cardboard boxes for walls that protect them from the night air.

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Becky rides again - more news from Chile...

07 de Marzo del 2006

Buddy and I send our love……..

Recently it was necessary to travel roads and canyons very new to me. Ladies from a visiting work team (Beryl Moore and Nancy Gardner) accompanied me on this all day journey to distribute notices in various pueblos about the arrival of a medical team from Centenary Methodist Church in McCombs Mississippi. It was not possible to leave Buddy behind at the agriculture school Kusayapu and I dreaded the trip even before it began. At 4 months old his temperament varies from calm and sedate to hyper and nervous…always at unexpected times.

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Check out a great blog about volunteering in Brazil.

Individual Volunteer, Christine Piggee, has an insightful blog, sharing her experiences and insights from service with the poor in Brazil.

read it at: http://vimbrazil.blogspot.com/ and add your comments, prayers, and observations.

News from Chile!

Individual Volunteer, Becky Harrell, has sent a report of the work in Kusayapu and the Emana school.

To read the full message, click "comments" below.

United Methodist pastor sees reality of poverty

By the Rev. Chip Hale*


I recently had the opportunity to travel to Ecuador on a church-sponsored mission trip. One morning, I sat atop a new day-care building overlooking the great poverty in a section of Quito, Ecuador.


From that place, I saw a collage of dirt roads, pigs and cows walking about eating what they could, and houses built in patchwork designs with rocks and tires on the roof to keep the tin from blowing off. There were open sewers that ran onto the dirt roads and very few automobiles.


These were the sights, the smells, and the reality of poverty. At that unforgettable moment, my friend, Dewey English, said: "For most of the world this poverty is reality. Our life is the fantasy."


He was right. You see, I live on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, Ala., and my family has a wonderful life filled with nice things. We eat three nutritious meals a day, we have more clothes than we know what to do with and our roof is secure and dry. My children are educated and we have enough money for some of the "extras" that please us.


I never realized until last week, seeing that abject poverty, how very rich I am. It is staggering to learn that 70 percent of the world cannot read, and a great portion of the world's population does not have enough to eat each day.


Poverty creates differences in values. Our mission was to help to construct a day-care center in the capital city of Ecuador. One day, we were applying first concrete or stucco, sealing the wall and, finally, painting over it. Gloria Vander Noot from Gulf Shores (Ala.) United Methodist Church was handing us the needed materials so we could have our hands free to apply the stucco. Beneath us was a small potato plant that an Ecuadorian grandmother had planted. She was intent on us not stuccoing it along with the wall.


The grandmother stood there with her hoe in hand, watching for us to drop a single bit of stucco on her plant, and she railed against us in Spanish the whole time. I told Gloria that if we accidentally dropped stucco on the grandmother's plant, she would have to haul us up quickly. I was afraid of what the grandmother would do with her hoe. It was the only time the entire trip I was glad I did not understand Spanish.


Fortunately, the potato plant remained unharmed, but this little picture illustrates the clash of values. I cannot tell you how many potatoes are prepared in my home and not eaten, or how much food is forgotten in the refrigerator only to be discarded without a thought. In our culture, one potato is of little importance. In a world of poverty, it is of great significance.


And then there are the people. Many of their personal stories will break your heart. Conchita has three children, ages 4, 3 and 15 months. Her husband died at 28 from acute alcoholism, so she must work 10 hours a day to support her children. She leaves home before daylight and locks her children in their two-room house. She tries to prepare something for them to eat while she is gone; there is no one to check on them throughout the day.


Michael is a 3-year-old with big, brown eyes. He is fortunate to be in a day-care center. His father is in prison and his mother is an alcoholic. He and his sister walk unattended to the center every day. I smiled as I helped him color a fish within the lines and all my teeth showed. He looked up at my face, tried to imitate my smile and hugged me.


In the various day-care centers we visited, they asked me to put my hands on each of the children's heads and pray a prayer of blessings. They say every mission trip you go on, you meet at least one child who will always occupy a corner of your heart. Michael will always be in mine. His life is hard, but it is so much better than the lives of Conchita and her children.


This day-care building is now complete. Soon it will open its doors for 160 children, and it is my hope to be a part of building another day care in a rural section of Ecuador. Because of our efforts, some children will have a better life, and tomorrow will not be the same for these families. Nor will life ever be the same for me.


*The Rev. Chip Hale is pastor of Spanish Fort United Methodist Church, Spanish Fort, Ala.

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